Empire of the Sun | ||||
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Film score by | ||||
Released | December 9, 1987 (original version), June 24, 2014 (expanded version) | |||
Recorded | 1987 | |||
Genre | Soundtrack | |||
Length | 54:11 (original version), 108:29 (expanded version) | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
John Williams chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Filmtracks |
Empire of the Sun is the soundtrack, on Warner Bros. Records, of the 1987 film Empire of the Sun, directed by Steven Spielberg. The original score was composed by John Williams and recorded in September–October 1987.
The album is a 54-minute selection of music from Empire of the Sun. The order of the track listing does not follow the chronology of the film.
The album won the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music. It was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.
A version of the track "Jim's New Life," performed by the Boston Pops Orchestra, was included on the 1995 album Williams on Williams: The Classic Spielberg Scores. A Boston Pops Orchestra version of "Cadillac of the Skies" is on Disc One of the 1999 double album John Williams Greatest Hits 1969–1999.
A limited edition, two-disc edition of the Empire of the Sun soundtrack, produced and remastered by Mike Matessino, was released by La-La Land Records in 2014. This edition of the soundtrack runs twice as long as the original album. The first disc contains a full presentation of the film score (in chronological order, and including never-before-released music), and the second disc features a selection of alternate cues and other additional music.
"Suo Gân" performed by the Ambrosian Junior Choir (director: John McCarthy, soloist: James Rainbird).
All tracks written by John Williams, except "Suo Gân" (traditional/Robert Bryan), "The British Grenadiers" (traditional), and "Chopin Mazurka Opus 17 No. 4" (Frédéric Chopin).
(*) Previously unreleased, (**) contains previously unreleased music
Tracks from the original album not present on the expanded version are "Toy Planes, Home and Hearth" (included as the separate cues "The Plane" and "Home and Hearth") and "No Road Home/Seeing the Bomb" (included as the separate cues "Trip Through the Crowd" and "Seeing the Bomb").