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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.
***** @Amazon.com: CD or
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Bias Check: |
For John Williams reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.68
(in 91 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.54
(in 360,131 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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