John Williams Action Music

[ComposerEthan 24]

Anyone else here a fan of his action/chase music?

I love the musical complexity.

So I'm trying to expand my John Williams library, so does anyone have any awesome selections of Williams Action cues?

[Xander Harris 9,673]

Check out the Star Wars and Indy trilogies, Superman, Hook and the Jurassic Parks. Some top-notch action cues in there.

[indy4 160]

I'd say Williams' modern action music is his most original stylistic tendencies. I haven't heard any other style like it, in film music or in the concert hall. At least, not anything written before Williams' created the style in Jurassic Park.

[Romão 2,473]

From the las 20 years, I'd recommend:

T-rex Rescue and Finale from Jurassic Park

The Football Match from Sleepers

The Hunt from The Lost World

Rescuing Sarah from The Lost World

The Raptors Appear from the Lost World

Escape from Naboo from the Phantom Menace

Everybody Runs! from Minority Report

The Whomping Willow from Prisoner of Azkaban

General Grievous from Revenge of the Sith

Whirl Through the Academe from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Flight to Bagghar from Adventures of Tintin

[ComposerEthan 24]

Oh man, Rescuing Sarah is a beast of a song.

[indy4 160]

"John Anderton's Escape" is a great cue. Stylistically it's probably the most extremely modern of Williams' action cues. "Chase Through Couruscant" as well.

[gkgyver 1,647]

Oh man, Rescuing Sarah is a beast of a song.

I'm afraid that I don't give The Lost World as much attention as it probably deserves.

I'm no fan of Williams' action stuff past, and including, The Phantom Menace.

[ComposerEthan 24]

Oh man, Rescuing Sarah is a beast of a song.

I'm afraid that I don't give The Lost World as much attention as it probably deserves.

I'm no fan of Williams' action stuff past, and including, The Phantom Menace.

Why aren't you a fan of it? Just wondering.

[gkgyver 1,647]

It's all over the place.

[chuck 155]

It's all over the place.

Agreed. John Williams makes some memorable music. Action music is not one of them.

[ComposerEthan 24]

It's all over the place.

Agreed. John Williams makes some memorable music. Action music is not one of them.

I think that's why I like it. Haha, I just like super complex stuff where I can sit back and think "Wtf."

[gkgyver 1,647]

From a technical point of view, it can only be called sheer brilliance.

From an emotional point of view, not so much.

[chuck 155]

Williams' action cues doesn't have that oomph that gets your adrenaline pumping wildly.

[indy4 160]

It most certainly does, it just takes some studying/repeated listens to appreciate it.

[Romão 2,473]

Most Williams action tracks are almost as fast tempo concert suites. They are almost always extremely coherent in its structure. I don't think about synch points or quick cuts at all while listening to them

[indy4 160]

Agreed. The only modern Williams action cues that I would label as being "all over the place" are a few from Tintin, and maybe "Grave Robbers" from KotCS.

[Ricard 2,671]

John Williams makes some memorable music. Action music is not one of them.

From a technical point of view, it can only be called sheer brilliance.

From an emotional point of view, not so much.

Williams' action cues doesn't have that oomph that gets your adrenaline pumping wildly.

Are you guys talking about modern Williams or in general?

[Romão 2,473]

Agreed. The only modern Williams action cues that I would label as being "all over the place" are a few from Tintin, and maybe "Grave Robbers" from KotCS.

Even in Tintin, something like Flight to Bagghar could be played in a concert hall

[indy4 160]

Yeah, "Flight" is definitely one of the stronger action cues in Tintin.

[KK 3,313]

While I love Williams old action style more, I certainly enjoy and admire his modern action writing. Williams is a fantastic action writer. One of the things I've always admired about modern Williams is how regardless of how busy and "over the place" the action music sounds like, its still very structured and enjoyable. What I found myself marveling at when listening to Tintin, is how Williams manages to make his music sound so "busy" yet still very enjoyable. Only Williams can pull that level of complexity off without his music being dubbed as atonal work.

[ComposerEthan 24]

Well I don't think Escape From The Karaboujan can be a concert piece. Nor rescuing Sarah.

I think those "all over the place" action cues is what I love most about Williams.

[Brónach 1,330]

I'm not sure what people are meaning here with "all over the place".

[MrJosh 1,205]

Williams' action cues doesn't have that oomph that gets your adrenaline pumping wildly.

It certainly does for me! To me, he is one of the only film composers that creates really unique, complex and interesting underscore and action music. I can sit and listen to some of my favorite action setpieces (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Jungle Chase, Phantom Menace - rescuing the queen/ hanger battle etc for example) and it's just really engaging. Some of the stuff makes you wonder what the heck will come next...

I get tired of hearing action music by some other composers that just consists of an ostinato for a really long time with some big brass punches.....or maybe just a cool rhtyhmic layer of percussion.

I like the fact that William's action music is so complex. It dances at times, gets up in your face, moment of silence, mickey-mouses with what's on the screen, always changing and always fun (or at least almost always).

[ComposerEthan 24]

Williams' action cues doesn't have that oomph that gets your adrenaline pumping wildly.

It certainly does for me! To me, he is one of the only film composers that creates really unique, complex and interesting underscore and action music. I can sit and listen to some of my favorite action setpieces (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Jungle Chase, Phantom Menace - rescuing the queen/ hanger battle etc for example) and it's just really engaging. Some of the stuff makes you wonder what the heck will come next...

I get tired of hearing action music by some other composers that just consists of an ostinato for a really long time with some big brass punches.....or maybe just a cool rhtyhmic layer of percussion.

I like the fact that William's action music is so complex. It dances at times, gets up in your face, moment of silence, mickey-mouses with what's on the screen, always changing and always fun (or at least almost always).

YES!

I love mickey-mousing in action sequences. It shows the composer is really in sync with the film.

With those "ostinato, brass, percussion" pieces, it just seems boring to me (but still sounds "cool").

[Brónach 1,330]

...exactly.

The "all over the place" is great things about it. It's action. Unexpected movement. Excitement. JW tends to nail it, quite frankly, because instead of sounding like a retelling of past action, much of his action music sounds with the surprise of something that is happening right now. It's like... why aren't you running? I have to admit a lot of his music makes me jump around in my room. it's that good.

Ok enough dick sucking for today.

[Greg1138 3]

Listen to the final 10 minutes of Star Wars, or the final reel of The Empire Strikes Back.....or any of the action cues from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom....or The Desert Chase, or innumerable other pieces.....if it doesn't have "Oomph" for you, doesn't get your blood pumping, doesn't get your feet shifting....well, there's medication for it but I'd say you're too far gone....

[Naïve Old Fart 13,020]

Listen to the final 10 minutes of Star Wars, or the final reel of The Empire Strikes Back.....or any of the action cues from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom....or The Desert Chase, or innumerable other pieces.....if it doesn't have "Oomph" for you, doesn't get your blood pumping, doesn't get your feet shifting....well, there's medication for it but I'd say you're too far gone....

Agreed. "The Asteroid Field" is probably JW's ultimate "action" cue.

Others of note would be: "Adventures On Earth" (a beautifully choreographed piece!), "The Heilcopter Sequence", "Chasing Rockets", "Hyperspace", "To Scarborough", "Slalom On Mount Humol", and "The Mine Car Chase".

[lostinspace 8]

Some other good action music: - these take quite a bit of listening to get into the groove of what JW was trying to accomplish I think - believe me, on the first listen they can sound a bit dull. Listen to theme repeatedly and they begin to make more sense.

War of the Worlds:Escape from the City

The Ferry Scene

Intersection Scene

Heaps of action in Star Wars Attack of the Clones & Revenge of the Sith, some cues in Harry Potter POA, Munich (Letter Bombs). Then there is the more "recent" stuff Indiana Jones "Ants" Whirlwind through acadame. Tintin Escape from Karaboudjian, Pursuit of Falcon, and War Horse, no mans land.

[Ricard 2,671]

I get tired of hearing action music by some other composers that just consists of an ostinato for a really long time with some big brass punches.....or maybe just a cool rhtyhmic layer of percussion.

I like the fact that William's action music is so complex. It dances at times, gets up in your face, moment of silence, mickey-mouses with what's on the screen, always changing and always fun (or at least almost always).

The "all over the place" is great things about it. It's action. Unexpected movement. Excitement. JW tends to nail it, quite frankly, because instead of sounding like a retelling of past action, much of his action music sounds with the surprise of something that is happening right now. It's like... why aren't you running? I have to admit a lot of his music makes me jump around in my room. it's that good.

Listen to the final 10 minutes of Star Wars, or the final reel of The Empire Strikes Back.....or any of the action cues from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom....or The Desert Chase, or innumerable other pieces.....if it doesn't have "Oomph" for you, doesn't get your blood pumping, doesn't get your feet shifting....well, there's medication for it but I'd say you're too far gone....

Agreed. "The Asteroid Field" is probably JW's ultimate "action" cue.

Others of note would be: "Adventures On Earth" (a beautifully choreographed piece!), "The Heilcopter Sequence", "Chasing Rockets", "Hyperspace", "To Scarborough", "Slalom On Mount Humol", and "The Mine Car Chase".

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,383]

I vastly prefer Williams old fashioned thematic based action music over his modern, far more rhytmic based scoring.

[KK 3,313]

While I prefer his old action style more, I love both styles. His modern stuff is still great action music. Take Anderton's Great Escape for instance, very modern but an excellent piece of action music.

[Xander Harris 9,673]

I'll take it all.

[p0llux 435]

i enjoyed "The Flying Car" from Chamber of Secrets a lot.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,383]

That was written by William Ross.

[Marian Schedenig 11,694]

Attacking a Star Destroyer

[Datameister 2,586]

That was written by William Ross.

In my opinion, much of Williams' strongest action music comes from his work in the late 70s and early 80s. Scores like Star Wars, Raiders, ESB, and E.T. feature some of the very finest action music ever written. They truly deliver on emotional AND intellectual levels. It's true that his approach to action scoring changed in later years, though I contend that much of his later action cues are still fantastic (especially after you've gotten more familiar with them). The problem with his later action music is that it tends to be a lot denser and more harmonically complex/ambiguous, and less melodic. To put it in less quasi-technical terms, it tends to emphasize the chaos that's happening onscreen, rather than the emotions that the chaos causes. Earlier Williams action cues are still profoundly complex at times, but in a leaner way that accentuates the subjective progression of the characters' and audience's feelings, rather than the objective progression of chaotic events unfolding in the film. (And of course, on a more superficial level, there are some rather stereotyped tools and techniques that Williams has tended to overuse in more recent action music.)

[ComposerEthan 24]

That was written by William Ross.

In my opinion, much of Williams' strongest action music comes from his work in the late 70s and early 80s. Scores like Star Wars, Raiders, ESB, and E.T. feature some of the very finest action music ever written. They truly deliver on emotional AND intellectual levels. It's true that his approach to action scoring changed in later years, though I contend that much of his later action cues are still fantastic (especially after you've gotten more familiar with them). The problem with his later action music is that it tends to be a lot denser and more harmonically complex/ambiguous, and less melodic. To put it in less quasi-technical terms, it tends to emphasize the chaos that's happening onscreen, rather than the emotions that the chaos causes. Earlier Williams action cues are still profoundly complex at times, but in a leaner way that accentuates the subjective progression of the characters' and audience's feelings, rather than the objective progression of chaotic events unfolding in the film. (And of course, on a more superficial level, there are some rather stereotyped tools and techniques that Williams has tended to overuse in more recent action music.)

What stereotyped tools and techniques are you referring to?

[Trent B 354]

Here are some of my personal favorites.

The Phantom Menace

-Droid Fight

-Escape From Naboo

-Darth and Qui-Gon

-The Armies Face Off

-The Battle Begins

-Battleship Destroyed

Attack Of The Clones

-The Jango Fett Fight

-The Spare Canister Caper

-Dooku Vs. Obi-Wan

-Yoda Strikes Back

Revenge Of The Sith

-Boys Into Battle

-Get 'Em, R2!

-The Death Of Dooku

-I Am The Senate

-The Boys Continue

Star Wars (ANH)

-The War

-Here They Come

-The Last Battle

-Use The Force

The Empire Strikes Back

-The Snow Battle

-Luke's First Crash

-The Rebels Escape Again

-The Asteroid Field

-Attack Position

Return Of The Jedi

-Fight In The Dungeon

-Into The Trap

-Fight With The Fighters

-More Duel

Hook

-The Ultimate War

Jurassic Park

-Into The Kitchen

-March Past The Kitchen Utensils

-T-Rex To The Rescue

E.T. The Extra Terrestrial

-The Rescue and Bike Chase

[Brónach 1,330]

I just felt like posting two of the action tracks that ignited my passion for JW's music back when I was younger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3LcACHGgRc

I like that they sound so much like they are from the same score, similar ideas on both. The insane timpani in Whomping Willow also goes back to the timpani in Buckbeack's Flight. It all sounds tied together, I mean. Like a story.

Many of JW's works develop this identy for their own in subtle ways. Jurassic Park is one my favourite examples.

Also, something I've been thinking about JW's action music, specially later JW, is that I can't think on music that sounds like it that isn't other JW music. Back then when Star Wars, you could hear the influences, you could hear where the sound came from, in the sense that you could think of similar music. I hear the music above and I feel like Sherlock Holmes trying to analyze Irene Adler: I just see John Williams. I hope I'm not beheaded for saying this, as I still have a lot of music to listen to

I think my favourite action music of his would be the JP scores and Indiana Jones.

[ComposerEthan 24]

Thanks so much! I already had the Snowball fight, but Quidditch Third year turned out to be amazing!

Any more awesome action or chase (like his normal playful music) music from Williams?

[Romão 2,473]

I love this one:

[Jim Ware 638]

Good cue. An excellent example of active music under dialogue.

[hornist 1,261]

Heh, Best action music writer in history. His action music in TOD and Return of the Jedi is the best ever in the history of music.

[ComposerEthan 24]

Heh, Best action music writer in history. His action music in TOD and Return of the Jedi is the best ever in the history of music.

Rightly so.

I adore "Broken Bridge/British Relief" and Battle Of Endor I !

[Ricard 2,671]

His action music in TOD and Return of the Jedi is the best ever in the history of music.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

Raiders beats both of those. His best is the final section of ET, although the opening cues (lost in the forest) are also incredible.

[Rachael Foley 10,162]

The Lost World:

Visitor in San Diego, best Williams action track in the 1990's on, IMO

[Ricard 2,671]

Raiders beats both of those.

No, but it's close.

His best is the final section of ET

Definitely one of the best cues in film music history

[Xander Harris 9,673]

TOD, Jedi and Hook make up a trilogy of 30-45 minute wall-to-wall climactic action and dramatic scoring. Just so much phenomenal music going on there.

[Ricard 2,671]

The Lost World:

Visitor in San Diego, best Williams action track in the 1990's on, IMO

Probably!

TOD, Jedi and Hook make up a trilogy of 30-45 minute wall-to-wall climactic action and dramatic scoring. Just so much phenomenal music going on there.

Yes yes yes!