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Which JW score has the best action music?


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Raiders, ET, ANH, and ESB, in no particular order. TOD and Jurassic Park come close to that level, too, in their own ways. And of course, there are plenty of similarly awesome moments in other scores, but those are the ones that achieve unparalleled depth and/or breadth of excellence, if you ask me.

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I wouldn't say it's without peer, but I'd sure be hard-pressed to think of anything that's unequivocally better. It's energetic, inventive, ballsy, and never boring - not even for a moment.

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It's one of those tracks that should make everyone's top 10, but knowing this place these days, those lists would probably be made up exclusively of tracks from A.I. and Azkaban.

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That's a pity.  Not a wasted note in it.  TLC is the one that allows sounds a little shallow to my ears.  The action music being more playful and less... manly.

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2 hours ago, DominicCobb said:

Might as well ask which film score has the best action music. ROTLA and ESB.

 

I can think of others who have done moments of action that surpass Williams' moments.  

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5 hours ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

 

I can think of others who have done moments of action that surpass Williams' moments.  

I personally think Raiders and Empire have the best action scoring for any film but I'd be interested to hear what scores in particular are tops in the action department.

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I reckon that Shore, Goldsmith, North, Davis, and Zimmer have at times compelled me more than the oft-cited Raiders and ESB.  When it comes to sheer force, propulsion, barbarity, savagery, magnificent tension and release, all things I look for in action music, I don't really see Williams as a particularly strong practitioner of it.  The hallmarks of his action music are thematic bombast and ingenuity, and balletic mirroring of what's going on in the film.  That approach just doesn't do as much for me as it does for a lot of folks here.  Look above at how I answered the thread's question, and that should be obvious. 

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11 hours ago, DominicCobb said:

I personally think Raiders and Empire have the best action scoring for any film but I'd be interested to hear what scores in particular are tops in the action department.

 

Rambo: First Blood Part II and Total Recall.

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"The Quidditch Match" is an absolute riot of a cue.

I think it also depends what you look for in an action cue, the dazzling complexity of the TPM, or the more thematic from his 70s/80s stuff.

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Hmm, Return of the Jedi and Empire Strikes Back had some great cues that sort of mixed the "dazzling complexity" with the thematic stuff. I also really liked the Tintin action cues, especially "Falcon Chase" and the pirate battle.

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12 hours ago, alextrombone94 said:

"The Quidditch Match" is an absolute riot of a cue.

I think it also depends what you look for in an action cue, the dazzling complexity of the TPM, or the more thematic from his 70s/80s stuff.

 

I used to listen to "The Quidditch Match" obsessively when I was discovering the HP1 soundtrack. Such a great piece of music!

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I love the music for the Troll in the Dungeon sequence from that score, even after learning afterwards it was very similar to To The Plaza, Presto! from Home Alone 2

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43 minutes ago, Jay said:

I love the music for the Troll in the Dungeon sequence from that score, even after learning afterwards it was very similar to To The Plaza, Presto! from Home Alone 2

Which in turn takes its inspiration from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet. But it is indeed a fun piece.

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1 minute ago, Jay said:

I wouldn't know anything about that

An Admin should know better!

 

 

 

 

;)

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2 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

JP is famous for its two gorgeous main themes, but the action music is just as great.

 

Yes.

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Everyone keeps yapping on about how Williams writes amazing themes and melodies, about how the awesome the Star Wars theme is, or Jurassic Park, E.T., Schindler's List, Harry Potter, blah blah blah...

 

But almost nobody talks about the action music, and I don't understand why. Is it because there's usually no discernable melody, so there's nothing to latch onto? Yet I find it so fun to listen to all the stabbing trumpets, aggresive tremolo strings, woodwind runs, timpani hits, and the sheer thrill of hearing elements like this in combination. What Williams' action music lacks in "song-like" content, it makes up for in thrill, energy, wit, and overall 'soundscape'. "The Falcon" is probably my most played track from the TFA score, because of this reason. Yet it's almost like these tracks go under the radar in public. :(

 

I once sent a friend "The Quidditch Match" because I wanted to see what he thought of it, and he said something like: "Meh, I don't feel anything when listening to it." I just couldn't understand it! I guess it comes down to difference in personal taste...

 

:(

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4 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

JP is famous for its two gorgeous main themes, but the action music is just as great.

 

I find it even better than the main themes.

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