Josh500 1,615 Posted October 14, 2018 Share Posted October 14, 2018 Not just the awesome opening scenes, but the entire scores. Which early John Williams score out of these 3 do you like the best, and why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted October 14, 2018 Share Posted October 14, 2018 Earthquake by a pretty wide margin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh500 1,615 Posted October 14, 2018 Author Share Posted October 14, 2018 8 minutes ago, publicist said: Earthquake by a pretty wide margin. Why? Which tracks stand out for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted October 14, 2018 Share Posted October 14, 2018 The general aesthetic. It's the only of the three that is kinda hip and funky, kind of like the sets looking like Columbo leftovers from the same backlot. It's agreeable sleazy, in a way. The Five Tones 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMc 2,674 Posted October 14, 2018 Share Posted October 14, 2018 The Towering Inferno was one of the first scores where, I feel, Williams really started to hit his famous stride. A good trio, overall to be sure, though. Naïve Old Fart and Loert 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh500 1,615 Posted October 14, 2018 Author Share Posted October 14, 2018 I voted for Poseidon. The main theme is just so good. Huge, menacing, epic, tragic.... John Williams wasn't kidding there. This piece makes one want to rethink life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Naïve Old Fart 9,488 Posted October 14, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted October 14, 2018 THE TOWERING INFERNO, by a country mile. It's the score that introduced me to the music of John Towner Williams, and, after 43 years, it's still at #3 in my all-time JW top-10. WAKING UP is...(sigh). MikeH, Josh500 and JoeinAR 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted October 14, 2018 Share Posted October 14, 2018 It's alright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joni Wiljami 1,206 Posted October 14, 2018 Share Posted October 14, 2018 Maybe Towering. These just are not for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted October 14, 2018 Share Posted October 14, 2018 You only like post 2010 Williams! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joni Wiljami 1,206 Posted October 14, 2018 Share Posted October 14, 2018 No. Just these catastrophe ones are meh. I love even the earlier ones more, reivers, cowboys...etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Parker 3,040 Posted October 14, 2018 Share Posted October 14, 2018 4 hours ago, Josh500 said: I voted for Poseidon. The main theme is just so good. I thought you wanted people to vote based on the entire score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Five Tones 302 Posted October 14, 2018 Share Posted October 14, 2018 Towering Inferno. They are all three quite different from one another. He really established his gothic angst mode with Poseidon (the First Act Finale from Fiddler is a pre-echo). Earthquake's jazz funk feel gives it an appeal beyond his core work (maybe taking a tip form Herbie Hancock's score to Deathwish earlier that year). He reaches another level of maturity with Inferno, I feel. One really wishes that these three films could've been captured at the level of technology possible by Minority Report, War of the Worlds and Munich, where dynamic levels and the ability to discern subtleties of orchestration are everything. The underscore in the earlier films isn't that fun to listen to until it punches beyond the grain and distortion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh500 1,615 Posted October 15, 2018 Author Share Posted October 15, 2018 Wow. Didn't realise The Towering Inferno was do highly regarded here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naïve Old Fart 9,488 Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 If only...Mark O were here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrScratch 294 Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 Earthquake. Towering Inferno has the greatest title theme of the three but other than that it's not a score I listen to much at all. The Earthquake OST is a fun and exciting listen to from start to finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,451 Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE is the superior movie here. I have such strong nostalgic feelings for that film, having seen it on Swedish TV at my grandparents' place in the late 80s, and it's held up pretty good in more recent viewings too. Even though there are a few bits of the typical Irwin Allen "camp" here and there. However, I've never been that fond of the score. A whole bunch of tenuto strings and low-register murmuring and rumbling. EARTHQUAKE is a disastrously (no pun intended) bad film, but the score is quite good. Both the funky bits and the suspense bits. THE TOWERING INFERNO is a pretty good film (although not quite on the level of POSEIDON), but it does have the best score -- by FAR! More outrovert, open, thematic, with some great rhytmical tracks and plenty of latter-day Williamsisms (flute triplets, percussion exclamations). If you operate with rather "loose" definitions of the disaster genre, you can include JAWS and BLACK SUNDAY in Williams' 70s disaster outings too, making it a total of 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh500 1,615 Posted October 15, 2018 Author Share Posted October 15, 2018 If the opening of Earthquake is reminiscent of Columbo, then the opening of Towering Inferno is somewhat reminiscent of Dallas! 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Five Tones 302 Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 3 hours ago, Thor said: If you operate with rather "loose" definitions of the disaster genre, you can include JAWS and BLACK SUNDAY in Williams' 70s disaster outings too, making it a total of 5. Probably easier if the earlier three don't have to compete with the above two... Black Sunday is an amazing quasi-minimalist work, esp. Nurse Dahlia, etc. and the first of the Matessino restorations where I was really floored by the sound quality. Its fugue connects it to the similar one from Jaws (and the military theme from CE3K) it's but a much darker, tauter score. I might put it above Towering even without a standout main title. I always love when JW does more with less, melodically speaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh500 1,615 Posted October 16, 2018 Author Share Posted October 16, 2018 I think of these 3 disaster movies as somewhat of a trilogy. They all have the involvement of Irwin Allen in common, don't they? Kinda like the Oliver Stone trilogy, which is Born on the Fourth of, JFK, and Nixon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,451 Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 1 hour ago, Josh500 said: I think of these 3 disaster movies as somewhat of a trilogy. They all have the involvement of Irwin Allen in common, don't they? Not EARTHQUAKE. But he directed POSEIDON and produced TOWERING. Josh500 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Why not include Lost In Space and Land Of The Giants then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,451 Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 2 minutes ago, Stefancos said: Why not include Lost In Space and Land Of The Giants then? I'd say that is stretching the 'disaster' definition too far. Josh500 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 But at least they're all Irwin Allen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh500 1,615 Posted October 16, 2018 Author Share Posted October 16, 2018 3 hours ago, Stefancos said: But at least they're all Irwin Allen! Why not include Jurassic Park then?There was a major disaster in the park! And why not include Saving Private Ryan then? The Normandy landing sure was disastrous for many of these soldiers! 4 hours ago, Thor said: Not EARTHQUAKE. But he directed POSEIDON and produced TOWERING. Ah OK. That might explain why John Williams was credited at the opening of the movie in Earthquake, while he was not in the other two. Somehow I'm getting the feeling that Irwin Allen was a tough SOB, who was full of himself. 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeH 768 Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 1 hour ago, Josh500 said: Somehow I'm getting the feeling that Irwin Allen was a tough SOB, who was full of himself. 😂 Thor and Josh500 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,451 Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Neat interview bit, Mike. Hadn't seen that before. Harris reminds me a lot of William Hartnell (the first Doctor Who), only an American version. Slightly full of himself (trying to make his career greater than it was; no doubt due to never being hired for the "big stuff"), theatrical mannerisms, a bit grouchy -- but ultimately loveable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,249 Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 I'm a bad JWFan. I've never seen any of these 3 movies, and haven't listened to these 3 scores that many times at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joni Wiljami 1,206 Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 You didn't miss that much. Maybe only historically, some moments are nice, musically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh500 1,615 Posted October 16, 2018 Author Share Posted October 16, 2018 I remember seeing Earthquake on TV when I was a kid. That's it. I don't know the other two movie, either. I think one of these days I might invite a few friends over, kick back with a few beers, and watch these movies. A disaster-themed movie night. Might be fun. They don't need to know that it's all about John Williams's musical scores for me.... 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,451 Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 I consider THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE the first disaster film that is a blueprint for how they're made today, in terms of narrative structuring and "phases" (even though there are obviously earlier disaster films like AIRPORT or THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY etc), just as SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE is the first proper, serious superhero film. So I would recommend that if you're interested in the genre at all. Such a cornerstone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brundlefly 2,385 Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 8 hours ago, Josh500 said: Why not include Jurassic Park then?There was a major disaster in the park! And why not include Saving Private Ryan then? The Normandy landing sure was disastrous for many of these soldiers! Why not add Far and Away then? The movie is a disaster scored by John Williams as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh500 1,615 Posted October 17, 2018 Author Share Posted October 17, 2018 3 hours ago, Thor said: I consider THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE the first disaster film that is a blueprint for how they're made today, in terms of narrative structuring and "phases" (even though there are obviously earlier disaster films like AIRPORT or THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY etc), just as SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE is the first proper, serious superhero film. So I would recommend that if you're interested in the genre at all. Such a cornerstone. It's not like Poseidon invented the disaster genre! When Poseidon was made, wasn't the disaster movie genre pretty well established? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 'Airport' probably, as blueprint of the 'box picture' (little boxes on the posters for all the current and ancient featured stars) which from then on became a 70's stable. Josh500 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488 Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 They work best as selections. As far as I recall, Rogo Takes Charge and End Title from Poseidon, Main Title and The City Sleeps from Quake and Main Title, Planting the Charges and Architect's Dream from Tower are the highlights. The Five Tones 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh500 1,615 Posted October 17, 2018 Author Share Posted October 17, 2018 What about Titanic!? No, not the James Cameron version, but the original movie! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Night_to_Remember_(1958_film) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 That wasn't the original Titanic movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh500 1,615 Posted October 17, 2018 Author Share Posted October 17, 2018 OK! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naïve Old Fart 9,488 Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 13 hours ago, Thor said: Neat interview bit, Mike. Hadn't seen that before. Harris reminds me a lot of William Hartnell (the first Doctor Who), only an American version. Slightly full of himself (trying to make his career greater than it was; no doubt due to never being hired for the "big stuff"), theatrical mannerisms, a bit grouchy -- but ultimately loveable. He's your grouchy grandad...or, maybe, your funny uncle... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh500 1,615 Posted October 17, 2018 Author Share Posted October 17, 2018 Anybody here gonna mention the love theme from Earthquake!? That's one of the best pre-Jaws love themes from JW! I'm starting to think that most people here don't even own Earthquake. Am I right? 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,451 Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 9 hours ago, Josh500 said: It's not like Poseidon invented the disaster genre! When Poseidon was made, wasn't the disaster movie genre pretty well established? Yes, I just said so in my post. But it's the first film that established the narrative structure (what I call "The Five Phases") and 'spectacle'-oriented approach we see in films today (Emmerich etc.). Previous films in the genre -- up to and including AIRPORT -- were rather different beasts, for a variety of reasons. You could say it invented the contemporary-style disaster film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naïve Old Fart 9,488 Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 3 hours ago, Josh500 said: I'm starting to think that most people here don't even own Earthquake. Am I right? 😂 I've owned the OST of EARTHQUAKE, in one form, or another, since 1975. JoeinAR and Josh500 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,451 Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 I'm too young for that, but I've had the Varese CD since the late 90s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Five Tones 302 Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 19 hours ago, Jay said: I'm a bad JWFan. I've never seen any of these 3 movies, and haven't listened to these 3 scores that many times at all. Now I don't feel bad for not watching War Horse, Tintin or BFG! But I haven't really gone near the scores either. Old and fussy JWFanner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,249 Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 War Horse is a great score, check it out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Five Tones 302 Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 Heard some of it live by the Toronto Symphony, it was nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh500 1,615 Posted October 17, 2018 Author Share Posted October 17, 2018 2 hours ago, Jay said: War Horse is a great score, check it out And Tintin is not a great score? 2 hours ago, The Five Tones said: Now I don't feel bad for not watching War Horse, Tintin or BFG! But I haven't really gone near the scores either. Old and fussy JWFanner. You really should feel bad for not watching War Horse and Tintin! The BFG, I can understand. I haven't seen that, either. 3 hours ago, Thor said: I'm too young for that, but I've had the Varese CD since the late 90s. Bought it when it came out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,249 Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 Tintin's good but War Horse is better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 I should listen to War Horse, i think I have the CD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeinAR 1,949 Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 Towering Inferno towers over them all. Its a five star score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now