WORST John Williams Theme...

[superman 0]

Ok, I know these are probably few and far between but on occasion there are some rather unpleasant melodies being churned out by our musical genius.

My picks would be:

1) Sugarland Express (I dunno, maybe it's just the harmonica that annoys me)

2) Stanley and Iris main theme (ech..)

3) Leaving Home in Superman (around 3:55)

4) Dry your Tears Africa from Amistad (ok it's not unpleasant but it's not what I like to hear from JW)

Most of his other stuff is just awesome!

Let's hear it!

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

I'm not very familiar with Williams' bottom scores, but what is Leaving Home doing in there?

[Morlock 11]

Sabrina.

Morlock- who loves the themes mentioned above

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,267]

3) Leaving Home in Superman (around 3:55)

What the ****?

BTW, interesting firts post....

[A24 4,371]

So you like The Patriot, huh? Big brassy muscular music to proof that your a man. Am I right superbaby?

It's all so transparent.

[King Mark 3,631]

Parade of the Ewoks

Pops on the March

K.M.

[MrScratch 294]

Dobby's theme is one of JWs most uninteresting and least inspired. I hear nothing but past works in it (namely Jar Jars theme and Christmas Star from Home Alone). Unfortunately, it has to share disc space two of JWs best themes of late, Fawkes and CoS.

Jeff

[scissorhands 16]

Sugarland Express

I wonder if you have ever heard the main titles from the movie. That's an awesome, beautiful theme.

4) Dry your Tears Africa from Amistad (ok it's not unpleasant but it's not what I like to hear from JW)

So... what is what you like to hear from JW?

Some themes from his 60's comedies are far worse than those (and being "Dry Your Tears Afrika" one of my 3 All-time favorite themes)

[MrScratch 294]

Pops on the March

I don't consider this a "theme" (as in, movie theme) but yeah, it's awful.

Jeff

[Morlock 11]

So you like The Patriot, huh? Big brassy muscular music to proof that your a man. Am I right superbaby?

It's all so transparent.

The Patriot is a fine theme.

Dobby's theme is one of JWs most uninteresting and least inspired.  I hear nothing but past works in it (namely Jar Jars theme and Christmas Star from Home Alone).  Unfortunately, it has to share disc space two of JWs best themes of late, Fawkes and CoS.

Jeff

I love it, a charming little ditty. Not overly melodious, yet still a very fitting and good theme IMO.

I wonder if you have ever heard the main titles from the movie. That's an awesome, beautiful theme.

Indeed, the main titles are wonderful. However the one on all the compilations I don't like, the more delibarate, more hollow sounding version of the theme. The main titles are very warm and welcoming, the one often classified as the main theme is kind of distant and almost unpleasant.

[benefactor 3]

Parade of the Ewoks

K.M.

Well, Ewoks may be sucks but Parade of the Ewoks is quite a good piece. May be it is Ewok Celebration (album version) you mean? Now that is my less favorite.

[HPFAN_2 0]

Sugarland Express and Dry You Tears Africa should not be on that list at all! I have none to mention since i have never heard a bad Williams theme.

[Lurker 5]

Leaving Home in Superman (around 3:55)

Yet you still chose the username "superman".

I'd have to go with The Patriot. Nothing in that score works for me.

Neil

[Jeshopk 8]

The Garrison Family Theme from JFK is my least favorite Williams Theme.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Love Theme from Attack of the Clones,

Augies Band

[fommes 154]

Sugarland Express, Stanley and Iris and Dry your Tears? Those are very fine themes indeed.

Besides the obvious answer, some of his 60s scores, I'd go with the Kenneth Branagh theme from Chamber of Secrets, and Jar Jar's theme.

[MAG-SI 10]

Eh, you're all just silly. You're answering the "Who's your WORST character?" question.

I can not find WORST (bad) theme by Williams....

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

I love Dobby's Theme. It's not as great as Fawkes's theme or Hedwig's theme, but I love the way it builds so playfully.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Eh, you're all just silly. You're answering the "Who's your WORST character?" question.

I can not find WORST (bad) theme by Williams....

just because you cannot, doesn't apply to the rest of us.

Williams has music in his catalog that is not up to his usual stuff.

It isn't all good.

[John Crichton 4]

The Sorcerer's Stone theme as used in Chamber of Secrets.

[Composer_Fan 2]

I think all of JW's stuff is good, in one way or another. But I never really caught on to Sugarland Express....

[TheTennisBallKid 17]

I haven't memorized Superman(yet ), what's at 3:55 in Leaving Home?

ttbk, who would put that one in a list of Williams' best themes...

[John Crichton 4]

I haven't memorized Superman(yet ), what's at 3:55 in Leaving Home?

Huge statements of the Kent/Smallville theme, if my mental timing's right. And I also love it. In fact I can't think of much in Superman I don't love.

[benefactor 3]

Dobby's Theme is indeed a very good and made with sure taste and intelligence.

Love Theme from Attack of the Clones

JoeinAr - Why don't you like it. Please explain a little bit.

And my winner afterwards is Jar Jar Theme. Not the motif but its further developing mostly (the adventures of jar jar). But the character itself was... well... not too inspirational.

[HPFAN_2 0]

Augie's Great Municipal Band is brilliant, as a matter of fact i haven't listen to that piece in a while.

- Augie's Great Municipal Band

[John Crichton 4]

Augie's is ehhh. But what I like about it is the children's choir statements of the Emperor's Theme. Way creepy.

John- re-igniting an ancient debate.

[HPFAN_2 0]

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! Augie's is not "ehhh" It's brilliant!!!!

[John Crichton 4]

The Emperor's theme in it is brilliant. The rest is ehhh. But I also don't like source music like SW finales as a rule.

[SturgisPodmore 0]

Dobby's theme, Across the Stars, and Augie are all great. I LOVE the children's choir statements of the Emperor's Theme. Just genious.

~Sturgis, who doesn't like the theme from Schindler's List --- it's not bad, it's just not presented in a very interesting fashion

[Henry B 50]

The "Mystery" motif from Attack of the Clones. It doesn't even qualify as a theme, in my opinion; it's just the six-note ostinato from The Fury and countless other works.

[SturgisPodmore 0]

4) Dry your Tears Africa from Amistad (ok it's not unpleasant but it's not what I like to hear from JW)

No, see that's not JW singing, that's a bunch of African children.

~Sturgis, who finds this to be one of Williams' greatest recent (well, '97) works

[King Mark 3,631]

I don't care too much for the Ludlows Demise action motif.

K.M.Who has an afterthought that best remein untold

[Adam 1]

I?ve noticed that subtle differences in melody and a different arrangement can make a big difference in how I react to a theme. The main theme in Amistad is very similar to The Patriot main theme and the Civil Rights music in American Journey. I like the Amistad theme, The Civil Rights theme is one of my favorites and The Patriot main theme wears out its welcome real fast for me though I wouldn't call it the worst.

Its too easy to go to the sixties to pick a worst but, nonetheless, I'll say the John Goldfarb theme must be somewhere down there on my list.

- Adam

[diskobolus 3]

Rosewood - Look down, o lord

Far and Away - Main theme

The Patriot - Main theme

Amistad - Dry your tears africa

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

Some of my least favorites are:

the Father's Theme from CMIYC - works well in the film, but very dull to listen to

Gilderoy Lockhart - again, appropriate for the film, but lacking in any development at all and pretty irritating after a while

Monsignor theme - I don't care for the overly Italian sound

The mystery/evil theme(s) from AotC....blech

The Jawa music - just annoying, don't know why

Ray Barnsbury - who loves Dobby, Dry Your Tears Afrika, Sabrina, and The Patriot

[A24 4,371]

So you like The Patriot, huh? Big brassy muscular music to proof that your a man. Am I right superbaby?

It's all so transparent.

The Patriot is a fine theme.

You missed the point ... again.

[Morlock 11]

The "Mystery" motif from Attack of the Clones. It doesn't even qualify as a theme, in my opinion; it's just the six-note ostinato from The Fury and countless other works.

It's actually one of the few things in that score that worked for me. It was effective in the movie.

Rosewood - Look down, o lord

Far and Away - Main theme

The Patriot - Main theme

Amistad - Dry your tears africa

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

The Sorcerer's Stone theme as used in Chamber of Secrets.

Otherwise it's fine.

The Jawa music - just annoying, don't know why

Really? I love the Jawa stuff.

[superman 0]

I was listening to Superman and I noticed that theme, which really put me off. Williams things seldom make me reach for the stop button, but this one did. It seems like a good opportunity gone to waste. "Leaving Home" and all

As for the rest, well I simply dislike them, but not as much as the superman thing. It's interesting to see that Dry Your Tears Africa has come up quite often. No one has mentioned Stanley and Iris but I guess that score is less known. I don't think anything in the Potter series should be considered worst theme candidates, but people obviously have a different idea.

[David Vincent 8]

It is hard to tell something wrong about the maestro :roll:.

If you can have access to Images, it is for me his worst work.

Ray Barnsbury talks about Monsignor. It is not a good score, but I like the Main Theme. But the Gloria track is unbearable.

[A24 4,371]

The Jawa music - just annoying, don't know why

What? Williams' masterpiece from Star Wars? Annoying? I knew there was something about you, Ray!

[MSM 126]

Pops on the March

K.M.

The horn theme is so great!

[MSM 126]

Sabrina.

 

One of his best themes ever.

[MSM 126]

I think the 'Asian' theme in Seven Years in Tibet (after the huge tutti in the Main Theme) is quite awful.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I was listening to Superman and I noticed that theme, which really put me off. Williams things seldom make me reach for the stop button, but this one did. It seems like a good opportunity gone to waste. "Leaving Home" and all

your choice of Leaving Home is the single most stupid inclusion on this thread, which is of your own making to boot. The 3 min 55 second part is when the camera soars up and over Clark and Martha Kent in what is a signature moment of the film. It is in this moment that the word EPIC can be accurately applied to the film. It is not only grand, but uplifting, it allows the spirit to soar. To bad you cannot appreciate it.

Quote:  

Love Theme from Attack of the Clones

JoeinAr - Why don't you like it. Please explain a little bit.

If anything I've been consistant in, is my dislike for the entire AOTC score, it is the worst Star Wars score and the worst score John has composed in many years. The only track I like is the end titles, and only in the last minute of the end titles does John's music work.

As for Love Theme from Attack of the Clones, it is a cloying piece of music, about the love between two obnoxious characters. Its sounds on first listen like a reject from Hook. Boy there were dozens of threads about that 3 years ago. It is uninspired music that isn't terrible but its not worthy of the praise its received, and certainly not worthy of inclusion among the great cues in John's catalog. It doesn't hold a candle to the best themes in HP, it doesn't hold up to the best cues in TPM. Just my opinion, I don't require anyone else to agree with it.

[King Mark 3,631]

I was listening to Superman and I noticed that theme, which really put me off. Williams things seldom make me reach for the stop button, but this one did. It seems like a good opportunity gone to waste. "Leaving Home" and all :

.

This choice is hard to understand.You might as well say The Raider's March is JW's worst theme ever.Leaving Home is just about classic JW as you can get.

K.M.

[ChrisAfonso 188]

Rosewood - Look down, Lord

Excuse me?? That one is gorgeous!

[Hitch 58]

Personally, his entire score to my FAMILY PLOT sucked. I asked for Philip Glass (to see the look on the Universal executives faces at the time is still eched on my memory). When that was rejected I asked for Bernard Herrmann only to be told that he had died (which I recall rubbing my fat hands with glee much to the disgust of Marty "Where's my Oscar?" Scorsese who happened to walk by. Thank God I tripped that thwerp on the red carpet. So I was landed with that geek Williams, fresh from Oscar success with that terrible score to JAWS. I said to him from the start that he better not score any murder scenes. When he asked "why?", I stated that murder can be fun and didnt need to be scored. "So why put music in the shower scene of PSYCHO?", he retorted. "Why rip-off your mentor Herrmann?" I replied. He was about to answer but I stuck a fish in his gob. Stinky poo Williams.

Here is the pic of me hammering out to Williams what I wanted for the score. No harpischord shenanigans!

The look on Johnny's face said it all!

Hitch

[Bowie 45]

I agree with Dobby's Theme and the AOTC mystery motive being so saturated with self-derivation, it's not funny, and would like to add Nixon to that list. Across the Stars just so happens to be derived from an awesome theme (which in itself is pretty derivative - a descending step-note sequence) and is "rearranged" to become distant enough in sound quality but just as awesome.

A theme whose dullness doesn't necessarily result from its tired copying of other Williams, in my opinion would be Sleepers.

[codanai 0]

Yeah, Leaving Home is definitely an incredible theme, one of Williams's best.

But, concerning his worst, I can't believe nobody's yet mentioned "Banning Back Home" from "Hook." BLAH!!!