batmanand

Which one is that? Is it the second last track on the OST or some other cue?

The Force is strong in the family. They can see the future. So maybe the past too?

Maybe Ben didn't consider Leia a hope because he didn't have a chance to train, or even talk to, her before he died? And about "beautiful, but sad": Padme is beautiful, and she dies of sadness because she cannot face up to the fact that Anakin has "gone bad"

1. ESB 2= ROTJ 2= ROTS 4= ANH 4= AOTC 6. TPM

I think the AOTC "The Arena" music for a large part of the "Anakin takes on the Jedi temple" section was good for two reasons. Firstly, it worked as musical underscore to the scene. Secondly, much of it was not used in AOTC (the film), so this was its first film use, hence it was good. Shame "Escape from Naboo" returned again. Don't get me wrong - fantastic cue - but to use it three times more in the prequels (the pod race in TPM, Yoda to rescue in AOTC and now R2D2 slides in ROTS) than it was meant to be used is a little excessive!

No, it doesn't. The Padme funeral music is unreleased; Qui-Gon's funeral music only underscores her death.

'because Augies band is crap, deal with it. 1. I did not say that Augie's Municipal Band was the best. I said that AOTC's Confrontation with Count Dooku was the best. So please, get your facts right. 2. Even if I had said TPM, that is still no reason to laugh. Some people - amazingly - do not agree. Particulalry on subjective things like music. Even more so on what everyone agrees is excellent music. Please, if you disagree, say WHY. Don't just say "everybody knows" - cos they clearly don't - and don't just laugh. 3. Personally, my order would be (best to worst): AOTC; ESB; ANH; ROTS; TPM; ROTJ. My justfication: AOTC is incredibly powerful, the last few minutes of music sum up the film perfectly, the playing of ATS is beautiful but strangely tragic (perfect for the scene it is scoring) and the link to the End Credits music is not "forced". ESB's ending (with the love and force themes) is touching, but not quite as emotionally "sucker-punch"-worthy as AOTC. The link to the iris is good, though. ANH has probably the best music before it (the Throne ROom is magnificent in the film and as a piece of music), but for me the link to the End Credits is poor; ROTS ends as the linking film should: with fantastic playings of fantastic themes, but again the key change to the iris ruins it somewhat; TPM has the most annoying music (I can't like that children's choir. Kids worked in Edward Scissorhands, but not in TPM), but the presence of the hidden Emperor's theme is masterful. The iris link is OK; and finally ROTJ has a quite nice - if not very Star Wars-y piece before it, but the cut ot the iris is horrid, and makes this the worst of the six. 4. Having said all that, most film would envy any and all of them as endings.

I voted for AOTC. I just think that, in terms of raw emotion, it is the best.

Out of interest: what second major theme? Surely not the Conspiracy motif (which is hardly "major")?!

AOTC is great - when we get the full release we will see just how great. But on the album, ATS, the Arena, Yoda and the Younglings, the Finale, even the Kamino motif are all excellent. Minority Report is also excellent. Sean's theme is one of Williams' best recent efforts. The action music, whilst sometimes lacking focus, is punchy and thrilling. The last few tracks are an emotional rollercoaster. Overall, two scores that both show the "new JW", who is less concerned with pleasing fans than writing good music. I think that should be applauded.

That film scoring nightmare, that the score is so quiet in the film as to be missed in all its glory, is apparently not a problem in ROTS. A review of the film in The Times (UK) said somehting long the lines of "... the dialogue is bad. Lucas has realised this, and so has turned up the loud, proud, bombastic score up so everyone can hear it". That sounds good to me....

I love that quiet, but definite, statment of ATS in Padme's Ruminations. It still sends shivers down my spine, even after what must be 10 listens.

thats not true, I see Bride of Frankenstein, Ghost of Frankenstein, Goldfinger, Once upon a time in America all in addition to the one Neil mention. I'm guessing you meant the SW sequels which have no place, nor do the Raider's sequels, or the LOTR sequels, all were extensions of the original. What I meant by sequel scores were ostensibly thematically linked sequel scores. Of the list, only the James Bond franchsie gets a look in (although I have admit that, having never hearr the score to Bride of Frankenstein, i do not know how close it is to the original score for Frankenstein).

RCA is better. Simple. Sony is easier to find. But to be honest, what we all relaly care about is the music, so on that they are identical. The linear notes are brilliant on the RCA, though.

True although I think that may be an exception. Stargate is muchbetter though IMO.

Williams: Often writes such that "brass is strings"; in other words many of his brass parts are the type that other composers would write for strings. This is particualrly true of his trumpet and horn writing. Horner: Your either listening to the "Celtic-Irish-ethnic" score or the "action-adventure-loud" score.

Interesting: no Jurassic Park, and they ahve obviously taken a stand against sequel scores. And how did Shore's Silence of the Lambs get in there?!

Harry Potter is good, no doubt. SS (or being a Brit PS) was great, simply beacuse it has so many great NEW ideas. COS is worse, mainly cos it is SS underscore. However, the two new main themes are (in their concert arrangements, at least) outstanding. POA is JW's best non-SW score for many years (I would say since AI, and if AI is not counted then since 1993). However, SW is transcendent. They are the BEST scores ever. Phantom Menace is amazing - a true thematic and emotional masterpiece. AOTC is richer, with a fantastic theme and some wonderful sweeping bits of score (I am thinking the Kamino fanfare, the last minute or so of the Arena cue and of course the ending (to the iris)). ROTS, while none of us have heard it properly yet, is shaping up to be a treat. I cannot tell you the excitement I get when listening to Anakin vs Obi-Wan, or the anticipation of, say, Anakun's Betrayal. I am afraid that HP music will never be as exicting, as emotional or as rich as SW music.

I voted "Anakin is Free" for two reasons. Firstly, it IS an excellent track. It has the first statement of Qui-Gon's theme, and some of the best Anakin-Shmi music in the whole film. Yes, it meanders, but for me it IS going somewhere - namely towards the single best Force theme until (in film time) the Binary Sunset. I would put it as just below The Dark Side Beckons as the third best Force theme playing in the whole saga. Secondly, I don't actually think Leaving Home is that good. OK, string me up for blasphemy, but apart from the two main themes I don't particulaly like the Superman score. Sorry, but that is just my opinion.

In terms of appropriateness for the film, it has to be Jaws. In terms of power, musical quality and sheer brilliance, I would say the Force theme from SW.

I will be waiting. I have so far listened to: the ringtone; the one minute preview; and the TV spot with the choir Battle of the Heroes. I want my first experience to be special - reading teh George Lucas blurb, holding the case, listening with my headphones on a proper CD player (better sound quality). And anyway it is only like 2.5 weeks!

1 x ROTS OST CD (dunno how much goes to Lucas - hopefully much less than goes to Williams!) 2 or 3 x ROTS cinema tickets 1 x ROTS DVD That is probably about $50

Me? I was genuinely uninterested in music until about age 15 (2001). I always like musicals, particualrly Les Mis (just performed in it - ah it was the most amazing experience). I was browsing Amazon, where you can preview short clips of music from CDs. Was listening to bits of Les Mis, and casually went to the bottom of the page where it had people's lists of their favourite CDs. On one persons, Les Mis was #1, and A Beautiful Mind (Horner) was #2. I went to it, and listened to the first cue for the 30 secs it allowed me. I LOVED the first cue (still do - although I now know it is a rip off of Bicentennial Man... grrr stupid Horner). Went to see the film as well, and noticed the music a lot in it. Began to (sharp intake of breath) illegally download bits and pieces of film music I liked - the usual stuff someone not very knowledgeable gets. So I had Titanic, bit of Jurassic Park, bit of ET, Raiders March, and of course the Imperial March. Soon after (early 2002), I watched TPM again. Suddenly, I noticed the score, loved it, went out and bought the OST and listened to it solidly for a few hours. I enjoyed it, and noticed the themes recurring. Not really understanding, I typed it into google, got a link to Filmtracks, and suddenly reaslised there was a world of amazing film music out there. By this time, AOTC was about to come out, and I bought the soundtrack. It was also amazing, and that was it. I was hooked to film music. More importnatly, I joined the dots, realised this John Williams guy was pretty damned amazing. And the rest is history!

Also, some of the playing of Anakin's are clearly more "Vader based" than others, for example just after he wins the Pod Race.

Having not listened to RotS, and not intending to listen to it until I have the CD in my hands, I will not comment on it. TPM OST was pretty good - the tracks were quite well chosen and the action music as presented was cool. Great downsides were the lack of some of the best tracks in the film (Anakin is Free; The Tide Turns etc), the annoying repeat of the Coruscant arrival music and a poorish middle section. TPM UE was on one hand amazing - the full score as heard in the film, only a few months after the film's release - and on one awful - the "full score" with "every note of music by JW" was simply a lie, and its release presumably makes a PROPER full score a la the 1997 Special Editions unlikely for the time being. I would still say, though, that it has more positives than negatives, and some parts of the score are just breathtaking. The last track is just crap though. AOTC OST is my choice though for a simple reason: whatever people think of the score (personally, I am in the "listen to it more, love Across the Stars, ignore the lack of Anakin's theme and it is brilliant" camp), the choice of music on the OST was outstanding. Yes, there was stuff left off (particularly Anakin's dark side moments, and that fantastic statement of Anakin's theme when he first meets Padme), and yes the order is a little messed up, BUT compared to the stuff left off TPM OST they are minor quibbles. The album is well balanced between action, ATS-based love music, that glorious Star Wars-feel music (like "Departing Coruscant" - which I really like, but many people hate) and that AMAZING sweep into the End Credits. It is the best represenattion of the music in the film of any of the SW Prequel CDs - excluding the UE, but then the point of an "Ultimate" Edition is not to represent the music in the film, but to be a COMPLETE score. Thus, for how it fulfilled its role, AOTC gets my vote. Therefore