'Star Wars' soundtracks strike back amid film mania

Fresh from its latest film installment smashing box office records, "Star Wars" is back in yet another form with the reissue of the soundtracks.

Label Sony Classical on Friday re-released the soundtracks for the first six "Star Wars" films in collections of either 11 LPs or 10 CDs or high-resolution digital downloads.

The CD collection also includes a DVD that features interviews of Harrison Ford, who plays Han Solo in the space epic, and John Williams, the composer of the music.

"Star Wars" has produced some of the most successful classical music in recent times, with generations of fans instantly recognizing the dramatic neo-Romantic openings to the films.

The soundtrack to the latest film, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," opened at number five on the main Billboard album chart in the United States, a highly unusual mainstream success for classical music.

The latest soundtrack featured as a guest conductor Gustavo Dudamel, the Venezuelan rising star in classical music who heads the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

In less than a month "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" has broken box office records in North America and is already fourth in all-time global revenues.

Williams is one of the most prolific composers of film music and has also scored most of the films of Steven Spielberg including the "Indiana Jones" series, which also stars Ford.