Thursday, October 25, 2007

Random Top Ten

Random Top Ten!!

Top Ten John Williams' Scores

10. Jaws
Can a score achieve greatness solely on the basis of two notes? Yes.



9. Jurassic Park
I've always absolutely loved that fanfare theme for the way it presents us with a pretty straightforward high-adventure laced, simple theme of wonder and twists it with a blue note to symbolize the genetic tampering in the story, the non-natural aspect of these awe-inspiring dinosaurs.



8. Raiders of the Lost Ark
Some great themes, but not as cohesive a whole as Williams' great scores. Still, Hall-of-Fame worthy just for those two big themes themselves.



7. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
The best of the new trilogy scores, with a wonderfully heartbreaking theme to represent the conflict between Obi-Wan and Anakin.



6. Munich
A deeply sorrowful score.



5. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
May be the most organic of the Star Wars scores, the most compelling from start to finish.



4. A.I.
Williams, to represent the strange but effective mixture of the seemingly disparate styles of Spielberg and Kubrick creates a hybrid of his own Romantic, full-bodied sound and Philip Glassian cold minimalism. Genius.



3. Schindler's List
The score that showed me that Williams can do serious as well as anyone, that grand adventure and big, sweeping sounds are not his only tricks.



2. E.T.
Williams at his biggest and most unabashedly epic. Those last fifteen minutes or so are just magic, and when those tympanis come in at the end? Chills.



1. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
The one that kick started big orchestral music as the go to sound for big films, a template that still has enormous influence thirty years later. I personally think that Williams will be remembered two hundred years hence for much, but if it turns out that he's only remembered for one thing, it'll be the Main Theme to this.



Until Whenever

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