Product Description

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, film score Composed by John Williams Performed by London Symphony Orchestra Conducted by John Williams

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The Star Wars cycle, George Lucas's stellar pop parable cum merchandising blitzkrieg, has long since made history as an unparalleled cinematic-cultural-marketing phenomena; somewhere Billy Jack should be in one envious, ass-kickin' mood. Phantom Menace, easily the most eagerly anticipated film of the '90s, returns to the saga's roots and allows Lucas to flesh out the history of some of the fable's core characters and conjure up a dazzling new cast of cohorts, antagonists, and alien realms for them to interact with and in. Thus, all composer John Williams had to do was essentially reinvent the world's most popular wheel. The film-scoring legend has admirably risen to that daunting challenge, delivering an inventive score whose dynamics should surprise and delight even the most ardent SW fanatic. The Main Title and a few oh-so-sparing bars of a familiar Jedi theme are all that remains from the original trilogy's lexicon, Williams having evolved the saga's musical language, stylistic reach, and orchestral palette with masterful subtlety. The composer's most ambitious surprise is the welcome addition of strong choral elements, which he uses in ways both majestic ("Duel of the Fates") and menacing ("Passage Through the Planet's Core"). And though the film revolves around a young boy (Anakin Skywalker, who will grow to be both corrupted and redeemed as Darth Vader), the only flirtation with cloying sentimentality comes with the innocently loping "Jar Jar's Introduction." In the tradition of the Cantina and Max Rebo's Band of the previous trilogy, Williams and Lucas close out this musical installment with "Augie's Municipal Band," a Carnivale-esque romp that segues grandly into the composer's swelling title music. Williams may be the master of a grand scoring tradition, but Phantom Menace is gratifying evidence that he seldom plays it safe--even when the Force is with him. --Jerry McCulley

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Discs and Tracks

Disc 1
  1 - Star Wars Main Title and the Arrival at Naboo
  2 - Duel of the Fates
  3 - Anakin's Theme
  4 - Jar Jar's Introduction and the Swim to Otoh Gunga
  5 - The Sith Spacecraft and the Droid Battle
  6 - The Trip to the Naboo Temple and the Audience with Boss Nass
  7 - The Arrival at Tatooine and the Flag Parade
  8 - He is the Chosen One
  9 - Anakin Defeats Sebulba
  10 - Passage Through the Planet Core
  11 - Watto's Deal and Kids at Play
  12 - Panaka and the Queen's Protectors
  13 - Queen Amidala and the Naboo Palace
  14 - The Droid Invasion and The Appearance of Darth Maul
  15 - Qui-Gon's Noble End
  16 - The High Council Meeting and Qui-Gon's Funeral
  17 - Augie's Municipal Band and End Credits

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Longer ago and further away....        Rating:

Ten years ago, STAR WARS came back in the form of THE PHANTOM MENACE. And I was one of the first to go out and purchase the eagerly awaited soundtrack by John Williams.

Needless to say I was in awe! Even after I saw the movie and was subsequently disappointed, I was still enamored by this music. Although "Duel of the Fates" felt a little out of place in the Star Wars universe (don't get me wrong, it's an awesome piece of music), it eventually grew on me, especially after getting incorporated into the succeeding prequel scores, ATTACK OF THE CLONES and REVENGE OF THE SITH.

I still think the soundtrack would have been improved if John Williams had used more of the Tatooine themes from A NEW HOPE (perhaps excerpts from "Binary Sunset" or "Mos Eisley Spaceport").

But after ten years, it's much more Star Wars-ish to me now than it once was. It's still a fun musical adventure, full of excitement and wonder.

Par for the course for John Williams.

a classic soundtrack to a classic movie        Rating:

star wars episode I the phantom meance was a awesome movie a true classic best movie of 1999 and the soundtrack was just as good buy this soundtrack you wont be sorry

Great CD        Rating:

John Williams did a fantastic job with the music for this movie. Great music, one precaution to those who collect 'complete recordings' this is NOT a complete recording. (The complete recordings for this movie have a blue faced Darth Maul on the cover.)

Great cd for a great movie.        Rating:

This was my favorite star wars movie, so i had to get the sound track. the song i like the best: Duel of the fates. darth maul has the coolest fight music, next to Final Fantasy 7's Sephiroth's One-Winged Angel. i used this sound track in a lot of my music videoes. i recommend it, if for no other reason, it StarWars.

Bought Only For "Duel of Fates"        Rating:

Yea, I did. I love that song and found this album for less than $1 so I went ahead and bought it. Most of the track are excellent including the last one. Worth the money!

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