JWFAN Members Top 10 John Williams scores lists

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Ten years ago I began compiling our members individual lists to determine a comprehensive list of the top 10 John Williams score.

Now it's time to do it again. Our board has changed, grown, morphed, and evolved.

I am asking each member to post a list of their top 10 John Williams scores. From now until January of 2013 I hope to collect as many members lists as possible. Last time I garnered 129 lists. I would like to surpass that. This gives members a five month window to decide their top 10 list, or modify it. This also gives us the opportunity to include John's latest film score Lincoln if any here feel it is deserving. It also gives you time to go back and listen and think about your list if you so choose.

Now for the rules, it's very simple. Please provide your own personal top 10 John Williams scores, film scores, not his other works.

I need 10 scores ONLY. I cannot except more than 10. If you cannot edit your list down to 10 I will take your first 10. Choose the film score, not the album or presentation, your favorite film scores.

Once we reach the cutoff date and I begin compiling the lists together I will assign each top film on each list 10 point. 2nd will get 9, and so on. The 10th film on the list will score 1 point.

The overall #1 John Williams film score will be the score with the most total points, not necessarily the most individual votes.

In February I will post the final tally around the 10 anniversary of the original first Official JWFAN MB John Williams Top Ten list.

Personally I'm interested in how a decade has changed our preferences.

Thanks in advance for everyone's help in putting this together.

Also for those interested here is the Original JWFAN MB Top Ten John Williams List

[Koray Savas 2,251]

It's always changing a little bit but it tends to always contain these scores. I think Hook used to be in War Horse's place.

1. Munich

2. Empire Of The Sun

3. Saving Private Ryan

4. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban

5. A.I. Artificial Intelligence

6. Schindler's List

7. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

8. Heartbeeps

9. Cinderella Liberty

10. War Horse

[Muad'Dib 1,801]

1. Jurassic Park

2. The Eiger Sanction

3. The Fury

4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

5. Jaws

6. The Terminal

7. Close Encounters of the Third Kind

8. Far and Away

9. Images

10. Family Plot

[chuck 154]

1. Jurassic Park

2. Star Wars

3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

4. 1941

5. Raiders of the Lost Ark

6. Amistad

7. E.T.

8. Hook

9. Home Alone

10. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

I know, pretty generic and totally unsurprising that this are my chosen ten, but that's because they held something precious in my heart and I just love them.

[Jay 37,287]

1 Hook

2 The Empire Strikes Back

3 Star Wars

4 Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom

5 Jurassic Park

6 Raiders of the Lost Ark

7 Return of the Jedi

8 Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone

9 Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade

10 E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Jason can you pin this thread please.

[Taikomochi 1,136]

1)Memoirs of a Geisha

2)The Accidental Tourist

3)The Empire Strikes Back

4)Hook

5)AI - Artificial Intelligence

6)Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

7)Superman

8)The Adventures of Tintin

9)Heartbeeps

10)Return of the Jedi

[Koray Savas 2,251]

That's a pretty bangin' list.

[Sandor 796]

1. Star Wars

2. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

3. Schindler's List

4. Raiders Of The Lost Ark

5. Superman The Movie

6. The Empire Strikes Back

7. Jaws

8. Close Encounters Of The Third Kind

9. Jurassic Park

10. Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone

[Taikomochi 1,136]

That's a pretty bangin' list.

I'm glad to see somebody else here has love for Heartbeeps!

[Trent B 337]

Here are mine, in no particular order.

Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back

The Lost World Jurassic Park

Star Wars (ANH)

Hook

Star Wars Episode III Revenge Of The Sith (expanded version)

Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom

Superman

Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace (intended version)

Jurassic Park

Star Wars Episode VI Return Of The Jedi

[Hlao-roo 389]

10.Stepmom (1998)

9. Return of the Jedi (1983)

8. The Reivers (1969)

7. Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

6. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

5. JFK (1991)

4. Black Sunday (1977)

3. Home Alone (1990)

2. Star Wars (1977)

1. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

1)Memoirs of a Geisha

2)The Accidental Tourist

3)The Empire Strikes Back

4)Hook

5)AI - Artificial Intelligence

6)Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

7)Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

8)The Adventures of Tintin

9)Heartbeeps

10)The Witches of Eastwick

Wow, we have zero overlap.

[publicist 4,643]

1. EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

2. DRACULA

3. TEMPLE OF DOOM

4. CINDERELLA LIBERTY

5. BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY

6. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

7. E. T.

8. EMPIRE OF THE SUN

9. THE FURY

10.WAR HORSE

[Hlao-roo 389]

10.WAR HORSE

I didn't think you disliked the score, but I'm somewhat surprised by your tenth choice. (Then again, I'm clearly biased against Williams's work in the 2000s.)

[Once 604]

First time I've tried this, I usually don't put scores in lists, I just listen to whatever I feel like. This list could be different in an hour, basically.

1. Memoirs of a Geisha

2. Schindler's List

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

4. Close Encounters of the Third Kind

5. Empire of the Sun

6. Catch Me If You Can

7. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

8. Star Wars

9. The Terminal

10. Images

[publicist 4,643]

I didn't think you disliked the score, but I'm somewhat surprised by your tenth choice. (Then again, I'm clearly biased against Williams's work in the 2000s.)

Ah, it was a toss between this and SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET, but somehow the airy english country feel of WAR HORSE gets me everytime i listen to it. Sadly, the list now only misses the JANE EYRE/HARRY POTTER III-style i love, but that's substituting THE FURY on the next list.

[Once 604]

I can't decide whether I want Images or War Horse to have my 10th spot!

[Hlao-roo 389]

I didn't think you disliked the score, but I'm somewhat surprised by your tenth choice. (Then again, I'm clearly biased against Williams's work in the 2000s.)

Ah, it was a toss between this and SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET, but somehow the airy english country feel of WAR HORSE gets me everytime i listen to it. Sadly, the list now only misses the JANE EYRE/HARRY POTTER III-style i love, but that's substituting THE FURY on the next list.

If this were a top 10 Williams pieces list, "A Window to the Past" would assuredly be on there, and a few other 2000s selections would have a shot at making the list as well.

[KK 3,307]

1) Schindler's List

2) Empire Strikes Back

3) E.T.

4) Star Wars

5) Jaws

6) Temple of Doom

7) Superman

8) Jurassic Park

9) Far and Away

10) Hook

Pretty tough as I had to leave out a lot of favourites, but it ends up being a pretty conventional list.

[Thor 7,465]

I need one more piece of specification before I can reply.

It's great that you specified it to concern feature-length films only, but are we talking about SOUNDTRACK ALBUMS or SCORES-AS-THEY-WORK-IN-THE-MOVIES? For me, those two lists would be quite different.

[publicist 4,643]

Yeah, i can successfully block out THE FURY when listening to the music, thank god.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

10.Stepmom (1998)

9. Return of the Jedi (1983)

8. The Reivers (1969)

7. Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

6. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

5. JFK (1991)

4. Black Sunday (1977)

3. Home Alone (1990)

2. Star Wars (1977)

1. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Glad someone else loves Black Sunday as much as I do. It almost made my list.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

since I won't compile the list until January feel free to modify your lists as you so choose.

I personally need to think about my list, not sure if the 2000's have altered my perceptions.

[Muad'Dib 1,801]

Yeah, i can successfully block out THE FURY when listening to the music, thank god.

Oh come on, the movie is hilarious!

...

What's that you say? It wasn't supposed to be a comedy? .... Oh. Nevermind then.

Seriously though, it's so bad it's good

[Brónach 1,301]

It's great that you specified it to concern feature-length films only, but are we talking about SOUNDTRACK ALBUMS or SCORES-AS-THEY-WORK-IN-THE-MOVIES? For me, those two lists would be quite different.

Yeah, the lists for OSTs, scores as they work in films and scores by themselves would all be different for me too.

I could make a list for scores following the latter option, however I would have a hard time choosing and once settled I would suddenly change my opinion again and... well.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I need one more piece of specification before I can reply.

It's great that you specified it to concern feature-length films only, but are we talking about SOUNDTRACK ALBUMS or SCORES-AS-THEY-WORK-IN-THE-MOVIES? For me, those two lists would be quite different.

quit overthing this. Give me your top 10 John williams film scores, your list. Your choice. Trent listed Phantom menance as it was intended, either way Phantom Menace will get counted.

[Thor 7,465]

OK, here's my favourite John Williams SOUNDTRACK ALBUM list (not score-in-the-movie list):

1. JURASSIC PARK

2. STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI

3. JANE EYRE

4. ANGELA'S ASHES

5. A.I.

6. HOOK

7. SCHINDLER'S LIST

8. INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE

9. E.T. - THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL

10. HARRY POTTER AND THE PRIZONER OF AZKABAN

Or something like that. The sequence varies from day to day, and other albums appear on the list from time to time too.

[Jay 37,287]

Return of the Jedi has one of the worst album presentations ever. Only 40 minutes and missing major highlights

[Thor 7,465]

Return of the Jedi has one of the worst album presentations ever. only 40 minutes and missing major highlights

I kinda like the original LP presentation, but I'm talking about the Arista version above. Maybe I should specify with specific album VERSIONS too?

By the way, Joey, I don't think it's 'over-thinking' to separate between albums and film scores -- it's a pretty crucial difference with vastly different results, at least for me.

[Jay 37,287]

Oh yea, the Return of the Jedi disc in the 1994 Anthology box set was great!

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Return of the Jedi has one of the worst album presentations ever. only 40 minutes and missing major highlights

I kinda like the original LP presentation, but I'm talking about the Arista version above. Maybe I should specify with specific album VERSIONS too?

By the way, Joey, I don't think it's 'over-thinking' to separate between albums and film scores -- it's a pretty crucial difference with vastly different results, at least for me.

no it's not, they're the same, any smart thinking person knows that sometimes albums are truncated yet we know that we like the score and we settle for what we can get. You're chosing the film score not the presentation. Many here will tell you that the Ghehart version of ESB is the best but it's ESB that gets selected

Here is my list, I struggled with 15 films that I felt all were worthy of inclusion.

1. E.T. the Extra-terrestrial

2. Jaws

3. Superman the Movie

4. Star Wars

5. Raiders of the Lost Ark

6. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

7. The Towering Inferno

8. The Empire Strikes Back

9, Home Alone

10. Warhorse

Just missing the cut were Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jurassic Park, Lost World, Return of the Jedi, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

[Sandor 796]

Great list Joey. Nice to see the love for War Horse in this thread so far. I place it at #13 so it didn't make my top 10, but it's a close call.

[crocodile 7,984]

1. The Empire Strikes Back

2. Close Encounters of the Third Kind

3. Jaws.

4. Jane Eyre

5. Superman

6. Schindler's List

7. Black Sunday

8. Angela's Ashes

9. JFK

10. Raiders of the Lost Ark

Karol

[Hlao-roo 389]

Return of the Jedi has one of the worst album presentations ever. only 40 minutes and missing major highlights

I kinda like the original LP presentation, but I'm talking about the Arista version above. Maybe I should specify with specific album VERSIONS too?

By the way, Joey, I don't think it's 'over-thinking' to separate between albums and film scores -- it's a pretty crucial difference with vastly different results, at least for me.

no it's not, they're the same, any smart thinking person knows that sometimes albums are truncated yet we know that we like the score and we settle for what we can get. You're chosing the film score not the presentation. Many here will tell you that the Ghehart version of ESB is the best but it's ESB that gets selected

Oh, brother...can we not open this can of worms, please... I just went with a loose amalgam -- mostly general listening experience (OST or otherwise) informed somewhat by in-film efficacy.

Glad someone else loves Black Sunday as much as I do. It almost made my list.

I was surprised it didn't, actually.

[indy4 155]

1. Hook

2. Raiders of the Lost Ark

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

4. Empire Strikes Back

5. Revenge of the Sith

6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

7. E.T.

8. The Terminal

9. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

10. Far and Away

Honorable mentions to: Home Alone, The Reivers, Sabrina, Dracula, Amistad, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, AI Artificial Intelligence, Star Wars and War Horse.

[SF1_freeze 131]

Great idea to compile the lists again! Here is mine:

1) The Empire Strikes Back

2) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

3) Jurassic Park

4) Star Wars

5) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

6) Raiders of the Lost Ark

7) The Phantom Menace

8) ET

9) Home Alone

10) War Horse

Honorable mentions: Hook, Last Crusade, Revenge of the Sith, Return of the Jedi, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Lost World, Home Alone 2, Far and Away, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Schindler's List, Superman

OK, here's my favourite John Williams SOUNDTRACK ALBUM list (not score-in-the-movie list):

1. JURASSIC PARK

2. STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI

3. JANE EYRE

4. ANGELA'S ASHES

5. A.I.

6. HOOK

7. SCHINDLER'S LIST

8. INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE

9. E.T. - THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL

10. HARRY POTTER AND THE PRIZONER OF AZKABAN

Or something like that. The sequence varies from day to day, and other albums appear on the list from time to time too.

I still think the purpose of this thread is to rate the best JW scores and post a top 10 list. That would mean to rate the complete material written for the movie and the soundtrack album.

[Thor 7,465]

I still think the purpose of this thread is to rate the best JW scores and post a top 10 list. That would mean to rate the complete material written for the movie and the soundtrack album.

In that case, I would need to create a separate list for the film score -- which is a 100% different thing -- and then Joey can choose which one is more apt for his purposes.

My Top 10 John Williams score-as-it-works-in-the-movie:

1. JURASSIC PARK

2. JAWS

3. IMAGES

4. SCHINDLER'S LIST

5. STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE

6. E.T. - THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL

7. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

8. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

9. THE LONG GOODBYE

10. A.I.

As you can see...quite different. Although JP is at the top in both!

[SF1_freeze 131]

Can't you merge these two entities (album and film)? Just rate the hypothetical recording sessions which would include all the material JW has written for a film, album and all that went unused?

Jurassic Park is one of the best ever and on the third spot of my list!

[Jay 37,287]

Thor, you're seriously WAY over thinking this. Joey is simply asking you to pick your top 10 Williams scores.

In other words: The maestro sat down with his pencil and wrote themes, he worked those into cues and concert arrangements, and all that was recorded. What parts appeared on the OST albums is irrelevant. What parts appeared in the final film is irrelevant. How it supports the film, and how it works as a record is irrelevant. Joey is asking to you to rank what he wrote. Rank Williams creations in whole against each other. How much you like the total music he wrote for each different film.

It's very simple. What are the ten best scores Williams created. I hope that makes sense.

[Thor 7,465]

Thor, you're seriously WAY over thinking this. Joey is simply asking you to pick your top 10 Williams scores.

In other words: The maestro sat down with his pencil and wrote themes, he worked those into cues and concert arrangements, and all that was recorded. What parts appeared on the OST albums is irrelevant. What parts appeared in the final film is irrelevant. How it supports the film, and how it works as a record is irrelevant.

To you, maybe. To me, the soundtrack listening experience and the film music experience are worlds apart; apples and oranges. And if I'm going to make a Top 10 Williams list, that differentation is THE number 1 important thing to have before you can say anything. Otherwise, it's kinda pointless. But I'll let Joey or whoever evaluates these results pick one of my lists according to his criteria. Or disregard both. It's up to him.

[SF1_freeze 131]

Thor, you're seriously WAY over thinking this. Joey is simply asking you to pick your top 10 Williams scores.

In other words: The maestro sat down with his pencil and wrote themes, he worked those into cues and concert arrangements, and all that was recorded. What parts appeared on the OST albums is irrelevant. What parts appeared in the final film is irrelevant. How it supports the film, and how it works as a record is irrelevant.

To you, maybe. To me, they're worlds apart; apples and oranges. And if I'm going to make a Top 10 Williams list, that differentation is THE number 1 important thing. Otherwise, it's kinda pointless. But I'll let Joey or whoever evaluates these results pick one of my lists. Or disregard both. It's up to him.

Then just rate the recording sessions, just rate everything he recorded for a given movie -> Problem solved

[Jay 37,287]

Thor, you're seriously WAY over thinking this. Joey is simply asking you to pick your top 10 Williams scores.

In other words: The maestro sat down with his pencil and wrote themes, he worked those into cues and concert arrangements, and all that was recorded. What parts appeared on the OST albums is irrelevant. What parts appeared in the final film is irrelevant. How it supports the film, and how it works as a record is irrelevant.

To you, maybe. To me, the soundtrack listening experience and the film music experience are worlds apart; apples and oranges. And if I'm going to make a Top 10 Williams list, that differentation is THE number 1 important thing to have before you can say anything. Otherwise, it's kinda pointless. But I'll let Joey or whoever evaluates these results pick one of my lists according to his criteria. Or disregard both. It's up to him.

Thor, I'm not saying its irrelevant to you, I'm saying its irrelevant to what Joey's asking. Just pick the 10 best scores Williams created like everyone else, will ya?

[Thor 7,465]

Thor, I'm not saying its irrelevant to you, I'm saying its irrelevant to what Joey's asking. Just pick the 10 best scores Williams created like everyone else, will ya?

And I told you I can't pick the 10 best Williams scores unless I know what you're talking about -- film or album. Now I've added both, so Joey can choose or disregard at his own will.

[Wojo 2,453]

Jason, you're giving Thor exactly the kind of attention he gets off on by dragging out the eternal score vs. album debate.

[Jay 37,287]

Your absolutely right Wojo. Guess he hasn't gotten enough attention lately and is forcing some on himself, and I fell right in

[Thor 7,465]

All I asked for was clarification, because I wanted to participate in the Top 10 Williams too. Since no clarification really came about, I added both lists for Joey's convenience. That's all. It's you guys who are making it into an "issue", as usual.

[Wojo 2,453]

I like turtles.

[Jay 37,287]

All I asked for was clarification, because I wanted to participate in the Top 10 Williams too. Since no clarification really came about, I added both lists for Joey's convenience. It's you guys who are making it into an "issue", as usual.

Dude, I gave you a paragraph of explanation. If you don't like it, go away

[Thor 7,465]

Dude, I gave you a paragraph of explanation. If you don't like it, go away

Relax. You continue to make it into an issue.

[Wojo 2,453]

Ten years ago I began compiling our members individual lists to determine a comprehensive list of the top 10 John Williams score.

Now it's time to do it again. Our board has changed, grown, morphed, and evolved.

I am asking each member to post a list of their top 10 John Williams scores. From now until January of 2013 I hope to collect as many members lists as possible. Last time I garnered 129 lists. I would like to surpass that. This gives members a five month window to decide their top 10 list, or modify it. This also gives us the opportunity to include John's latest film score Lincoln if any here feel it is deserving. It also gives you time to go back and listen and think about your list if you so choose.

Now for the rules, it's very simple. Please provide your own personal top 10 John Williams scores, film scores, not his other works.

I need 10 scores ONLY. I cannot except more than 10. If you cannot edit your list down to 10 I will take your first 10. Choose the film score, not the album or presentation, your favorite film scores.

Once we reach the cutoff date and I begin compiling the lists together I will assign each top film on each list 10 point. 2nd will get 9, and so on. The 10th film on the list will score 1 point.

The overall #1 John Williams film score will be the score with the most total points, not necessarily the most individual votes.

In February I will post the final tally around the 10 anniversary of the original first Official JWFAN MB John Williams Top Ten list.

Personally I'm interested in how a decade has changed our preferences.

Thanks in advance for everyone's help in putting this together.

Also for those interested here is the Original JWFAN MB Top Ten John Williams List

Now, class, which word is used TEN BLOODY TIMES in Joey's instructions? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

film score, not the album or presentation

Anyone who needs further clarification is free to fly to Little Rock and discuss it over mashed potatoes and chicken wings with the man of the hour himself.