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"The Minority Leader" |
Minority
Report
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More and more, superior films containing fresh and energetic film music are relegated to the shadow of more marketable or better promoted franchise films. Sandwiched between the highly promoted films and accompanying scores for Spider-Man, Star Wars: Episode 2 - Attack of the Clones and the late year releases of Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Star Trek: Nemesis, came at least a half-dozen other films that would otherwise be getting much more attention...as would their soundtracks. Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report is one of those “tweener” projects. Although Minority Report has a sizeable marketing campaign of its own, because it was released during a year of mega-films with mega-franchise marketing budgets, it only managed to ease it way into theatres with a late rush of fanfare and critical acclaim. John Williams hotly anticipated score for Attack of the Clones has garnered headlines and entrenched itself in online discussions for months. While his fifth effort representing that familiar galaxy oh so far away, showed a clear improvement over its immediate predecessor, The Phantom Menace, the score, in the eyes of some, still fell short of the three original film scores. Add to that the questionable edits to the music in the film itself and Attack of the Clones has been considered disappointing in the final analysis.
For this dark and
futuristic film,
director Steven
Spielberg collaborates
with composer John
Williams yet again.
Matching the
circumambience of the
film, Williams score
is, overall,
uncommonly dissonant
and features some of
the raw percussive
energy that the
original Jurassic Park
demonstrated; a
somewhat unexpected
but powerfully
effective combination.
Minority Report
incorporates a handful
of elements that
helped to separate his
score for 2001's
Artificial
Intelligence from the
pack of
mediocre-to-solid film
music released in that
year. The use of
electronic
instrumentation, low
rumbles undergirding
high and suspenseful
strings and a haunting
solo vocalist are
among the strongest
ties to Spielberg's
and Williams'
underappreciated and
misunderstood 2001
film.
Minority Report has a
pensive and mysterious
quality that all good
murder-mystery films
should have, no matter
what the
time-period in which it is
set. Like its
predecessor, A.I.,
the film revolves
around strong
characters and John
Williams is able to
contrast the
dark action and
suspense elements with
a few solid thematic
cues (see track 9 -
Sean's Theme
While Minority
Report remains wrapped
in John Williams now
familiar
turn-of-the-century-style, he returns to a number
of techniques which
brought him so much
deserved attention in
the late Seventies and
Eighties. The
stringy-suspense of
Close Encounters of
the Third Kind
(see track 1 Minority
Report
Both Steven Spielberg and John Williams have put forth an effort that may end up being the best of the Summer of 2002. Minority Report manages to be highly entertaining while having much more depth and meaning than most Summer blockbusters. Williams score further strengthens the film, not by forcing its way into the spotlight, but by taking an unusually distinctive backseat to the story, dialogue and visuals. The music of Minority Report is much more entertaining as a separate listening experience, than when heard in the film itself, as both music sequences and themes are allowed to develop uninterrupted. Those looking for the typical John Williams-thematic-ride, may come away a little disappointed with this soundtrack, but those who have been longing for something a little more daring from the composer will find Minority Report a serious, Summer treat! From the Liner Notes:
John Williams has done
a masterful job in his
musical presentation
of MINORITY REPORT.
The plot and story
find their roots in
the combination of
American film noir and
the classic "whodunit"
mysteries that were so
popular in the era of
Humphrey Bogart and
filmmaker John Huston.
John Williams and I
have often marveled at
the way Bernard
Herrmann was able to
contribute so much
musical suspense to an
Alfred Hitchcock
picture. So in that
tradition of mystery,
suspense and film
noir, John has
fashioned a
fast-paced, yet dark
portrait of America in
the year 2054 when the
murder of one human
being by another can
foretold through the
miraculous gifts of
three precognitives.
Unlike our other
collaborations, John's
score for MINORITY
REPORT is not lush
with melody; it is
nonetheless brilliant
in its complexity and
forceful in its
rhythms. It is the
kind of music that
will start in your
spine and eventually
find its way to your
heart in the section
titled "Sean's Theme."
If most of John's
scores for my films
have been in color, I
think of this score as
his first one in black
and white. But as in
most of John's music
quite often you don't
need the pictures to
understand the musical
story that John is
telling you. After
all, John Williams is
the greatest musical
storyteller the world
of movies has ever
known. Track Listing and Ratings
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*The Experience-O-Meter displays the track to track listening experience of this soundtrack based on the 5-Star rating given to each track. It provides a visual depiction of the ebbs and flows of the CD's presentation of the soundtrack. Post your comments about Minority Report here!
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