WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005 - 2CD)

All newly-expanded and remastered 2-CD set to John Williams 2005 sci-fi gem! Steven Spielberg directs, Tom Cruise stars, Dreamworks Pictures and Paramount Pictures present, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) provide the spectacular effects and of, course, H.G. Wells lays the groundwork with his ever-influential 1897 novel. With John Williams providing the score, you know everything will be a sensation! It’s a score filled to the brim with all manner of excitement, from the interior and complex, to the richly moving and elegiac, from the powerful and terrifying, to the aggressive and relentless. Think large orchestra replete with chorus! Spielberg’s fresh and visceral take on this classic tale of invaders from another world launching an all-out war on Earth with the goal of nothing less than human harvest and annihilation. Adding his unique vision, Spielberg focuses on a very human story anchored by deadbeat father Ray Ferrier (Cruise) currently in charge of the two children, Rachel & Robbie, (Dakota Fanning, Justin Chatwin) with Ray now in the desperate situation of “growing up” himself and protecting the youngsters at all costs. With invaders from another planet decimating everything in their paths courtesy of their fearsome, towering tripods, the tasks of fatherhood become near-impossible indeed. John Williams contributes to every challenge but a special spotlight must go to the dual musical ingredients of cerebral writing in the manner of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and incredibly propulsive and charged action in the manner of Jaws, albeit on steroids! This one is dark, oppressive and frightening! New to this 2-CD set are numerous cues (“Watch The Lightning”, “In The Cafe”, “The Basement”, “The Aliens”, “Ogilvy’s End”) that bring additional depth to the score. Precious bars previously unreleased from”The Intersection Scene”, “Attacking The Car”, “The Ferry Scene” and “Probing The Basement” also add extra weight to this sensational music. Creating the climactic sequence (“Boston Street Finale”) proved challenging, with three versions of the cue fashioned. All of them appear on this release. Other extras include an alternate version of the “Prologue And Opening Montage” as well as an alternate “Epilogue”. And listeners can enjoy the opening and closing sequences both with and without the admittedly sensational narration by Morgan Freeman. Our generous set presents the listening experience without the voice in the complete score presentation with the narrated version included in the remastered presentation of the original 2005 Decca album heard on CD 2. 15 minutes of extras round out the second disc. Mike Matessino meticulously mixes, assembles and masters everything with Jeff Bond joining in with highly descriptive and authoritative booklet notes. Kay Marshall designs the “flipper-style” booklet and package, Shawn Murphy engineers, John Williams conducts the orchestra augmented with the Hollywood Film Chorale. Intrada Special Collection 2-CD set available while quantities and interest remain!