Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.(Sound Recording Review)

Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Bonus DVD. John Williams, London Symphony Orchestra and London Voices. Sony SK 94220.

George Lucas finally came to the end of the S tar Wars line with this third entry, Revenge of the Sith, in the prequel trilogy. At least, he says this is the end. Who knows. The writer, producer, and director has been at it for close to thirty years and originally said he envisioned nine chapters in the story. Why stop now?

In any case, as soundtrack albums go, this one is about what one has come to expect from movie soundtracks. John Williams is back as always providing the music, and the LSO carries it out faithfully, just as they've been doing since the original Star Wars opened in 1977. Much of the new disc is made up of music that seems more than a little familiar, and, indeed, most of the best stuff on the album is reprised from the earlier films: the opening title music, A New Hope, the end credits. The rest seems to be a variation on the same themes, with a few patches like "Palpatine's Teachings" and "Padme's Ruminations" sounding vaguely like something out of Dune. There's over seventy minutes of it, so at least the listener gets his money's worth.

The sound is typically forward and sometimes aggressive in the fashion of Hollywood movies (even if this technically isn't a "Hollywood" movie, Lucas's ...