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Top 5 John Williams film music tracks from the 21st century (so far)?


Lewya

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Hard. Very hard! 

 

1. The Firebolt and End Credits Suite from PoA 

2. Star Wars and the Revenge of the Sith

3. Abandoned in the Woods from A.I.

4. Harry's Wondrous World, from PS 

5. Jedi Steps and Finale from TFA

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1.) Plowing - War Horse

2.) Finale - Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

3.) Han and Leia - The Force Awakens

4.) Hedwig's Theme - Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

5.) Getting Out the Vote - Lincoln

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Impossibly hard (and I'm more of a 'whole album' guy than individual tracks), but these are five favourites:

 

"Where Dreams Are Born"

"Hatikvah/The Hope"

"Across the Stars"

"Anderton's Great Escape"

"A Window to the Past"

 

But it's rather painful to then omit other equally great tracks, like:

 

"Buckbeak's Flight"

"Jazz Autographs"

"Confluence"

"Dartmoor, 1912"

"Jedi Steps and Finale"

"The Presses Roll"

 

 

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Limiting myself to one track per score, I'd say:

 

Stored Memories (from A.I.)

The Face of Voldemort (from HP1)

Finale (from AOTC)

The Dementors Converge (from HP3)

Jazz Autographs (from The Terminal)

 

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Zam the Assasin and Chase Through Coruscant (Attack of the Clones)

The Adventures of Tintin (""")

The Jedi Steps and Finale (The Force Awakens)

With Malice Toward None (Piano Solo) (Lincoln)

Harry's Wondrous World (Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone)

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I love her theme, but think the arrangements of it in The Scavenger, Farewell and The Trip, and Jedi Steps and Finale are all better than the arrangement in the track called Rey's Theme

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The Battle of the Crait

Rey's theme

The Visitor of Himmel Street

A New Beginning

The Adventures of Tintin

 

Of course this is a mission impossible to narrow it down to 5, this Williams guy is simply out of this world. 

 

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15 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

Anderton's Great Escape

Face of Voldemort

The Mecha World

The Werewolf Scene

With Malice Toward None

 

"Anderton's Great Escape" was what I meant earlier, not "Everybody Runs!". Thanks for the reminder.

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2 hours ago, Thor said:

 

"Anderton's Great Escape" was what I meant earlier, not "Everybody Runs!". Thanks for the reminder.

 

Most people from what I see tend to prefer the latter, though, so it's an interesting choice on your part. For myself, I think the cue (Great Escape) is the one misstep in the score, tonally. Well, at least the first part, I think it fits much better once they reach the factory in the film scene. It's very extroverted and gung ho; granted, it's a bit of a goofy scene, but overall I'd be curious to hear your take on what makes it a track on your list as opposed to "Everybody Runs!".

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6 hours ago, Nick Parker said:

 

Wow, you really love Rey's Theme. So what it is that makes it so special to you?

It's that it's simply better than everything else he's done in the 21st century especially that prequel scores (TPM EXCEPTEDI cringe that people are putting across the stars and battle for the heroes give me a break Ugg!

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Extremely tough with the limit of one track per score. In no particular order:

 

“Harry’s Wondrous World” (Children’s Suite/COS version)

“Main Title and Escape”

“The Firebolt and End Credits Suite”

“Fawkes the Phoenix”

“The Reunion”

 

Close runner-ups/favorites on a different day:

 

“The Quidditch Match”

“Page 394 and Quidditch, Third Year”/“Quidditch, Third Year”

”Dobby the House Elf”

“The Fathiers”

“Battle of the Heroes”

“Anakin’s Dark Deeds”

“Main Title and the Attack on the Jakku Village”

“Anderton’s Great Escape”

“Hide and Seek”

“Where Dreams Are Born”

“The Visitor at Himmel Street”

”Buckbeak’s Flight”

“Rey’s Theme”

“Love Pledge and the Arena”

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It surprises me that "Anderton's Great Escape" features on so many lists these days! When did that become such a hit? Many people used to think that's "JW on autopilot," whatever that means. Not that I'm complaining, I too think (always thought, actually) that that's one of JW's greatest and most thrilling action tracks....

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57 minutes ago, Josh500 said:

It surprises me that "Anderton's Great Escape" features on so many lists these days! When did that become such a hit? Many people used to think that's "JW on autopilot," whatever that means. Not that I'm complaining, I too think (always thought, actually) that that's one of JW's greatest and most thrilling action tracks....

Who said that?!

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4 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

Who said that?!

 

I've been a member here a very long time.

 

Those who said that know. But many of them might not be regular poster here anymore....

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7 hours ago, JoeinAR said:

It's that it's simply better than everything else he's done in the 21st century especially that prequel scores (TPM EXCEPTEDI cringe that people are putting across the stars and battle for the heroes give me a break Ugg!

 

It isn't better, just more suited to your old-fashionedness. 

 

1) Becoming A Geisha

2) The Search for the Blue Fairy

3) The Peterson House and Finale

4) Double Trouble (any incarnation)

5) Fawkes The Phoenix

 

Though gazing at my iTunes play count there are lots of runners up's:

A Prayer For Peace

The Presses Roll 

Battle of the Heroes

Anakin's Betrayal

Jango's Escape

On the Conveyer Belt

The Meadow Scene

The Rebellion is Reborn

Reys Theme/The Jedi Steps and Finale

The Intersection Scene

Abandoned in the Woods (extended version)

The Mecha World (extended version)

Journey Through the Ice (Part 1+2)

The Pursuit Of The Falcon

Dream Country

Recollections (The Father's Theme)

The Dark Forest

The Dementors Converge (Film Version)/Summoning The Patronus

A Winter's Spell

A Walk In The Woods and Bird's Flight

Irina's Great Blade

The Journey To The Hanamachi

The Rooftops Of The Hanamachi

Spyders

Psychic Truth and Finale

Sean's Theme

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5 hours ago, publicist said:

 

It isn't better, just more suited to your old-fashionedness. 

 

 

That really a stupid comment consider my range of love for film music spans 9 decades. I'm just as modern as The music I listen too which includes current film music.

 

I know whats good even when others think I am wrong.

 

Being old fashioned isn't a bad thing either.

 

 

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8 minutes ago, JoeinAR said:

That really a stupid comment consider my range of love for film music spans 9 decades. I'm just as modern as The music I listen too which includes current film music.

 

I consider what you write here. What doesn't jibe with your self-appraisal. But in the end, who cares. The board would lack something without Uncle Joey time and time again overpraising those memories from his formative years.

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8 hours ago, Josh500 said:

 

I've been a member here a very long time.

 

Those who said that know. But many of them might not be regular poster here anymore....

 

8 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

Who said that?!

 

Josh is correct, here, as I alluded to in my earlier post. A lot of people considered "Everybody Runs!" to be a fresh meld of the old and the new, with Great Escape being an autopilot generi-track complete with the Ludlow motif. 

 

 

In general, I also remember seeing a lot of people basically saying that the 21st century was Williams' declining years, the slummin' years, so it's heartwarming to see so many tracks given respect here, even from notorious sticklers such as pubs.

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Wut? I actually always praised Williams' work between 1995 and 2005 (what came after not so much). Certainly more than a lot of scores between Jaws and Jurassic Park that tend to bore me in their sameness (nowadays, in 1993 this was different).

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29 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

 

 

Josh is correct, here, as I alluded to in my earlier post. A lot of people considered "Everybody Runs!" to be a fresh meld of the old and the new, with Great Escape being an autopilot generi-track complete with the Ludlow motif. 

 

 

In general, I also remember seeing a lot of people basically saying that the 21st century was Williams' declining years, the slummin' years, so it's heartwarming to see so many tracks given respect here, even from notorious sticklers such as pubs.

 

The word "autopilot" has also been thrown around a lot in connection with The Patriot, Star Wars Episode II Attack of the Clones, and (believe it or not) The Lost World

 

Seems like many of these scores have aged well. Many appreciate them much more now than back when they were released, it seems!

 

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20 minutes ago, publicist said:

Wut? I actually always praised Williams' work between 1995 and 2005 (what came after not so much). Certainly more than a lot of scores between Jaws and Jurassic Park that tend to bore me in their sameness (nowadays, in 1993 this was different).

 

I'm just saying that you've crafted a reputation for being hard to please, so it's a pleasant surprise to see so many tracks on your good list, including some from the last seven years or so. Not a War Horse fan, though? I might consider "No Man's Land".

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3 hours ago, publicist said:

 

I consider what you write here. What doesn't jibe with your self-appraisal. But in the end, who cares. The board would lack something without Uncle Joey time and time again overpraising those memories from his formative years.

You are giving me a dangerous idea

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14 hours ago, Josh500 said:

It surprises me that "Anderton's Great Escape" features on so many lists these days! When did that become such a hit? Many people used to think that's "JW on autopilot," whatever that means. Not that I'm complaining, I too think (always thought, actually) that that's one of JW's greatest and most thrilling action tracks....

 

It's just a thrilling setpiece of an action track that is its own self-sufficient composition, in a way, with wild, rollicking, pulsating ostinati. Much like the other selections on lists like these. Love the entire MINORITY REPORT score, of course, but that's a definite highlight.

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I like the KOCS score a lot! I think it's massively underrated. But compared against everything JW has done from 2001 to now... It's not in the top 5.

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*No particular order*

 

1. The Fountain Scene (The Terminal)

2. The Homecoming (War Horse)

3. Sophie’s Future  (The BFG)

4. Two Martini Lunch (The Post)

5. Watto’s Deal; Kids At Play (Phantom Menace)

 

There are so many amazing cues to choose from it is so hard to pick just five! I’m gonna stick with my guns on these though.

 

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