Raiders Of The Lost Ark

Raiders Of The Lost Ark

Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

DCC Compact Classics Records, 1981

REVIEW BY: Alfredo Narvaez

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 08/06/2000

I must start this review by thanking all those folks thatdropped by and read my reviews of the Star Wars Trilogy soundtracks. Particularly the folks at TheForce.net and Star Wars Database for directing traffic this way.Thanks!

Now, if you read those reviews, you may have noticed that Irefer to the late '70s-early '80s as John Williams' Golden Period.Why? Because of the amount of quality work that he released duringthat time! Starting with Jaws (whose soundtrack will be reviewed here soon) andrunning to Return Of The Jedi, I consider all of his stuff necessaryfor anyone who enjoys great movie music. (Of course, he would go onand do other great scores -- Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, Schindler's List, Jurassic Park among others -- but these would be spacedbetween less-than-stellar works.)

Among those scores from his heyday, Mr. Williams bestowed upon asimple movie adventure one of his greatest. Set against thebackdrop of World War II, Raiders Of The Lost Ark introduced Indiana Jones to themovie-going world and instantly placed it in its pantheon ofheroes. Both director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucasmust have known that this type of movie would require someepic-style adventure music. Lucky for them, they had the bestcomposer available on speed dial.

Any mention of this score must begin with the classic "Raiders'Theme" -- AKA "dum-duh-dum-dum, dum-duh-dum." Again, Williams isable to aptly catch the essence of a character in a single piece ofmusic. Indy is the larger-than-life hero that forever lives on thelargest movie screens. He can outfight, outfox and outshoot anyonein his path -- be it Nazis, Amazonian warriors or even nests ofsnakes.