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Just attended an amazing concert by the San Diego Symphony conducted by David Newman in an all-Williams program in honor of the composer’s 90th birthday year. The highlight for me was what Newman indicated to be the world concert premiere of “A New Beginning” and “End Titles” from The Accidental Tourist, which I managed to record and am sharing the YouTube link here. Other great pieces were on the program as well (see photo). Overall the orchestra played expertly. It was a great night with friends at the orchestra’s beautiful summer venue, The Rady Shell (guess which one I am in the group photo…). https://youtu.be/6n3l9hRTDSQ

I just love how three separate, consecutive composer/director pairs for three separate shows (counting the Mandoverse as one) have now spoken about running away from the Williams sound as though it's a bold new direction. I agree with @Tallguy: I want themes. When Mando worked—and it didn't always, maybe not even most of the time—it worked because we got melodic hooks associated with characters and ideas (Mando and Grogu, basically; although I know there were more, that's what I remember a couple of years later). Eventually, in season 2, we even got some musical humility, bringing in Williams and Kiner themes when it made sense to do so. For all my beefs with Ludwig, he had it where it counts in the thematic sense. It sounds like Britell may have written a great theme, but a truly effective Star Wars show/film can't live on a single theme, even when it's a corker. We all just got glaring proof of that earlier this summer. Even Solo wouldn't have been a fraction of the score it was without the vast palette of themes Powell added to what Williams gave him. And to reiterate, music is such an incredible component of the Star Wars universe, by anyone's measure, that I honestly think thematic Easter eggs are a major draw for me now. When Ludwig hinted at the March of the Resistance in that X-Wing scene in Mando season 2? That was a fantastic moment, a reminder that this story is part of a greater story, and a subtle, affectionate wink warmly linking the creators and the fans. I think moments like that keep Star Wars grounded, especially when we're enduring a fire hose of new content, with each piece more determined than the last to expand the universe and redefine the nature of the franchise. That's well and good and even necessary up to a point, but run too far from those little, unobtrusive injections of nostalgia, and you're just making random sci-fi with dirty walls.

Since it got lost in this thread derailing, I reposted the full cuelist and album breakdowns here for those who want to further dissect the release:

A nice way to honor the birthday of James Horner. Did you listen to your edited playlist? I enjoyed that more than the complete expansion. And speaking of that sort of thing... I loved Clash of the Titans as a kid, and have no idea why I never bought the OST. I have the Intrada, and decided I might like the original OST listening experience, so with a few minor edits, I was able to craft the basic OST from the Intrada. Delightful score by Laurence Rosenthal. I miss this sort of thing. It's so cheerful and sparkly. And speaking of James Horner... was this an influence? I hear the "Danger Motif" several times, and the French horn harmonies... I'd swear in parts I was listening to Horner.

I would say John Powell pretty much managed to do so, even though he had a main theme from Williams at hand, the score sounded totally like Powell in adventure mode, in all the good and all the bad ways.

Ha! I just realized that pretty much the ONLY place where Star Wars fans are treated like Star Trek fans is the music. "Hey we all loved the Original Star Trek, but it was a product of its time and a result of its budget. We want to stay true to the ideas of the original but those designs need to grow and evolve to fit a modern sensibility." "We will not change one nurney on the Millennium Falcon. Costume design should look like it came from John Mollo's desk in 1976. We can't recast anybody! These are iconic characters and if we have to make people look younger or bring them back from the dead, so be it." And then: "Hey, we can't just stick to John Williams all of our lives. We need to grow and find new things!" That's a lovely way to wake up on a Sunday morning with my coffee. I highly recommend it.

Hey guys! I have been reading some of the issues highlighted in this release (super interesting by the way, especially the higher pitched Got Any ID that fades into Extreme Ways) and I might disagree about the Bourne On Land - Alternate Version being a demo from the Supremacy score. I think John Powell had this melody in mind already when working on the Bourne Identity. When listening to Love Scene - Alternate version, you can hear that : the notes played by the guitar are Supremacy’s theme (Goa); it is mixed with the humming voice we can hear in Marie drives/Bourne sleeps (Tumescent edition) or The Drive To Paris (Regular edition); and the strings/ambient sounds we can hear at 01:23 are very similar to the lower pitched ones in Hotel Regina at 0:37 and 1:10, as well as in The Bourne Identity (regular edition) at 4:01; the same atmospheric bass from the normal Love Scene/At The Hairdresser(Regular edition) we can hear from the start of the song is also there. Finally, Bourne on Land - With Bassoon has a very similar piano to the Alternate Version. For some, this might be a bit of a stretch but these are a few things I noticed while listening. So maybe these two alternate versions of Bourne On Land and Love Scene were made for Bourne Identity but because of their melody being so different from the rest of the pieces, they were put aside and used later as a base for Supremacy. Explaining why they are there, and I expect John Powell to at least listen to his stuff before green lighting it. In regards to Got Any ID, Powell mentioned on Instagram that most of these songs were made before dubbing the film. Maybe, Extreme Ways was selected much later in the process and they realized that by increasing the pitch and putting the songs together with a fade, this was the most epic way of closing the movie. Just my two cents! I am a huge fan of the Bourne Trilogy (Identity being my favorite for its revolutionary score, almost (Luc)Besson-esque feeling with steadier sequences, Marie, and the epic conclusion with Extreme Ways). Honestly, this thread has been awesome to read through, you guys are experts! As mentioned in an earlier post, this is indeed a niche community and reading inputs of fellow fans is quite an experience. Greetings from France!

The main difference for me between Felina and the final episode of BCS is the lack of a villain to defeat. BCS doesn't have a Jack type character for Jimmy to beat, nor does it have a Jesse type character for Jimmy to rescue. You could go a little deeper and say that Saul and Gene are Jimmy's villains and he needs to exorcise them for him to fully come to terms with and accept the consequences of his past actions. So if there are going to be fireworks in the finale, it will be of the emotional and psychological rather than the physical kind.

My theater is definitely getting the IMAX, but will it be in 3D IMAX?

Ewoks and Droids. Jedi Rocks. The Clone Wars

"Man in movie says movie he's in is good".

We did before the Disney Revolution. Star Wars music in all forms was great and beloved.

Absolutely this! And what if a composer took on SW in future and turned out to be one who defines the next era's sound? If you demand that anything connected to the SW universe must emulate John Williams, you get a static soundscape and you don't get new talent emerging.

Glad to hear they’re going into their fourth D+ score of not aping Williams. If it’s anything like the last three, I’ll like the score and it will make all of you mad - win/win!

I am seeing ET tonight. Very excited! Will definitely see Jaws in some form when it comes out. By the way... I was rewatching ALL the Jaws films recently (I was just gonna skip the first film since I am seeing it in theaters soon, but I decided to at least have it on while doing something else haha). And when I got to Jaws 3... I was inspired to riff on it for some reason. I'm pretty stupid, but ya'll may enjoy. Note: It's a thread of multiple videos.

Yep. That’s something I’m going to want to see! 😊 “Fast and Badass” That pretty much confirms Vin Diesel and the Rock must show up 😜

I made some amatourish CD artwork for HP 4, 5 & 6. I tried to design it in a way that it looks good next to the LLL Box but sadly I'm not as gifted as Jim Titus. But it still does line up more or less... and I selfishly added my own name in the design credit... The LLL Box already used all Hogwarts house colors on the spines and the later films doesn't have any coler to use so I put the Ravendor logo in that place.

War Horse is not a great movie. I don't really see the point of it where it was meant to work on stage. It does, however, look fantastic. One of Kaminski's finest. And that paired with Williams' scores elevates it to a guilty pleasure status for me. Karol

Some good points in here.

At this point it’a bolder to go the Williams route.

Boyd Holbrook Praises Early ‘Indiana Jones 5’ Footage, Promises ‘Badass’ Movie Holbrook says the upcoming sequel maintains the most beloved stylistic elements of James Mangold's filmography while adding "this grand scale of Indiana Jones."

Jedha Call Saw is the greatest SW tack title ever made.

"Music in Star Wars is just absolutely essentially identified with John Williams -- I mean, bow down-but we're going in a whole other direction " What I just don't understand is how they can say that JW defined Star Wars with his music, and then say that they won't do it that way when scoring a Star Wars series.

I created my own custom entrance themes for Obi-Wan Kenobi and Han Solo. Utilising the music by John Williams from Obi-Wan Kenobi and SOLO: A Star Wars Story, whilst retaining the Gordy Haab style.

Regardless of all this infighting, I think we can all agree that this is a flawless release. It’s Tumescent and so am I. Thanks, John!

It almost sounds like a new motif, almost like the Tintin Theme, or the motif from Episode I's "Panaka and the Queen's Protectors" I could pick out anything from Temple of Doom, but these swirling strings in Approaching the Stones caught my ear today. I just love this passage of unsettling strings from about 00:41 to 01:00...and I'm not even talking about the huge crescendo and choir that builds afterwards.

He has conducted the piano-based love theme several times. The end titles has the same theme, but they are two different pieces.

Probably a different time, but it makes me wonder why the shot of the truck falling off the cliff in Raiders was changed for a tv release one time. Anyways, saw ET Friday night and it was absolutely brilliant. I had seen it once in theaters a few years back for an anniversary release. Can't wait for Jaws in a few weeks!

Exactly.

But at the time it wasn't even that there was a concern. Star Wars music as just all around really good in all forms and nobody had to think about it any further than that..

It’s a remarkable cue. Stunning use of that the huge choir accompanied by the rarely used Shiva-Linga motif. This cue would’ve made for a better inclusion on the OST than Children in Chains, the cue that directly follows this one.

It's a Disney flick for children.

I Just purchased these BD, I did not have them previously in DVD: - Blue Velvet - The Thing - Tron (1982) - Blade Runner 2049

Yes, I went a little nuts over their new design featuring unused artwork from Jaws 2. So my wife hooked me up for my birthday. They’re still available. Sperry Jaws 2

I'm not expecting a finale even remotely comparable to "Felina" (not referring to quality), except for maybe the great Walt/Skyler scene, where Walt finally cuts the bullshit and is honest with both Skyler and himself. I could see an ending that is basically all that - quiet, revealing conversations between characters - with none of the death or danger that gave Breaking Bad's ending its fireworks (I don't think our guy's going to die). I'd like to believe that after 50 years, Jimmy/Saul/Gene is going to stop constructing Russian doll identities to escape his thoughts and feelings, and finally look inward at why he is the way he is, and why he's done the things he's done. Not just the major ones, like ruining Howard's life, aiding and abetting Walt, and almost killing two people - everything going back to stealing from his father's store and running scams in Chicago. In contrast to a machine gun massacre, the most "exciting" thing that happens here could be that Jimmy/Saul/Gene gives himself up and goes to prison. Maybe, instead of creating yet another identity, he sheds his old ones ("Saul Gone"), and we get to see what's underneath? All that being said, come Monday night I’m going to set aside any predictions or expectations and let the finale be what it is. The episode is expected to be around 67 minutes (from 98 minutes with commercials), which would make it the longest of either show (Breaking Bad: 58mins ["Pilot] / Better Call Saul: 60mins ["Winner" and "Something Unforgivable"]). I'm curious if there's anything in particular behind its considerable length, like a time jump, or if it's just that Gould's been given the leeway to cook this thing low and slow.

1:14 to 1:19 and 1:33 to 1:36 are SO MUCH FUN!

Booked E.T. performance in Manchester in October. Going with two of my friends. Both love the movie but neither of them has ever been to a concert like this before. Can't think of a better way to introduce them to the concept. I've seen this twice already and there aren't many films that work as well as this one with live orchestra. Plus couldn't think of a better way to celebrate film's 40th anniversary. 😀 I hope The Halle orchestra is up to the task. Heard them a couple of times live playing classical concerts and they were rather good. Karol

What a fine ensemble @Holko! Those RVW/Chandos recordings are brilliant.

Beautiful piece! Love the classical feel to it, and the woodwinds especially sound gorgeous!

Faster faster! They dump all the crap scores on us but keep us waiting for this diamond. Bastards. 😜

Yea, I don't think anybody here is going to be your side on this one. I think you are the one who should have thought before you acted. Involving Powell's partner in any way with this is just gross

Lol. I'm glad Ross has always come across as ego-less in interviews. To not be nominated on a project you contributed substantial work and original music to is a terrible slight. He deserves better.

I can actually see Seth doing that! I’d love it.

I’ll take it. Everybody watch on Hulu (and soon on Disney+)! Let’s make this happen! Don’t let the current best sci-fi show on TV die after only three seasons! Yavar

INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM: The plane crash sequence, the engines are failing, the propellors are sputtering to a halt, Indy looks out the window and says "I think we have a big problem." Cut to a view of the jagged mountaintops. That rise in the french horns at that exact second is one of my favourite Williams moments of all time. That, and the sudden trilling of flutes that kicks in when the yellow raft is in mid-fall.

The dedication in the Main Title from THE TOWERING INFERNO, where it all goes quiet and respectful, before heading for the big finish.

I've watch episode 5 and it's another incredible episode. I loved all of it from the main plot and acting to the music it was great. I really like the pace of the serie so far with completely different episode each week. I really hope they'll succeed to make a fourth season

I hope it happens!

There already is a Jaws movie in 3D.

I have the opposite opinion. I think if you don't expand, you will turn an iconic soundscape into mundane. Williams did 9 films in that soundscape. Let his composition be unique and special to that era of Star Wars. Rareness adds intrigue, memorability. Then other composers can expand the definition and do their own soundscapes. Not only will the Star Wars universe be a lot more flavorful, but the discussions will be as well. I don't want spend the next 10 years discussing which composer emulated Williams the best. I want to talk about what they created and how their soundscapes defined the franchise.