The Indiana Jones Trilogy

It's hard to think of more than a handful of films with instantly hummable scores: Jaws, the Bond movies, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, but Mr. Jones sure drew the long straw! The seven rising notes of the main Raiders theme turn us all into "Name That Tune" contestants in seconds. On this CD John Williams' magnificent scores are given the Czechoslovakian once-over by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, tightly conducted by Nic Raine.

If you like your film scores big, this ones XXL, instantly transporting you to the tangled jungles of South America on hair-raising adventures. The undertones of mystery and suspense suffused with mortal danger and a hefty dollop of derring-do make this one of the most perfect scores ever written. From "The Raiders March" which first introduces us to that unforgettable Indiana Jones melody, to the melancholic "Marion's Theme" the adventurer lurking in even the most resolute couch potato must surely be stirred.

The CD covers all of Indiana Jones' three epics and the expert evocations never let up. If you remember the underground chase in The Temple of Doom, Track 10 ("The Mine Car Chase") will have you on the edge of your seat all over again.

The best all-round sound capturing the original films' feel comes in track 7, simply called "Raiders of the Lost Ark". It'll transport you back to the first time you saw this magical film, a rarity in an era when Hollywood moguls had foolishly assumed the era of the boys-own-adventure-flick was long past, and a time when cinemas were being demolished at an alarming rate. This score, like the film it so brilliantly and exuberantly illustrates, is John Williams at his dramatic and comic best, a style often copied but never bettered. And this is a glorious tribute.