Obi-Wan Kenobi – music by Natalie Holt, William Ross, and John Williams
Who scored this? The credits on the cover seem to make that an interesting question, as does the timeline of the public reveal that John Williams – who, we had already been told, was retiring from scoring Star Wars and from scoring films altogether – was contributing a new theme for Obi-Wan himself. Most of what is heard in the show and on this release is by Natalie Holt, who had already made a splash on another Disney Plus streaming series, Marvel’s Loki. But top billing goes to John Williams for the Obi-Wan theme, and the cover then tells us that theme has been adapted by William Ross. Anywhere Williams’ wistful new theme for the aging Jedi Knight appears in the show itself, it’s in a cue credited to Ross. One begins to suspect that Williams’ involvement (and therefore Ross’ involvement as well) happened at a very late stage, replacing work that had already been done by Natalie Holt. (A bit of research – and a bit of reading between the lines of all the industry-speak – reveals that this is precisely what happened. It’d be neat to hear Holt’s original theme and the replaced score cues to hear what the show would’ve sounded like before the guys dropped in to do a little of the work and claim a lot of the credit.)
Williams’ theme is nice, I will give it that. It does fit Obi-Wan where we find him in this movie – noble, but subdued. In the end credit rendition, there’s a big orchestral build-up that seems a little out of place, but otherwise a nice theme, and a bit more distinctive than the theme Williams penned for inclusion in John Powell’s Solo score (of which more another time). Its first major appearance as a piece of the score arrives in “Thr Journey Begins”; Ross’ adaptations of the Williams theme takes up five more tracks in the soundtrack outside of the opening titles and end credit theme.
The first score cue, “Order 66”, lurches from pastoral to relentless action on a dime for the prologue in which we see the moment that the Emperor’s order to rid the universe of the Jedi affects a class of young padawans. That same propulsive action then shifts down a gear or two into lurking menace as the show jumps to the present day for “Inquisitors’ Hunt”. Tracks like “Young Leia”, “Days of Alderaan” and “Bail and Leia” have a different feel entirely as, for the first time since a fleeting glimpse in the epilogue of Star Wars Episode III, we get to see Alderaan as a utopian world that somehow hung onto its idealistic identity well into the reign of the Empire. The tone darkens significant;y as Obi-Wan leaves the safe obscurity of Tatooine to begin his mission (“Daiyu”, “Cat And Mouse”). There’s an unexpected bit of electronic instrumentation in “Ready To Go” that almost sounds like something that escaped from the Tron Legacy soundtrack; it’s not unwelcome, but does stick out a bit in a score that’s doing its best to stay in Star Wars‘ traditionally orchestral wheelhouse.
Some more exotic flavors creep in as Obi-Wan’s quest takes him further afield (“Spice Den”, “Mapuzo”, “The Path”), and things again take a dark turn as master and apprentice once again find themselves in the other’s proximity (“Sensing Vader”, “Stormtrooper Patrol”, “Hangar Escape”, “Empire ARrival”), the latter of which introduces a strident march that screams “the Empire is here” without just quoting Williams’ “Imperial March”. Holt even sneaks a quotation of Williams’ series theme into “Dark Side Assault” – see, she didn’t need outside help with that, did she?
After Ross shows up to drench another major Kenobi/Vader confrontation with buckets of synthesized choir in “I Will Do What I Must”, Holt gives us a brief reprieve from the action music with the quieter “Sacrifice”, before resuming the chase and finally getting a hint of “The Imperial March” in (“No Further Use”). As is typical, the major action setpiece (“Overcoming The Past”) is handed off to Ross’ arrangement of Williams’ theme, elevated to a grand level as Obi-Wan finally finds his footing within the Force again, leaving Vader in a weakened state both physically and emotionally. Two more Holt cues (“Tatooine Desert Chase”, “Who You Become”) tie off the story of Reva, an Imperial Inquisitor obsessed with tracking down Obi-Wan, with Ross again getting the last word with “Saying Goodbye”, which quotes both Williams’ newly-minted Obi-Wan theme and the original trilogy’s theme for Leia.
It’s all fine music. Despite the number of cooks in the kitchen, it does all integrate better than one might expect. Some of you reading this are probably shouting at your screens something along the lines of “We’re privileged to be getting even one new piece of Star Wars music from John Williams!” And there may be something to that, but as solid as Holt’s work is throughout, why was it not good enough for nearly a quarter of the score, if the soundtrack’s track listing is any indication? It’s a little unsettling to think that while the casting of the Star Wars steaming shows is growing more diverse (though, as the unfortunate pushback against the amazing Moses Ingram demonstrated, not without difficulty), other elements of production very much present the appearance of keeping the glass ceiling in place with Imperial zeal.
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- Obi-Wan (4:06)
- Order 66 (1:40)
- Inquistors’ Hunt (3:09)
- Young Leia (1:04)
- Days of Alderaan (1:38)
- The Journey Begins (2:57)
- Bail and Leia (2:19)
- Nari’s Shadow (1:14)
- Ready to Go (2:26)
- Daiyu (2:25)
- Cat and Mouse (3:10)
- Spice Den (1:10)
- First Rescue (3:10)
- Mapuzo (1:17)
- The Path (1:35)
- Sensing Vader (2:49)
- Parallel Lines (2:12)
- Some Things Can’t Be Forgotten (4:47)
- Stormtrooper Patrol (2:34)
- Hangar Escape (2:33)
- Hold Hands (1:39)
- Empire Arrival (2:04)
- Dark Side Assault (2:37)
- I Will Do What I Must (2:48)
- Sacrifice (1:41)
- No Further Use (3:39)
- Overcoming the Past (4:28)
- Tatooine Desert Chase (2:19)
- Who You Become (3:36)
- Saying Goodbye (5:26)
- End Credit (4:02)
Released by: Disney Music
Release date: June 27, 2022
Total running time: 82:34
As one of a trilogy of dystopian flicks from the ’60s and ’70s starring Charlton Heston, The Omega Man is notable for being a loose adaptation of Richard Matheson’s novel “I Am Legend” and, in its own very mild way, anticipating the zombie subgenre of horror movies that was yet to come. For film music enthusiasts, however, Omega Man is a rare treasure – it’s an entire score composed by Ron Grainer, the British composer whose opening title music for such TV shows as The Prisoner and Doctor Who instantly captured the heart of those shows. But could he do more than coin catchy opening title music? That’s what I hoped to find out by giving Omega Man a listen.
A pleasant selection of Rupert Gregson-Williams’ lively orchestral score combined with about an EP’s worth of material both new and familiar from Ben Folds, the CD from Dreamworks’ Over The Hedge may just be 2006’s most underrated soundtrack. 
How far removed can one be from a film and still enjoy something about it? This review – and the fact that I bought this CD – will be an exercise in answering that question. For, you see, I’ve seen this movie – but I’ve only seen it with the benefit of a guy and two robots sitting in the bottom right corner of the screen, cracking wise at the movie’s ample supply of foibles. Mystery Science Theater fans will instantly recognize this movie as Operation Double 007, while most parts of the world know it as Operation Kid Brother. The idea behind the movie was simple. Step one: get Sean Connery’s little brother (whether he has any acting experience or not) and as many supporting players as you can from the James Bond movies, and put them in a Bond-esque superspy spoof. Step two: ??? Step three: profit!
OK Connery sports some dandy music – if you’re in a specific superspy spoofin’ kinda mood. I just hope that I can someday accumulate my own collection of reclining nudes so I, too, will be worthy of the music on track 2. (I’ve already got a bathrobe.)
This is an absolutely sublime score, one of the very few movie soundtracks which radiates enough simple beauty to rank up there with the classical repertoire. Whether you’ve seen the movie or not, you’ve probably heard the first few wistful minutes of the main theme before. The secondary theme, which resurfaces in other cues, is no slouch either. I can’t recommend this highly enough, nor can I even come up with a description that adequately describes the beauty of it all.