It’s hard to believe it’s 15 years since Professor Henry ‘Indiana’ Jones, Jr. last had a big screen adventure – harder still, if you’re of a certain age, to believe that audiences have been cheering him on for some 42 years now.
The announcement that Harrison Ford would once again don his dusty old fedora for one final outing was a bit of a surprise given the time that has passed since Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. That 1950s-era story seemed to be mooted as something of a swansong for the ageing hero, but compared to the (quite literally) retiring professor we see in Dial of Destiny, Crystal Skull’s leading man appears positively youthful.
Looks can be deceiving, though, for this ever-so-much more senior Indy proves he has enough gas in the tank to thwart the Nazis one last time – those guys never seem to go away, even in 1969.
Also turning in a performance with a somewhat youthful zeal is composer John Williams who, at 91, could be forgiven for putting his feet up and enjoying a round or two of golf. Actually, Williams does manage to get plenty of time in on the green these days, and that makes it even more amazing that he delivered Dial of Destiny’s oh-so-many musical thrills and spills. Indeed, Williams wrote over 90 minutes of music for the film.
John Williams’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny score
According to director James Mangold, Williams initially imagined he simply would write some themes for the film and let another composer have a crack at the whip (thank you). But it appears the nonogenarian was just having too much fun and decided to jump right in and write the whole score. And thank god he did, because what would Indiana Jones be without John Williams firing on all cylinders?
What’s the new score like? Is the ‘Raiders March’ in it?
Dial of Destiny is as big, dramatic and colourful a score as you could want and it sits well alongside all the other Indiana Jones film scores (click here to see where it sits in our ranking). Williams pulls out all the stops, creating some breathtaking and inventive set pieces, composing thrilling new music and drawing on music from some of his past adventures with the character.
There was never any doubt that the score would feature Williams’s iconic Indiana Jones theme, aka the ‘Raiders March’ (first heard in 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark). So Indy’s theme is present and correct, always referred to just at the right moments and always a comforting reminder that this is the hero we know and love.
Also back is ‘Marion’s Theme’ (again written for the first film), it’s use in a couple of places being especially poignant. Beyond that, there are musical tips of the fedora to the first three film scores –a snippet of the iconic ‘Desert Chase’ cue from Raiders, a brief burst of ‘The Mine Car Chase’ from Temple of Doom (1984, the second score) and several bits from 1989’s The Last Crusade, including Williams’s theme for the Nazis, music from the ‘Escape from Venice’ and a short quotation from that third score’s opening chase through a train (which Indy finds himself doing yet again at the start of this film).
Are there any new themes?
The heart of Dial of Destiny belongs to Indy’s gung-ho goddaughter Helena, brilliantly played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Williams lavishes ‘Helena’s Theme’ with the kind of sweep and vivacity you might expect for a heroine of Hollywood’s golden age.
Beyond that there are murky little motifs for the ‘former’ Nazi with high ideals, Voller (expertly delivered by Mads Mikkelsen), and the eponymous Dial of Destiny itself, while some of the big set pieces include a breathtaking Tuk Tuk chase through Tangiers, a fabulous Prologue sequence set in 1944 and a comical fight at the Hotel Atlantique – echoing similar musical hijinx heard in Williams’s The Adventures of Tin-Tin.
Who is performing the music?
John Williams conducted the Hollywood Studio Symphony, an ensemble comprised of some of Los Angeles’ very best musicians. The horn section was also joined by the Berlin Phil’s Sarah Willis, a special guest for some cues, while violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter joined the orchestra for a very special performance of ‘Helena’s Theme’. Williams arranged the theme for violin and orchestra, inviting Mutter to join them for a recording, which was released as a singler prior to the film’s premiere. Mutter and Williams have formed quite a fruitful partnership in recent years, with the composer arranging a whole album of film themes for her to play, not to mention composing his Second Violin Concerto for her.
Where can I listen to the soundtrack?
John Williams’s score for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was released for streaming and download in all the usual places by Walt Disney Records on 28 June. A physical release is planned for 4 August.
We named John Williams one of the greatest film composers of all time
(Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney)
