The problem is that when people think Williams/Spielberg, they thing “Jaws theme”, “Raiders theme”, “ET’s theme”, “Jurassic Park theme” and dismiss it as all anthemic. But Jaws is much more than those repeated two notes. Raiders has some of the creepiest music written for the Map Room. And Williams never phones in his sequel scores–Temple of Doom’s main theme is probably better than the original, Darth Vader’s iconic theme came from Empire, and the score for the 3rd Harry Potter is fantastic.
I think in some ways Williams is both underrated for these reasons, though still overrated because so many of his movies were such huge box office hits, so he’s had much greater cultural penetration (Jerry Goldsmith, for example, was easily Williams’ equal, though very few of his films had the same level of success).
Well, the results are in! Here are my predictions–those that made the final list have been marked with an asterisk (*):
Ones I missed: Laura (Raksin), Sunset Blvd. (Waxman), High Noon (Tiomkin), On the Waterfront (L.Bernstein), The Pink Panther (Mancini), Planet of the Apes (Goldsmith), Chinatown (Goldsmith), On Golden Pond (Grusin), Out of Africa (Barry), The Mission (Morricone)
So, 15 out of 25, though I was also correct in guessing Mancini, Barry, Morricone, and Goldsmith, though I got the films wrong.
Some observations: Africa is nowhere near as good a score as Barry at his peak; The Lion in Winter and Goldfinger are far more deserving.
Glad to see Goldsmith twice (including the brilliant Apes score), and Williams only 3 times (let’s face it–it could’ve been more). Also glad to see Waxman there, though the omission of the seminal Bride of Frankenstein is probably the most egregious.
Bernard Herrmann wrote many brilliant scores for directors not named Hitchcock. Herrmann deserves more than two slots (starting with The Day the Earth Stood Still and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir).
On Golden Pond?!?!? This is the one genuinely piss poor selection. Even his best scores (The Milagro Beanfield War, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter) have no business being in any Top 50 list. But this? Blech.
Sorry to see no room for Lalo Schifrin or Jerome Moross, probably the most important American composers not cited.
So, as is typical of AFI, recent films are cited more than older (generally more deserving) ones. Still, as AFI lists go, there have certainly been worse.
Thanks. I just looked at the actual list. I’m not familar with all the music on there, but I have to ask: is the soundtrack to *Chinatown * really all that memorable? It’s one of my all-time favorite movies but I gotta admit, I’ve never really noticed the music as all that amazing. Huh. I’ll have to re-watch the damn thing, I guess.
Just took a quick glance, but I noticed that though the Newman family (Alfred, Thomas and Randy) had several nominations between them, none of them made the top 25. Also, no Danny Elfman.
I agree with ArchiveGuy on the inclusion of “Planet of the Apes”, “The Day the Earth Stood Still” being deserving, and the forgettable “On Golden Pond”.
Actually, Alfred squeaked in at the 25th spot with How the West Was Won. 3 western scores but no love for perhaps the greatest: Moross’s The Big Country.
Oh, and Stephe96, I was pleasantly surprised by Chinatown’s inclusion, also. I had predicted Patton would be what would get Goldsmith in, not only because the film’s been popular in other AFI lists, but because it’s one of the most anthemic of all of JG’s work (probably his Star Trek theme is the only one better known). But the music for Chinatown is a quality mood-enhancer and represents what some of the best scores are: invisible. They heighten tension, establish tone, and enhance characterization in a myriad of subtle ways without ever calling attention to themselves. I suspect Chinatown placed, in part, because of the general admiration for the film, but the score is well-deserving of the praise, too.
I believe this list was only going to be 25. It’s 100 Years of film scores (though, technically, it’s more like 75). They didn’t do a TV special but did reveal the winners in a special concert at the Hollywood Bowl.