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Review of Jurassic Park (John Williams)

1993 MCA Records

2013 Geffen Records

2016 La-La Land

2022 La-La Land

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you are prepared for a superior John Williams crossover score that connects the high-flying fantasy of his early 1980's triumphs with the more complex rhythms, instrumentation, and density of his 1990's works.

Avoid it... on the heavily rearranged edits of the score for the 1993 and 2013 albums if you can obtain the 2016 or 2022 sets that finally offer the complete, chronological presentation of this large-scale adventure and horror classic.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Jurassic Park: (John Williams) With Michael Crichton's fabulously outlandish adventure story, the spectacular digital and live action effects of Industrial Light and Magic, and an odd assortment of entertaining character-actors, Steven Spielberg led the charge of Jurassic Park to immense box office returns that would spawn continued journeys back to the resurrected land of the dinosaurs in sequels to come. Budding DNA technology of the era made postulation about the reconstruction of dinosaurs a viable topic for mainstream imaginations, and Crichton took that thought down its natural commercial route, speculating that if dinosaurs were to be reborn in captivity, they would probably be exploited for profit in a zoo or amusement park. Needless to say, no adventure entry like this could pass without the natural horror element at its side, and before long, a nasty storm causes the safety mechanisms of "Jurassic Park" to fail and the monsters are unleashed upon the humans of the island. Spielberg expertly balanced the wonder of the concept with outright horror and a touch of humor, even going so far as to depict a T-Rex snatching a convenient human munchie directly off a toilet. The mania that surrounded Jurassic Park in 1993 was extraordinary, lines wrapping around theatres for an extended time and the media enamored by all the hype. The movie represented significant advancements in sound technology for theatres, introducing the world to DTS experiences to accompany the stunning visuals. The qualified success of Jurassic Park, in all its domination of the summer of 1993, somehow managed to leave famed composer John Williams behind. Despite a score of Herculean scale for Jurassic Park, Williams overshadowed his effort for Isla Nublar by composing Schindler's List later in the same year, a score that not only swept every major award for 1993, but is considered by many film score veterans to be among the most effective single film scores of the digital age. So outstanding was the reception to these two monumental scores that Williams would conduct them in concerts throughout 1994 and take a break from scoring assignments while doing so.

Compared to the great action themes that Williams has etched into the minds of mainstream movie-goers through the years, Jurassic Park remained surprisingly anonymous by comparison, with its bold identity rarely heard in public performances since the franchise's original trilogy reached its sputtering conclusion at the cinemas many years later. This does not mean, however, that Jurassic Park is no less a score; it was, and will always be, one of John Williams' most impressive masterpieces, despite the tepid criticism of the work that you may encounter from even the most veteran film score reviewers. With Jurassic Park, Williams was given an opportunity to merge nearly every one of his dominant compositional styles of the early 1990's, a fantastic era for the composer, by all accounts, into one momentous product. And in the process of rolling all of these styles in to Jurassic Park, he managed to create a score with a magically cohesive core that is extremely potent in the film itself despite the fact that several notable cues were dropped from the final mix. Among the styles that fans of Williams enjoy in Jurassic Park are, first and foremost, the rousing themes, with the primary identity of the island split into two separate ones (more on that later). The multitude of themes that receive full performances in Jurassic Park will remind collectors of Far and Away, while the broad spectrum of emotions covered in those themes, especially in their sensitivity, will recall the sadness of Hook. Varied electronic rhythms, sometimes brutal in execution, thump their way from the suspense of JFK. Relentless orchestral rhythms, often led by intense chopping of the string section, hail the glory of action cues all the way back to Raiders of the Lost Ark. Charming piano and light percussion solos, and their integration into an ever-increasing orchestral depth, relate back to E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and more recently raise the brightness of Home Alone. Williams only sparingly uses choral ensembles, though the employment of such a group in Jurassic Park is the icing on the cake, infusing the score with a delicious flavor that any fantasy film should be so lucky to have.

Perhaps the most amazing aspect of Williams' ability to combine all of these elements into one score is the wide range of genres the music was required to traverse in the film. From fantasy to adventure, the horror to the child-like, Jurassic Park covers miles of territory musically, making Williams' achievement all the more impressive in the film and interesting on album. Loyalty to the development of his themes is critical in Jurassic Park, for Williams' continuing collaboration with Spielberg would lead to projects with fabulous, but fractured themes (A.I.) or no dominant thematic presence whatsoever (Minority Report, War of the Worlds). There are few blocks of time in Jurassic Park when Williams is not developing or combining his multitude of themes, providing the film with easy identification points and causing a fluid listening experience on album. In a somewhat irregular but in this case an understandable move, Williams graces Jurassic Park with two primary themes. Their purposes are obviously different: a bold and layered brass romp, aided by crashing cymbals and rolling timpani, introduce the audience to the island near the outset of the film and continues to define the adventure associated with the park. Conversely, Williams wrote what is technically "the theme" for the film's dinosaurs in the form of a romantic string and choral piece that remains as noble a fantasy theme as any Williams has ever created. The composer boils this identity down to a solemn but lovely piano solo for the finale scene, suggesting sadness at the loss of life and a return to a more normal suburban existence, a surprisingly elegant choice for that scene. As the theme is extended over the end credits, listeners are treated to Williams pleasant interlude within the idea that rarely receives treatment during the actual film. It's interesting to note that Williams would return more heavily to the bolder brass theme in The Lost World, thus attaching its identity with the concept of the dinosaurs' resurrection and confirming the string and piano theme from Jurassic Park as the identity of that particular island's more benign dinosaur balance. By Michael Giacchino's ventures into the concept's 2010's reboot, the adventure theme is confirmed as the more conceptually dominant idea of the two.

Viewers of Jurassic Park are met with a bevy of strong secondary ideas in the score as well, highlighted by the "panic theme" for the car and electrical fence sequences in the middle of the film. Rearranged out of order on the early albums, the rolling woodwind panic theme, often performed in the depths of the section, is heard in the latter half of "Incident at Isla Nublar," after a nasty little accident with a raptor. It rises through the clarinets and is eventually aided by strings in both that cue and at the outset of "High-Wire Stunts," where it builds to a phenomenal, full-ensemble crescendo of horror. As a churning resident of the lower ranges of the ensemble, this representation of growing panic is not only extremely effective in achieving an ominous emotional response, but also remains accessible enough to enjoy apart from the visuals. Williams has, through the years, proven himself capable of creating remarkable dread with bass woodwinds, using these rolling techniques that extended through his Harry Potter scores. More obvious a secondary theme, though, is the identity for the dreaded raptors (and T-Rex, to a lesser extent) that would fit any predator, taking the rhythmic movement of the ensemble even lower. Growing out of an animal-like bass growl used purely to signal impending trouble (as in "Coming Storm") is a highly mechanical four-note theme performed by harsh brass tones that remains a perfect identity for the equally mechanical killers, and it is malleable enough to be used as a foreshadowing device, as in the opening titles. The static movement of the progressions, vaguely based upon the main dinosaur theme, is heard with nearly every form of emotional appeal in the work, extending into the realm of awe as necessary a few times. But by the flourishing and frenzied "Hungry Raptor" (an unused cue), the idea envelopes the now-wild suspense motif from earlier in the score and is as determined in its malice as Williams' famed rhythmic motif from Jaws. The raptor motif lacks a natural opening note other than a bass statement on key, intriguingly staggered so that it starts unnervingly in the middle of each measure. While the raptor's theme is an extremely effective tool, it's a tougher pill to swallow on the album, and one of Williams' rare oversights in the score is the lack of this theme's foreshadowing in "Hatching Baby Raptor." Some listeners claim that there is a relationship between this rhythmic theme and Williams' iconic five-note idea from Close Encounters of the Third Kind; such similarity is likely coincidental.

Several more singular melodies prevail throughout the score for Jurassic Park, often contributing impressive individual tracks that stand out as tonally pleasing on the album. Usually enjoyed by collectors are the lush string layers in "My Friend, The Brachiosaurus," a cue that treats the non-threatening dinosaurs with the wondrous and imaginative innocence from a child's perspective. Significant parallels can be drawn between this cue and similar ones from Hook. Another cue slight on the volume is "Remembering Petticoat Lane," a music box waltz for the lamentation of the park's creator as all goes wrong. While this cue is a significant departure from the overarching style of Jurassic Park, reflecting the more ethereal emotions of Always, Williams uses the same general instrumentation to represent a calming influence on the story's two children in "A Tree for My Bed," this time returning to the film's primary string theme for structure. A foreshadowing the main Harry Potter theme accompanies the exuberance of "Entrance of Mr. Hammond." For the film's bumbling conspirator, Dennis, we hear a return (with no surprise) to the electronic bass rhythms of JFK, including the rambling piano motifs and tinkling percussion largely identical to the previous score. This material is perhaps the score's only truly disappointing identity, if only because the composer so clearly yanked it from a previous context. It is effective once again here, however, so for non-Williams collectors, the self-referencing won't really matter. Several other partial structures exist throughout Jurassic Park, with a noteworthy amount of them featuring some sort of four-note construct; it's not known if this is an intentional choice by Williams, but it's definitely a trend in the score's themes to be considered. As expected, the "panic" and raptor themes do eventually draw closer to one another, with the churning bass of the raptor theme adopting the panic theme's structure by the final cues of the film. Even the brass elements that perform the raptor theme merge finally with the panic theme at 2:20 in "T-Rex Rescue," appropriately erasing their distinctions. The arrangements of the two primary themes remain rooted in mostly concert suite-based form, and therefore don't mingle in any great volume during the rest of the score. Their variations on album are even more generous than those in the film, with multiple mixes of both themes available separately, and two cues combining them for use in the film.

There are individual aspects of Jurassic Park's music that help give it the memorable personality it has maintained through the years, apart from the major themes discussed above. First, the opening titles are treated to an electronically-distorted thump of a Japanese drum in the Jaws-inspired key of E, an unmistakable way to start the score and suggest the approaching stomping of a large animal's feet. Watch out for volume levels on your stereo system when playing this track. (It's somewhat inconvenient in that it begins the album) It has a tendency to cause distortion on lower-end systems. Also used in that cue is sakauhachi flute, a staple of James Horner's career that flutters and blasts with an eerie, wet (echoing) sound during Dennis' attempted escape. The use of electronics and low male choir in the short opening titles and "Incident at Isla Nublar" are rare in their combined employment by Williams in his career. This material briefly extends in mixed vocal form to "The Encased Mosquito," an initially unreleased cue representing the true fantasy of the science behind the concept. This ethereal, other-worldly tone transfers to only the female voices early in "Hatching Baby Raptor" with a sound more familiar to Williams' collectors as his standard technique of eerie wonderment. Other unique moments include the native drum rhythm of "Jurassic Park Gate," aided by harp (of all things), which sets a perfect mood for entry into the park. The cute "Stalling Around" cue for the cartoon demonstration of how the science was accomplished is a soft xylophone-based romp that predicts a few techniques in the Harry Potter scores and is mostly unrelated to the rest of Jurassic Park. The last 30 monumental seconds of "Finale" stand among Williams' most satisfying closing statements, letting rip with forceful bass string rhythms that recall the explosive final scene in The Fury. A handful of other brief moments of major, tonal relief punctuate the score, including one notable escape announcement about a minute into "High-Wire Stunts." In "Eye to Eye," an original album track that contains several unused sections of music that Williams assembled into one place for the original album, there is a minute-long, snare-aided passage just after the 3:00 mark that infuses the slight militaristic tones of the Raiders of the Lost Ark scores. (This music eventually moved to the track "To the Maintenance Shed" in the later presentations.) Finally, of course, Williams slips in a faint brass inclusion of the raptor's theme at the end of the titles (and concert suite) to leave the door open for the inevitable sequel.

As demanded by Williams himself, the original album presentation for Jurassic Park was significantly rearranged from chronological film order, though to his credit it does include a sampling of every major idea from the score despite missing some significant material. Enthusiasts of the score need to remember that lengthy sequences in the film existed without any music at all, including most of the early action involving the T-Rex dinosaur eating a goat (the cue "Goat Bait" was struck from the film) and later attacking the vehicles after escaping. The formation of the two primary themes on album for Jurassic Park can be confusing to those not familiar with the film, too. Their two combined performances are both heard in the film; "Journey to the Island" is exactly that, and it features easily the most robust performances of both themes. The "Welcome to Jurassic Park" cue is actually the end titles, employing Williams' trademark use of piano to introduce the theme in the credits before providing the string-based fantasy theme with its only significant brass treatment. Unfortunately, the following performance of that fantasy theme by the strings is lacking the necessary choral presence in the end credits, a disappointing event more than likely meant to make the cue more accessible for concert performances. The album cuts of "Theme from Jurassic Park" and "End Credits" are seemingly edits and mixes of music heard in other cues (from the journey and end titles cues, respectively). The 1993 product was missing about 15 minutes of music, some of which quite good. In 2013, for the 20th anniversary of the picture, Universal released a Williams-approved expanded album containing all but about four minutes of the score. Instead of placing the cues in proper order on the 2013 presentation, however, the four additional tracks are tacked onto the end of the still artificially rearranged tracks from before. The first of these, "The History Lesson," is essentially the Hammond character's music from early in the picture, easy renditions of the island's theme for woodwinds, harp, and piano. As mentioned previously, "Stalling Around" is the cartoonish demonstration music. Slapped together are three cues in "The Coming Storm," the first 1:20 actually dedicated to that moment of dread. From after that until 2:45, the cue presents a T-Rex chase sequence from later in the film. Finally, the last additional offers "The Encased Mosquito," the impressive choral sequence most notably absent from the prior album. With the largely unused "Hungry Raptor," listeners can assemble the entirety of the action music meant for the last third of the picture, a notable entry that layers the raptor motif over electronic jungle rhythms.

Although the 2013 album for Jurassic Park was unfortunately not released on CD, those listeners demanding a lossless version were treated to such an option by outlets offering high-resolution downloads. Much of the hype generated about the 2013 expanded album involved its supposed remastered sound quality and its availability as 24-bit/96kHz and 24-bit/192kHz downloads. Collectors were best served by ignoring the popular MP3/AAC download options for the product, as they are pointless since they nullify the remastered clarity. In high-resolution form, while the 192kHz and 96kHz aspects don't have meaning to people's ears (we're not dogs, after all), the 24-bit presentation does open up the soundscape a bit more. In any case, a little more reverb can be added to give either the 16-bit (original CD) or 24-bit (high-resolution expanded download) options that extra fantasy touch. That 2013 album was rendered somewhat moot when La-La Land Records issued a comprehensive 4-CD set of Jurassic Park and Williams' sequel score, The Lost World, titled "The John Williams Jurassic Park Collection," in 2016. Both scores are afforded expanded treatment on the 5,000-copy offering, with the bulk of the newly available highlights concentrating on 40 minutes of material for the 1997 sequel. For Jurassic Park, the label provides two significant benefits: a chronological presentation and the inclusion of the additional unreleased music not supplied on the 2013 Geffen download. The rearrangement of music into the film order may confuse some listeners accustomed to Williams' own edits from 1993, especially with a few unused cues thrown into the equation, but the overall experience is improved when paired with knowledge of the film. Film versions of several (but not all) cues are provided, though don't expect significantly noticeable differences outside of the shuffling efforts. As for the additional new cues amounting to about four minutes, the highlight is "Race to the Dock," which expands upon the Raiders of the Lost Ark-inspired music heard later in "To the Maintenance Shed" (previously edited into "Eye to Eye"). Less consequential is the ambient suspense of "You Bred Raptors?," "The Saboteur," and "System Ready," all of which nondescript but adequate mood setters for low strings and woodwinds. The album also notes additional previously unreleased music in "The Falling Car and the T-Rex Chase," though nothing significantly interesting seems new outside of the reinsertion of the panic theme's initial performance into the proper slot. The two album suite arrangements, along with the source-like "Stalling Around" cartoon music, are moved to the end of the second CD as a bonus section.

The 2016 set, selling out despite multiple packaging errors by the label, was satisfactorily definitive and utilizes the same source quality as the 2013 lossless digital album, so don't expect improved sound. In reality, the presence of Jurassic Park on that collection is auxiliary to the significant expansion and remastering of The Lost World. In 2022, La-La Land pressed a 2-CD presentation of Jurassic Park alone, using the same sources to yield additional film versions of major cues and providing the original album arrangements in the improved sound quality on the second CD (along with "Stalling Around"). Overall, Jurassic Park remains a crossover score that connects the high-flying fantasy of Williams' early 1980's efforts with the more complex rhythms, instrumentation, and density of his 1990's scores. Despite lingering criticism from some film score critics, this score is as enjoyable as Hook and Far and Away and is even more technically ingenious. For a film that was so thoroughly hyped for its incredible advancements in sound design, kudos need to go to the recording team for Jurassic Park's music. Rarely is a score featuring so many impactful instrumental layers mixed with such attention to detail. The mixture of wet and dry elements is well handled, especially in a multifaceted cue like "Dennis Steals the Embryo." The choral layering in Jurassic Park is also outstanding; on occasion, Williams utilizes it as a subtle background element so that you don't really notice its presence. Such is the case in "Journey to the Island," a cue in which you don't outwardly notice the singers' contribution until they majestically alternate to a counterpoint line at 6:45. In the years following Jurassic Park, Williams began moving away from the unashamed enthusiasm of his full-blown fantasy scores, with an absence of new material in 1994 leading to four underachieving or decidedly darker scores before returning with Spielberg to score The Lost World in 1997. Unlike many of Williams' impressive works for sequels, and despite many outstanding qualities of his music for The Lost World, he wouldn't quite capture the same abundance of energy of Jurassic Park the second time around. Later films in the franchise, scored by Don Davis and Michael Giacchino, faithfully make use of Williams' themes but cannot compete with the majesty and intensity of the original inspiration, either. While long overshadowed by Schindler's List due to the proximity of their release, Jurassic Park remains one of Williams' very most accomplished action and fantasy scores, and no collection of the maestro's works would be complete without it.  *****

TRACK LISTINGS:

1993 MCA Album:
Total Time: 70:20

• 1. Opening Titles (0:33) • 2. Theme from Jurassic Park (3:27) • 3. Incident at Isla Nublar (5:20) • 4. Journey to the Island (8:52) • 5. The Raptor Attack (2:49) • 6. Hatching Baby Raptor (3:20) • 7. Welcome to Jurassic Park (7:54) • 8. My Friend, the Brachiosaurus (4:16)

• 9. Dennis Steals the Embryo (4:55) • 10. A Tree for My Bed (2:12) • 11. High-Wire Stunts (4:08) • 12. Remembering Petticoat Lane (2:48) • 13. Jurassic Park Gate (2:03) • 14. Eye to Eye (6:32) • 15. T-Rex Rescue & Finale (7:39) • 16. End Credits (3:26)

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2013 Geffen Album:
Total Time: 81:09

• 1. Opening Titles (0:33) • 2. Theme From Jurassic Park (3:27) • 3. Incident at Isla Nublar (5:20) • 4. Journey to the Island (8:52) • 5. The Raptor Attack (2:49) • 6. Hatching Baby Raptor (3:20) • 7. Welcome to Jurassic Park (7:54) • 8. My Friend, the Brachiosaurus (4:16) • 9. Dennis Steals the Embryo (4:55) • 10. A Tree For My Bed (2:12) • 11. High-Wire Stunts (4:08)

• 12. Remembering Petticoat Lane (2:48) • 13. Jurassic Park Gate (2:03) • 14. Eye to Eye (6:32) • 15. T-Rex Rescue & Finale (7:39) • 16. End Credits (3:26) Bonus Tracks: (11:05) • 17. The History Lesson (2:28) • 18. Stalling Around (2:33) • 19. The Coming Storm (4:00) • 20. Hungry Raptor (2:06)

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2016 La-La Land Set:
Total Time: 91:31

CD1: (47:34) • 1. Opening Titles (0:38) • 2. Incident at Isla Nublar (Film Version) (2:25) • 3. The Encased Mosquito (1:16) • 4. Entrance of Mr. Hammond (1:10) • 5. Journey to the Island (8:56) • 6. Hatching Baby Raptor (Film Version) (2:05) • 7. You Bred Raptors?* (0:40) • 8. The History Lesson (Film Version) (1:34) • 9. Jurassic Park Gate (2:05) • 10. Goat Bait (2:26) • 11. The Saboteur* (0:48) • 12. Ailing Triceratops (2:36) • 13. The Coming Storm (Film Version) (1:26) • 14. Dennis Steals the Embryo (5:05) • 15. Race to the Dock* (1:18) • 16. The Falling Car and the T-Rex Chase** (4:59) • 17. A Tree for My Bed (2:14) • 18. Remembering Petticoat Lane (2:49) • 19. My Friend, the Brachiosaurus (Film Version) (1:51) • 20. Life Finds a Way (1:26)

CD2: (43:57) • 1. System Ready* (0:49) • 2. To the Maintenance Shed (4:12) • 3. High Wire Stunts (4:10) • 4. Hungry Raptor (2:09) • 5. The Raptor Attack (2:51) • 6. T-Rex Rescue and Finale (7:43) • 7. Welcome to Jurassic Park (7:58) Additional Music: (14:05) • 8. Theme From Jurassic Park (3:34) • 9. Stalling Around (2:36) • 10. Welcome to Jurassic Park (Film Version) (8:01)

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2022 La-La Land Album:
Total Time: 150:53

CD1: (77:28) • 1. Opening Titles (0:37) • 2. Incident at Isla Nublar (Film Version) (2:23) • 3. The Encased Mosquito (1:16) • 4. Entrance of Mr. Hammond (1:09) • 5. Journey to the Island (Film Version) (8:54) • 6. Hatching Baby Raptor (Film Version) (2:04) • 7. You Bred Raptors? (0:40) • 8. The History Lesson (Film Version) (1:33) • 9. Jurassic Park Gate (2:05) • 10. Goat Bait (2:26) • 11. The Saboteur (0:47) • 12. Ailing Triceratops (2:37) • 13. The Coming Storm (Film Version) (1:26) • 14. Dennis Steals the Embryo (Film Version) (5:04) • 15. Race to the Dock (1:18) • 16. The Falling Car and The T-Rex Chase (4:59) • 17. A Tree for My Bed (2:13) • 18. Remembering Petticoat Lane (2:49) • 19. My Friend, the Brachiosaurus (Film Version) (1:51) • 20. Life Finds a Way (1:27) • 21. System Ready (0:50) • 22. To the Maintenance Shed (4:13) • 23. High Wire Stunts (4:10) • 24. Hungry Raptor (2:10) • 25. The Raptor Attack (2:50) • 26. T-Rex Rescue and Finale (7:43) • 27. Welcome to Jurassic Park (Film Version) (7:58)

CD2: (73:25) • 1. Opening Titles (0:33) • 2. Theme from Jurassic Park (3:27) • 3. Incident at Isla Nublar (5:20) • 4. Journey to the Island (8:52) • 5. The Raptor Attack (2:49) • 6. Hatching Baby Raptor (3:20) • 7. Welcome to Jurassic Park (7:54) • 8. My Friend, the Brachiosaurus (4:16) • 9. Dennis Steals the Embryo (4:55) • 10. A Tree for My Bed (2:12) • 11. High-Wire Stunts (4:08) • 12. Remembering Petticoat Lane (2:48) • 13. Jurassic Park Gate (2:03) • 14. Eye to Eye (6:32) • 15. T-Rex Rescue & Finale (7:39) • 16. End Credits (3:26) Bonus Track: • 17. Stalling Around (2:41)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The digital booklet of the 2013 Geffen album is useless, containing no information about the film or score, not even the note below from Steven Spielberg that was featured in the insert of the 1993 MCA album. The extensive booklet of the 2016 La-La Land product contains detailed information, though some sets were shipped from the label without a copy of the booklet, and original pressings contained inaccurate artwork. The 2022 La-La Land album's booklet also contains extensive information. The original note from Spielberg:

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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Jurassic Park are Copyright © 1993, 2013, 2016, 2022, MCA Records/Universal, Geffen Records, La-La Land Records, La-La Land Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 9/24/96 and last updated 11/8/22.