What's Your Favorite Williams Score of the 1980's?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The last of Williams 80's scores that was officially unreleased is on it's way. Now what's the best thing John Williams did film music wise in this otherwise horrible decade of yuppies, rubbish hairstyles and the Police Academy saga?

(I nominated only full film scores, so no Amazing Stories, no Yes Georio and no Superman 4!

[Henry B 50]

Raiders.

Isn't Born on the Fourth of July missing?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

No it isn't!

:cool:

[DarthDave 1]

Definitely Empire Strikes Back.

[Datameister 2,044]

Such an incredibly difficult question to answer. Man, Williams in the 80s was fierce. My vote has to go to ESB, but ROTLA is so close behind it's not even funny. E.T. was fantastic, naturally, and ROTJ is another favorite, along with the other two Indy films. But yeah, for the purposes of this poll, I can't not pick ESB.

[Pieter Boelen 740]

I'll vote for Raiders of the Lost Ark. But that's only because I like Indiana Jones more than Star Wars and because it's the first score of the series. Otherwise choosing between Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom and Last Crusade is pretty much impossible.

[Salacius 7]

Ohhhhh tough one,

These are some of my most favorite albums of all time!!!

I voted ESB but ET is close by a veeery small margin,

no point criticizing any of the others, they are all awesome!!!

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

E.T. the Extra Terrestrial. And not just for the '80s.

Ray Barnsbury

[JoeinAR 1,949]

If I voted for ET and Ray did too how come there is only 1 for ET.

[Miguel Andrade 1,263]

E.T. The Extra-Terristrial.

[Datameister 2,044]

If I voted for ET and Ray did too how come there is only 1 for ET.

I see two. :shrug:

By the way, Salacious...Most. Awesome. Sig. EVER. </fanboydome>

[Miguel Andrade 1,263]

If I voted for ET and Ray did too how come there is only 1 for ET.

I see two. :shrug:

By the way, Salacious...Most. Awesome. Sig. EVER. </fanboydome>

But you should see three by now...

[King Mark 3,631]

Empire of course.

[scissorhands 16]

Empire, of course.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Nice, Peio.

I'll vote for E.T. because... well, that score is awesome.

[Melange 446]

E.T. It's his masterpiece (in my opinion)

[Romão 2,274]

E.T, with ROTJ a close second.

[Red 75]

This is easily the hardest poll in a long while. As of now:

E.T.

Return of the Jedi

The Last Crusade.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Heartbeeps. Maybe I should add a face...no, that's what they would be expecting.

[Joe Brausam 215]

The Empire Strikes Back, followed by E.T., Return of the Jedi, and Born on the Fourth of July.

[Luke Skywalker 1,796]

Return of the Jedi

Last Crusade

Empire Strikes back

E.T.

I cant decide! <_<

[indy4 155]

Shouldn't you wait until people can actually hear Monsignor(unless is shipped superfast)?

1. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

2. The Empire Strikes Back

3. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial

4. Raiders of the Lost Ark

5. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

6. Return of the Jedi

the rest...

[Melange 446]

I cant decide!

I'll decide for you. E.T it is. <_<

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I cant decide!

I'll decide for you. E.T it is. <_<

No, no, no. Heartbeeps it is.

[Trent Hoyt 13]

I can't give an impartial answer....so I won't.

[Datameister 2,044]

Shouldn't you wait until people can actually hear Monsignor(unless is shipped superfast)?

Nah, there's no way it could surpass ESB.

By the way, the current poll results are giving me a slightly renewed faith in this community's collective intelligence. ROTLA and E.T. are currently tied as very close seconds to ESB...as it should be.

[Guest macrea]

E.T.

But this would be a far less yawn-inducing poll if The Empire Strikes Back was left off.

[Datameister 2,044]

But this would be a far less yawn-inducing poll if The Empire Strikes Back was left off.

True. ROTLA and E.T. would make very strong contenders. In such a case, I'd pick ROTLA, since I'd rather have a whole score filled with amazing moments than a few cues that drop my jaw all the way to China. E.T. is unbefreakinglievable, but it owes much of that to the first and last orchestral tracks. The stuff in the middle is really good, but IMO, it's not quite good enough to beat ROTLA.

[A24 4,346]

I compare this poll with the Oscars: The one with the most votes is usually the worst.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Why, The Accidental Tourist of course.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

I compare this poll with the Oscars: The one with the most votes is usually the worst.

So E.T. is the worst? Even worse than Always?

By the way, all of the people who have mentioned more than one "best" score (even those who added "closely followed by"), is it because you feel guilty of excluding the others?

[Datameister 2,044]

By the way, all of the people who have mentioned more than one "best" score (even those who added "closely followed by"), is it because you feel guilty of excluding the others?

For me, yes. I'm not sure if you're saying it's a bad thing or not, but I know that for me, calling just one of these my favorite 80s Williams score is hard. There's a lot of really good stuff, and every time I try to pick a favorite, other snippets of fantastic music swoop through my head. My vote for ESB remains, but if this poll included second and third choices, I'd pick ROTLA and E.T. in a heartbeep. Er, heartbeat.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

But this would be a far less yawn-inducing poll if The Empire Strikes Back was left off.

True. ROTLA and E.T. would make very strong contenders. In such a case, I'd pick ROTLA, since I'd rather have a whole score filled with amazing moments than a few cues that drop my jaw all the way to China. E.T. is unbefreakinglievable, but it owes much of that to the first and last orchestral tracks. The stuff in the middle is really good, but IMO, it's not quite good enough to beat ROTLA.

oh yes it is. Raiders is a great score, one of the best ever, (better than ESB though), but even it pales in comparison to the God induced weeping that is E.T.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

Predictable I know, but first place has to be Empire Strikes Back, one of the all-time greatest scores. Next would be ET and Raiders in equal second place. I'm not surprised Accidental Tourist has no votes yet, but I hope someone gives The River a vote. Lovely score.

[Pieter Boelen 740]

By the way, Salacious...Most. Awesome. Sig. EVER. </fanboydome>

I have to agree with that. It makes me laugh every time I see it.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I just went with the score I listen to most out of all of them, which would be Heartbeeps.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

Ouch.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I compare this poll with the Oscars: The one with the most votes is usually the worst.

I agree. another dumbass poll signifiying the decline of the JWFAN.NET forum.

Please God, let Monsignor come soon!

[Melange 446]

Raiders is a great score, one of the best ever, (better than ESB though),

but even it pales in comparison to the God induced weeping that is E.T.

Listen to this man. He is right, and I agree with him 100%

[Trumpeteer 302]

Monsignor came on TV recently and I sat down to watch it. I bet when Williams was in the spotting sessions, he really wished there was a back-out clause in his contract.

It's a horrible movie. Chris Reeve did a lot of great non-Superman performances, but this certainly wasn't one of them. I don't even remember the score.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

You will when you get the CD. It's a wonderful score! There are moments that are a liiitle too close to Godfather for comfort, but I think it was intentional. The score is a gem.

[Ollie 1,059]

I always flip flop between Raiders, TESB and E.T.

I'll go with E.T., ask me tomorrow and I'll pick something else.

[bondo 33]

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, with ET a very close second

[JoeinAR 1,949]

OMG,

Im shocked, its been nearly a week since the master posted this poll and surprisingly The Empire Strikes Back is the leader, followed closely by E.T., and Raiders a distant 3rd. How is this possible?

Two of the most beautiful scores on this list didn't even get a single vote, Monsignor and the Accidental Tourist.

btw, for those zimmer fans that think DaVinci Code is great, (its not but...), Monsignor is one of John's most obscure scores, and it could have easily been cut and pasted to that movie, and it would have been improved.

[Ollie 1,059]

And you were expecting something different?

[gkgyver 1,645]

Temple Of Doom.

More diverse than ESB and infinitely better than E.T., which I don't care for. At all.

[Datameister 2,044]

Temple Of Doom. More diverse than ESB...

Mmmm, perhaps, if you mean in terms of instrumentation. ESB never branches out into the musical worlds of sitar or extended percussion breaks, but I'd still rather take ESB's brand of diversity, which focuses more on variety in the music itself.

...and infinitely better than E.T., which I don't care for. At all.

Really? I can understand not enjoying most of the middle of the score, but what about the fabulous bookends--"Far from Home / E.T. Alone" and "Escape / Chase / Saying Goodbye"? I mean, those two are almost as good as their titles are bad!

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

The development, atmosphere, emotion, thematic continuity, and visual underscoring of E.T. are all fantastic. Such a perfect example of film scoring.

Ray Barnsbury

[indy4 155]

I can understand not enjoying most of the middle of the score, but what about the fabulous bookends--"Far from Home / E.T. Alone" and "Escape / Chase / Saying Goodbye"? I mean, those two are almost as good as their titles are bad!

What's wrong with those titles?

[Datameister 2,044]

They're unnecessarily long and bulky, IMO. If I were producing the album, I'd have picked more streamlined titles like "Far from Home" and "Finale." Even "The Chase - I'll Be Right Here" would be better than "Escape / Chase / Saying Goodbye", IMO, even though it's only one syllable less. I'm a stickler for concise, accurate, comfortable titles, though I'd much rather take a poorly titled yet musically amazing track. When I do edits of soundtracks, I purposefully and thoughtfully rename things when I feel it's necessary. "Anakin's Betrayal," for example, becomes "Order 66", though I could have just as appropriately named it "Palpatine's Deceit" or "Sidious' Betrayal." "I've Got My Eye On You" becomes "Prison Escape." "Entry into the Great Hall" becomes "The Banquet." "The Medallion Calls" becomes "Captain Jack Sparrow." But well-named tracks like "The Quidditch Match" or "Journey to the Island" retain their original titles.