The Best Williams 'Spine Tingling Moments'........

[mahler3 478]

........that we all know and love!

Those moments that are impeccable, and cause us to feel utterly exhilarated!

I'm sure this has been done before. but thought it would be fun to hear about your favourite "goose bump" moments from the Maestro's repertoire! Here are a few of mine:

> Japanese soldier salute from 'Empire Of The Sun' (Toys, Planes, Home

& Hearth)

> ET and Elliot's first levitation over the moon (Halloween)

> The Korngoldian fanfare from Jaws as the ship turns about (Sea Attack

no.1)

> The helicopter 'Journey To The Island' from Jurassic Park, with the first

dinosaur sighting! oooo! Nothing like a doubled Trumpet section!

> The final 20 minutes of CE3K (Visitors, Signals, Lightshow,

Brainstorming, The Mothership, The Returnees, Bye & End Titles)

> Helicopter Rescue & Planet Krypton from Superman

> The blowout combustion scene from The Fury (End Titles)

> The Land Race from Far & Away

> Wedding ambush from Fiddler On The Roof (First Act Finale)

> Flight To Neverland, The Ultimate War and Farewell To Neverland from

Hook

> Throne Room award celebration from Star Wars

> The terrific crescendo from The Map Room:Dawn in Raiders

...... there are so many more, but don't want to hog the limelight! Let's hear your selections?

[metaphor123 0]

- the short, staccato string bursts in E.T. End Titles. I get a grin from ear to ear when I hear this

- the buildup in the first forty five seconds of the Superman Overture and Main Titles, and the transition into the majestic, triumphant rendition of the main theme

- about 3:40 into 'Across the Stars' where it crescendos into the penultimate chorus. Superb.

- in the final track of CE3K, Williams quotes 'When You Wish Upon a Star'. Beautiful.

[Rogue_Leader 2]

Like half of the moments in Jaw.

[Lurker 5]

Possibly the greatest combination of visuals and score occurs when Roy and Gillian finally get to see Devils Tower in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. There is no dialogue, just these 2 people looking at a big rock, but the music is absolutely perfect in conveying the emotions.

Neil

[Wickenstein 0]

Some not mentioned yet....

-When the Emperor's Theme and then the Imperial March kick in when Anakin confesses to slaughtering the Tuskens in AOTC. (tragically unreleased :cry: )

-When the Ligeti-like male chorus reaches crescendo to the zoom in of David in AI

-When the Imperial March variant plays over Yoda and Mace's discussion in AOTC

-Driving through the Head statues to Rouge City in AI (tragically unreleased to those of us who never got the promo :cry: )

-When Indy makes the leap of faith in the Last Crusade

[Gamecube 0]

Battle of Hoth gives me the jitters in many parts of it.

[NickMahon 0]

Journey to the Island and the ET Finale. Also, Hatching Baby Raptor.

[The Five Tones 302]

When we see "where the lions weep" in The Mecha World from A.I.

"Ben Kenobi's Death" from ANH

"Destruction of Krypton" from Superman, as originally scored

[Marian Schedenig 8,211]

So many....four that come to my mind:

The Dark Side Beckons
• When Vader appears inside the Hoth station and the music seamlessly segues into one of the best statements of the Imperial March
  
• The final timpani roll of Death on the Carousel
  
• That one tiny amazing string bit in Fortress of Solitude. Hope you know which I mean

[jasonblueeyes 0]

There Are Just Too Many Too Mention. Like there are 10 within the first 15 minutes of Raiders Of The Lost Ark alone. And They Have never stopped since.

Keep Em Comin JW!

Jason.

[EvanED 1]

The Dark Side Beckons

:seconds the above:

Adventures on Earth or the movie version (Escape/Chase or whatever; I'm too lazy to look it up), just after the middle (slow, soft) section, when the theme starts playing again. (The daaaa-daaaaa-da-da-da-da-daaaa-daaaaaaa-daaa-daaa-da-da-da-da-daaaa-daa part if that is translatable...)

[John Crichton 4]

- The orchestra and chorus explosion in ROJ when Luke takes it to Vader.

- The Imperial March/Love Theme finale in AOTC.

- Flight to Neverland and the huge playing of Peter's theme when he flies for the first time.

- The Face of Pan and You Are The Pan. Beautiful.

- The soft, sad playing of the Han and Leia love theme when we see Han after being frozen.

- The Map Room in Raiders.

And many more....

[Guest]

I know...I'm going to get yelled at for this...but I figured it was the perfect time to segue into a new topic...well...the chills thing still...but for those of you who have seen Signs...did you get a huge chill during the Alien confrontation right where the camera pans to reveal EXACTLY why Bo has such trouble with drinking all of her water?

I've seen the movie three times...and still...every time I rediscover why...my whole body goes numb except for a rush up my spine!

[Rogue_Leader 2]

There Are Just Too Many Too Mention. Like there are 10 within the first 15 minutes of Raiders Of The Lost Ark alone. And They Have never stopped since.

Oh yeah!

One of the creepiest moment is that musical deal when the Ark burns through that Nazi symbol on the crate.

[Figo 2]

Driving through the Head statues to Rouge City in AI (tragically unreleased to those of us who never got the promo :cry: )

Well, you could always listen to the suite from Der Rosenkavalier, by Richard Strauss, since Williams' deliberately quotes him. A very Kubrickian moment, by the way, one of the (too) few in the entire film.

Okay, spinetinglers:

Some of my favorites have already been mentioned (esp., the helicopter rescue and build up to the main titles from Superman; the Japanese salute from Empire of the Sun).

How about the binary sunset from Star Wars?

The departure, from E.T., culminating in the rainbow?

"Leaving Home," from Superman (as it existed in the original cut)?

Yoda raising the x-wing from the swamp in The Empire Strikes Back?

The first time we see the Man of Steel in costume, through Marlon Brando's crystal death mask?

When Indy reclaims the truck, after giving that great big Aryan bastard "his?"

The opening credits of Close Encounters, with the slow eerie crescendo, drawing us into the blinding light of the desert storm?

The end credits of CE3K, when we finally get the full-out statement of the theme in its most romantic guise?

Even when the films are less than great and the sentiment onscreen seems completely manufactured (as in much of Hook, and the first sight of the brachiosaurs in Jurassic Park), Williams himself is usually right on the money.

[Trumpeteer 302]

I'll second fivetone's pick with the moment when we see the lions in AI (actually, it starts with the trumpets as David and Joe are shown looking at it).

Then, Marian's choice of the sinister statement of the Imperial March in The Empire Strikes Back when Vader enters the base.

And Obi-John's pick of the final duel in ROTJ. So operatic.

As for me, I like any time JW does a crescendo. He does it better than anyone.

The best one is in The Empire Strikes Back, as Leia, Lando, Chewie and the droids are trying to escape Cloud City. There's the love theme as R2 opens the door, then a majestic swell as they are running to the ship. Just beautiful. Can't think of any other spine-tingling, goosebump-creating, smile-inducing JW moments that can top it.