John Williams/London Symphony Orchestra - Star Wars Trilogy (Box Set) Review

When I first saw George Lucas' Star Wars (aka Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope) in the fall of 1977, not only was my imagination totally blown away by its story, characters and fantastic visuals, but I almost instantly became enchanted by the music composed for its score by John Williams.

Although I had often paid attention to movie themes before I saw Lucas' space fantasy film set "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away,"  I'd never been so entralled by a film score until I listened closely to Williams' neo-Romantic styled score on that Saturday in mid-October of 1977 when I finally went to see the movie everyone and his (or her) cousin was talking about .

Because I was familiar with science-fiction A and B movies from the 1950s and '60s, I expected the music from Star Wars to be futuristic, minimalistic and full of electronic sounds and other-worldly ambiances.

To my surprise, with the exception of the two Cantina Band tracks heard in A New Hope, most of Williams' music sounded as though it had been written in the 19th Century, especially because the composer, a classically-trained musician who had studied at Julliard, was using Richard Wagner's leitmotiv technique of writing themes for characters, settings and even abstract concepts such as the Force.

And ever since one of my mom's friends gave me the original double-LP original soundtrack album as my 15th birthday present, I've tried to buy every available recording of the John Williams/London Symphony Orchestra recordings of the scores for Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

Though this isn't the cheapest or even the most logical of quests, this means that not only have I bought the original (and somewhat abridged) 1977, 1980 and 1983 recordings, but also the following reissues:

The Star Wars Trilogy: The Original Soundtrack Anthology (1993), a four-CD set which, though based on the widely-available mass-release albums, tried to present the music in as close to chronological order as the "concert hall" edits permitted.  Producer Nick Redman also added many previously unreleased tracks or expanded a few of the existing ones with additional material.

The Special Edition soundtracks, which were released between January and March of 1997 in conjunction with the 20th Anniversary re-release of the Classic Trilogy.  The six discs present 99.9% of the music Williams composed for A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.

The 2004 Star Wars Trilogy Sony Classical reissue of the same musical material contained in the 1997 Special Edition, with all-new packaging designed along the same lines of the original Star Wars Trilogy DVD set.

My Viewpoint:

Say what you will about the two existing Star Wars Trilogy DVD sets, but one undeniable fact is that one thing that has not changed is the enduring appeal of composer/conductor Williams' classic scores for the 1977-83 trio of films that pitted Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Obi-Wan Kenobi against the forces of the evil Empire and the Jedi-turned-Sith Lord, Darth Vader.

To mark the release of the 2004 DVD set, Sony Classical  revamped and reissued the 1997 Special Edition soundtracks and created a beautiful box set that complements the packaging of the Widescreen Edition DVDs.

In an elegant silver and black slipcover, the three slimline 2-CD jewel cases include holographic cover art that matches that on the DVD cases, a collectible poster/track list, and the scores on newly remastered Digital Stream Discs (which have improved sound quality and clarity, especially on top-of-the-line stereos) , as well as exclusive screensavers accessible through Sony Classical's Star Wars web page.

As expected, John Williams' music for A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi is brilliantly performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. With 74 tracks and over six hours of music, this six-CD set is arguably the most complete collection of original soundtrack material yet released.

If you own the 1997 RCA Victor Special Edition soundtracks, however, there is no new unreleased material here. Indeed, track sequences and titles in both the 1997 and 2004 albums are identical, and there are no detailed program notes.

Still, the box set is reasonably priced; it's actually cheaper than buying each soundtrack album separately, so if your older CDs are getting worn out or you just want these CDs for their extra features, then you might want to purchase this box set.