My Fave Five John Williams Movie Scores

I have stressed in several of my reviews how much a great score can contribute to a film.  A great composer can take what they see on screen and translate that into music, amplifying the emotion or set the atmosphere.  Having been a musician myself, I have a deep appreciation for the time and effort that goes into music making.  As a result, I tend to really listen to a film’s score and get into the emotion of it (or try to anyway).  Whenever I go into a film and I see that John Williams is the composer, I know I’m in for a musical treat.  He is without a doubt my favorite film composer.  Williams knows his way around the heart of a film and can strengthen it like few other composers can.  He can capture strong and powerful or soft sweet and everything in between. He can create tension, making you scrunch in your seat, or alleviate it, and bring you closer to the characters.  Alright, enough about my musical man-crush, here are my five favorite John Williams movie scores.

5) Harry Potter 1 – 3

I was a part of the Harry Potter Generation.  It may not have been as big for me as it was for others, but I still really enjoyed the series, both the books and the films.  For the longest time, I never realized that Williams was the composer for the first three Harry Potter movies.  It wasn’t until it showed up on my film scores playlist on Pandora that I was like, “Holy smokes, no wonder I like it so much.”  Although the Harry Potter films may be one of Williams more recent scores, it has quickly become just as iconic as some of his previous scores.  I would say the Harry Potter theme has become almost as recognizable as any others on this list.

4) Jaws

Remember in the introduction when I mentioned a music can help set the atmosphere?  I was mostly referencing this movie when I said that.  Jaws is a good movie, but it is the score that makes it great.  It helps create a tension the film would otherwise lack.  The signature Duuuunnn duuunnn is enough to send a chill down anyone’s spine, even if they are nowhere near the water.

3) Indiana Jones series

I couldn’t tell you what exactly draws me towards the music of the Indiana Jones series.  Every time I hear it, I want to jump on a horse and ride into some booby-trap infested temple.  Then I remember if that if I were to enter that kind of place I wouldn’t make it through like Indy, instead I would be like Satipo (Alfred Molina).  With each film in the original trilogy, the music gets better and better.  But none of it beats the Raiders March, the theme song that carries through all movies.

2) Jurassic Park 

The score of Jurassic Park will always put me in a good mood, no matter how I’m feeling.  Few movie scores can really fill me with emotion the way this one does.  Every time I hear the Jurassic Park theme, I can’t help but think of the opening shot of the park itself with several dinosaur species roaming around the open field and getting a drink from the lake and the late Richard Attenborough saying “Welcome to Jurassic Park.”  It is so grandiose I am just filled with a strong sense of positive emotion almost instantaneously.

1) Star Wars Saga

Star Wars has had a huge impact in cinema.  I would say the original trilogy one of the reasons I am the cinefile I am today.  At the heart of all the films (including the next trilogy) is Williams’ score.  I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but every time I hear any piece of music from any of the Star Wars movies I get swept away.  The highlights for me are Duel of the Fates from The Phantom Menace and Battle of the Heroes from Revenge of the Sith.  Both songs completely capture the emotion of the lightsaber duels on screen and is the pinnacle of what the amazing John Williams is capable of.

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Come back tomorrow for the Movie Quote of the Week and the answer to yesterday’s Movie Whose Line (which you can guess here).  What is your favorite John Williams film score?

Monday Movie Fun Fact – 8/25/14

Do you remember John Williams’ iconic Jaws them? Duuuunnn duuunnn. Duuunnn duuunnn. Duunn duunn. Duunn. Duunn duunn. Dun dun. Dun dun. Dun. (You know you sang it it your head).  Today, it’s arguably one of the most recognized and memorable pieces of film music (ranking #6 on AFI’s 25 Greatest Film Scores of All Time).  Steven Spielberg initially needed some convincing about how awesome it is.  Williams said in an interview that the first thing he demonstrated to Spielberg was the simple theme.  When he finished, “Spielberg laughed at first.”  After some playing around, Spielberg gave him the go ahead.  When the score was finished, “Steven loved it,” according to Williams.  It’s hard to image what would have happened to Jaws had Spielberg not enjoyed the score.

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Read John Williams’ full interview here.

Jurassic Park Review

Review #81

Synopsis
Archeologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and archeobotonist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) are invited by John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) to visit Jurassic Park, Hammond’s unique prehistoric wildlife preserve, along with choatition Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), and Hammond’s grandchildren (Joseph Mazello and Ariana Richards). When systems start failing across the park, Grant and the other guests must survive on an island where dinosaurs are roaming free and causing havoc on the island.

Review
Jurassic Park holds a special place in my heart. Not only because it was the first PG-13 movie my parents let me watch before I was 13 (rebellious, I know), but because it was one of the first movies I would watch over and over again. After viewing it more recently, I realized I had missed several of the finer points of the story when I was younger. I guess the kid in me just enjoyed watching dinosaurs come to life, like most young boys dream of. Even today that is one of my favorite parts about this movie, but now I appreciate more of the nuances of the story, as well as the fantasy of living dinosaurs.

At the time, computer-generated imagery (CGI) was still in it’s infancy. Several movies had dabbled with the it previously, but nothing really substantial. However, Jurassic Park completely embraced the up-and-coming technology, revolutionizing it, leading to the flashy and spectacular effects we see today in blockbusters like Avatar, The Avengers, Pacific Rim, and the recently delayed Jupiter Ascending. And despite being twenty years old, the effects don’t look dated. It looks almost as good as effects you would expect to see today. An amazing feat considering it is one of the earliest films to use CGI.

Before CGI became the predominant method for special effects, animatronics were used. I think this movie is a perfect example of how to use animatronics correctly, and is the pinnacle of the technology (which is funny considering it also ushered in the age of CGI). If the movie had been done completely with CGI, the dinosaurs would not have come life as well as they did. That is one of the reasons Steven Spielberg is my favorite director, because he understood how to use both CGI and animatronics side-by-side.

The Tyrannosaurus Rex is largely featured in the marketing for Jurassic Park. However, the “big baddies,” if you will, are the velociraptors. From the very first scene, literally, they are set up as smart, cunning, and dangerous. First, a worker gets pulled into the cage and eaten. Then Alan Grant (Sam Neill) talks about how they are pack hunters. Later, the characters go to the raptor cage and they discuss how “they don’t want to be fed, they want to hunt.” Then there is a break away from the velociraptors to focus on the T-Rex, but there is a mention about the character causing the power outages knowing not to shut down the power to the velociraptor cage. So finally, when the velociraptors appear on screen, it is well established how deadly they are. It was a fairly slow process, but it did well to establish the threat they possessed.

To me, a movie’s soundtrack and score is very important. It can almost tell you how to feel more than what is happening on screen can. John Williams, my all time favorite film composer, writes a great and memorable soundtrack. But honestly, what would you expect? Everything the man writes is fantastic. His score for Jurassic Park is up there as one of my favorite film scores. I mean, try not to become filled with emotion and wonder and awe when John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) says “Welcome to Jurassic Park” and Williams’ Jurassic Park theme starts playing. Go ahead, I dare you.

Some movies have one character who is just fun to hate. In this film, that would be Jeff Golblum’s Ian Malcolm. He’s annoying and obnoxious, but he has a charm to him that I don’t think many other actors other than Goldblum could portray so well.

One thing that surprised me about this movie is how funny it can be. It is by no means laugh out loud funny, but every now and then someone says something that made me smile or even chuckle a little. Even though it wasn’t much, this small amount of humor prevented Jurassic Park from becoming too serious or dark.

Here is your daily fun fact. Several times throughout the movie, Lex Murphy (Ariana Richards) refers to herself as a “hacker,” even correcting her brother (Joseph Mazello). Back in the day, the term “hacker” didn’t have the negative meaning it usually is said with today. Instead, it meant someone enjoyed exploring computers as a hobby. This included building, modifying, and creating either hardware or software or both. There is your little slice of knowledge for the day. Don’t say I never did anything for you.

Jurassic Park is special to me because it was one of the first movies I really go into. When I was younger, I enjoyed it because of the action and the fantasy of dinosaurs roaming the Earth once again. As I grew older, I started to appreciate it for the story as well. A mix of revolutionary CGI and amazing animatronics give this movie a unique look and feel, truly bringing prehistoric creatures back to life. From the beginning, velociraptors are set up as a dangerous threat, so when they are finally shown on screen, the danger they pose has already been established. John Williams’ Jurassic Park theme is very emotional and one of my favorite movie scores. Although not laugh out loud funny, there is still humor throughout the film that prevents the movie from slipping into a dark tone. No matter how old I get, I will never lose the sense of wonder I felt when I first watched Jurassic Park and believing that, despite this being a piece of fiction, dinosaurs once again roamed the Earth.

Rating
5/5

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Steven Spielberg – Director
Michael Crichton – Screenplay / Novel
David Koepp – Screenplay
John Williams – Composer

Sam Neill – Dr. Alan Grant
Laura Dern – Dr. Ellie Sattler
Jeff Goldblum – Dr. Ian Malcolm
Richard Attenborough – John Hammond
Bob Peck – Robert Muldoon
Martin Ferrero – Donald Gennaro
Joseph Mazello – Tim Murphy
Ariana Richards – Lex Murphy
Samuel L. Jackson – Ray Arnold
Wayne Knight – Dennis Nedry