Track Listing

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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10625 in Music
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 1999-05-04
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Customer Reviews

Why do they release such an incomplete score?
I am a huge admirer of John Williams' work. I think he isundoubtedly one of the greatest score composers of all time. Many ofthe beloved movies of our time, especially by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, would be incomplete without Williams' magic. Since the music for the "Star Wars" films are among his most impressive achievements, I was really curious about his score for "Episode I". Let's start with the good news. Williams has once again managed to elevate the movie. There may be less recognizeable themes in this score, but when you watch the movie, you can understand why. The film is more of a setup, without many quiet or lyrical moments. The real drama will happen in the next films and the score also reflects that. Still, there are many nice and effective little motives in the score. I especially liked the one for the battle-droids (I liked them in the movie, too. They just look and sound so great). "Anakins Theme" wonderfully foreshadows the "Imperial March" and "Duel of the Fates" gives the lightsaber duel the pathos that it needs. My problem with the soundtrack CD is not what it does contain but what it does not. The soundtrack is 74 minutes long, but in the film, there are over 105 minutes of music. Why, for example, is the part where Qui-Gon fights with Darth Maul on Tatooine, not on the soundtrack, or the music when the two Jedi arrive at Theed. John Williams made the same mistake with the soundtracks for "Indiana Jones 2 and 3", which are also far too short. If one CD is not sufficient for all tracks, why don't they produce a double-CD. I'm sure there are enough fans out there to make it worthwile. I do also not understand why the cues aren't in chronological order. It would be less confusing. Despite all this quibbles, "The Phantom Menace" is a must for all lovers of John Williams and of great film scores. Perhaps Williams releases the rest of the score on another CD, and by the way, I'm still waiting for the expanded editions of "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and also of "Last Crusade" (one of his best). After all, they did release an expanded version of "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

GREAT score, Album is a SELLOUT
This CD is a horrific example of what happens when great music meets bad record label. No tracks on this CD are intact, are are fragments carelessly strewn around. This is due to the carelessness and arrogance of Sony Classical. After a 5 million dollar buy on Sony's part, Williams and Lucas decided to sell out their classical work. It contains no portions of Qui-Gons theme or the briefly stated (new for episode 1) Obi-Wan's theme. This album should have gotten the 2 CD RCA victor treatment like the Special editions soundtracks did. I was shocked. I DEMAND, ALONG WITH MANY OTHER FANS- A TWO CD SET!

At least the music's good
The music is the best thing about the "Star Wars" prequels because John Williams succeeds where George Lucas has failed abysmally. Rather than jettisoning his old work in some obsessive pursuit of innovation, Williams moves forward while reworking key elements of the original scores to create the thematic connections Lucas's plodding writing cannot possibly secure. He doesn't just duplicate his work from the original trilogy - he transposes aspects of it into an entirely new register, both musically and emotionally. "Anakin's Theme" adapts the old Imperial March into a new key, in a neat foreshadowing of Anakin's fate. While "Duel of the Fates" is not only a chilling backdrop to a lightsaber battle; its choral references to 'Carmina Burana' and other German masterworks help activate latent fears about the evils of our own time. Williams really knows what he's doing here - he seems to be the only member of the prequel crew who does. The result is music which is beautiful, intelligent and stunningly effective. If only he wrote screenplays, too...