The ‘Jurassic World’ Soundtrack: Two New Tracks Premiered Online By Michael Ciacchino
Composer Michael Giacchino has just premiered two new tracks from his upcoming score to Jurassic World. Originally aired on WQXR in New York, the two tracks — one titled “As the Jurassic World Turns” and the other still untitled — can be heard in the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEk9EH2dKlk
With Jurassic World‘s release just around the corner, many questions come into mind for the long-awaited sequel. Bringing back such a nostalgic feel of the first movie (which is now twenty-two years old), the new film will undoubtedly be compared to Jurassic Park. And that doesn’t just include how enjoyable the film itself is — it includes questions over its identity as a whole. With Jurassic Park becoming one of the most iconic and recognizable films in modern pop culture, will Jurassic World be another sequel to abandon chances at originality and opt to be another trip down memory lane? At this point, retaining originality while following such a successful franchise is extremely difficult already, and though it’s appropriate to pay a few homages to the first film, the team behind the new sequel still carry a burden by walking that line. Whatever criticisms are warranted against The Lost World: Jurassic Park, the second movie in the franchise still managed to retain an identity that was unique to it when compared to the first film. And most of that uniqueness came in the entirely different score John Williams had written, like the entirely-different location in which the second film was set.
If John Williams is meant to become a legend in the world of scoring, then Michael Giacchino is most likely meant to be his heir. That’s not to say we’re looking at a copy. With how loud, gritty, and bass-driven many soundtracks tend to feel in films today, Michael Giacchino is still one of the few that retains an ability to balance light-heartedness in what could otherwise be a dark storyline altogether. That ability alone allows him to jump from making scores for Disney and Pixar (The Incredibles, Cars 2) to TV shows like Lost. And like the staples in pop culture made by the themes to Star Wars, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, or The Lion King, Giacchino’s melodies are still something audiences can actually hum along to.
With Rise and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and the two latest Star Trek films, on his resume, Michael Giacchino is no stranger to breathing new life into re-emerging franchises. And “breathing new life” may just be the best way to describe his work — Giacchino doesn’t shy away from creating new and original themes for movies that may already have iconic themes in their history. Factoring his Oscar win into the equation on top, Giacchino seems like he is not only a good choice, but the ideal one to helm the score for the upcoming Jurassic World. (Fun fact: Giacchino’s first notable work was actually the soundtrack to the video game for The Lost World: Jurassic Park.) And from our first look at the new score for Jurassic World, it’s safe to say his originality remains in full gear.
Starting off with an immediate callback to John William’s main theme with a sole ominous-sounding horn, “As the Jurassic World Turns” is a track that pays homage to the music of the original film, while still managing to hold its own unique identity (the recurring motif in “As the Jurassic World Turns” even makes a subtle appearance in the following untitled track). Even with a melody that seems to hold confidence on its own, the first track finishes with a beautiful callback to the motif of the original movie — the park is open, the dinosaurs are back, and the excitement has returned.
[Photo captured from Universal’s Jurassic World trailer]
