In the 25 years since 1978, Varese Sarabande Records has released well over 1000 albums. Of those, nearly 900 are film scores. Averaging over fifty new soundtrack releases a year, Varese Sarabande's catalog features virtually every great name in film music: Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, Elmer Bernstein, John Barry, Thomas Newman, Alan Silvestri, Howard Shore, Randy Newman, Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, James Newton Howard, Mark Isham, Graeme Revell, Trevor Rabin, Georges Delerue, Henry Mancini, Patrick Doyle, James Horner, Carter Burwell, Rachel Portman, Randy Edelman and Marc Shaiman along with countless others and all the legendary composers of Hollywood's Golden Age. This four CD set features a total of five hours of music and becomes the biggest compilation we've ever assembled.

In the 25 years since 1978, Varese Sarabande Records has released well over 1000 albums. Of those, nearly 900 are film scores. Averaging over fifty new soundtrack releases a year, Varese Sarabande's catalog features virtually every great name in film music: Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, Elmer Bernstein, John Barry, Thomas Newman, Alan Silvestri, Howard Shore, Randy Newman, Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, James Newton Howard, Mark Isham, Graeme Revell, Trevor Rabin, Georges Delerue, Henry Mancini, Patrick Doyle, James Horner, Carter Burwell, Rachel Portman, Randy Edelman and Marc Shaiman along with countless others and all the legendary composers of Hollywood's Golden Age. There are far too many titles to assemble any compilation even remotely comprehensive, but we did want to pause in our release schedule to take a moment to remember just a few of our favorites. This four CD set features a total of five hours of music and becomes the biggest compilation we've ever assembled.

Jerry Goldsmith’s iconic original score to Paramount Pictures’ 1979 feature film STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE boldly returns with a limited edition 2-CD re-issue from La-La Land Records and Paramount Music. The first big screen voyage of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock was a high budget and ambitious undertaking that introduced Goldsmith’s famous and enduring Star Trek march (later used as the main theme for Star Trek: The Next Generation) as the cornerstone of an epic science fiction musical odyssey. Like the film’s refit starship Enterprise, La-La Land’s lavish 2012 restoration presented the score anew: fully restored, remixed and mastered from the first generation multi-track masters by Bruce Botnick, the original album co-producer and Goldsmith’s long time scoring engineer.

Explorers is a 1985 American science fantasy film written by Eric Luke and directed by Joe Dante. The film stars Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix, both in their film debuts, and Jason Presson as teenage boys who build a spacecraft to explore outer space. The special effects were produced by Industrial Light & Magic, with make-up effects by Rob Bottin. Rushed into production, the film was never properly finished. Dante revealed that the studio demanded that he stop editing and rush for a July release where it was overshadowed by the Live Aid concert, which was held one day after the film's release and stiff competition from Back to the Future, which opened nine days prior. It was a box office failure upon its release, but it attracted a cult following with its VHS release.

FSM returns to the treasures of the Warner Bros. archives (The Omega Man, The Towering Inferno) with a masterpiece by Jerry Goldsmith: The Illustrated Man. The film stars Rod Steiger and Claire Bloom in an adaptation of several short stories by Ray Bradbury, affording Goldsmith the crowning achievement of his work in the anthology format (CBS Radio Workshop, The Twilight Zone), as well as one of his most memorable and original works in the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres.

1979's The Great Train Robbery has long been one of Jerry Goldsmith's most unusual projects, both in terms of his overall output and in particular as one of his collaborations with filmmaker Michael Crichton. With the exception of The Great Train Robbery and The Thirteenth Warrior, all of the Goldsmith/Crichton collaborations (Pursuit, Coma, Runaway, Congo and Timeline) have fallen into the techno-thriller genre, and stylistically, the buoyant comic energy of The Great Train Robbery lies far afield of the darker-edged work that in general defined Goldsmith's career. For the film, Crichton adapted his own historical novel and cast Sean Connery as dashing Victorian criminal Edward Pierce. Goldsmith's score establishes the movie as a lighthearted romp from its opening downbeat and thereafter cheerfully varies between churning, steam locomotive drive and breezy elegance; the jaunty main title tune is unpredictable and boasts one of the best bridges Goldsmith ever wrote.

Jerry Goldsmith's most provocative feature film score, Basic Instinct brilliantly evokes the sex and suspense that together galvanize the onscreen narrative. Ominous piano, stiletto-sharp bursts of strings, and bubbling electronics combine to capture lust in all its myriad forms, from carnal desire to murderous rage, as well as delineate the subtle differences between each iteration. Goldsmith scores the film's notoriously graphic sex scenes with particular aplomb, achieving what can only be described as an orchestral orgasm as the music builds to its climax. For all its sophistication and invention, Basic Instinct is above all the work of a dirty old man, and it's fascinating.

To lead off our final set of CD Club releases for 2004 comes this Deluxe Edition of one of the great historical epic film scores of the 1960s. Twentieth Century-Fox’s 1965 film would come just two years in the wake of the studio’s colossal mega-production of Cleopatra. Mounting an elaborate epic of the scale of The Agony and the Ecstasy in the aftermath of such a financial cataclysm was an enormous risk. Reed cast his film carefully and wisely. Moses himself (Charlton Heston) would be brought on to play the tormented artist Michelangelo. To play the warrior Pope, Julius II, Rex Harrison, Cleopatra’s own Emperor, Julius Caesar, returned to don the immaculate papal recreations of costume designer Vittorio Nino Novarese. The scope of the production was enormous. For their to-scale re-creation of the Sistine Chapel, Fox constructed in Rome the largest indoor set that had been built anywhere in the world up to that time. The film was captivating and the performances were wonderful. But the score … well, the score was a work of genius. Another veteran of Cleopatra, composer Alex North seemed to go from strength to strength. Spartacus was an unparalleled masterpiece. Cleopatra was mesmerizing and even more groundbreaking. Agony sent North into an altogether different world and he produced a stirringly emotional and thrilling score that ranks with the all-time greats.

2008 three CD collection of soundtracks from classic movies of our time. With a generous playing time of over three hours, this stunning set offers something for everyone: fromthe Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's 'Pirates of the Caribeean-Dead Man's Chest' and 'Robin Hood Prince of Thieves' to other orignial perfromances as heard in the classic films like, The Godfather, Cinema Paradiso, Taxi Drive, Jurassic Park, Edward Scissorhands to name but a few! Enjoy unforgettable movie themes from a wide range of famous composers from Yo Yo Ma, John Williams, John Barry and more.

Although the film in question is largely forgotten, Jerry Goldsmith's music for the sci-fi opus Capricorn One looms as arguably the most influential and imitated action score of the late 20th century. An exhilarating work that evolves with masterful purpose and precision, its densely percussive arrangements remain synonymous with adventure and suspense decades after the fact. Where followers like Alan Silvestri and James Horner rely almost solely on sensory assault to convey danger and dread, Goldsmith sculpts the music of Capricorn One via complex orchestration and meticulous sound effects, building and expanding his central themes to create genuine drama. Tightrope-taut and brilliantly paced, the soundtrack is more vividly cinematic than its accompanying celluloid images themselves. It's a virtual master class in the art of film music.

Whenever he was asked to name his own personal favorite within his long and distinguished oeuvre, Jerry Goldsmith inevitably cited his work on 1977's obscure Ernest Hemingway adaptation Islands in the Stream. A lush, often melancholy score evoking both the serenity and the treachery of the sea, it is undoubtedly Goldsmith's most intimate effort, eschewing the larger-than-life drama and suspense of his best-known soundtracks. Islands in the Stream is above all a showcase for the composer's consummate ability to vividly communicate both the physical and emotional landscape in such simple yet precise strokes – employing little but a lone French horn, Goldsmith's main theme captures the immense loneliness and solitude of George C. Scott's protagonist, while gentle woodwinds suggest the ocean waves lapping the shore of his island home.

Jerry Goldsmith won an Oscar for his memorable score to The Omen. For this, the third Omen picture, Goldsmith cranked up the volume and delivered an epic score to accompany the final struggle between good and evil. The original CD release featured poor sound and a limited running time, burying a brilliant score within a mediocre presentation. Varese Sarabande rights this wrong with this expanded CD featuring over an hour of music, all remastered with brilliantly clear sound. Goldsmith's opening salvo, suggesting Gabriel's trumpets, opens the CD with a nod toward the coming Armageddon. As in his score for The Omen, Goldsmith accentuates passages with choral overtones, though the bulk of the music is purely orchestral, moving from the quietly sinister to all-out war.

Varèse Sarabande presents: Little Box Of Horrors! Our tradition of releasing classic horror soundtracks continues with this new collectors box of 12 outstanding albums housed in a black retro-styled carrying case. Little Box Of Horrors includes premieres, out of print classics and some titles making their debut on CD! Included with Little Box Of Horrors is a 24 page booklet written by acclaimed author Randall Larson. If you wanted to find some of these titles on the secondary market you'll pay over a $1000 for them all. The box ships complete with all albums included. Little Box Of Horrors: "Deadly Friend" by Charles Bernstein; "Dracula 2000" by Marco Beltrami; "The Fly" by Howard Shore; "The Hidden" by Michael Convertino; "Maniac" by Jay Chattaway; "The Mephisto Waltz" & "The Other" by Jerry Goldsmith; "Mimic: Deluxe Edition" by Marco Beltrami; "A Nightmare on Elm Street" by Charles Bernstein; "Pumpkinhead" by Richard Stone; "Scream: Deluxe Edition" by Marco Beltrami; "The Serpent And The Rainbow" by Brad Fiedel; "The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde" by Bob Cobert.

Jerry Goldsmith was at the peak of his phenomenal powers when he scored Poltergeist, Steven Spielberg’s 1982 film about paranormal activity. With this 2CD set, FSM presents the definitive edition of one of Goldsmith’s finest and most popular works—including the complete film score on Disc 1 and the original LP soundtrack album (along with a few previously unreleased bonus cues and alternates) on Disc 2. Poltergeist was produced by Spielberg and directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre). Set in a fictional Southern California development, it tells the harrowing tale of a typical suburban family whose home is invaded by demonic spirits. It blends elements from previous Spielberg films in a new mix that is part sci-fi, part horror, and part contemporary thriller—all genres in which Jerry Goldsmith excelled. Goldsmith’s score flows effortlessly between hard-core, dissonant modernism and some of the most lyrical, humanistic music he ever wrote. It is both a marvel of musical construction and a visceral listening experience. Composed over an uncharacteristically long period of fifteen weeks, the music for Poltergeist evokes both child-like simplicity and sheer terror.

La-La Land Records, Sony Music Entertainment and Paramount Pictures boldly go where no soundtrack reissue has gone before with this deluxe 3-CD set of 1979's STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, composed and conducted by Jerry Goldsmith. The first big screen voyage of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock was a high budget and ambitious undertaking that introduced Goldsmith's famous and enduring Star Trek march (later used as the main theme for Star Trek: The Next Generation) as the cornerstone of an epic science fiction musical odyssey. This 3-CD set presents the score for the 1979 theatrical release (filling disc 1 and part of disc 2) and also premieres the legendary early "rejected" cues that Goldsmith recorded prior to composing his famous main theme. The 1979 album program (much of which is performed and edited differently as compared to the film) completes disc 2, with disc 3 offering additional alternates (including those heard on the previous Sony expanded release) along with a wealth of bonus material.