Soundtraxx: The Indiana Jones Edition
From where I sit, John Williams is the greatest composer in motion picture history. Williams has been responsible for some of the most iconic movie scores ever… Jaws, Star Wars, Superman, Jurassic Park… the list goes on and on.
Today, to celebrate John Williams’ birthday, we turn our attention to another blockbuster franchise that Williams put his stamp on as we countdown the best tracks from the Indiana Jones pentalogy…
Chad Cruise: The absolute pace of this song, mixed with the continuing adventures of our favorite professor/archeologist/treasure hunter makes this a personal favorite of mine. The scene and the song in question are so relentless that Indy punches a woman! Holy smokes, what a way to start!
Ryan Campbell: One wild thing to see as I grow older in age has been to see people come back and revisit films that seemed to be hated at the time. One film having a bit of a renaissance has been Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. A combination of people who were younger when it came out or just people years removed from the drama able to just enjoy it for what it is, whatever it is it is making a comeback. And maybe no scene stands up to show what the movie was capable of than the Jungle chase. It reminds me of a classic Lucas trope of making the big set piece of the film NOT be in the finale. This thrilling chase through the jungle has it all and in a series of films with some amazing chases, this one stands apart. Of course, none of it would work as well as it does without the adventurous heroic score of John Williams driving the action.
Ian Garriott: A change of pace. “The Penitent Man Will Pass” taps into the characters severity of religious beliefs and expresses beautifully the feeling of the spirituality.
Chris the Brain: The tank that Donovan and the Nazis acquire for the final leg of their misguided quest to find The Holy Grail, gives Indiana Jones more than his share or near death experiences and poor Marcus Brody doesn’t even know how to get off the thing. The tank scene is also the perfect backdrop for John Williams to do what he does best. The music conveys the power of “the steel beast” (as Sallah refers to it) and raises the stakes as Indy does all he can to rescue his dear old dad from the Nazis bastards that are using his life work for their own greed.
Chris the Brain: My favorite action set piece in any Indiana Jones film, is the desert chase from Raiders of the Lost Ark. The Nazis are transporting The Ark of the Covenant by truck and Indy, who has no real plan, knows he has to stop them. So Indy hops on a horse and for the next seven minutes the magic of John Williams takes an awesome sequence of events up to the nth degree. I can listen to this song, close my eyes and see Indy dragging behind the truck, I can see him hanging off the front end of the truck and his front seat brawl with a tough as nails Nazi soldier.
Chris the Brain: Won’t somebody think of the children?!? It’s not all about “fortune and glory” for Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, it’s also about the innocent children, who the Thugee cult have enslaved, and reuniting them with their mothers. “Slave Children’s Crusade” starts off grim, you can practically hear the heavy shackles, but then comes the undertones of hope and freedom and we even get a little tase of “Short Round’s Theme” before the heavy and abrupt ending.
Chad Cruise: I am fully committed to the idea that they could play John Williams Indy scores in a dentist’s office and the sentiment towards getting a root canal would do a complete 180. People would actually want to get their mouth drilled out. That is the impact these types of songs could have. It’s certainly had a cultural impact on the world. We can’t get enough of Indy’s adventures and whether he’s jousting with a Nazi on a motorcycle or having an argument with his dear old Dad, the fans will continue to line up for it as long as we have incredible music like this.
Ian Garriott: He still has IT! John Williams gives us an exciting fighting Nazis on a Train tune in this fifth installment of Indiana Jones.
Chris the Brain: Nothing captures the darker tone of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom than the song “The Temple of Doom”. The chanting, the heavy percussions, the spooky vibe…. it’s the stuff nightmares are made of and the perfect music to rip a man’s heart right out of his chest too..
Ryan Campbell: John Williams as a composer has this amazing ability to write the most epic themes but also add a dash of playful wonder that tone is perfect for Indy and it’s even better for the amazing opening of The Last Crusade. Crusade is on the short list of perfect movies and the opening is almost even more perfect. It does in a few minutes what now would be a 6 episode mini-series. Everything we need is established both for this story but also Indy as a character and his relationship to his father. The way the score transitions to playful beats as Indy traverses through the circus train cars to the heroic breaks as he sees flashes if his destiny. It’s all just perfect.
Ian Garriott: Memories. Thank God I grew up in a household which had a deep love for going to the movies. Christmas night 1984, my family took a road trip the theater. We saw Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Anytime I hear “Anything Goes” it always brings back the sensation of excitement experienced watching The Temple of Doom play out on the big screen.
Chris the Brain: Filled with high energy, a fair amount of mystery and a bit of whimsy, “X Marks the Spot” captures so many of the elements that make the Indiana Jones movies the type of movies you can watch over and over again.
Ryan Campbell: The Map Room is a crucial scene in Raiders. For most of the film Indy is bumbling around, he’s beaten at every turn, he just can’t win. But with the Map room, we see exactly why he is the legend we now know. He does know his stuff and he is more than capable of outsmarting the better-equipped Nazis. Our guy finally gets a win and as the music builds and the location of the ark is revealed the movie really is ushered into its next act and the action picks up. It’s an iconic scene that displays the grandeur and the adventure that makes the film and its score so famous.
Chad Cruise: What more can we ask of John Williams? Time and time again he has developed memorable and inspiring music for just about every possible moment in the life and times of Indiana Jones. A character like this was destined to be great with all of those involved but I can’t picture a world where John Williams didn’t produce such an enchanting score. “The Raiders March” is the song playing in my head when I put on a fedora at a department store. It’s the song that played in my head when I used an old dog leash as a whip when I was young and it’s the song that will play as I throw on my old leather jacket for one last adventure.
Ryan Campbell: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a non-stop adventure. It’s one all-time scene after the next. The escape from Venice happens fairly early on, Indy is not entirely up to speed on the scope of what exactly is at stake. The chase in the boats through the scenic views of Venice sets the tone for everything that is about to come. And that tone is found nowhere better than the John Williams score… the playful run as Indy jumps in the boat, the foreboding rift as the giant propeller churns up everything in sight. It’s reassuring to the viewer that the heart an everything you love about Indy is still there and we are in good hands and that this is going to be an all-timer.
