RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

JOHN WILLIAMS

Rating:

Original Review: As I listen to Raiders of the Lost Ark now, 17 years after it was originally written, having now been re-released, re-mastered and re-packaged (with excellent liner notes by FSM's Lukas Kendall), I can fully appreciate why so many people highlight it as a landmark score in film music history. It took me quite a while to track down a copy of Nick Redman's updated release of John Williams' classic composition but, having now done so, I would say it was most definitely worth the effort. Above everything else, this score is the one which introduced to the world one of the most recognisable film themes ever written - the Raiders March.

For the two men responsible for the movie, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, Raiders was a return to their childhood: a chance to rekindle an old passion for Saturday matinee movies, when heroes wore rumpled fedoras, baddies had funny accents and, at the end of a breathless two hours, the guy always got the girl. John Williams captured these sentiments perfectly in one piece of music which has since passed on into soundtrack folklore. As a musical reference point, Raiders stands alongside other Williams compositions such as Star Wars, E.T., Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (among others by other composers) as one of the scores which effectively redefined the cinematic sound of the 80s and 90s and spawned a whole new generation of film music fans.

As is usual with Williams, the score is composed in leitmotif fashion, with certain characters and elements having individual themes: as well as the Raiders March and the famous soft woodwind theme for Marion, there is also a foreboding three-note brass motif for the Ark itself and a punchy, trumpet-based theme for the Nazis, and these four themes work their way into virtually every cue at some point, sometimes played as individual concert suites, or with subtle changes to reflect the mood of the film at the time (like the oriental influences on the Raiders March during 'Journey to Nepal'). However, there are at least five standalone pieces which really take the breath away.

The opening three cues, which underscore the film's prologue with Indiana Jones deep in the heart of the jungle, are scored with unnerving, eerie dissonance and creeping, groaning strings in 'South America: 1936', before exploding into a rollicking action cue as Indy tries to escape from the deadly booby traps in 'In the Idol's Temple', finally presenting a masterful performance of pizzicato strings in 'Flight from Peru'. 'The Basket Game' is a fast paced action cue which underscores the scene where Indy is trying to follow Marion through the streets of Cairo, replete with bouncy woodwinds, hooting brasses and powerful percussion before concluding with a heartfelt rendition of Marion's Theme.

'The Map Room: Dawn' is full of mythical splendour, with the Ark Theme getting a resplendent, powerful rendition - complete with choir - as Indy discovers the resting place of the ark in the Well of the Souls. 'Airplane Fight' and 'Desert Chase' are, quite simply, two amazing cues which utilise the fullest range that the London Symphony Orchestra has to offer, combining elements of all four main themes with barnstorming action music in a magnificent 12-minute extravaganza.

'The Miracle of the Ark' is probably the most beautiful cue on the album, beginning with a quasi-religious rendition of the Ark theme as the obsessed Nazi archaeologist Belloq opens the ancient relic, which builds up to a phenomenal choral crescendo, before becoming wild and shocking as the true nature of the Ark's contents become apparent. The finale, 'End Credits' is, of course, the one we all know and love: a wonderful concert piece performance of the Raiders March and Marion's Theme to bring the album to a close.

If I were to make just a couple of tiny criticisms I would say that, probably because I have become so familiar with the Raiders March and Marion's Theme, which have been redone and included on countless compilations over the years, a lot of the music seemed very predictable to me. Also, and this is actually is not a criticism, you can tell immediately that this is a Williams score. There are motifs and chords which could have been lifted from any of his Star Wars trilogy, and I noticed early references to later works such as Hook, Far and Away and even Nixon in there too. However, this is not to take anything away from Williams. Every composer has an individual style and unique orchestral technique which can be found manifest in many of their subsequent scores. In a time when the word 'classic' is banded around like there is no tomorrow, Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the rarities which truly can be described in such terms, despite its minor flaws.

Track Listing: Running Time: 73 minutes 35 seconds

Silva Screen RAIDERS-001 (1995/1981)

Music composed and conducted by John Williams. Performed by The London Symphony Orchestra. Orchestrations by Herbert W. Spencer. Recorded and mixed by Eric Tomlinson and Lionel Newman. Edited by Dan Hersch. Mastered by Steve Hoffman. Album produced by John Williams and Nick Redman.


Home Page | Reviews A-M | Reviews N-Z | Composers | Links

Movie Music U.K is designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton (c) 1998. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those of the University of Sheffield. All photos and album artwork used on Movie Music U.K. are for non-profit making promotional purposes and no copyright infringement is intended.