Biggest Oscar snub of JW's career?

[Eric_JWFAN 11]

Man, how do you pick just one?

[Henry B 50]

Whatever...

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Munich should have won...

[indy4 155]

ESB vs Fame.

Though I think it's a bigger tradegy that Hook, Jurassic Park, and The Lost World weren't even nominated for an Oscar.

Oh, and whatever Last Crusade lost to.

[Jacob 0]

It lost to The Little Mermaid I believe.

Yeah.

[Henry B 50]

And rightfully so!

[Eric_JWFAN 11]

It lost to The Little Mermaid I believe.

Yeah.

I didn't include that year, which was a pretty competitive one. Field of Dreams, The Fabulous Baker Boys, and Williams' own Born on the 4th of July all joined Last Crusade to finish behind The Little Mermaid. I also didn't include Home Alone or JFK, which both lost to a pretty respected score (Dances With Wolves and Beauty and the Beast, respectively).

[Ollie 1,059]

Midnight Express over Superman.

[AI 0]

Brokeback Mountain over Geisha.

That's the one I think was the real injustice. The other ones, I'm sure Williams can shrug off.

[Eric_JWFAN 11]

Brokeback Mountain over Geisha.

That's the one I think was the real injustice. The other ones, I'm sure Williams can shrug off.

I picked Chariots of Fire as the biggest joke. Vangelis composed barely 20 minutes of material, and the best cue of the entire thing (Jerusalem) he didn't even write. The music is 100% diatonic, almost entirely the same tempo throughout with no concern for timing to visuals. And I didn't even mention it's a period 1920s film with an analog synthesizer score, yeah real smart.

And yet this piece of crap wins over the masterpiece that is RotLA. John Williams could have improvised this score in his sleep.

[Dole 17]

It lost to The Little Mermaid I believe.

Yeah.

I didn't include that year, which was a pretty competitive one. Field of Dreams, The Fabulous Baker Boys, and Williams' own Born on the 4th of July all joined Last Crusade to finish behind The Little Mermaid.

Don't forget Batman, Glory. and Henry V. Stupid Academy!

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Other, Godfather 2 over Towering Inferno

then Midnight Express over Superman

then Fame over ESB

then Passage to India over TOD

then Chariots over Raiders

then LOTRFOTR over HPSS

then Finding Neverland over HPPOA

then Milagro Beanfield over Accidental

then Brokeback over Memoirs

The Right Stuff should have beaten ROTJ(it didn't deserve a nomination), Memoirs was better than munich(it didn't deserve a nomination), and Life is Beautiful deserved to win over SPR(it didn't deserve a nomination)

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Jerry Goldsmith was snubbed over Poltergeist. Damn whoever won that year!

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Drax do you really thing Poltergeist should have won over E.T.?

[Josh500 1,615]

Does it matter? JW will have his 6th Oscar in his pocket with KotCS!!!

[Dole 17]

Drax do you really thing Poltergeist should have won over E.T.?

No, Conan the Barbarian should have.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Drax do you really thing Poltergeist should have won over E.T.?

Would have meant two Oscars for Jerry.

[A24 4,331]

I picked Chariots of Fire as the biggest joke. Vangelis composed barely 20 minutes of material, and the best cue of the entire thing (Jerusalem) he didn't even write. The music is 100% diatonic, almost entirely the same tempo throughout with no concern for timing to visuals. And I didn't even mention it's a period 1920s film with an analog synthesizer score, yeah real smart.

And yet this piece of crap wins over the masterpiece that is RotLA. John Williams could have improvised this score in his sleep.

Piece of crap or not, it's a simple piece that people still know by heart and that will be remembered even when the film is forgotten. It's an achievement not many film composers have accomplished. I challenge you to do the same, Eric. Or are you too trapped in your straitjacket to see there are other ways outside the traditional conventions of film scoring?

Alex

[Neimoidian 14]

Fame over Empire that I find not only John's best, but the best soundtrack ever in general.

My second pick is Brokeback over Geisha. When I heard the winner I almost felt as if I WAS robbed of that award.

[Josh500 1,615]

My second pick is Brokeback over Geisha. When I heard the winner I almost felt as if I WAS robbed of that award.

Exactly....

[Neimoidian 14]

My second pick is Brokeback over Geisha. When I heard the winner I almost felt as if I WAS robbed of that award.

Exactly....

I wanted to cry out like Luke in the Cloud City: "That's not true! That's... impossible!"

[Josh500 1,615]

I was 99,98 % sure that JW would win that time, but again, I was disappointed... Shame on you, Members of the Academy!

[Richard Penna 3,687]

Defo Brokeback vs Memoirs for the biggest snub. Even though Memoirs is largely not my taste, it still garners a million times more respect for a musical achievement than Brokeback IMO.

I nearly cursed out loud in my halls at 3am when Babel won. It was like staring into hell itself.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

My second pick is Brokeback over Geisha. When I heard the winner I almost felt as if I WAS robbed of that award.

Exactly....

I wanted to cry out like Luke in the Cloud City: "That's not true! That's... impossible!"

Search your feelings, you KNOW it to be true.

[Hitch 57]

I would have loved to have seen Jerry won for POLTERGEIST but that's just me.

The biggest snub ever was Herbie Hancock's Round Midnight beating James Horner's ALIENS and Luis Bacalov's Il Postino beating James Horner's Braveheart and Apollo 13.

[Eric_JWFAN 11]

I picked Chariots of Fire as the biggest joke. Vangelis composed barely 20 minutes of material, and the best cue of the entire thing (Jerusalem) he didn't even write. The music is 100% diatonic, almost entirely the same tempo throughout with no concern for timing to visuals. And I didn't even mention it's a period 1920s film with an analog synthesizer score, yeah real smart.

And yet this piece of crap wins over the masterpiece that is RotLA. John Williams could have improvised this score in his sleep.

Piece of crap or not, it's a simple piece that people still know by heart and that will be remembered even when the film is forgotten.

So that means it deserved an Academy Award? Over Raiders of the Lost Ark?

[Ollie 1,059]

I would have loved to have seen Jerry won for POLTERGEIST but that's just me.

The biggest snub ever was Herbie Hancock's Round Midnight beating James Horner's ALIENS and Luis Bacalov's Il Postino beating James Horner's Braveheart and Apollo 13.

Horner should have won an oscar for Glory.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Jerry's Poltergeist didn't deserve to beat E.T., it's John finest achievement in film scoring.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

The most dissapointing loss for williams must have been Brokeback over geisha.

[Adam S. 0]

Fame winning seems like the most blatant snub, especially when one sonsiders that the Academy was almost surely voting for Fame on the basis of the songs. In other words, they couldn't even grasp the conept of what a score is. Combine that with the fact that Empire Stikes Back is so good and that seems like the worst to me although there's some other winners that I'm not familiar with.

Chariots of Fire was enormously popular so it doesn't surprise me.

Brokeback I wasn't surprised because it kind of fits with the zeitgeist among a lot of the artistic community to have scores that don't say anything because we're such sophisticated viewers that we don't want to be told how to react to something. But the score still feels arty and important somehow which people pick up on.

- Adam

[Guest macrea]

This poll omits 1987's win of The Last Emperor over Empire of the Sun AND The Witches of Eastwick, and also that The River was also nominated in 1984 as well as Temple of Doom.

The choice is tough, though, I'd go with 78, 80, 87 or 05. Ironically, in 77 Williams would probably have rather won for CE3K than Star Wars.

[Josh500 1,615]

The most dissapointing loss for williams must have been Brokeback over geisha.

I agree. Williams work on Memoirs makes Brokeback sound like a drawn-out fart!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Jerry's Poltergeist didn't deserve to beat E.T., it's John finest achievement in film scoring.

Poltergeist was stronnnng enough to punch a hole into this world, and take John's Oscar away from him.

[Josh500 1,615]

Jerry's Poltergeist didn't deserve to beat E.T., it's John finest achievement in film scoring.

Poltergeist was stronnnng enough to punch a hole into this world, and take John's Oscar away from him.

It's a pity Jerry Goldsmith scored Poltergeist in the same year as JW scored E.T., otherwise he would've won. But then, the only reason JG got to score Poltergeist was because JW was busy with E.T.

[Eric_JWFAN 11]

Ironically, in 77 Williams would probably have rather won for CE3K than Star Wars.

And CE3K was a late '77 release. If it comes out 6 weeks later, it doesn't have to compete with SW but rather Midnight Express and that would probably mean Oscar #6. Just bad timing.

[Henry B 50]

Every god damned post ends with this face.

[Josh500 1,615]

Every god damned post ends with this face.

Are you gay?

[Henry B 50]

Yes, I am. You got me!

[Eric_JWFAN 11]

Every god damned post ends with this face.

Are you gay?

No, he's from New England and you're from New York. Part of the whole inferiority complex you know.

[Hlao-roo 389]

Make 'em laugh

Make 'em laugh

Don't you know everyone wants to laugh?

[Josh500 1,615]

God, we need the new Indy score! NOW!!!

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Out of the options given, I'd go for The Empire Strikes Back, although my personal love for that score has something to do with it as well.

But still, seriously, Fame?

What the hell?

[Hlao-roo 389]

Out of the options given, I'd go for The Empire Strikes Back, although my personal love for that score has something to do with it as well.

But still, seriously, Fame?

What the hell?

What, you don't headbang to "Hot Lunch Jam"?

[tpigeon 3]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The score it lost to is crap.

Ted

[MrScratch 294]

1978: Midnight Express over Superman

1980: Fame over The Empire Strikes Back

1981: Chariots of Fire over Raiders of the Lost Ark

All Travesties

1983: The Right Stuff over Return of the Jedi

1984: A Passage to India over Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

These don't bother me, I don't mind JW losing to good film scores even if I don't like them as much.

1988: The Milagro Beanfield War over The Accidental Tourist

Never heard the music to Beanfield War, so I have no opinion.

1998: Life is Beautiful over Saving Private Ryan

2004: Finding Neverland over Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

These don't bother me, I actually like Life Is Beautiful more than Private Ryan. Azkaban is a good score, but sequel scores never do well at the Academy so it never had a real chance of winning anyway.

2005: Brokeback Mountain over Memoirs of a Geisha (or Munich)

A travesty, though not as much as Superman/Empire/Raiders.

I went with Midnight Express over Superman, with the Raiders loss a very close second. I just prefer the music to Superman a little more, hence my vote, but they are equally tragic. Empire is a sequel score, and like I said earlier already had that going against it. The original, Star Wars, won the award so it doesn't bother as much that the sequels lost.

[RuBen_Kenobi 19]

All of them.

[Genius_Gone_Insane 5]

I don't even know what Midnight Express is.

[Red 75]

Fame beating Empire Strikes Back. Then Brokeback Mountain beating Memoirs of a Geisha.

Both make no logical sense.

[Taikomochi 1,136]

I picked Chariots of Fire as the biggest joke. Vangelis composed barely 20 minutes of material, and the best cue of the entire thing (Jerusalem) he didn't even write. The music is 100% diatonic, almost entirely the same tempo throughout with no concern for timing to visuals. And I didn't even mention it's a period 1920s film with an analog synthesizer score, yeah real smart.

Babel? Bibo No Aozora? Deja Vu.

Easily '05. MoaG is easily my favorite Williams and that it lost to... BB is a travesty.