Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Soundtrack Review Posted by: Joe Tracy, Publisher

Soundtrack Composer: John Williams
Length of Soundtrack: One hour and 14 minutes
Rating: 4 out of 5 (see Overall for explanation)

Tracks:
1 - Star Wars Main Title and the Arrival at Naboo
2 - Duel of the Fates
3 - Anakin's Theme
4 - Jar Jar's Introduction and the Swim to Otoh Gunga
5 - The Sith Spacecraft and the Droid Battle
6 - The Trip to the Naboo Temple and the Audience with Boss Nass
7 - The Arrival at Tatooine and the Flag Parade
8 - He is the Chosen One
9 - Anakin Defeats Sebulba
10 - Passage Through the Planet Core
11 - Watto's Deal and Kids at Play
12 - Panaka and the Queen's Protectors
13 - Queen Amidala and the Naboo Palace
14 - The Droid Invasion and the Appearance of Darth Maul
15 - Qui-Gon's Noble End
16 - The High Council Meeting and Qui-Gon's Funeral
17 - Augie's Municipal Band and End Credits

Having a Star Wars movie without John Williams as the composer is like having Darth Vader without the voice of James Earl Jones. The two go hand in hand.

John Williams composed and conducted the music for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and like with his other compositions, he nailed it, making his music one of the only bright spots in a rather disappointing movie.

One thing John Williams thrives at is creating memorial compositions and he’s done it again, this time with “Duel of the Fates,” the second score on the album. “Duel of the Fates” is easily the best composition John Williams has created in the new trilogy. It’s a majestic conflicting harmony with choral elements that heighten the senses and emotions of the listener. It’s very moving and conflicting. It’s both threatening and alluring at the same time. This is one of those scores that only John Williams can do.

Another good score is “Anakin’s Theme” which starts out with pure childhood innocence but ends with a slightly darker, yet still innocent, flare from William’s Imperial March, providing that slight taste of things to come. In fact, in virtually the entire Phantom Menace soundtrack, Williams does a splendid job of interacting innocence with foreshadowing to build anticipation in the audience of things to come.

I also give Williams props for his very moving score, “The High Council Meeting and Qui-Gon’s Funeral”. This harmonious emotional piece really does justice for the death of a great Jedi. Williams is the type of person you’d want to score your funeral as he has a way of masterfully capturing your nobility and preserving it for all time.

I was tempted to give the soundtrack a review of 4 out of 5 because of the music that accompanies Jar-Jar Binks. Yet, it’s not right to punish the messenger for a message the king ordered him to give. The simple fact is that Jar-Jar Binks ruins Star Wars: The Phantom Menace as a movie. Yet Williams score does the best job it can with what it was given. The music works. The movie doesn’t.

You’ve got to hand it to Williams. His music is timeless and no matter how old he gets he still has that masterful composer’s touch.

Favorite Selections From the CD
Duel of the Fates
Anakin’s Theme
The Appearance of Darth Maul
The High Council Meeting and Qui-Gon’s Funeral

Least Favorite Selections From the CD
Watto’s Deal and Kids at Play

Words to Describe Soundtrack
Rich, majestic, moving, exciting, emotional, masterful

Overall
There is one minor flaw with the soundtrack that isn’t the fault of Williams. There are two songs to many tracks with one generally fading into the other. For example, Augie’s Great Municipal Band fades into the End Credits on the same track, therefore you can’t skip one to hear the other. This flaw earns the CD 4 out of 5 stars, but should not be attributed to Williams or his music, which is worthy of a 5 out of 5. It is an excellent soundtrack. With Williams scoring, you can rarely go wrong.

Note
This review is of the original soundtrack. There is also a 2-CD Ultimate Edition of the same soundtrack with more score selections and the songs properly separated so that you can skip one to hear another. Both are available in our Movie Soundtracks store.

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