With his wonderful score for Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny, John Williams reconnects us so seamlessly with that classic orchestral ‘Indy’ sound we all know and love that it seems almost effortless, with franchise themes both old and new triumphantly coming together for one final and indeed impeccably enjoyable soundtrack adventure.

I must say I honestly didn’t think we’d ever get another Indiana Jones score, much less one actually composed by John Williams. There were a lot of rumours and tidbits of information in years prior about a fifth film in the works, but given its continual delays in production and the age of both Williams and Harrison Ford I didn’t really think it would happen. But now here we are. Much to my and I’m sure a great many others’ delight, The Dial Of Destiny is currently in cinemas everywhere, and with its release has of course come a soundtrack album; one by John Williams no less. To say I was very excited for this release is understating it quite dramatically; I’m a big fan of the original scores – and especially of the iconic “Raiders March” as everyone is really – and while it is a little bittersweet as Dial very well be the last Indy film score, I was no less ecstatic to hear what the brilliant composer had in store for us this time around. So let’s not waste any more time, and dive straight in.

The album begins with “Prologue To Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny”, a happily lengthy suite-like piece that introduces all the major new themes of the film. Oddly there isn’t actually an end credits track tied to the end of the score, so this and certain later theme tracks are basically it for suites on this particular soundtrack. “Prologue” opens with gentle, 1950s-esque romantic strings playing the first of the new motifs; Helena’s theme. It’s a rather hopeful yet wistful piece overall, six notes in its A-phrase and pretty memorable even on first listen, in perhaps rather typical John Williams-esque fashion. This new character theme then occupies the first minute or so of the track before another, much darker motif enters the fray at 01:08; the theme for villain Jürgen Voller (played by Mads Mikkelsen in the film) and the Nazis. This piece soldiers sternly through on loud bursts of ominous brass and sinister-sounding backing percussion here for several triumphantly villainous minutes before then crescendoing out at 03:40, at which point a rather mysterious new theme arrives, presumably for the Dial of Destiny itself. This motif opens on quietly serene brass notes and then builds up to louder, more dramatic strings for a short while before fading back down again, closing the track a minute or so later on a gently peaceful note. Overall, it’s not a bad start for Williams’ latest Indy entry with many a new theme introduced, though the Raiders March is conspiciously absent.

With the introductory suite fading out, “Helena’s Theme” then gives the first of the new themes a thorough fleshing out for a gloriously orchestral three and a half minute setpiece. It’s one of the standout cues of the score and for good reason, as it’s simply and utterly gorgeous in both style and tone. This is John Williams in slow, beautifully romantic mode through and through, and it’s just fantastic. And as if it couldn’t get any better there’s even a little nod to Marion’s theme from Raiders Of The Lost Ark right at the end, wrapping up the exquisite track with a neat little thematic bow. And speaking of themes, the subsequent “Germany, 1944” is simply awash with them; the track opens moodily, before the iconic Raiders March then fades quietly through at the thirty second mark. From here the new Nazi theme then briefly reprises, but it’s what follows that then properly astounds; a pretty much full and utterly immense-sounding thematic reprisal of the “On The Tank” action motif from The Last Crusade. The classic Nazi theme from Raiders then briefly follows before the Raiders March charges heroically into the fray for a minute or so of thunderous action, and you really do feel completely transported back to the ’80s for a classic Indiana Jones adventure as a result. The new Nazi motif then reprises once again towards the end of the piece, with the Raiders March quietly fading the action out in upbeat, hopeful form.

A gentle reprisal of the Raiders March on woodwinds opens “To Morocco”, with Helena’s theme following on similarly quiet, wistful percussion before more confident, faster-paced strings then bring the three minute track to a hopeful close. The new Nazi theme then reprises malevolently as ever in “Voller Returns” before action kicks off in the back half of “Auction At Hotel L’Atlantique”; rollicking, almost mischievous-sounding orchestra takes centre stage here, with Helena’s theme leaping frenetically through in short bursts every so often. This then leads directly into the subsequent “Tuk Tuk In Tangiers” action setpiece, with Helena’s theme playing on a now particularly frantic orchestra. Tension builds throughout this track’s three minute runtime, with dramatically thunderous brass leading the charge throughout until Helena’s motif then gradually fades the music down to a quiet finish. “To Athens” is then what sounds like a pretty classic sounding map transition piece; it opens with brief reprisals of the Dial and Helena motifs on quiet percussion and piano before things then start getting loud and adventurous, with Helena’s theme playing boldly and hope-filled on strings followed by a happily triumphant playthrough of the iconic March.

Ominous mystery is the tonal centrepiece for much of “Perils Of The Deep”, though Marion’s theme does then happily sound through towards the end of the track on quietly optimistic woodwinds. Things then turn almost horror-like in “Water Ballet”, with loud stabs of brass evoking a particularly frightening tone in the third minute of the cue before the full orchestra then arrives, thundering worrisomely along until the Nazi theme then villainously closes out the cue. “Polybius Cipher” then continues in a similar stylistic vein with a bit more of a thematic focus, as Helena’s theme plays quietly at the start of the piece with the Raiders March performing a hopeful though short reprise, before the Nazi theme then once again crescendos the track out. The March plays briefly again in the subsequent “The Grafikos” on gentle brass, with the Dial theme then finally reprising in full with “Archimedes’ Tomb”; the motif plays on low-pitched and quietly moody brass to start, before building to a pretty dramatic crescendo to close at the three minute mark. A rather worried Helena’s theme kicks off “The Airport”, with increasingly frenetic strings and emboldened brass accompanying. The malevolent new Nazi motif then marches into frame at the sixty second mark, turning the mood even more frantic from then on with Helena’s theme then taking the track to a dramatic crescendo finish a minute or so later.

With the finale of the album approaching “Battle Of Syracuse” opens tensely with ominous percussion, followed thirty seconds or so later by frequent bursts of worried brass as action kicks into gear. Helena’s theme then briefly battles the new Nazi motif in the back half of the track, with everything then coming to a crashing finishing crescendo a short while later. “Centuries Join Hands” then picks up where the prior cue leaves off initially before the music then dies down into quiet solemnity for the remainder of its three minute runtime, with the mysterious Dial theme taking centre stage on whistling woodwinds together with several infrequent and unusually soft renditions of the Raiders March. Secondary standout cue “New York, 1969” is then the moment we’ve all been waiting for; the track opens quietly with gently hopeful renditions of both Marion and Helena’s themes, before the mood then picks up in the back half as the Raiders March, at long last, steps heroically into the fray for a full two minute end credits-esque reprise. On Williams’ superb orchestration – as usual – here it sounds simply sublime, and that combined with another final reprisal of Helena’s motif in the subsequent “Helena’s Theme (For Violin And Orchestra)” is a close to perfect finish to the soundtrack.

Overall then, John Williams’ score for Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny is pretty impressive. You can just hear the enthusiasm that the composer clearly still has for the iconic franchise throughout its sixty seven minute runtime; from the excellent new themes and the impeccable love and attention that’s given to both them and established motifs from the franchise, to the frankly exquisite orchestration displayed throughout the album – whether it’s thunderous action or a quieter, more romantic moment – John Williams has just done it again, and that’s no small feat considering that the composer is 91 years old.

Now don’t get me wrong, the album isn’t perfect – I would argue that The Last Crusade is still the best Indy score personally, it’s a shame there’s not a proper end credits suite and I do feel that the Raiders March could have appeared a little more – but considering that this is likely the very last soundtrack entry for the Indiana Jones franchise, it’s a pretty damned good one. Plus, the frankly gorgeous “New York, 1969” cue at the end almost makes up for the general lack of the iconic theme in just how spectacular a finish it is, and Helena’s theme too is a major star of the show; it’s basically the main theme of the score here – showcased in beautifully orchestrated form in its same-titled standout cue – and the way Williams seemingly effortlessly weaves the motif throughout the album in all manner of tone and style is quite simply a joy to listen to. The Dial theme is rather good too, and overall – while Dial is not the best Indy score it’s hard to be very critical of that, as I just feel lucky really.

I honestly never expected we’d get another John Williams-composed Indiana Jones score, and so to get one now, and for it to be as good as it is? I’m not just thrilled; I’m blown away.

Score: 8.5/10

Standout Cues: 2. Helena’s Theme/17. New York, 1969

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