John Williams: Unpopular Opinions

[TolkienSS 407]

35 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

John Williams' Indiana Jones 5 score was more generic in-film than Lorne Balfe's Mission Impossible 7 score 

 

😂😂😂😂

 

Good satire.

I almost took it serious.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

1 hour ago, Brundlefly said:

John Williams' Indiana Jones 5 score was more generic in-film than Lorne Balfe's Mission Impossible 7 score and had waaay less identity than Ludwig Göransson's Oppenheimer.

"Generic for John Williams" and "generic for Lorne Balfe" are two entirely separate planes of existence 

[GerateWohl 4,370]

I enjoy more listening to the Dial of Destiny OST from beginning to end than listening through the whole Concorde disk of Temple of Doom. 

 

ToD has great themes and composition. But as one whole body of work I find the action music in that score really stressful at times. After all it seems I am more a fan of Williams' post Lost World 2000+ action writing.

 

[Edmilson 7,457]

9 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

After all it seems I am more a fan of Williams' post Lost World 2000+ action writing.

Me too. As great as stuff like the battles of Yavin, Hoth, Endor, Mine Car Chase etc., are, I'd much rather listen to Visitor in San Diego, The Quidditch Match (from all three HPs), Anderton's Great Escape, The Conveyor Belt (all two of them ), Tavington's Trap, etc.

 

That said, Desert Chase is awesome.

[Jurassic Shark 12,076]

On 31/03/2023 at 5:51 PM, Not Mr. Big said:

Superman and Hook are objectively the most overrated JW scores (judging by extensive twitter studies I took)

 

Superman's first act is on the level of JW's best scores. 

[Tom 4,658]

33 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

I enjoy more listening to the Dial of Destiny OST from beginning to end than listening through the whole Concorde disk of Temple of Doom. 

 

ToD has great themes and composition. But as one whole body of work I find the action music in that score really stressful at times. After all it seems I am more a fan of Williams' post Lost World 2000+ action writing.

 

Yes, this is an unpopular opinion, but I think that opinion that DoD is a great score(particularly the second half, but all of it) should not be considered unpopular.  

[Naïve Old Fart 9,533]

3 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Superman's first act is on the level of JW's best scores. 

... and so is the second, and so is the third.

[Schilkeman 964]

12 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

... and so is the second, and so is the third.

I find it impossible to overrate Superman. 

[JTN 2,025]

Dial of Destiny is the weakest of the Indiana Jones scores. 
Superman and Hook are some of Williams’ greatest scores.

War Horse is a mediocre Williams score.

Tintin and the BFG are good, but not great. 

[Schilkeman 964]

51 minutes ago, JTW said:

Tintin and the BFG are good, but not great. 

I wholeheartedly disagree, but it seems the general consensus around here.

 

A score I just can't seem to get into is A.I. Much was made of the "revelatory" quality of the expansion, but it hasn't done a lot for me.

[Richard Penna 3,690]

I have no idea how 'unpopular' this will be, but my ordering of Indy scores is in reverse, from LC backwards. LC is Williams having the time of his life - classic set piece after set piece.

 

Which means Raiders is by a mile my least favourite. I find it too 'dry' and most of the action set pieces don't do much for me, particularly Desert Chase.

[Thor 7,506]

3 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

I have no idea how 'unpopular' this will be, but my ordering of Indy scores is in reverse, from LC backwards. LC is Williams having the time of his life - classic set piece after set piece.

 

Which means Raiders is by a mile my least favourite. I find it too 'dry' and most of the action set pieces don't do much for me, particularly Desert Chase.

 

We don't agree often, but we do here. Well, with some modification, because I think RAIDERS is a fantastic score too. But it can't even come close to CRUSADE. As you say, one self-contained setpiece after the other that somehow also come together very well on the OST. CRUSADE is one of my top 10 JW scores of all time. The others are not.

[JTN 2,025]

5 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

I have no idea how 'unpopular' this will be, but my ordering of Indy scores is in reverse, from LC backwards. LC is Williams having the time of his life - classic set piece after set piece.

 

Which means Raiders is by a mile my least favourite. I find it too 'dry' and most of the action set pieces don't do much for me, particularly Desert Chase.

My ranking of the Indiana Jones scores:

1. Raiders

2. Last Crusade

3. Temple of Doom

4. Crystal Skull

5. Dial of Destiny

[Schilkeman 964]

If I had to rank them it would be

1. Temple of Doom

2. Last Crusade

3. Crystal Skull

4. Raiders

5. Destiny

 

But they're all great. Raiders would probably be first if the playing was better, but I also have never been super enamored with Desert Chase. 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,533]

I'm afraid that the Indiana Jones films are a sad case of diminishing returns.

I've not yet seen DOD, but, from what I've read on this fair site, I can't imagine it being any better than KOTCS.

[Schilkeman 964]

2 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

I'm afraid that the Indiana Jones films are a sad case of diminishing returns.

I've not yet seen DOD, but, from what I've read on this fair site, I can't imagine it being any better than KOTCS.

The third best in the series? Probably not. lol