Pieter Boelen

5 star score.  It's incredible!  I love every second of it.  The 2CD LLL release is outstanding!

The film is great, but I probably only say that because I saw it in the theater when it came out (I was 16 that summer)

I do think it holds up better than a lot of other summer blockbuster type movies, especially from the 2000s and 2010s but from the 90s as well.... It's really a lot of fun.  I rated it 4 stars in the poll.

5-star score, no doubt. I don't listen to this kind of bombastic orchestral film music anymore (the new variations of these), but I used to back in the 90s and early 2000s, so I still have a soft spot for them and return to them quite so often, even now when I tend to veer more towards the calm, ambient, non-orchestral and textural. Bits of nostalgia and change-of-pace now and then.
 
As a big Emmerich fan, I also love the movie. Not his greatest, but up there.

LOTR > Harry Potter > Game of Throwup  

My results:
 
TPM - 8
TFA - 6 
Tie - 6
 
So it seems that I prefer TPM! (I was already starting to lean that way while I put together the poll, but I guess this confirms it)
 
One of the things I really realized about the two scores was how much of a letdown TFA's almost nonexistent action climax is compared to TPM's incredible drawn out battle score. Of course that's not Williams' fault, though! 

Inspired by Jay's old Middle Earth thread, I decided to pair up cues from these two scores that were written for similar situations or in a similar style, and let you vote on which ones you prefer. I am going to go through right now and make my selections, and I really hope it will straighten out which score I enjoy more. As many of you know, I've sung the praises of TFA as being the best Star Wars score, but I suspect that judgement is colored by the fact that it was the only Star Wars score to be released during my time as a JW fan (thus far!) A cue-by-cue analysis will hopefully force me to really think about how I think the music compares, without external biases. This list of cues does not presume to be even nearly exhaustive - nor are the matches made in a consistent way - but I didn't want to spend days working on this post! Answering this poll may not completely answer the question of which score you enjoy more, but I think it's a big step in that direction. 
 
I hope you guys have some fun with this, too! If you're wondering which music I'm referring to by a certain cue title, just ask. 

Apparently for Force Friday many Apple stores are hosting some Star Wars events throughout next weekend. One is called "Build Your Own Star Wars Trailer":
 
 
(https://www.apple.com/today/collection/star-wars/)
 
Given that it's only an hour, they're obviously not going to get very in-depth or anything, but I still think it could be fun. (You guys have probably noticed that I absolutely adore Star Wars trailers.) So I think I might try to go to this Friday morning. I've tried making my own SW trailer in the past, but I didn't get very far because it's very hard work (at least for a novice at video editing!) I assume with this they'll make things really simple and that might give me a chance to actually produce a complete trailer. 

Given how they seem to be milking this, I'd be okay with heavy style and tone shifts between movies. Teddy bears throwing rocks, gritty war movies, horror, children movies, whatever. R1 seems like an attempt to diversify it a bit, but in a mild way so it doesn't become jarring.

I think we'll just have to settle for "poodoo." 

Edit: Just wanted to point out, for those who may not have caught it, that this is a really high-quality post, and a reminder of how consistently I bring great conversational pieces to this forum. 

Think of the shock value of the movie when they reveal Rey's parentage AFTER the new trilogy is over!

In terms of score, I'm not sure yet, as I've only listened to The Matrix once. In terms of these particular cues, I'd have to go with Giacchino's, mainly because the building tone thing seems to be harmonized in a slightly more heroic manner, although it's close. Also the Giacchino cue has some really fun trilling going on. 
 
That's probably not the answer you were looking for, but there it is!

Just because a track sounds a lot like another track doesn't mean that other track was originally temp music. And just because a track sounds nothing like anything else doesn't mean there wasn't originally temp music there.

But then the same could be said about any other department: should a director let the costume designer, or the production designer do their thing? Should a director allow the actors to play the scene as they like? Clearly there has to be a compromise and a trust, but it's foolish to think that the director should not have control over the work of every department.
Why film music fans think music should be given a "special consideration" by the director is beyond me. Clearly,film composers understand the limits of the medium much better than fans.

While I respect your opinion, I cannot disagree with you more. (It's a polite way of saying "bullshit" )
On a more serious note, I can see where you're getting from. I too would be pretty disappointed by a score that could have been great but is just "meh" because of work overload. But with Avatar, there's enough visuals and character to have fun with the score.

Come on, there would be much MUCH more awful choices than Gia

Really? And there was li'l ole me thinking it was a documentary 

3 posts in and I'm already depressed as fuck about the state of modern film music.
 
Cherish every new John Williams score from here on folks, is all I'll say.

We need someone to pretend to be an employee to go in there and steal the file for "Yoda Farewell". 

This!
 
There is nothing 'gimmicky' about it. It's a wellcrafted score that uses its main 2-note motif in an ingenious way throughout all its variations and its "play" with narrative and audience expectations. And obviously also contains a great many other pieces and cues that are organically ingrained.
 
There's rarely been a more welldeserved winner.

It's certainly a fine "throwback" film. I would have liked to have seen more from Conran, but sadly the film "tanked", and he hasn't been able to recover since then. A shame really, because I'm sure he could done a decent follow-up if given the chance. 

Interesting indeed!
The film they made was a fine one indeed and they sound like actual, genuine people too.
I like these guys; I like them a lot.