Published on Apr 4, 2000
John Williams has established himself as THE composer of the
modern movie era.
Jaws,
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind,
Superman,
Raiders Of The Lost Ark,
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Williams had become the person
who created the music for many of childhood’s dreams and
nightmares. (I know he did for mine).
Still the task had not become easier for Williams when it came
to this score. On the contrary, now he had to compete with
everyone’s expectations and demands – much like what he had to do,
I’m sure, for last year’s
The Phantom Menace. At the same time, he had to create new
music that would fit alongside the already-classic themes and unite
this film with the other two to create a complete body of work.
What does this all mean? It means the major themes from Episodes IV
and V find their way here. It means new themes. And it means a
score that is far lengthier than the movie it is accompanying.
So what about the new music. Williams creates four new major
themes. The first one is for the gangster, Jabba the Hutt. This
tuba-heavy ode to the grotesque space slug first appears in “Bounty
For A Wookie” and is prominent throughout the entire Tatooine part
of the score. Perhaps its most amusing use occurs during the great
action piece, “Sail Barge Assault.” As Leia uses her chain to
strangle the obese slug from its life, his theme kicks in as he
kicks the bucket. Notice that Williams did not use a triumphant
version of Princess Leia’s theme for this scene, but instead chose
to highlight Jabba getting his due. (On a side note, Williams
reuses Jabba’s Theme for his scene with Han Solo in the Tatooine
hangars during
Star Wars: A New Hope. That sets up the payoff that takes
place here.)
The second new theme presented is a very cool, ominous and dark
theme for the Emperor. Unlike the large and loud Imperial March,
the Emperor’s Theme – which first appears in “The Emperor Arrives”
– is almost religious in its nature. It’s like Williams wanted to
create the exact opposite of Yoda’s quiet and benign theme.
Featuring a male choir that sings no lyrics, Williams creates
something that sounds like a wailing of the damned or a chant by
maniacal monks. Like I said, very cool. It fit the character so
well that Williams reused it for
The Phantom Menace‘s score – as Darth Sidious’ theme.
To offset those two villanous new themes, we have first the Ewok
theme – which appears fullest on “Parade Of The Ewoks.” A tribal,
primitive romp, it is meant to raise their cuteness and underdog
status. It first appears on “Land Of The Ewoks,” where Leia meets a
member of the furry creatures. In fact, all of the music for the
Ewoks’ scenes features tribal drums and could be considered
primitive. Most interesting is “Threepio’s Bedtime Story,” where
the themes for Vader, Luke, the Force, and Han and Leia are
reorchestrated to a primitive sound as C-3PO tells the diminutive
warriors of their plight and adventures. All of this is done to
remind the audience that they are nature fighting against the evil
technology of the Empire.
The final new theme is “Luke And Leia,” which is a more mature
love theme. While “Princess Leia’s Theme” is dreamy and innocent –
perhaps for first love – and “Han Solo And The Princess” is for
romantic love, this theme is adult and meant for a more mature
relationship. After all, they are brother and sister and, no matter
how far, far away that galaxy may be, incest is not cool. What the
music states is the complex and grown relationship between the two
characters. It is not romantic, but loving.
With these new themes and the old ones in place, Williams sets
about to resolve the conflicts of the saga through music – just as
George Lucas is doing it visually. First, we have “The Death Of
Yoda,” where Williams repeats his trick from
Empire by tying Luke’s, Yoda’s and the Force Theme. That is
followed by “Obi-Wan’s Revelation,” where Luke’s past is told and
his sister’s identity revealed. When Luke finds out, the Princess’
Theme kicks in. Later on, “Brother and Sister/Father and Son” sets
up the conflicts within the Skywalker family. In the first part,
the Force theme and Luke and Leia’s Theme, Leia is told of her
past. That segues into the second part, where Vader’s Theme and
Luke’s Theme square off against one another – as each character
tries to claim the other towards its side.
The final resolutions come in the three-part “The Battle of
Endor.” Here, Williams creates thirty minutes of action music to
lead to the endgame. First up, is the land battle, where Han’s
troops and the Ewoks battle the Imperial garrisons in an attempt to
destroy the shield generator. The best piece here is “The Ewok
Battle,” where Chewbacca and the Ewoks manage to turn the Empire’s
firepower on them – the music here turns both playful and exciting.
Then, there’s the space battle. Starting with “Into the Trap,” the
music here is more frenzied and action packed. A dramatic moment
occurs when the Death Star is revealed to be operational in “Prime
Weapon Fires.” But its best moment is “The Main Reactor,” as Wedge
and Lando destroy the Death Star’s main reactor and then manage to
escape with their lives – the music exploding in rousing
triumph.
However, my favorite cues occur between the final duel in the
Emperor’s throne room. “The Dark Side Beckons” is a classic moment
where the maniacal monks return to signal Luke’s near fall to the
dark side as he finally defeats Darth Vader. That leads to “The
Emperor’s Death,” where, as his theme is reaching epic proportions,
the Force Theme juts in and cuts it off forever – signaling Vader’s
turn. Then, there’s “Darth Vader’s Death,” where Williams somehow
turns the “Imperial March” into a melancholic and tragic piece to
signal Anakin’s death.
The final resolutions come next. First up, there’s “Leia’s
News,” where Han learns of Luke’s true relationship with Leia and
of the clear path he’s got to her heart. Their love them sars and
closes that conflict. Next is “Light Of The Force,” where the Force
theme is used to signal Luke’s destruction of Darth Vader’s suit.
Here you get two versions, with the second one being the one used
in the movie’s scene. The first one is grandiose, while the second
is more tender and quiet. While I see why the second one was chosen
by Williams, Lucas and director Richard Marquand, I still prefer
the first one. Finally, there’s “Victory Celebration,” a new theme
Williams wrote specifically for the Special Edition. Their new
celebration piece follows a more traditional orchestral sound and
brings together the entire galaxy in celebration over the Empire’s
demise as well as all of the heroes for the final shot.
What makes this score so big is the inclusion of extra music not
featured in the movie. Much of “Tatooine Rendesvouz” is not to be
found in the movie, because it scores a deleted scene between Luke
and Darth Vader – where they have a telepathic conversation. Also,
most of “Obi-Wan’s Revelation” is absent from the movie. It is not
until the final piece, where Leia’s theme kicks in. Then, there’
“Jedi Rocks,” which is used to replace the original piece by
Jabba’s band. This piece drew some heated debate. While I don’t
mind it, I can see why some others would not like it. It’s entirely
up to you. Along with those, you also get another version of “Sail
Barge Assault” – which relies less on Luke’s Theme or the Rebel
Fanfare. It’s not bad, but I do love the film’s version – which I
consider one of the better action pieces in all the saga.
With
Return Of The Jedi, Lucas brought his trilogy to a close.
The story of Luke, Han and Leia was told. However, now that he’s
going through with the prequels, I think that it’ll reveal that the
saga is the story of Anakin Skywalker’s rise, fall and redemption.
I hope that the finished product reveals as rich a story as the one
in the trilogy. Like I said in the review for
A New Hope, much of the power of these movies is due to John
Williams’ music. He has managed to make the music of this universe
seem an integral part and I cannot see anyone else doing the music
for the next two movies. And that may be the best compliment I can
give him.