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Your favorite John Williams score!


Your favorite John Williams score?  

38 members have voted

  1. 1. What's your favorite John Williams score?

    • The Reivers
      0
    • Star Wars
    • Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
    • Jurassic Park
    • Harry Potter And The Philosophers/Sorcerer's Stone
    • War Horse
      0


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The ONLY fact here is that Steef always has to be right.

How sad.

Dude...fuck...that's just what the film is called man!

I was designing my own VHS covers for the trilogy in 94/95...and i used the full title, as spelled out in the movie!

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None of the official VHS or LaserDisc covers ever referred to the episode numbers. It's more of a prequel thing and indeed, it started after the prequels came out. We never called them Episodes IV, V and VI when I was a kid, even when the first two had already been out over a decade. We called them Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. So did the soundtrack albums, books, tapes, etc.

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The ONLY fact here is that Steef always has to be right.

How sad.

Dude...fuck...that's just what the film is called man!

I was designing my own VHS covers for the trilogy in 94/95...and i used the full title, as spelled out in the movie!

And I spent the previous 15 years reading everywhere that the official title was The Empire Strikes Back.

The film premiered on May 21, 1980, billed simply as The Empire Strikes Back, its original title in theaters.

http://movies.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars_Episode_V:_The_Empire_Strikes_Back

And I stand by my previous comment. Very sad indeed.

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I would vote Empire Strikes Back if it was the Gerhardt version. I just realized I'm probably voting for the complete/chronological Star Wars, which I don't prefer. Same goes for Empire.

I find both Gerhardt interpretations of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back pretty lame compared with the original interpretations. The complete scores for the Star Wars trilogy are the only way to go for me.

I wouldn't vote for ESB if it was the Gerhardt version.

I totally agree.

Wait, the votes based on the complete scores? I thought the basis is depended on their personal preferences for different album configurations. If this is confirmed, I will change my vote from E.T. to Close Encounters for "Your Second favorite John Williams Score", because the Arista expanded release for Close Encounters is amazing, but both expanded E.T. releases have flaws. I prefer the original album presentation of E.T..

As far as I know for the Star Wars titles, Episode IV screen title was added in the 80s. I think it was after TESB came out - 1981, I guess. All sequels have the number of that episode in their first release.

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Why Spain wants to keep you guys as part of the empire is beyond me!

Don't believe that "Catalonian independence" fad. It has as much substance as the party that's using it as a gimmick to hide their inability to focus on our real problems.

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None of those.

So none of those are your favorite of all of them?

None of them are my favorite Williams score.

My favorite is TOD. But the poll asks us to choose from the winners of every decade. Not only the winner from the '80s is not properly listed, also the topic title is misleading ;)

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I find both Gerhardt interpretations of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back pretty lame compared with the original interpretations. The complete scores for the Star Wars trilogy are the only way to go for me.

Gerhardt's Star Wars is one of my favourite film music recordings. His ROTJ is also great. But I always found his ESB very disappointing. Strange interpretations, strange performance, and strange recording. SW may have its share of performance flubs, but there's a musical sense to it that very few film music recordings have.

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I find both Gerhardt interpretations of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back pretty lame compared with the original interpretations. The complete scores for the Star Wars trilogy are the only way to go for me.

Gerhardt's Star Wars is one of my favourite film music recordings. His ROTJ is also great. But I always found his ESB very disappointing. Strange interpretations, strange performance, and strange recording. SW may have its share of performance flubs, but there's a musical sense to it that very few film music recordings have.

Then pick up the Zubin Mehta recording. It is the same suite minus "Here they come!" and I think it has a better performance. It includes the first suite Williams assembled for Hollywood Bowl in 1978. Gerhardt asked Williams later to add "Here they come!" for his recoding and agreed. "The Battle" on Gerhardt was too slow at the beginning and overall didn't convince me.

ROTJ have flaws, too.

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None of those.

So none of those are your favorite of all of them?
None of them are my favorite Williams score.

My favorite is TOD. But the poll asks us to choose from the winners of every decade. Not only the winner from the '80s is not properly listed, also the topic title is misleading ;)

Indeed, a poorly titled poll! Which is why I felt it necessary to clarify that none of these are to me what the poll is asking. But obviously I have a favorite of the scores listed.

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Then pick up the Zubin Mehta recording. It is the same suite minus "Here they come!" and I think it has a better performance. It includes the first suite Williams assembled for Hollywood Bowl in 1978. Gerhardt asked Williams later to add "Here they come!" for his recoding and agreed. "The Battle" on Gerhardt was too slow at the beginning and overall didn't convince me.

I like the slow beginning. And Gerhardt's Here They Come is the best there is. The Mehta recording is mostly fine, but the circus like speed in his main theme bridge annoys me to no end. And his Leia isn't quite as delicate as Gerhardt's.

ROTJ have flaws, too.

But it has a brilliant opening, a better Into the Trap than the OST, and the best arrangement of Ewok Celebration.

Kojian's recording is a bit sterile for my taste.

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Gerhardt's Here They Come is the best there is.

............................................................................................

Kojian's recording is a bit sterile for my taste.

Uh no, the Kojian recording is the most raw and aggressive recording there is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffzrKPS4duQ

The pounding percussion is da bomb

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It's good, but I find it a bit too mechanical, especially with the heavy percussion. I wouldn't say it's as raw as the OST or even the Gerhardt version, and I don't think it's as exciting as those.

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Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope is the fourth part of the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker! It's about Darth Vader's further descent to the dark side by finally killing his old Jedi Master and destroying planets.

To complete George's vision, Disney needs to add flashbacks to the prequels where Vader reminisces about Padme and Naboo. And the Imperial March must be added to make it a more complete film and more in line with the rest of the saga!

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And I maintain that my copies of the soundtrack and film say Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

No they don't, they don't say anything!

Accept my Irish colloquialisms!

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It's exciting the muscial taste is very different here. Thanks for the contributions!

I will try the Gerhardt one again but I am afraid this won't change my mind.

After reading my statement, I said "pretty lame compared with the original interpretations". The Gerhardt recordings of the Star Wars trilogy are good without comparison. But the film recordings are much better in this case.

The Gerhardt recordings are amazing.

PERIOD!

The Gerhardt recordings in general are very good indeed. Look at the golden age recordings. I heard somewhere the recording of Korngold compilation "The Sea Hawk" let people access to film music more than before; it became more popular after this release in 1974.

Can anyone confirm the votes are based on the complete scores?

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I don't understand where re-recordings come into this at all. Hey, I love the Gerhardt versions too (and his work on the scores of Korngold is simply exquisite), but the title of the poll here identifies the subject as your favorite score. Not your favorite version, or recording, or album, or release. Which score—meaning the one composed, conducted, and recorded by John Williams for each film—do you like best?

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I would go further and say the recording doesn't matter. If your favourite Williams thing is a rerecording of a score, I'd say it qualifies as well. I think we're ranking the compositions, not the album assemblies or recordings.

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Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope is the fourth part of the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker! It's about Darth Vader's further descent to the dark side by finally killing his old Jedi Master and destroying planets.

To complete George's vision, Disney needs to add flashbacks to the prequels where Vader reminisces about Padme and Naboo. And the Imperial March must be added to make it a more complete film and more in line with the rest of the saga!

Battle of the Heroes should be added to the duel between Ben and Darth!

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Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope is the fourth part of the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker! It's about Darth Vader's further descent to the dark side by finally killing his old Jedi Master and destroying planets.

To complete George's vision, Disney needs to add flashbacks to the prequels where Vader reminisces about Padme and Naboo. And the Imperial March must be added to make it a more complete film and more in line with the rest of the saga!

Battle of the Heroes should be added to the duel between Ben and Darth!

Yes! To create a more perfect saga!

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Nope. That didn't work at all. It drowns the natural Saturday-afternoon-serial feel of the film in a pall of melodramatic heaviness. Also, any re-edit that attempts to make the droids' slow scoot toward the Falcon sound like the dramatic centerpiece of the scene has pretty much missed the point.

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I think Adywan started by just fixing some FXs shots. Transparent cockpits and garbage mattes and stuff but it seems to have gone beyond that now! I've never watched a fan edit or fan fix of those movies though.

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