Jaws, how well do you know this iconic score

[Bellosh 3,419]

Wow. fuck those prices.

 

can't wait until it's back in stock so those clowns can sit on their unmoved product

[Andy 4,138]

It’s one of the more extreme examples but it’s the same with any OOP title that has demand. 
 

I want Starship Troopers BTTF3 and Alien³   It’s just so frustrating and hard to keep up. And sometimes my tastes change. I’d like to get into Bernard Herrmann, but the really good limited recordings are stupid pricey. 

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

I voted for 5 stars. The brilliant music with the movie, never listened the album through, not very interesting and quite a bad sound quality. The main title is very effective(three notes btw) but in the concerts it is very awkward, like ha haa haa. Out To Sea is amazing in the concert hall.

[Brónach 1,302]

11 hours ago, Andy said:

 I’d like to get into Bernard Herrmann, but the really good limited recordings are stupid pricey. 

 

i really want everything that exists from Journey to the Center of the Earth

[GlastoEls 563]

Might be Williams’ best, and the biggest sure 5 I can give!

[Tallguy 3,398]

The only reason I put "so so" is because I don't know it as well as Star Wars or Raiders. Five choices might have been nicer than three.

 

Obviously five stars.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Thank you Andy for bringing up the end titles. 

They speak triumphantly but with a deep sense of loss

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

Not a great deal to add to some excellent and detailed reasons as to why it's such a great, seminal score although a thought I've often had about Jaws' best score win. While I'm sure everyone knows it was JW's first Oscar for original score, it's astonishing to think that a film and score of that sort could win the award. I always feel a bit bad for Jerry Goldsmith as, in any other year, his score to The Wind and the Lion would surely have been a shoe-in to win. However, while I wouldn't say that Jerry didn't elevate TWATL with what is undoubtedly a superb score (one of his best), it doesn't make the film in the same way Jaws does. Jaws simply wouldn't be as good a film without its score. It is gratifying that Jerry won for The Omen the next year as he made the film the same way JW did for Jaws. Neither film would be nearly as thrilling without their respective scores.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Jerry never beat John head to head. And I am biased but I don't think he ever should have.

 

Jaws has wonderfully stood the test of time

It also captured the imagination. For a few years it did damage to sharks but now its legacy has done more to educate and protect sharks. And Jaws does something remarkable. Its a time capsule for 1975. 

 

Best of all Jaws never teases us with the theme.. 

 

 

[Schilkeman 964]

On 05/05/2023 at 5:23 PM, Bellosh said:

Wow. fuck those prices.

Yeah, I'm waiting on a re-release to become more familiar with this score. Although, I have to ask, is the Intrada version significantly better than the (2000 I think) release? I might just get that one and call it a day.

[Bellosh 3,419]

27 minutes ago, Schilkeman said:

Yeah, I'm waiting on a re-release to become more familiar with this score. Although, I have to ask, is the Intrada version significantly better than the (2000 I think) release? I might just get that one and call it a day.

 

yes, the Intrada release sounds incredibly superior!

[Jay 37,369]

The upgrade in audio quality from the 2000 Decca to the 2015 Intrada is probably the most notable of anything I've heard

[Andy 4,138]

The Decca sounded bad even for its time.   

[Brando 1,864]

On 04/05/2023 at 11:39 PM, Andy said:

when Brody looks through the estuary bridge to the open sea

So many great points here Andy, but this is probably one of the best scored moments in the entire film, I'd argue top 5. Brody standing to his feet and staring out at the ocean right after his son was almost killed are great shots, but also, another great example of Steven Spielberg letting John Williams tell the story, even if just for a slight moment, the audience is told so much: Chief Brody has set his sights on making sure the shark is destroyed, come Hell or high water (pun intended).

 

On 04/05/2023 at 11:39 PM, Andy said:

AND THEN you have “Father and Son”. Holy God, how can so much be conveyed with so little?  The delicate harp and piano, against the long sustained bass, acting as almost a foghorn of doom that still looms above Brody as he has a tender moment with his kid.  That this cue exists in this kind of film from that era is a miracle. 

Even more of a miracle that we have this fantastic cue all because this little boy was making these faces at Roy Scheider in between takes and Steven loved it so much he worked it into the scene. And another example of John telling the story in such a sweet moment between a dad and his son. IIRC, I remember seeing an interview with Lorraine Gary and she said this scene was her favorite from the movie.

[Schilkeman 964]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

The upgrade in audio quality from the 2000 Decca to the 2015 Intrada is probably the most notable of anything I've heard

Fair enough. I'll continue to wait for the re-release. 2025 isn't that far away lol.

[Datameister 2,044]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

The upgrade in audio quality from the 2000 Decca to the 2015 Intrada is probably the most notable of anything I've heard

I dunno, Rhino Superman to LLL Superman is pretty stark as well! And with Superman, Mike had better elements to work with, so the results are spectacular.

 

Then again, it sounds like Jaws was probably a lot more work, and it is indeed an enormous improvement, and Jaws is the better score. God, imagine if the Jaws tapes sounded as good as Superman's...

[Naïve Old Fart 9,537]

It would be interesting to hear JAWS without the artificial reverb.

[Tallguy 3,398]

On 11/05/2023 at 6:10 PM, JoeinAR said:

Jerry never beat John head to head. And I am biased but I don't think he ever should have.

 

That's funny. Because 48 other people have beaten John head to head.

[Datameister 2,044]

4 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

It would be interesting to hear JAWS without the artificial reverb.

That's what the film score proper is for! 

[mrbellamy 6,287]

14 hours ago, Tallguy said:

That's funny. Because 48 other people have beaten John head to head

 

Does that include John Williams losing to himself? 

[Tallguy 3,398]

9 hours ago, mrbellamy said:

 

Does that include John Williams losing to himself? 

 

I think it probably does. So it would be 47, right? He only lost to himself when Star Wars beat Close Encounters, right?

 

Just think, Jerry Goldsmith never won an Oscar when Williams was nominated. But Alan Menken not only beat Williams with three films, The Little Mermaid beat Williams TWICE. (And Aladdin beat Goldsmith's Basic Instinct!)

[mrbellamy 6,287]

You got it backwards Pocahontas and Beauty and the Beast both beat Williams twice, but not Little Mermaid. But yeah. I think Marvin Hamlisch beat Williams multiple times too.

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

2 hours ago, mrbellamy said:

You got it backwards Pocahontas and Beauty and the Beast both beat Williams twice, but not Little Mermaid. But yeah. I think Marvin Hamlisch beat Williams multiple times too.

Although Jerry was robbed by Barbra Streisand and Paul Williams... Ave Satani is clearly a much better song than A Star is Born.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,537]

JW is the only person to win The BAFTA for BEST ORIGINAL SCORE, for two scores in the same year.

He's the only joint winner... and he shared it with himself