EMERGENCY BROADCASTS  ::  JUNE 22 2005

THE SOUNDTRACK REVIEW

FOR

Thanks to iTunes releasing their exclusive album download offer, we can hear the full John Williams soundtrack for Steven Spielberg's upcoming alien epic, WAR OF THE WORLDS, a week earlier than expected.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS: since the track titles have been available for weeks and I haven't seen the film, I doubt my review of the soundtrack alone would present much spoiler risk to readers — BUT if you're avoiding all spoiler info about the film, consider turning back now so you don't learn anything by accident.

Fair warning: let's take John Williams' WAR OF THE WORLDS soundtrack for a spin.

Suitably ethereal, off-planet mood music opens the track. I can imagine a filmed prologue similar in function to that of the 1953 George Pal film, but much more economic and pointed in its focus on the impending danger looming over (or under) Earth. The sharpest contrast to the '53 version would be Morgan Freeman's subdued reading of the prologue text — nearly identical to Welles' 1938 radio preamble and the 1953 film opening, and thus an edited-down highlight of Wells' own novel-opening passage. The 2005 setup is a brief, and I suspect, efficient start to this 21st century invasion.

Freeman (and presumably Spielberg) happily disregard Sir Cedric Hardwicke's rather pompous, biblical intonation which starts George Pal's film, now viewed as a wildly uninformed tour of our solar system that seemed better suited for a Cecil B. DeMille religious epic than a 50s sci-fi flick.

Instead, Freeman narrates it with an understated, serious tone of voice. Gone is Orson Welles' heightened radio theater acting, as is his more dramatic voice of doom interpretation, tempered only by his very youthful vocal range. Freeman's performance sets up this story as more believable than previous versions, which came off like Cliffs Notes of a tragic opera yet to be staged. The tone and pacing of Morgan Freeman's reading introduce the anticipation, the suspense of what will next unfold from the hands of Steven Spielberg . . . and there's a hint in Freeman's voice which seems to imply: you're not going to believe your eyes. Freeman strikes me as an excellent choice for the job.

Starting off with one of Williams' strengths as a film composer: escape/pursuit scoring, and a piece reminiscent of his work in the 70s, specifically with CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND in both tone and intensity. I consider the 70s Williams' finest era as an innovative-yet-popular score composer, and this track alone harkens back to his work three decades ago in his emerging prime — a most welcome sign in a 2005 film score.

The piston-pumping strings are a strong callback to I Can't Believe It's Real, track 4 from CLOSE ENCOUNTERS wherein Roy and Gillian race across the Wyoming wilderness in their reckless quest to reach Devil's Tower. In WAR OF THE WORLDS, it seems another classic Spielberg/Williams chase is on, and the ever-returning strings and punctuating brass keep up the relentless pace until the strings fade out. I appreciate the subtle nod to Bernard Herrmann and his signature usage of taut, low string motifs, amplifying the sense of intrigue and danger throughout.

A peaceful contrast to the preceding track, but the high voices and spare instrumentation sound more wistful and lamenting, rather than providing a calm after the storm. Indeed, the track quickly builds, offering an aural panorama of — perhaps — the aftermath wasteland seen after the alien attack. At least that's how it sounds to my imagination. There's a tone of silent elegy to the piece, as if stunned survivors fleeing for safety are both glad to be alive yet mourning so many lost around or behind them. Though the pace is slowed, there is still great drama felt in the composition as it builds a sense of emotional urgency, concluding as it began with an even simpler presentation of airy vocal chorale, spiritual yet lamenting instead of uplifting. I would presume the troubles have only started, and our characters still have a long, dark journey ahead of them.

An educated guess would suggest this track supports the 'cracking street pavement' scene, which appears to herald the first appears of the alien aggressors on Earth, more specifically in Ray Ferrier's neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey. The ears of Williams fans will immediately pick up the suspenseful build-up of tension and impending revelation, a stabbing collision of the JAWS theme with the scariest segment of The Abduction of Barry from CLOSE ENCOUNTERS. Much of Williams' creepy, insect-like buzzing effect attributed to the aliens in CE3K returns in WAR to great effect, and it still carries its unnerving auditory sting that just screams "alien invaders" in the Williams canon.

The relentlessly pursuant strings also harken back strongly to Stravinsky's Rite of Spring: for movie fans who know it best from Disney's FANTASIA, this would be the passage where the animated T Rex rampages the land in a thunderstorm, a carnivorous freight train driving all other creatures before him in terror. A tireless eating machine . . . sounds a lot like JAWS, doesn't it? This isn't the first time Williams has paid homage to Stravinsky in scoring such cinematic moments. I would guess the destructive machine theme fits the alien tripods' chaotic attack on mankind, as well.

I don't know how the scene itself will turn out, but John Williams pumps up the tension and otherworldly terror for 4 minutes and 13 seconds. Sounds like the groundwork for a stunning opening salvo in the WAR OF THE WORLDS.

A mellow, soulful score that no doubt provides the humanity and sense of family at the heart of this global war film. Even so, it begins and sustains a somber mood with sweeping mid and low strings. The piece likely speaks volumes about the father/daughter relationship between Ray and Rachel, but one hears both a sense of love and sadness between them. This is easily Williams' most emotional track in the score, yet the serious tone he evokes in it prevents it from rising too far above the horrendous context of war around the characters. As engaging and emotive an actress as Dakota Fanning is, I suspect (but can't yet prove) that this track speaks as much if not more to Ray's reported failings as a father and provider for his children, especially young Rachel.

Once again, such a scored moment would be lighter and more uplifting as heard in other Spielberg stories, but Williams still cannot let the audience "off the hook" with all the destruction surrounding this relationship in WAR. That alone may well make the emotion invested in the piece all the more effective in this film, especially for such a short track (2:40).

A dynamic piece, with low, opening strings that are a strong callback to The Abduction of Barry, track 3 from CLOSE ENCOUNTERS — ominous trouble is brewing. An immediate shift to a more hectic pace with strings, percussion and and deep brass which also reminds of the chase/pursuit passages in Climbing Devil's Tower and Night Siege, CE3K tracks 5 and 7 respectively. The main difference in WAR's soundtrack is the lack of that brighter, happier perspective on alien visitation which always uplifts the listener of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: thundering strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion play very dark, but inevitably Williams lifts you up and out of it with higher tones of flutes, trumpets and melodic cues that transform nocturnal mystery into starry wonder. No such uplifting rescue is offered in Escaping the City, which underscores Spielberg's intent (and a wise one it is) to make his WAR more like real war, ending with somber, rumbling piano chords and strings just as it began.

In running time and scale of emotion, this feels like the true opening of the film score, and a strong, forceful start it is.

The most understated track from the score, and given Williams' body of work I can assume this piece keeps in the background to support visual and dramatic tension on the screen. Trying to pack a full orchestra passage into a basement would be overkill, so the track offers mainly high-tension, drawn out strings combined with rolling, deep piano chords which imply a highly suspenseful scene of psychological terror that Spielberg can deliver so masterfully. A rather unstructured, minimalist musical passage with various motifs of built-up tension and release tied to visuals that may have audiences squirming in their seats.

Its sounds very much like all its title would imply: strings and somber horns depict a quiet heroism of roaming survivors, refugees of a disaster seeking safe haven but in a procession rather than a panicked rout. A second track where less is more, as Williams often demonstrates skillfully at his best. Reminiscent of the tone in some passages from SCHINDLER'S LIST, but without the cultural stamps put on the music that masterpiece, Refugee Status embodies the same spirit of humanity, of loss, of strength and honor in the face of defeat. In a way, this track strikes my ear as a theme for no character in particular, but a tribute to the global family of humans who must be facing the same crisis around the world as are those wandering survivors depicted in the scene.

A hectic skirmish of strings, horns and drums offer an abrupt change of pace from the previous track. Again, even stronger homage to the more the menacing energy found in Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, with influence from JAWS as well. In purpose it also reminds me of Williams' action/thrill-based works for the STAR WARS saga, mostly his breakneck pacing found in The Asteroid Field from Episode V, but without the high-octane heroics that make the piece a triumphant roller coaster ride. The Attack on the Car substitutes tension and constant threat in the mid-to-low registers in place of EMPIRE's dazzling brass highlights. Williams' aim in this piece seems to focus on the menace of a surrounding attack which must be endured and survived; a gauntlet run through swarming danger, not a heroic narrow escape from a linear enemy pursuit. The entire composition implies threats from any angle, if not every angle — the kind of score track that grabs you by the ears and refuses to loosen its grasp.

Williams demonstrates his uncanny skill in creating delicate scoring which reaches the emotional core of a film without overpowering it. A low base of strings provides the grounding for a wistful piano arpeggio (at least in my utter lack of musical training, that's what I would say it most resembles) in a quiet piece that evokes imagery of a cold, isolating autumn or winter mood seen in trailer glimpses from the film. The piano performance is soft yet holds its power to embody the theme of separation in a manner few besides Williams can compose. Its tone reminds me of the subtle passages found in ALWAYS with their dream-like quality, but definitely tinged with sadness. The isolation of the piano from the base of cellos and bass effectively underscores the separation experienced by the Ferrier family.

The same subtle piano work returns briefly in the opening of this track, soon replaced and overpowered by sinewy violins which are a bit reminiscent of Jerry Goldsmith's haunting space suite for ALIEN. But soon Williams returns to the menacing mode first heard in CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, featuring a dizzying buzz of rising strings and horns which build into a early crescendo. Williams then returns to the low end of the orchestra, slowly building new suspense which is released in a more dynamic revelation of piercing strings and winds, carried by thudding drum beats. Confrontation is definitely the key, both in the track's title and its composition, which varies taut suspense with high-impact beats of seemingly violent power, cranking up the dramatic tension with every movement.

The tone and mood of the soundtrack definitely rise in Track 12, which begins with a passage most reminiscent of Into the Trap found on the JEDI score, but more grounded in an Earthly campaign instead of the grand, sweeping scale of space opera. Obviously I can't match it to film action at this early stage, but it sounds like the fate of our characters and humanity at large are improving by this point. The composition opens with broadening layers of strings which may be setting up some action on a grander scale, much like the opening of . Then a marshaling of low, staccato strings and horns march into the passage, eventually uplifted further by more heroic trumpets and horns. This passage calls back, in a less brash manner, to a snippet from The Battle of Hoth from EMPIRE, and the galloping pace of Desert Chase from RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK without the iconic character leitmotif. All 1980s work by Williams, and consistent with that era of his compositional style and approach.

A dark, ominous opening returns for this track, similar to the feel of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: low horns laced with surging strings above and below as tension builds, pauses, then builds again. The cello arrangement has a touch of Herrmann again in use but not in theme. A somewhat abstract composition that ebbs and flows, yet always progresses, it proposes a sense of great mystery and perhaps revelation, quite like The Arrival of Sky Harbor from CE3K. After a bombastic midpoint crescendo, a churning, hectic tempo returns similar to The Intersection Scene above with more homage to Herrmann and Stravinsky with the full range of the orchestra. Definitely a more seriously-toned track after the heroic composition in The Return to Boston.

Opening with a noble horn solo, Track 14 fits right in with more recent Williams scores, especially SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. The horn is joined in counterpoint with a wistful piano that recalls The Separation of The Family, likely on purpose I would guess. Strings that bookend Refugee Status come into play next, backed by a larger horn reprise which leads into a return of Morgan Freeman's narrative end piece, which is delivered much as he opened the score and the film. I will not describe the text of this passage to avoid spoilers, but it seems most fitting and, I suspect, an accurate reflection on how this modern retelling of WAR OF THE WORLDS varies from previous versions in eras long since past.

Presumably the closing credits score for the film, if indeed these tracks are in scene order and we're already heard Freeman's narrative postscript. If so, I can imagine audiences sitting quietly stunned in their seats and the names roll by, still absorbing the previous two hours of alien invasion and human drama amid the WAR OF THE WORLDS. A somber yet engaging piece that I'm confident fits the overall tone and intent of Spielberg's version of this classic tale: neither a triumphant celebration nor a funeral dirge, Epilogue sounds and feels like everything the track title implies . . . the summation of a visually astounding and emotionally involving experience.

Overall, I would rank John Williams' soundtrack for WAR OF THE WORLDS among his better efforts, though perhaps not one of his most commercially-appealing scores. No doubt these compositions marry beautifully with their film scene counterparts, but solely as a listening experience, this score acts more like a symphonic work than a popcorn-movie medley of rousing hero themes. I liken it a great deal to his work in CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, but lacking the soaring, redemptive emotional and compositional heights reached in the jaw-dropping finale of that 1978 masterpiece. WAR OF THE WORLDS offers no such escape from the seriousness and severity of its story, nor should it, and Williams follows suit brilliantly in this stirring, pulse-pounding score.

PURCHASE THE ENTIRE SOUNDTRACK AT iTUNES. WARNING: if you want to avoid POTENTIAL MOVIE SPOILERS, skip tracks 1, 14 and 15.

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