Review Summary: Williams has once again proved himself to be the master he is
Remember when the trailer to “The Phantom Menace” hit the airwaves? Remember when people went to the theatre and paid for movie tickets just to see that trailer? Remember when people waited in line for weeks to be the first to get “Phantom Menace” tickets? And do you remember how shocked people were when they realized that it sucked? How much of a bummer that was? Well, despite the lack of any actual substance in that movie, what no one can disagree on is that the soundtrack is amazing and brilliant. John Williams is truly the only reason people actually remember this movie.
In the film's two hours, not once does the quality of John’s songwriting deteriorate. From the Main Theme which to this day still blows us away following the “A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...” text that makes the hairs on your neck stand. To the dark and eerie Sith spacecraft theme, to the parade ensemble, “The Flag Parade”, to Anakin’s Theme. Romantic and beautiful. But the best part is that Williams has integrated the Imperial March in the cue. And we all know where it ends. Brilliant!
Perhaps the most memorable song on the record aside the Main Theme is Duel of the Fates. George Lucas knew the final lightsaber duel would be badass, so John was asked to write an epic song, and Duel of the Fates does just that. The choir is remarkable. The instrumentation is flawless. In fact, this song was so genius, some people even take the measure of making comments like “If this movie was as good as Duel of the Fates, how good would it be?
The only flop in this album is "Anakin Defeats Sebulba". It just never seems to click. It just doesn't really get exciting. With "Duel of the Fates, at least it sounds like he tried (which so obviously he did)
All in all, this is a perfect soundtrack that makes up for many of the flaws in “The Phantom Menace”. Williams definitely brought his A game to this movie.
