Friday – a review, but not a movie

Too much good stuff is happening at once. Enterprise has only a few episodes left to air (and we are getting this 4th season on DVD, because it’s clearly been the best), and yet at the same time, I must pay attention to Star Wars, because Episode 3 is out in less than 2 weeks. Good times…

Anyway, I bought the Episode 3 soundtrack a couple of days ago. I love John Williams’ music. It is just fabulous. My Dad has the Star Wars vinyl LP record from 1977 and we listened to it all the time when I was little. I now own the CDs. I think he’s probably one of the best, if not THE best, movie composers of all time. So of course I was anxious to hear the Episode 3 CD.

It is great. It brings in so many different themes from all the other movies (although I would have liked to hear “Luke and Leia” from Jedi brought back, but I will keep in mind that this is not a complete movie soundtrack), and the finale/credits must have either been Lucas’ idea or Williams’ payoff to the London Symphony Orchestra (if I were them, I would have asked for it). The finale reprises two classic pieces – “Princess Leia’s Theme” and “The Throne Room” from Star Wars – and includes the “big” piece for this movie, “Battle of the Heroes.” Strains of “The Imperial March” are artfully threaded into the music, the chorus is back, and there is something positively Harry Potter-ish (which Williams also did) in the music for the “Birth of the Twins.” Ohhh, it is good.

The bonus of buying the CD is that it comes with a DVD full of music videos. Taking the best music, Lucasfilm has made these montages, with narration by Ian McDiarmid (the Emperor). It works well for the suite music, especially “The Imperial March” and “Duel of the Fates” and all the other stand-alone music, but not so well for the music cues lifted directly from the movies. I expect to see those scenes as they were shown with their music, not other shots cut to fit the music. It’s okay, but not great. Also, the DVD is VERY skimpy on Episode 3 clips. The only one that pays off for that is the “Battle of the Heroes” segment, but even that doesn’t show much beyond what has already been seen in movie trailers (with the exception of a few scenes, but nothing revealing). The DVD is more like a 70 minute flashback to John Williams’ past and present genius, rather than a sneak peek of anything. But it’s fun, and it is free with the soundtrack. So no more complaining from me.

What am I going to do after May 2005 is over? No more Star Trek on TV (for now), no more Star Wars movies to come out… I guess I’ll just have to have this baby. And make sure the Munchkin gets a wading pool for the summer.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 6th, 2005 at 6:36 pm and is filed under Media.
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