# Favorite John Williams movie music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 10, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538 "2003-07-10T19:13:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538/1 "2003-07-10T19:13:26Z")
Ok, [John Williams](http://uk.imdb.com/Name?Williams,+John) has had quite a career as a film music compser and wether you love his stuff or hate it you’ve got to admit that it’s pretty catchy. So what I want to know are two things. What is your favorite JW movie main theme? And What is your favorite JW movie musical scene? I know we basically have a race between Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back Vader’s March, Indiana Jones and Superman. But there is also Close Encounters, Jaws, Jurassic Park. And now some of his latter stuff is really, IMHO, quite nice like A.I. and Catch me if you Can. For me Theme I really love the main theme from Midway. It’s a nice 6/8 march that is just develops in a grand theme. Musical bit I’ll say the fugue of ‘Building the shark cage’ from Jaws. That just really adds to the tension for the scene. Very close second would be Cadillac of the Skies from Empire of the Sun and the Conversation from CE3K. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538/2 "2003-07-10T19:18:44Z")
I like the JFK score. Then again, I’m rather biased. ---
**Author:** ![ajlilhammer225](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/cc9497/32.png) [@ajlilhammer225](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ajlilhammer225)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538/3 "2003-07-10T19:32:47Z")
i really like the harry potter music, we played it in band this year. i think i like the indianan jones movies best ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538/4 "2003-07-10T19:56:50Z")
You know he did more than movie themes, right? I really like the fanfare he composed for the 1984 Olympics. ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538/5 "2003-07-10T19:59:49Z")
I love the theme from “Schindler’s List.” ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_Winker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71e660/32.png) [@Tim\_Winker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_Winker)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538/6 "2003-07-10T20:20:37Z")
I like the heavy-on-the-horns one from Superman. Bum-bum-baaaaaaaaaaaaam…bam-bam-bam-bam-baaaaam-ba-baaaaaaaaaaaaam… I also like the Imperial March one from Empire Strikes Back. Bum-bum-budubum-budubadabum! Recently, I truly enjoyed the piece that was playing during the Darth Maul fight. It really had some great tension, then the singing operatic notes that swelled up, you knew something was going down. do-de-dodado-do-de-dodado-do-de-DODADO…AAAAAAAAHHHHHH - Ah AWWWWWWWWW!!! (I wish you could attach sound files…) ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538/7 "2003-07-10T20:41:24Z")
The Imperial March is my all time favorite. Though the opening theme from Star Wars sends a chill down my spine. ---
**Author:** ![Logan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/278dde/32.png) [@Logan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Logan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538/8 "2003-07-10T20:42:44Z")
Definitely “Star Wars” followed by “Raiders” ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538/9 "2003-07-10T20:53:09Z")
Schindler’s List is my favorite. There was a commercial back in the 60’s (I think) for Kent cigarettes that had a jingle with a bunch of “to a \ it’s a \” several times and finally “to a smoker it’s a Kent.” If you ever heard that jingle (and it ran A LOT) you’d have wondered why Williams used almost the same melody for the Indiana Jones theme. I could never hear it without thinking of that schlocky commercial. Jaws is another well above the rest for me. Williams trivia: before he became the highly regarded composer, he was a better-than-competent jazz piano player. Check [here for more details](http://us.imdb.com/Bio?Williams,%20John) ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538/10 "2003-07-10T21:07:48Z")
**Jaws** - come on, who here hasn’t started humming this on a boat?? But the only score I’ve bought were **Return of the Jedi** and **Harry Potter**. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538/11 "2003-07-10T22:01:24Z")
My favorite individual scene he wrote music for is the Asteroid Field chase in **Empire** As for a favorite main theme, I’ll admit being partial to **The Witches of Eastwick** ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538/12 "2003-07-10T22:36:13Z")
Remember, we’re talking only about the music, right? I thought **Duel of the Fates** was as good as anything he has done. The choir adds the perfect touch and the music forms a perfect fit with the Qui Gon / Obi Wan / Darth Maul light saber duel. As for the rest of the movie…well, that’s another topic all together. ---
**Author:** ![Tarrsk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@Tarrsk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarrsk)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538/13 "2003-07-10T22:45:31Z")
I don’t own the soundtracks for the original Star Wars trilogy, so I don’t know the track names, but I’m immensely fond of the Force theme (both the soft version played during emotional scenes and the bombastic version played at the end of _A New Hope_) and Rebel combat theme. The Imperial March is a classic as well. Duel of the Fates is fantastic, one of the very few things about Episode 1 that I really liked. I also enjoyed the Love Theme from Episode II… until I actually saw the movie, and whiny-stalker Anakin inextricably linked himself to the piece. Ugh. Also love the Indy theme, and all of the music from _A.I._, which I consider a sadly underrated film (it’s just the ending that’s bad, really!). ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538/14 "2003-07-10T23:00:55Z")
Williams’ score for _JFK_ was really good, and his work for _Presumed Innocent_ is one of the few examples where I really felt he wrote something original. My personal favorite, though, and the only Williams score I actually own, is his music for _Born on the Fourth of July_. He really managed to capture the idea of that movie musically, and didn’t go for his typical overly-prevalent style. Definitely one of his best. His more recent work, such as the _Harry Potter_ movies and the new _Star Wars_ scores, are sort of catchy but profoundly unoriginal. One of my big complaints about _Attack of the Clones_ was its really poor use of music. Not only was the music poorly-done, but it was used in inappropriate places. Which is really unfortunate, because the sound design for AOTC _apart_ from the music was top-notch. As for which Williams piece goes best in the film, I’d have to go with either the “Desert Chase” music from _Raiders of the Lost Ark_, in which the music really supplemented the action well, or the Vietnam segments from _Born on the Fourth of July_, for a completely different reason. ---
**Author:** ![Swede\_Hollow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Swede\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swede_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538/15 "2003-07-10T23:27:43Z")
I like most of his work, but especially _Exsultate Justi_ from **Emperor of the Sun**. I love the behind the scenes stuff in the **Jaws** DVD where Steven Speilberg describes John Williams’ first demonstration of the now-classic theme he worked out. J.W. sits at a piano and plinks two keys back and forth (duh DUH, duh DUH). Speilberg laughs and says something on the lines of “No, really. What’d you come up with.” Williams played it again and Speilberg finally ‘got’ it and agreed to use it. There’s also the great piece he came up with that is only 5 notes but is instantly identifiable: The communication tones used in **Close Encounters of the Third Kind**. That shows an amazing variety of styles that he can work with. ---
**Author:** ![Padmaraga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@Padmaraga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padmaraga)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538/16 "2003-07-10T23:29:14Z")
I just love the theme to _1941_ (the goofy WWII comedy with John Belushi, I think John Landis directed). For a scene, I guess the requiem in _Saving Private Ryan_. ---
**Author:** ![Padmaraga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@Padmaraga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padmaraga)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538/17 "2003-07-10T23:31:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Padmaraga \* > \*\*I just love the theme to _1941_ (the goofy WWII comedy with John Belushi, I think John Landis directed). > \*\* Oops, I was wrong - it was Spielberg. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538/18 "2003-07-11T01:28:10Z")
A lesser known one, but my favorite is _Planting the Charges_ from _The Towering Inferno_. Ten minutes of wonderful tension building music. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538/19 "2003-07-11T02:21:44Z")
It’s got to be Jaws. How many movies can be identified from just two notes? _Dun-da…dun-da…dun-da…_ ---
**Author:** ![AV8R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@AV8R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AV8R)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538/20 "2003-07-11T03:23:54Z")
I have a “greatest hits” type of CD of his music, and my favorite is music from _ **The Cowboys** _. It starts out fast and furious, followed by a slow middle section with a beautiful soaring melody, then it gets countrapuntal (almost Copland-esque), and then returns to the fast section again. I never get tired of listening to it. And for years I always had the _ **Raiders** _ theme in my head at all times. At the conclusion of watching _ **Schindler’s List** _, and also _ **Amistad** _, I remember thinking, "This music was really good - I’m glad that Spielberg didn’t use John Williams this time, his music just wouldn’t have worked for this movie. And then in the ending credits I see that it actually _was_ his music. I was pleasantly surprised at his versitality. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-john-williams-movie-music/187538.md?page=2)