John Williams...MASTER of the Endtitle

[JoeinAR 1,949]

John Williams is the Greatest Composer of Alltime.

John Williams is the Greatest Film composer of Alltime.

John Williams is the Greatest Living Film Composer of Alltime.

John Williams is the Greatest receiver of Accolades for a Film Composer of Alltime.

Blah, Blah, Blah.

John Williams is alot of things, and we are some of the people who care about those things. If he is or isn't the Greatest doesn't really matter.

What matters is that he has produced alot of scores that almost all of us like/love. And in all that music there is one constant.

John Williams is the Master of the Endtitle. Best or Greatest need not apply. John simply knows how to finalize each film. From his best to his worst score, his endtitles are simply superior pieces of music. Sometimes its just an assembly or medley for all the themes in one bag, or in other cases its just completely original material. Either way, his endtitles are like a gymnist who always nails his dismount. No matter how the program went, its the dismount that people pay the most attention to.

Take a score like AOTC, I have criticized it in the past. I like the film more than the score, with one exception, the Endtitle is by far the best part of the whole score. Williams' end that journey on such a sinister and dark note, revisiting themes that while we have heard each of them before, but never in such a combination.

Jaws takes the original approach, and ends with music that befits this survival tale.

The disaster films take the original approach as well, as they too are survival tales. John's approach is for the living instead of the dead, and to restate themes isn't the appropriate method.

Raiders is similar to AOTC in that just before the actual endtitle we get this extremely sinister bit in the warehouse, before going into the rousing march.

Superman revisits the Superman march, but in a twist gives us the most beautiful love theme, on of the finest pieces of music ever presented on film.

The same can be said about E.T. In one massive piece of music, Williams takes us down a road and through the air on a bicycle. He shows us love and friendship and a sad fairwell. These nine minutes are some of the most lyrical, painful, and heartpounding musical memories of my life.

Close Encounters is the same way. Awe inspiring just doesn't do justice to this music.

All the Star Wars films do the same, Throne room is just plain rousing, while ESB is sad but hopeful, and either Jedi is triumphant and jubiulant. The Phantom Menace is the only exception here, as its endtitle is more a cut and paste job, rather than a melding. It never works as a medley.

Temple of Doom easily has the best endtitle of that series.

Even mediocre films like Hook, Always, the Fury, and Jaws 2, nail that dismount. In fact Jaws 2 has one of the most lively endtitles. It is full of energy and exhilaration. It is the complete and total opposite from the Jaws theme itself.

All in all John is the master of the endtitle. Other composers are as well, this isn't about being the best or greatest, its about knowing your job and doing it well. He's like a great chef who can take the same ingredients over and over and creates a new dish everytime. Endtitles are something John does extremely well.

[Morn 8]

Why didn't you just say he's the master full stop?

[JoeinAR 1,949]

:?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: You lost me there Morn. :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?:

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

Well said, Joe! I completely agree.

Ray Barnsbury

[Morn 8]

I mean, he's more than just the master of the end title

[Marian Schedenig 8,198]

I have to say I think he's become too lazy with end titles in the last years. He used to write original end titles with that typical "end titles feel" to them (either an ABA form with slow middle section, or a medley of themes in a constant pace), but now he usually just puts the concert arrangement of the film's theme at the end. Not that those aren't usually excellent (they are), but they don't have that end titles feel - more dynamical tempos etc. And putting them at the beginning of his albums doesn't exactly help, either.

AOTC is an exception though, here there's a real constant flow in the music, and the end bit with the various stages of Anakin's life is just pure genious. And I guess even when he does concert main titles, we can be glad he does them at all - most movies these days just have a cut & paste job of highlights from the score at the end (or a song )

[Trumpeteer 302]

Joe, I don't think anyone can disagree totally with you. My favorite end title lately has been "Where Dreams Are Born" from AI. Beautiful medley. And to think, I bet that song "For Always" was going to be put there....

Pretty much all of his end titles have been concert arrangements, Marian. They've just been well-edited to make them sound like they flow together.

Harry Potter was well-edited use of all the themes, as was, of course, the Star Wars films and Indy films. I really wish the CD version of the end titles from AOTC had remained in the film. It's the second best Star Wars end title ever (behind - duh - Empire).

[Guest]

:oops:

[Guest]

Empire's end titles are like beyond good, listenable, enjoyable...that should be called real music and everything else either isn't music or it's close to being music. They're SO GOOD. Why can't he write like that more often? I can't figure out how he made that one film so good. It was just for a Star Wars movie, too. You'd think a bigger movie like Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan would've had a score like that, but no...a kids movie (for big kids like us, too) like Empire got it--with no real emphasis on making it the best dang score ever written. It was just a coincidence.

I'd say that Jedi's end titles are almost as good as Empire's. I love the way he threw the "Throne Room" theme in there and gave it a twist similar to Empire.

[Morn 8]

Umm, Schindler's List almost is that good

Morn - Who he seen an documentry on Williams featuring TESB in which he he said it helps when the film is really good like this film

[Morlock 11]

I totaly agree. He always ends the movies with some great piece of music which either is or turns into the end titles.

My favorite ones are:

Jurrasic Park, which ends with the beautiful piano version of the theme

All the Star wars films- in ANH it's the Throne Room, in TESB it's simply the compilation of the films major themes, most notably The Imperial March, in ROTJ it's the celebration, in TPM it's Augie's great municipal Band and the end credits, featuring Duel of the fates and Anakin's theme.

I also agree that the best music of AToC was the end. It is the first time I saw The Imperial march played in all it's glory in a movie theater. Since I got the Soundtrack before seeing the movie I knew it was coming, so my heart was pounding, I was so excited.

Jaws has a great rendition of the theme, all happy and carefree.

And of course Harry Potter has Hedwig's theme.

[Hlao-roo 389]

Nothing can compare to the TPM end titles, though. Those are incredible. Real witty. You know, pasting the concert arrangements of "Duel of the Fates" and "Anakin's Theme" one right after the other? I don't know of any other composer who could've accomplished that feat.

Hey, and you know, while we're on the subject, I don't think Williams needs to write anymore music for the next film, 'cause we've amassed plent of music already. Good ol' George Lucas and his fellow film and music editors can just dig through all the musical treasures from the last five films and piece them together in some slipshod way. We saw how well it worked with the Battle of Geonosis, didn't we?

It's not as if they'd be doing anything different from what Williams has been doing himself recently. "Anderson's Great Escape" -- a musical highlight of the year? Ha! Not a shred of originality...Williams has been writing the same action music over and over again since Jurassic Park. And "Sean's Theme" must've been some sort of alternate melody from A.I., could've replaced "David's Theme" and achieved same precise effect.

Oh, yeah, and plagiarism is O.K. when it's Williams purposefully making a "tribute" to Bernard Herrmann. Williams could probably re-use an entire score by Herrmann, and everybody would say, wow, what a brilliant homage to Bernard.

No, plagiarism is only bad when Horner does it.

[Morn 8]

There is a difference between emulating and stealing you know

[Omen II 1,235]

I am glad you specifically mentioned JW's disaster movie end titles, Joe. The end titles for The Towering Inferno, The Poseidon Adventure and Earthquake are three of the best ever written (NB: the cue 'The City Sleeps' on the Earthquake CD is the re-recording of the end title music).

To my mind, Johnny seems to reserve his best epilogues for 'group jeopardy' films; the end titles for Jaws, Jaws 2, Black Sunday and SpaceCamp are other prime examples.

Others that I think deserve an honorary mention (apart from the obvious ones we all know so well) are Sugarland Express and JFK.

Damien

[Marian Schedenig 8,198]

Pretty much all of his end titles have been concert arrangements, Marian. They've just been well-edited to make them sound like they flow together.

I don't think so. I'd say in the 70s, he used the end credits as concert arrangements (expanding them). Nowadays, he uses the concert arrangements as end credits.

Marian - who thinks there's a big difference.

The Draughtsman's Contract (Michael Nyman)

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Despite what the poll said, Alan is our Master of cynacism, and sarcasm. we are not worthy

[Hlao-roo 389]

8O  

There is a difference between emulating and stealing you know  

Yeah, emulating = John Williams, and stealing = James Horner. That's what we choose to make of it.

(to you programming nerds out there, or at least C++ nerds, note that those are assignment operators, not equalities)

[Braveheart 0]

 

There is a difference between emulating and stealing you know  

Yeah, emulating = John Williams, and stealing = James Horner. That's what we choose to make of it.

(to you programming nerds out there, or at least C++ nerds, note that those are assignment operators, not equalities)

Well, I know C++ very well and here's my own version:

John Williams != Plagiarism const char JAMES_HORNER = plagiarism;

I have never listened to a John Williams CD and heard a whole sequence of up to ten notes played at exactly the same tempo, with the same note values and on the same instrument as I have heard it played before. With James Horner, that happens all the time. Now that's plagiarism.

What do you even mean by originality? That the music is new, or the style is new? I heard all the crap people were saying about the score for Harry Potter not being original. Well... why is it not original? Because the music has the same sound as some music Williams composed before it? That's not a problem. All composers have that aspect in them. That's why we get to identify a composer by a specific "sound." But if the notes are the same and stuff that's when I think it is unoriginal (like is always the case with James Horner whether he is ripping of another composer or himself). The Harry Potter score was definitely not unoriginal.

[Dr. Know 326]

Besides all of the obvious examples already cited, one of my favorite JW endtitles is Heartbeeps. I can't get enough of it.

OK -- fire away!

[Morn 8]

While a score sounding similar to other scores a composer has done isn't that bad, it's better when a composer takes a new direction.

[Ren 75]

HEY! don't forget that JW wrote beautiful ENDING MUSIC for the HP movie AND the endtitle was excellent!

I think the Ending music for HP was better than the end title, but then again i think the whole score it awesome!

Good thinkin' Joe, I couldn't agree with you more

[Romão 2,274]

In one aspect, IMHO, no film composer can ever beat John Williams, and that is in creating Themes and concert suites of these themes (which sometimes are used, IMHO apropriatly, ans the end credits). Just some examples of his latest achivements:

Monica's theme

Across the Stars and the ending with the Imperial March and Anakin's theme

Hedwig's theme (one of my all time favourites)

The Patriot

Theme from Angela's Ashes

Hymn to the Fallen

Dry Your tears Afrika

Seven Years in Tibet

And those are only his latest achievements.

God, I love John Williams.

Jane Eyre - Restoration. St. John's theme is another marvelous theme. It caught me right the 1st time.

[Director 1]

Excellent observation Joe. Funny you mention it, because I've been humming the End Title to Sleepers all day. Not the pulsating brass motifs or the electronic bits, but the rousing strings near the end of the cue. It's great. Same goes for "The Farewell Scene" from Nixon. It's simply wonderful. And since I've been listening to his post-Schindler's output recently (94-98), I'll go ahead and mention Johnny's gorgeous ending (theme) from Sabrina as well.

Every title mentioned on this thread so far definitely has my approval. Actually, anything would have my approval. I will definitely agree with you, Joe, that Johnny's "End Titles" for E.T. and CE3K are downright awe-inspiring. Words fail me every time I want to describe just how truly gorgeous and moving those endings are.

Wow.... I'm glad someone mentioned The Sugarland Express.

Director - going to watch a tape of Robin Williams live on Broadway now....

[Trumpeteer 302]

Pretty much all of his end titles have been concert arrangements, Marian. They've just been well-edited to make them sound like they flow together.

I don't think so. I'd say in the 70s, he used the end credits as concert arrangements (expanding them). Nowadays, he uses the concert arrangements as end credits.

Marian - who thinks there's a big difference.

You're right, Marian. There is a difference. Was listening to The Empire Strikes Back last night and I noticed how different the end title music sounded from the concert arrangements.