Taikomochi

I stayed through the credits, and a family member who does not like film music commented on how achingly beautiful “Helena’s Theme” is. It reminded me that, at least for Williams scores, it’s worth staying through the credits.

I stayed through the credits, and a family member who does not like film music commented on how achingly beautiful “Helena’s Theme” is. It reminded me that, at least for Williams scores, it’s worth staying through the credits.

I'm actually curious how this piece came together, @Falstaft.  Did you cold-email the Times with a proposal?  Did they come to you as a relevant expert, wanting something to pin to the release of the film?  Was it always going to be a multimedia project?  Did you have to give them specific timestamps for the music and video embeds?
 
Let's hear the DVD extras on this!

Thanks everyone. I actually wrote this well before Dial came out, but was glad I was able to sneak in a last minute edit about "The Battle of Syracuse." My secret hope is that some Disney exec sees this article and realizes a score-only presentation of Indy 5 would be a good idea!

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/07/07/opinion/indiana-jones-movie-john-williams-music.html
 
Wonderful article just published in the NY Times, and written by @Falstaft! Check it out!

The brass in Battle of Syracuse from 00:52 to 1:04 is fantastic. I can't stop thinking about it.

Moviegoers leaving during credits: Permissible. (I stay.)
 
Theater staff encouraging moviegoers to leave during credits: Unacceptable.
 
LTP concertgoers leaving while the orchestra is playing: Criminal.

I stayed through the credits, and a family member who does not like film music commented on how achingly beautiful “Helena’s Theme” is. It reminded me that, at least for Williams scores, it’s worth staying through the credits.

I absolutely adore the turbulent ballet of The Airport and harsh brutality of Battle of Syracuse (plus Centuries Join Hands). Williams going all Golden Age. Hell, yeah! I now wish he had a chance to do a "sword and sandal" picture. And I really like the Archimedes's theme.
 
Karol

I stayed through the credits, and a family member who does not like film music commented on how achingly beautiful “Helena’s Theme” is. It reminded me that, at least for Williams scores, it’s worth staying through the credits.

I stayed through the credits, and a family member who does not like film music commented on how achingly beautiful “Helena’s Theme” is. It reminded me that, at least for Williams scores, it’s worth staying through the credits.

I stayed through the credits, and a family member who does not like film music commented on how achingly beautiful “Helena’s Theme” is. It reminded me that, at least for Williams scores, it’s worth staying through the credits.

Aside from the violin theme, I think the album benefits from a strong narrative. Is it too short? Are there cues I wish we’d gotten too? Yes and yes, but what’s here tells a coherent story. Not all Williams albums can say the same, especially TROS.

I stayed through the credits, and a family member who does not like film music commented on how achingly beautiful “Helena’s Theme” is. It reminded me that, at least for Williams scores, it’s worth staying through the credits.

Aside from the violin theme, I think the album benefits from a strong narrative. Is it too short? Are there cues I wish we’d gotten too? Yes and yes, but what’s here tells a coherent story. Not all Williams albums can say the same, especially TROS.

I stayed through the credits, and a family member who does not like film music commented on how achingly beautiful “Helena’s Theme” is. It reminded me that, at least for Williams scores, it’s worth staying through the credits.

I stayed through the credits, and a family member who does not like film music commented on how achingly beautiful “Helena’s Theme” is. It reminded me that, at least for Williams scores, it’s worth staying through the credits.

I stayed through the credits, and a family member who does not like film music commented on how achingly beautiful “Helena’s Theme” is. It reminded me that, at least for Williams scores, it’s worth staying through the credits.

Aside from the violin theme, I think the album benefits from a strong narrative. Is it too short? Are there cues I wish we’d gotten too? Yes and yes, but what’s here tells a coherent story. Not all Williams albums can say the same, especially TROS.

Aside from the violin theme, I think the album benefits from a strong narrative. Is it too short? Are there cues I wish we’d gotten too? Yes and yes, but what’s here tells a coherent story. Not all Williams albums can say the same, especially TROS.

I was the only one left as well. And the staff asked me if it's OK to switch it off because there's nothing after the credits. I just told them that I like the music and would like to listen to the rest of it so they left me alone. But it must have made them unhappy.
 
Karol

I noticed this too:
 
 

I noticed the same thing. I think you might be right. If I recall correctly, it was snipped out of the film presentation of the cue, alas.

You know what, I just let enjoy people whatever they like. But yes, it is a shame so many people don't connect with it, especially knowing it "might" be the last thing they'll hear from him in terms of big blockbuster scores like this. But then, I do remind myself that having been around this forum for about 21 years now, every new work he's done since then tends to grow on people over time. I can remember people complaining about the first Harry Potter being Williams on autopilot and Across the Stars being the least inspired thing he's ever written. Not to mention his highly inventive action music from the prequels was branded bland and boring. The expectations are so high every time that nothing short of second coming of Christ will do. But I am fairly confident people will look more fondly at this music in the future. So all is good.
 
I am not surprised at any aspect of the score because Williams has being going through this creative "retrospective" (for lack of a better work) for the past 18 years. You can tell he feels content with how the things are and doesn't feel pressure anymore to reinvent himself (that ended with Geisha and Munich, more or less). I am sure he does the film if he feels like it and does it out of pure joy of collaborating with younger filmmakers. Which, at his age, must be a source of great joy for him. To see his "Swiss watch-like" artistry applied to anything new these brings me a lot of pleasure on its own terms. He absolutely doesn't  need to feel any pressure to bring that smirk to my face, and yet he does waste his precious time and energy to do just that. I feel quite blessed.
 
Karol

Right there with you! Luke's exile theme is my favourite element in the score to The Last Jedi and Archimedes' theme is quickly becoming a highlight for me.
 
How dissapointing that so many 'regular' fans tend to dismiss Williams' later work. His current musical styles is far more understated than before but I think it has a lot more going on emotionally. But this is very hard to express to the layman who desires so-called memorable themes. (If Rey's theme isn't memorable, I don't know what is.)