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Williams Director Collaborations


Muad'Dib

  

28 members have voted

  1. 1. Which one would you have liked Williams to keep working with?

    • Robert Altman (Images)
      3
    • Norman Jewison (Fiddler on the Roof)
      1
    • Clint Eastwood (The Eiger Sanction)
      4
    • Lawrence Kasdan (The Accidental Tourist)
      1
    • Brian DePalma (The Fury)
      3
    • Richard Donner (Superman)
      1
    • George Miller (The Witches of Eastwick)
      0
    • Oliver Stone (Born on the Fourth of July, JFK, Nixon)
      4
    • Jean-Jacques Annaud (Seven Years in Tibet)
      0
    • Alan Parker (Angela's Ashes)
      0
    • Ron Howard (Far and Away)
      8
    • Other (please specify)
      3


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The recent discussion on Williams working exclusively these days for Spielberg has got me intrigued... I know most of you guys don't like to speculate regarding these kind of things, but I personally like to wonder "What if...?".

So here's the question: Which one of the following directors (with whom Williams worked at least once) would you have liked Johnny to keep working with? I didn't include Hitchcock because, well, he died right after Family Plot; and I didn't include Lucas and Columbus as I felt we've heard enough of them and nothing new could be brought to the table regarding them... But if you'd like to mention them, please do!

Personally, I would have loved Williams to keep working with Norman Jewison the best. There's something about the man's films that tells me that Williams could have had great fun and also do some wonderful, varied scores. Rollerball, In the Heat of the Night, Hurricane... It would have been fantastic, at least in my humble opinion.

What do you guys think?

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Ron Howard

This. The man really brings out the best in the composers he works with.

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Yeah I say Ron Howard too. Although I'm not super familiar with the films these other composers have made since working with JW.

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Ron Howard

Say what you will about his films, but the man really brings out the best in the composers he works with.

I think he's a good filmmaker. He's done some great entertainment flicks as well as dramas. I'm a fan of the stuff Horner and Zimmer have done for him, but in a parallel universe, I'd love to hear Williams' take on his films. I also really love Thomas Newman's score for Cinderella Man.

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Ron Howard

Say what you will about his films, but the man really brings out the best in the composers he works with.

I think he's a good filmmaker. He's done some great entertainment flicks as well as dramas. I'm a fan of the stuff Horner and Zimmer have done for him, but in a parallel universe, I'd love to hear Williams' take on his films. I also really love Thomas Newman's score for Cinderella Man.

Oh no, I agree with you. I also think Howard's a good filmmaker, I mean he's made some great films that I personally love (Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Frost/Nixon, etc). He's had his downs too though (some pretty bad ones), but I suppose everyone does.

Almost all of his films have had great scores though. Zimmer, Horner, Newman, Williams, you name it. All great stuff.

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I went with Clint Eastwood. He makes wonderful films, but his "do it yourself" scores with Lennie are somewhat lacking or a bit too simplistic for my taste.

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Roland Emmerich. It would be pretty awesome to see John Williams return to scoring disaster films.

He did return to scoring disaster films.

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Disasters.

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Eastwood was the first one that popped into my mind, but his films as of late are all pretty similar in terms of mood. I don't think they require something musically different each time. What he's been doing is fine enough. Flags Of Our Fathers/Letters From Iwo Jima would have been quite interesting for Williams, however.

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Alfonso Cuarón.

I'd love if he did his upcoming Gravity.

Agreed.

I love Cuaron but I don't know if Williams would be right for his full blown style. Can't picture Williams doing something like Children Of Men.

I'd love to hear it, though.

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I love Cuaron but I don't know if Williams would be right for his full blown style. Can't picture Williams doing something like Children Of Men.

Really? Munich, drops of War of the Worlds! Of course he could do it. He's got a pretty big musical arsenal.

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I love Cuaron but I don't know if Williams would be right for his full blown style. Can't picture Williams doing something like Children Of Men.

Really? Munich, drops of War of the Worlds! Of course he could do it. He's got a pretty big musical arsenal.

Tavener's original piece and Cuaron's eclectic selection of rock work too well in the fabric of the film. When Alex mentioned that Williams has a Hollywood quality to his music, this is where it would get in the way.

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It could. A lot of the pivotal scenes in the film are untouched by music. If Williams approached it in the way he did Saving Private Ryan, it could work. Tavener completely nailed the hopelessness of the film though.

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I had forgotten that Eastwood directed Eiger Sanction so I was surprised he was on the list. He's a good choice. But not DePalma, I'm pleased DePalma is using Pino Donaggio again.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I know this is going a little off-topic, but considering Terrence Malick has four upcoming movies with no composers assigned so far, wouldn't it be great if Williams got to score one of them? I would be particularly intersted if he did Voyage of Time.

I find it too unlikely but Malick has great taste in music and picking composers for his movies: Morricone, Zimmer, Horner and Desplat. It would seem a logical choice if Williams wasn't working exclusevly with Spielberg.

What do you think?

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Roland Emmerich. It would be pretty awesome to see John Williams return to scoring disaster films.

Not much is known about this collaboration. Emmerich and Devlin tended to have equal input, so I wonder how Williams responded to their working style.

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Given their output since the films that Williams originally scored for them, I would have to say Ron Howard, easy, considering the types of films he made. Very good opportunities, and I simply never fell in love with Horner, although I can certainly appreciate Apollo 13. I would love to have heard a Williams A Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Man.

Clint Eastwood would have been interestint too. Unforgiven and Mystic River would have been interesting.

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I voted for Donner. The masterpiece they pulled off together (accompanied by one of the greatest JW scores) leaves a LOT to be desired in terms of possible future mutual efforts.

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I voted for Oliver Stone but I would pick three. Robert Altman, Ron Howard and Oliver Stone. Altman for the possibilities in challenging and different movie scoring, Ron Howard for great chances in big Hollywood pictures and sound and Oliver Stone for obvious lyrical and dramatic possibilities the director has offered Williams in the three films he did with the composer.

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... and Oliver Stone for obvious lyrical and dramatic possibilities the director has offered Williams in the three films he did with the composer.

Too bad he didn't pick Williams to score World Trade Center.

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Or W. or Alexander. Sadly Stone hasn't done a presidential film in a while. No wonder JW had to turn to Spielberg for one. He has to complete set! The films after Nixon, outside Alexander, haven't exactly cried out JW score for a Stone film but those might have been interesting challenges for the composer.

All these people have certain movies that I would find interesting to see and hear with a JW score. Brian DePalma, Jean-Jacques Annaud, Richard Donner.

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I predict Voyage Of Time to be more documentaryesque than an narrative film, complete with classical music.

There'll be a narrative to Voyage of Time, it doesn't necessarily need to include human beings to be a narrative.

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An Altman/Williams partnership would have yielded some true gems. Williams was due to score "Quartet", but dropped out. I often wonder what "The Swarm", or "Somewhere In Time" would have sounded with scores by Williams (You can forget "Santa Claus"...).

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