The last few weekends have seen moviegoers pouring back into theaters thanks to the head-to-head blockbusters Barbie and Oppenheimer. Their dual openings made for one of the highest-grossing non-holiday weekends ever, and the talents of Greta Gerwig (co-writer/director of the zingy comedy based on the popular doll) and Christopher Nolan (writer/director of the epic biopic about the man who spearheaded America's creation of the atomic bomb) have already netted a cumulative $1 billion at the box office worldwide. (Perhaps some of that can go toward the striking writers and actors!)

In the reissue world, soundtrack labels have been on a tear, too. In the last few weeks, no less than six major archival titles have been released - from classic blockbusters to cult favorites, legendary composers and even one first-timer (and last-timer!). Here's a rundown of them all, courtesy of La-La Land Records, Varese Sarabande and Intrada!

"Something has survived!" So went the tagline for one of the most anticipated blockbusters of the late '90s. Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park (1993) unseated his own E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial as the highest-grossing film worldwide, and offered the first of an incredible two-film year that included the harrowing Holocaust drama Schindler's List, winner of multiple Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director. The filmmaking icon took an unprecedented four years off from directing, but was hardly idle: he co-founded the film studio DreamWorks with ex-Disney exec Jeffrey Katzenberg and music mogul David Geffen and successfully convinced Crichton to pen The Lost World, a sequel to Jurassic. Here, a second island - which housed the fearsome cloned dinosaurs before their introduction into the doomed theme park - is under invasion by a greedy board of directors, and park founder John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) sends a new team led by original park survivor Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) to stop them at any cost.

Despite a then-record-shattering opening holiday weekend, it's easy to debate the merits of The Lost World: Jurassic Park within Spielberg's filmography. However, his sterling collaboration with John Williams was one of the film's clear highlights. The composer boldly challenged himself to avoid most of the familiar themes of the first film, opting for a rhythmic, mysterious new main theme and dark secondary motif for this mysterious new locale. (The classic themes return for the film's ending.) The Lost World, along with its predecessor, was expanded and remastered in a 4CD set from La-La Land Records in 2016. Now, label and producer present a new remaster of this  that adds four alternates with previously unreleased material among its bonus tracks. Jim Titus designs a new package with liner notes from Matessino; the set is limited to 5000 copies.

La-La Land next turns its attention to one of two James Horner scores getting expanded this month. Gorky Park was a 1983 thriller from director Michael Apted (based on the first of 10 books by Martin Cruz Smith featuring Russian detective Arkady Renko). The mystery and intrigue against the backdrop of the Soviet Union offered critical (if not commercial) adulation, and Horner - fresh from the hit scores to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and 48 Hrs. - was in fine form here, making Gorky Park one of an unbelievable seven original scores the late composer recorded that year. This expanded presentation of the film score builds upon an earlier issue from Intrada, offering the full score alongside source cues and several film versions which include overlaid interpolations of Tchaikovsky pieces. The new high-resolution mixes of these cues - produced for release by Neil S. Bulk and mastered by Chris Malone - also have been re-edited for a new version of the original soundtrack album alongside the original digital masters. Deniz Cordell has penned liner notes in a new package by Titus - limited to 1500 copies.

From Varese Sarabande comes two generous expansions of cornerstone titles from the label's mid-'80s period. First up, Charles Bernstein's score to the 1986 slasher-comedy April Fool's Day. A wacky extension of the "holiday plus horror" ideas that had elevated Halloween and Black Christmas to genre classic status, this film features a group of teens vacationing at an island mansion on April 1, who come face to face with a not-so-funny killer...or do they? The surprise ending of this film polarized critics, but it remains a cult classic (if you grew up with a video store in town, you probably saw that poster art staring at you from a shelf of tapes). Bernstein, an Emmy-winning composer fresh off the one-two punch of scores for Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street and Deadly Friend, was in rare genre-bending form here - but a bit of a joke was played on listeners when the soundtrack album featured synthesizer versions of his orchestral score. This generous disc features both those versions along with another eight bonus tracks from the composer's archive.

Next up from the label is a new spin on a major historical artifact: Carter Burwell's score to the film Blood Simple. A delirious mix of neo-noir, horror and jet-black comedy, this 1984 film - in which a bartender (John Getz) gets into a relationship with the wife (Frances McDormand, in her feature film debut) of his boss (Dan Hedaya), who hires a private eye (M. Emmet Walsh) to tail them - was the first by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen. (As was often the case, Joel directed, Ethan produced and the duo wrote the screenplay. Also making a major turn behind the scenes: cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld, an accomplished blockbuster director in the '90s.) The film marked the start of the Coens' long collaboration with composer Carter Burwell, who utilized piano and ambient electronics for a simple but effective score - one of more than a dozen done for films by the duo.) Varese released portions of Burwell's score on a 1987 album alongside work for the Coens' Raising Arizona; for this new release to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its recording, Burwell has gone back to the original multitrack tapes to remix and expand the soundtrack, featuring 15 minutes of unreleased material. Daniel Schweiger writes liner notes that take fans back to the beginning of one American film's most enduring director-composer partnerships.

Intrada has been busy expanding one sole but pivotal score from a musician not known for film music, as well as a massive expansion of another James Horner favorite. Denny Zeitlin remains best known as an accomplished jazz pianist and bandleader (and, if you've been around the psychology department of the Unviersity of California - San Francisco, a clinical professor as well). His only foray into film work was a jazz-meets-orchestral approach for Philip Kaufman's 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Well-known as a novel and a 1956 sci-fi classic, the story follows the terrifying takeover of Earth by aliens who replicate humans in every way save their emotions (giving way to the phrase "pod people"). The modern film's cast features star turns by well-established and up-and-coming actors including Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright and Leonard Nimoy - plus a memorable cameo from the original film's star Kevin McCarthy, reprising his climactic warning from two decades prior. Zeitlin's sole score gets its due on this 2CD set, featuring both the music as heard in the film, select alternates and the original United Artists Records soundtrack program. Jeff Bond has written new liner notes, and Kay Marshall's package design includes the original album art plus a new cover based on the original key art.

The label also premieres a generous triple-disc version of Horner's score to the 2002 film Windtalkers. The fact-based story, directed by John Woo (the influential Hong Kong action director who crossed over into American multiplexes with Face/Off and Mission: Impossible 2), stars Nicolas Cage as a World War II Marine who takes on one final, fraught mission to guide two soldiers and members of the Navajo tribe, who use their Native language as an unbreakable code giving intel and orders to the Allied forces. Horner's multifaceted score, featuring stirring action cues and contemplative themes representing the bonds between soldiers of different walks of life, was considered by fans to not be well-represented on the still-generous hour-long soundtrack album. Indeed, Intrada's 3CD set (including two fully packed discs of score and extras and that original album on a third) delivers everything a fan of Horner could want. Frank DeWald's liner notes take listeners behind the scenes, and Marshall once again designs a booklet with two covers.

All six titles are available to order now, and are nearly all ready to ship (Gorky Park will ship August 11, with The Lost World following a week later). Pre-orders and full track lists are below!

John Williams, The Lost World: Jurassic Park - Remastered and Expanded Original Soundtrack (La-La Land Records LLLCD , 2023 - original film released 1997)

Disc 1: Score presentation

1. The Lost World
   
2. The Island's Voice
   
3. Revealing the Plans
   
4. To the Island
   
5. The Stegosaurus (Extended Version)
   
6. Fire At Camp and Corporate Helicopters
   
7. The Hunt
   
8. Big Feet
   
9. Spilling Petrol and Horning In
   
10. Up in a Basket
    
11. In the Trailer
    
12. On the Glass
    
13. Rescuing Sarah (Extended Version)
    
14. Reading the Map
    
15. The Trek
    
16. The Compys!
    
17. Ripples
    
18. The Long Grass

Disc 2: Score presentation (1-11) and extras (12-17; * previously unreleased, ** contains previously unreleased material)

1. Finding Camp Jurassic
   
2. The Raptors Appear
   
3. High Bar and Ceiling Tiles
   
4. Heading North
   
5. Ludlow's Speech
   
6. The Wrecked Ship
   
7. Monster on the Loose
   
8. Visitor in San Diego (Extended Version)
   
9. Ludlow's End
   
10. Tranquilizer Dart
    
11. Jurassic Park Theme (End Credits)
    
12. The Lost World (Alternate)
13. On the Glass (Alternate Excerpt) **
14. Rescuing Sarah (Alternate) *
15. Ripples (Film Version) **
16. The Raptors Appear (Alternate) *
17. Tranquilizer Dart and End Credits (Film Version)

Portions previously released as MCA Records MCAD-11628, 1997. Disc 1 and Disc 2, Tracks 1-12 and 17 released on The John Williams Jurassic Park Collection - La-La Land Records LLLCD 1409, 2016

James Horner, Gorky Park: Music from the MGM Motion Picture - 40th Anniversary Edition (La-La Land Records LLLCD , 2023 - original film released 1983)

Disc 1: Score presentation (1-21), source cues (22-26) and additional cues (27-32)

1. Main Title (from the Motion Picture Gorky Park)
   
2. Faceless Bodies
   
3. A Leather Bag with the Gun
   
4. First Flashback
   
5. Following Arkady
   
6. Chase Through the Park
   
7. Following Kirwill
   
8. Andreev
   
9. Second Flashback
   
10. Pasha and Golodkin Shot
    
11. Irina's Chase
    
12. Regaining Consciousness
    
13. Love Montage
    
14. Irina's Theme (Film Version)
    
15. The Sable Shed
    
16. Following KGB
    
17. Iamskoy's Death
    
18. Irina Confesses
    
19. Setting Up the Deal
    
20. Farewell At the Airport
    
21. Releasing the Sables/End Titles
    
22. Swan Lake (Excerpt)
    
23. 1812 Overture (Excerpt)
    
24. String Quartet Opus 18 No. 4
    
25. Stingers
    
26. Salted Peanuts
    
27. Main Title (Film Version)
    
28. First Flashback (Film Version)
    
29. Second Flashback (Film Version)
    
30. Irina's Theme (Alternate Version)
    
31. The Sable Shed (Film Version)
    
32. Releasing the Sables/End Credits (Film Version)

Portions previously released as Intrada ISC 289, 2014

Disc 2: Original soundtrack album (original and 2023 mixes - Tracks 1-11 released as Varese Sarabande STV-81206, 1983)

1. Main Title
   
2. Following Kirwill
   
3. Irina's Theme
   
4. Following KGB
   
5. Chase Through the Park
   
6. Arkady and Irina
   
7. Faceless Bodies
   
8. Irina's Chase
   
9. The Sable Shed
   
10. Airport Farewell
    
11. Releasing the Sables/End Titles

Charles Bernstein, April Fool's Day: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - The Deluxe Edition (Varese Sarabande, 2023 - original film released 1986)

1. Main Title (Orchestral Film Version)
2. Muffy's Present (Orchestral Film Version)
3. Pier Pressure Part 2 (Orchestral Film Version)
4. Pier Pressure Part 1 (Orchestral Film Version)
5. Night (Orchestral Film Version)
6. Trick or Threat/Muffy and the Dolls (Alt Orchestral Film Version)
7. Little Miss Muffy Part 2 (Orchestral Film Version)
8. Little Miss Muffy Part 3 (Orchestral Film Version)
9. First Victim (Orchestral Film Version)
10. Snakes Alive (Orchestral Film Version)
11. All's Well That Ends (Orchestral Film Version)
12. The House (Version 1) (Orchestral Film Version)
13. Little Miss Muffy Part 1 (Orchestral Film Version)
14. Nightwatch (Orchestral Film Version)
15. Wind/Window (Orchestral Film Version)
16. Stab in the Dark (Orchestral Film Version)
17. Hanging Around (Orchestral Film Version)
18. Nan in Danger (Orchestral Film Version)
19. Muffy Attack Part 2 (Orchestral Film Version)
20. Choke and Dagger Parts 1 & 2 (Orchestral Film Version)
21. Getting the Point (Orchestral Film Version)
22. Hack in the Box (Orchestral Film Version)
23. Muffy Attack Part 1 (Orchestral Film Version)
24. Intro (Original Synth Version)
25. Main Title (Original Synth Version)
26. Choke and Dagger (Original Synth Version)
27. Pier Pressure (Original Synth Version)
28. All's Well That Ends (Original Synth Version)
29. Snakes Alive (Original Synth Version)
30. Stab in the Dark (Original Synth Version)
31. Hanging Around (Original Synth Version)
32. The House (Original Synth Version)
33. Trick or Treat (Original Synth Version)
34. Nan in Danger (Original Synth Version)
35. Nightwatch (Original Synth Version)
36. Sitting Duck (Original Synth Version)
37. Dead Man's Float (Original Synth Version)
38. Night (Original Synth Version)
39. Getting the Point (Original Synth Version)
40. Little Miss Muffy (Original Synth Version)
41. Muffy Attack (Original Synth Version)
42. First Victim (Original Synth Version)
43. Hack in the Box (Original Synth Version)
44. Techno-Loons 1 (Bonus Track From Charles)
45. Music Box & Child Voices (Bonus Track from Charles)
46. Popup Sting Layers (Bonus Track from Charles)
47. Winks, Clock Motifs & Rhythmic Motif (Bonus Track from Charles)
48. Melodic Motif (Bonus Track from Charles)
49. CB Groove 1 (Alternative Source Cue)
50. CB Groove 2 (Alternative Source Cue)
51. J.S. Bach Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor (Orchestral Source Cue)

Tracks 24-43 released as Varese Sarabande STV-81278, 1986. All other tracks previously unreleased

Carter Burwell, Blood Simple: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - The Deluxe Edition (Varese Sarabande, 2023 - original film released 1984)

1. Crash and Burn
   
2. Blood Simple
   
3. Chain Gang
   
4. Looking At Pictures
   
5. The March
   
6. Monkey Chant
   
7. Noise Burn
   
8. Blood Simpler
   
9. The Shooting
   
10. Abby Scampers
    
11. Empty Bar
    
12. If I See Him
    
13. Chariots (Bonus Track)
    

Tracks 1-3, 5-6 and 8-9 released on Varese Sarabande STV-81318, 1987

Denny Zeitlin, Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Original MGM Motion Picture Soundtrack (Intrada ISC 486, 2023 - original film released 1978)

Disc 1: Original Film Score (1-40) and Extras (41-45) (all previously unreleased)

1. Main Title
2. To Earth
3. It's a Grex
4. Angel of Death
5. Stoic Geoffrey
6. The Thing with Her Eyes
7. Chinatown in the Morning (0:58)
8. Flash Back (Everyone's Different)
9. Panicked Man is Killed
10. Horn Concerto In "D" (Mozart)
11. Matt Homes Liz
12. Symphony of Grotesque
13. How Tall Are You Jack?
14. Bloody Stiff
15. Matt Finds the Real Liz
16. Matt Takes Liz
17. Et Tu Kibner
18. Liz Won't Be Coming Home
19. Bureaucratic Montage I
20. Bureaucratic Montage II
21. Part of the Conspiracy
22. Surrounded in the Street
23. The Flight
24. Jack's Last Stand
25. Dance of the Feet
26. Stripper Source
27. Disco Source
28. Matt Bloodies Pod
29. Security Man Search
30. Matt and Liz Meet Nancy
31. Banjo Hybrid
32. Heart of Darkness
33. Amazing Grace
34. Liz Dies
35. Pod Liz Imperative
36. Matt Races Alone
37. Matt in Pod Central
38. Matt's Last Flight
39. Matthew
40. Pod Matt
41. Main Title (Original Version)
42. Liz Dies (Original Version)
43. Wild Multitrack Cluster
44. Wild Cluster, Pizzicatos, and Col Legno
45. Main Title (Album Version)

Disc 2: Original Soundtrack Album (released as United Artists UA-LA940-H, 1978)

1. Main Title
2. Angel of Death
3. Love Theme
4. The Discovery
5. Rescue
6. Infiltration (Suite)
7. Flight
8. On the Streets
9. Run and Hide
10. Escape to Darkness
11. Amazing Grace
12. The Reckoning

James Horner, Windtalkers: Music from the MGM Motion Picture Soundtrack (Intrada ISC 493, 2023 - original film released 2002)

Disc 1: Film score (previously unreleased)

1. Navajo Dawn (Revised - Film Version)
2. Solomons
3. Hearing Test/Code Test
4. A New Assignment #1
5. A New Assignment #2
6. Joe Looks At Birds (Revised)
7. An Act of Heroism #1 (with Synth)
8. Saipan: Crazy Joe
9. Saipan: Bazooka Ox
10. Taking the Beachhead/Saipan: First Radio Call (Version #1)
11. Taking the Beachhead/Saipan: First Radio Call (Version #2)
12. Saipan: Satchel Charge
13. The Night Before
14. First Blood Ceremony
15. Yahz Explains Ceremony to Joe
16. Sharing Smokes
17. Wounded Man (with Synth)
18. Wounded Man (Version #2)
19. Marine Assault (Part 1)
20. Marine Assault (Part 2)
21. Ghost Cemetery
22. Entering Village
23. Joe Draws in Flour
24. Invitation to Navajo Country
25. Village Attack
26. An Act of Heroism #2

Disc 2: Film score (1-8) and extras (9-15) (all previously unreleased)

1. Losses Mounting
2. Drive to Minefield
3. Ambush
4. Friends in War/Death of Hjelmstad
5. Reveal Jap Guns
6. Capture the Radio
7. A Sacrifice Never Forgotten (Revised)
8. Calling to the Wind (Revised - Film Version)
9. Navajo Dawn (Original)
10. Joe Looks At Birds (Original)
11. An Act of Heroism #1 (without Synth)
12. Wounded Man (without Synth)
13. A Sacrifice Never Forgotten (Original)
14. A Sacrifice Never Forgotten (Alternate)
15. Calling to the Wind

Disc 3: Original soundtrack album (released as RCA Victor 09026 63867-2, 2002)

1. Navajo Dawn
2. A New Assignment
3. An Act of Heroism
4. Taking the Beachhead
5. First Blood Ceremony
6. The Night Before
7. Marine Assault
8. Losses Mounting
9. Friends in War
10. A Sacrifice Never Forgotten
11. Calling to the Wind