Favorite Star Wars finale and end credits music?

[artguy360 1,842]

Pretty much as the thread title says: What is your favorite finale and end credits music from a Star Wars score and why?

 

Personally, I cannot pick a single favorite but I do have 2.

 

1. Jedi Steps and End Credits for having original renditions of all the major new themes and the wonderful interplay between the Force theme and Rey's theme before ending on the twinkly version of Luke's theme. Then there is the Jedi Steps itself which is so mysterious and the first interesting variation on the Binary Sunset music since the original.

 

2.  A New Hope and End Credits from the ROTS OST. Sweet renditions of Leia's theme and Luke's theme plus an end credits suite with new performance's of Leia's theme and the Throne Room music. At the time I thought it was a great send off for the entire Star Wars saga, minus the rough transition from the Binary Sunset music to the end credits.

[bollemanneke 3,334]

TFA and ESB.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,490]

The film version of TESB.

[DrTenma 116]

I'm not original, I'll go with both 'Jedi Steps & Finale' and 'Finale' from ESB. Revenge of the Sith was very nice but I never liked the Album version with the Throne Room insert... 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

2 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

TFA and ESB.

 

This!

[MrScratch 294]

The Empire Strikes Back

[crumbs 14,287]

The finale from AOTC is pretty damn good but I hated how JW just lazily cut and paste his concert suites into the prequel credits (especially when said suites were already featured on the OSTs!) I guess those films didn't deserve much better. Even more baffling was replacing JW's intended AOTC credits coda with the end of the Across the Stars concert suite.

 

I'm very glad he returned to form with TFA and hope he finishes it all off with another great suite in IX. Not sure what the deal is with TLJ, other than realising he couldn't stretch TLJ's new material into an entire credits suite. What he did write was exceptional (Leia's tribute and another gorgeous Rey's Theme coda).

[rough cut 1,714]

I’m glad this isn’t a poll.

 

The revised concert version of Throne Room from ANH.

[_deleted_ 203]

1. Throne Room and Finale from "Star Wars"
2. The Rebel Fleet and End Title from "The Empire Strikes Back"
3. The Jedi Steps and Finale from "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"
4. Victory Celebration and End Title from "Return of the Jedi"
5. A New Hope and End Credits from "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith"
6. Finale from "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" (Across the Stars plus Luke's Theme!)
7. End Credits from "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace"
8. Finale from "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"

😉👻

[Loert 2,509]

TESB - that final statement of the Han & Princess theme with the transition into that trumpet fanfare with Vader's theme pelting in the bass...simply majestic!

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

The best end credits and finales by film in my opinion:

Star Wars

The Empire Strikes Back

The Force Awakens

Revenge of the Sith

Return of the Jedi

The Last Jedi 

Attack of the Clones

The Phantom Menace

38 minutes ago, A Ghost From Highwood said:

😉👻

Nice to see you around s'more bud!

[MikeH 768]

The one where it plays the force theme and then goes into the End Credits...

 

But seriously, I remember how awesome it was hearing the End Credits of TFA in IMAX with that gorgeous full-blown rendition of Rey’s Theme.  It gave me chills and it completely sucks that they removed it on the Blu Ray. 

 

I’d pick AOTC as a close second too (finale). I must have listened to that track a thousand times. 

[The Five Tones 302]

1. ESB

:

:

2. ANH

:

:

:

:

3. TFA (Luke's theme on the celesta always gets me)

[Loert 2,509]

TFA is the best end credits post-"original trilogy", IMO.

[Datameister 2,034]

Tough one. I might have to approach the finale and credits separately.

 

For finale, I have to give it to ANH. A lot of this is just pure nostalgia on my part, but I cannot suppress my grin during the original throne room cue. ESB and AOTC might be tied for second, I guess with ESB pulling slightly ahead. TFA gets some points for the outstanding Jedi Steps material, but loses most of them by rehashing ROTS's severely underwhelming ending.

 

For credits, I'd make it a tie between ESB and TFA, with ANH not far behind.

 

I suppose the overall winner for me might be ANH, but it's a tough call.

[King Mark 3,624]

Finales

 

ANH and TESB

 

The very worst are TPM and RotJ

 

Seriously Yubnub or Victory celebration is the worst possible way to end the OT

[Jurassic Shark 12,012]

I like the one from Star Wars.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

1 hour ago, Loert said:

TFA is the best end credits post-"original trilogy", IMO.

Pre-original trilogy too!

[Taikomochi 1,136]

The Force Awakens is the best. TPM is the worst.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

4 minutes ago, Taikomochi said:

The Force Awakens is the best. TPM is the worst.

I still prefer it to The Last Jedi.  TPM might only be two concert arrangements pasted together but they're both pretty great and flow together nice enough.  TLJ feels oddly disjointed with overly short reprises of the new thematic material and underscore bits/old concert arrangements to pad out the running time.   Though it does have that nice "real world" tribute to Carrie Fisher.

[Datameister 2,034]

Not to mention that Duel of the Fates was literally written with the credits in mind...if anything, the lazy choice is also including it as a concert suite.

[Fabulin 3,506]

.

 

 

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

5 hours ago, King Mark said:

Finales

 

ANH and TESB

 

The very worst are TPM and RotJ

 

Seriously Yubnub or Victory celebration is the worst possible way to end the OT

 

They're popcorn space movies for babies.

[Cerebral Cortex 3,357]

16 hours ago, artguy360 said:

2.  A New Hope and End Credits from the ROTS OST. Sweet renditions of Leia's theme and Luke's theme plus an end credits suite with new performance's of Leia's theme and the Throne Room music. At the time I thought it was a great send off for the entire Star Wars saga, minus the rough transition from the Binary Sunset music to the end credits.

 

TFA and ESB are easy favorites for me, but, I'm with you, I've got to throw ROTS's end credits into the mix as well. Lots to love about this one.

 

That powerful and sweeping rendition of Leia's theme is fantastic, like you said. That segway from Leia's theme into Battle of the Heroes, two seemingly incongruous musical works, is sublime (love how Williams decides to transition from an OT theme from the first film to a PT theme from the, at the time, last film to bring it full circle). The rendition of the Force theme we get at 8:58 is so hauntingly beautiful, probably my favorite statement of that theme we've gotten from the whole franchise. And, to top it all off, you've got to love how Williams fires up the OT credits tradition of concluding with Luke's theme for the big finale. He kinda leaves the music hanging in the air at 11:14 or so, almost as if to fool you that he is done, but then those familiar swirling strings start ramping up for the first time since ROTJ as he gives us that one last encore (so he thought!) and it's just so... perfect. Gotta love it. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

ROTS is the worst one by far.

[Jurassic Shark 12,012]

I think TLJ is a clear winner at being the worst, with its disappointing build-up to the end credits.

[SteveMc 2,674]

I like TFA.  Exceptionally strong, not only Jedi Steps with its striking new melodic material, but also the concise, engaging way the themes of the score are presented afterwards.

Good stuff all around.

[Jurassic Shark 12,012]

I especially love the concert arrangement with the extended Poe's theme!

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

49 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

ROTS is the worst one by far.

 

Sounds pretty awesome on the Disney release.

[artguy360 1,842]

 People saying AOTC spurred me to revisit the end credits music. I had totally forgotten how awesome the very end is with the lovely interplay between Anakin's theme, the love theme, and Vader's theme. What an amazing ending.

[Jurassic Shark 12,012]

The love theme is great!

[artguy360 1,842]

Does anyone else find the rendition of Luke and Leia's theme in the end credits of ROTJ to be a little monotonous? I listened to it yesterday and found it to be kind of overly heavy and repetitive which is not how I feel about the theme when I listen to the concert version by itself. Then again, I am pretty unfamiliar with the ROTJ end credits music overall.

[publicist 4,643]

ESB

[Datameister 2,034]

On 10/15/2018 at 7:56 PM, Steve McQueen said:

I like TFA.  Exceptionally strong, not only Jedi Steps with its striking new melodic material, but also the concise, engaging way the themes of the score are presented afterwards.

Good stuff all around.

 

Yeah, in terms of format or structure, TFA is probably my favorite.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

TLJ is disappointing because it's not a wholly original concert arrangement.  Still baffling to me that Williams had such a luxuriously long recording schedule and couldn't put together an end credits suite without tracked music.  I mean, I'm glad they managed to include Holdo's Resolve on the OST, but was that the best way to do it?

 

I do love the score overall!

[_deleted_ 203]

The Finale and End Title for Episode IX

 

a tone poem based on the Force theme?

[artguy360 1,842]

10 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

TLJ is disappointing because it's not a wholly original concert arrangement.  Still baffling to me that Williams had such a luxuriously long recording schedule and couldn't put together an end credits suite without tracked music.  I mean, I'm glad they managed to include Holdo's Resolve on the OST, but was that the best way to do it?

 

I do love the score overall!

I think the fact that JW had so much time and yet didn't write an original end credits suite is secretly a sign that he just didn't enjoy scoring the movie that much. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

[SteveMc 2,674]

Who knows?

Or maybe he just approached the whole project from a completely new angle (though not thematically, for better or worse).

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I prefer the more orchestral mix of Augie's Band from the new Disney OST. If you were to completely remove the children, it would be less cloying. It's stylistically designed to be that way, but they diminished the effects of it.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Star Wars is the best always has been always will be. All the others are lesser. That said rebel fleet and The Jedi steps are amazing.

[Datameister 2,034]

There is something undeniably delightful about the original. I can't think of a single piece of music I could confidently say I like better.

[crumbs 14,287]

Can anyone explain what the first 42 seconds of Confrontation with Count Dooku and Finale was meant to score? Lining it up with the final film doesn't really work, musically (and if it was Williams' original intention, it's an odd choice). In the final film, we only hear this track from 0:42 onwards, as Dooku approaches Coruscant.

 

 

In the final cut (edited differently on the Bluray than theatrically), the preceding shots are underscored with tracked music from the end of The Homestead (or Carrying Mother Home).

 

So was there deleted footage here or was this simply Williams' intended music for Dooku escaping and Yoda/Padme approaching the injured Anakin/Obi-Wan?

[Cerebral Cortex 3,357]

On 10/17/2018 at 7:44 PM, artguy360 said:

I think the fact that JW had so much time and yet didn't write an original end credits suite is secretly a sign that he just didn't enjoy scoring the movie that much. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

 

Perhaps the jumbled nature of the end credits is representative of the possibility that there was a decision made late in the game to change the music for them? I have no proof whatsoever to back this up, just a thought.  

[crumbs 14,287]

It's also really weird that the OST and film have two different credits suites.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

After the cherry bomb of excellence that was The Force Awakens' credits, what a letdown The Last Jedi's was. I think I've only listened to it three times, all the way through. 

 

As far as finales, in 2002 John Williams went to a baton labelled "expectations" and snapped it with his bare hands. Holy hot damn, that whole last track.  Yeah, the Imperial March was way on the nose, but the movie sucked anyways, and this music is going to outlast the film's impact by decades, so why not have one of the most badass, ballsiest-to-the-walliest rendition of it out there? Especially compared to the polite, reverent, weird-name-drop ones in the sequels. 

[JWilliamsFan1999 47]

Ok, so I'm a huge fan of the original six Star Wars scores and films. So out of the original six film scores, which one do you guys recommend me listening to as far as End Credits music? Let me know. 

[Datameister 2,034]

Interesting to see how my answers have shifted (or not) over time.

 

My current top picks, just going off of the end credits themselves:

1. ANH: Classic, giddy, and romantic. Perfection.
2. ESB: Outstanding variations on the new themes for Yoda, Vader, and Han/Leia, all expertly woven together.
3. TFA: Juggles a whopping 5 new themes without just rehashing the score.

In addition to simply being extraordinary music, these three are the most unique/indispensable compared to the other tracks on their albums. They're also some of the best musical summaries of their respective films/scores. But the others are all varying degrees of superb too.

 

TLJ comes in last.

 

EDIT: Oops, sorry, you were just asking about the first six films. I'm actually unsure what would come after ESB … at the moment I'm leaning toward TPM.

[artguy360 1,842]

Fun to see this topic bumped! Concerning the end credits to TROS, I think my opinion has hardened over time. Initially I really enjoyed it, but now it all feels a little jumbled and clunky in several places. I'm contrast, my love for the ROTS end credits has only grown. Such a sweeping rendition of Leia's theme with a seamless transition into BOTH and the Throne Room concert version as a surprise gift, all performed by the LSO. SW music lmost doesn't get better than that.

[j39m 75]

9 hours ago, JWilliamsFan1999 said:

out of the original six film scores

Six (or even nine) end credit suites are not unmanageable, so I personally recommend you go through all of them for the listening experience. Then you can decide which ones you like most 😁

 

This is not tongue-in-cheek. My personal opinion is that 4 & 5 are "through-composed" (with some rocky transitions here and there) but 6-1-2-3 start showing some structural fatigue and feel more nakedly like concert suites bodged together. (See other comments from folks upthread.)

 

As Datameister says:

8 hours ago, Datameister said:

ANH: Classic, giddy, and romantic. Perfection.

4 my guilty favorite for how smoothly it flows from theme to theme. No last-second "evasive action!" modulations (in my opinion), and of course it distinguishes itself by being the only suite to kick off the staff roll fanfare in D flat major.

 

But the other five bring their own charms and trade-offs. I adore 1 & 2 for how they end — brooding reminders that the prequels sketch out a tragic trilogy — and the scope of 3 is matched perhaps only by 9 (out of scope for your question).

[Tom 4,632]

15 hours ago, JWilliamsFan1999 said:

Ok, so I'm a huge fan of the original six Star Wars scores and films. So out of the original six film scores, which one do you guys recommend me listening to as far as End Credits music? Let me know. 

Well, if you are a huge fan of the scores, my recommendation would all of them.