It’s Jurassic June!! To celebrate the 29th anniversary of Jurassic Park, here at Renovatio Records, we are very proud to present our next release: the score for the 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park composed by non-other than maestro John Williams. Based on the novel by Michael Crichton and directed by Steven Spielberg, Jurassic Park is considered by many as one of the greatest science fictions films ever made, as well as a landmark in the development of computer-generated imagery and animatronic special effects. Starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Ariana Richards, Joseph Mazzello, Samuel L. Jackson, and Wayne Knight, the film is set on the fictional island of Isla Nublar, near the coast of Costa Rica, where wealthy industrialist John Hammond has created a wildlife theme park of cloned living dinosaurs, accomplished by extracting DNA from prehistoric mosquitoes preserved in amber. When the park’s investors demand a safety certification after an island worker is killed by one of the dinosaurs, Hammond recruits paleontologists Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler, along with mathematician Ian Malcolm, to inspect the park and give formal endorsements. However, while on the tour, all hell breaks loose when the park’s disgruntled lead computer programmer shuts down the security system to steal dinosaur embryos after being bribed by a competing bioengineering company. With the dinosaurs roaming free, the group and even Hammond’s own grandchildren struggle to survive and escape the perilous island.
Jurassic Park premiered on June, 1993, and went on to gross over $912 million worldwide in its original theatrical run, becoming the highest-grossing film ever at the time. Audiences loved it and reviews were highly positive, praising its astounding technical achievements. And even to this day, it cannot be denied that Jurassic Park represents a breaking point in the Hollywood movie business. Furthermore, in recent years, even more praise has been put on the themes the movie deals with, such as human hubris, the morality of scientific discoveries, and most importantly, the responsibility entailed by the act of creating life. Spielberg and his usual group of collaborators were in top form, expertly balancing these themes and commentaries while at the same time providing what is by many the perfect blend between wonder and horror, something that is also reflected by John Williams’ score, one of the most memorable of his entire career.
The collaboration between Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams needs little introduction, Jurassic Park being the twelfth time they worked together. From the get-go, Williams intended to, as he puts it, have pieces that would “create a sense of the awe you’d feel seeing those magnificent creatures.” To accomplish this, he envisioned two primary themes for the movie, each with different purposes. First, a bold brass adventurous motif to represent the happiness and thrill that would be produced by a place such as a theme park with dinosaurs, and secondly, a lovely string and choir wonder theme mostly associated with the magnificence and gentleness of the herbivores. Both themes are presented quite early in the score, making their debut in the lengthy track “Journey to the Island”, and are some of the best music Williams has written in his extensive and successful career, immediately recognized by people throughout the world. As if that was not enough, Williams scores each major sequence of the film in a distinctive way, giving each scene a different identity. For the carnivores, Williams provides a menacing and growling four-note motif, used mostly in the second half of the film to suggest in Jaws-fashion that the predators are viciously stalking on their human preys. This motif is eerily presented with a sakauhachi flute in the opening track, “Opening Titles”, and later used by low brass instruments in cues like “The Raptor Attack”, with terrifying effect. An effective “panic” theme, consisting of a four-note progression, is introduced in the middle section of “The Falling Car and the T-Rex Chase” and further explored during “High Wire Stunts” to represent the peril the main characters are constantly being faced with. But not all is suspense music, as there are many passages in the score that evoke calmness and a much needed sense of comfort. “A Tree for My Bed”, for example, features a lovely lullaby-style arrangement of the score wonder theme, while the first half of “My Friend, the Brachiosaurus” effectively uses the sad waltz of a carousel to underscore a scene in which Hammond laments on all going wrong with his park. Similarly, “Ailing Triceratops” and the latter half of “My Friend, the Brachiosaurus” treat the non-threatening herbivore dinosaurs almost from a childlike perspective, featuring instances playful pizzicato strings, as well as tender and warm French horns. Williams also shows off his skills to come up with textural suspense, and to accompany Dennis Nedry, the computer programmer, as he sabotages the island and steals the dinosaur embryos, the composer plays around with a stealthy string melody over electronic bass, rambling piano, tinkling percussion and flute wails. The action music in Jurassic Park is also phenomenal, with the relentless “Incident at Isla Nublar” and “The Falling Car and the T-Rex Chase”, as well as the sensational “T-Rex Rescue and Finale” demonstrating the mastery with which Williams uses the full orchestra to expertly build sequences of tension and thrill. The score reaches its conclusion with the “End Credits”, which employs Williams' trademark piano to introduce the wonder theme before moving to a superb full-ensemble performance of both primary themes, in all their glory.
The score for Jurassic Park was released in 1993 by MCA Records and later received and expanded treatment in 2016 by the label La-La Land Records. Both editions are extremely enjoyable and highly recommended. While the original release presented several cues mashed together and not following the film’s chronological order, the expanded edition comprises two discs of music, which may be cumbersome for some listeners. This new edition by Renovatio Records presents the standouts of the score in chronological order to enjoy it at its best – a fairly easy task with such music at hand! For the music for Jurassic Park is not only one of the finest in John Williams’ canon of work, but also a brilliant model of filmmaking with impeccable craftsmanship. As many film music enthusiasts claim, no collection of the composer's works would be complete without it.
