John Williams Film Composer appreciation thread

And this one!

 

I think Hook is such an underrated movie with an even more underrated and overlooked score.

 

Spielberg should really rework Hook, just adding CGI backgrounds would add some space and grandeur to the claustrophobic and cheap sets!

 

I hope your tongue is firmly planted in your cheek.

 

Or one could redo the movie, but using the exact same soundtrack by John Williams, like they did for Psycho and Herrmann score.

 

Drama movie soundtracks!

Yesterday's program:



Today's program:

 

When do we start the Jerry Goldsmith appreciation thread?

 

From time to time I get Williams Superman Theme stuck in my head for days. Now thanks to this thread it has happened again.

 

You Will Believe A Catchy Theme Can Get Stuck In Your Head.

 

I pre-ordered the 35th Anniversary E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial UHD BD Limited Edition that has, among other stuff the original 1982 soundtrack album remastered. I got this release as I'm a completist, I have every single release of the E.T. soundtrack, original 1982 on CD (which was released in 1989), the 1996 expanded remixed and remastered CD, the 20th Anniversary CD and the 20th Anniversary Hybrid stereo and multichannel SACD, my prefered release. I don't think the original 1982 album is going to get improved sound on this new CD remaster as it was tracked and mixed down to low res digital. It's by far my least favourited edition of the E.T. soundtrack, I don't like concert arrangements, and I think the sound of this is not good, typical from early digital recordings, sounds dinamic but also harsh, has some deep bass 'though.

 

I burned that original LP of ET into my brain in 1982, and still have it, but I play Mr Hoffman's remaster on CD, which isn't that hard to find. Sounds great to me, and the suites on that album develop and resolve in such satisfying ways that I've never wanted anything else. I tried the complete score years ago, but it never stuck.

 

"Little" Johnny Williams I believe was his nickname in his jazz days.

I've seen him twice at the Hollywood Bowl. The man is a musical genius.A favorite at the Bowl was him bringing the jazz guys who played his score for "Catch Me if You If You Can." Wow, talk about players. THose guys....One of my favorite soundtracks of his (Hell, they're all great) is his music for A.I. Very cool score.

I like this jazzy tune he penned for Robert Altman's "The Long Goodbye."

 

Just this week, through the courtesy of this thread, I realized that I never picked up his soundtrack for A.I. It's only available on CD through a MOD program at Amazon, or through the used market. I went the used route and it arrived a couple of days ago. I can't believe I missed picking this one up when it was current.

 

For A.I., forget the original album (and its edited cues, like the removal of the statement of Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier waltz theme in 'Rouge City')... go for the Expanded set! This score is a masterpiece!



A.I. Artificial Intelligence [Expanded Archival Collection] (2001) (2015, La-La Land Records, LLLCD 1353; Bonney, Williams)

CD 1 - THE FILM SCORE: Cybertronics; Henry Is Selected; David's Arrival; Of Course I'm Not Sure; Hide And Seek (extended version); David Studies Monica; Reading The Words; Wearing Perfume; Martin Is Alive; David And Martin; Canoeing With Pinocchio; David And The Spinach / The Operating Scene; The Scissor Scene; The Pool Rescue; Monica's Plan; Abandoned In The Woods (extended version); The Moon Rising / The Biker Hounds; Remembering David Hobby; Journey To Rouge City; Immaculate Heart; To Manhattan; A.I. Theme (instrumental version); CD 2 - THE FILM SCORE (cont'd): The Mecha World (extended version); Replicas; Finding The Blue Fairy; Journey Through The Ice (part 1); Journey Through The Ice (part 2); Stored Memories; What Is Your Wish; The Specialist Visits; The Reunion; Where Dreams Are Born; A.I. Theme (vocal version); CD 3 - ADDITIONAL MUSIC: For Always (performed by Lara Fabian; lyrics: C. Weil); Cybertronics (alternate); David's Arrival (alternate); Canoeing With Pinocchio (alternate); Abandoned In The Woods (alternate); The Biker Hounds (extension); Inside Dr. Know's; Replicas (alternate); Finding The Blue Fairy (alternate); Finding The Blue Fairy (orchestral excerpt); What Is Your Wish (alternate); The Reunion (alternate); Abandoned In The Woods (album version); For Always (performed by Lara Fabian and Josh Groban; lyrics: C. Weil).

 

Few people knows that some soundtracks in John Williams' discography exists in two versions, like E.T... There is the original album featuring re-recordings, and there is the movie score: two very different things!

I must say that in the case of E.T., the original 1982 album is not really a re-recording, as the concert suites have been recorded in the same recording sessions... but the 1982 album and the further 1996 and 2002 releases have nothing in common!

Search for "re-recording" in my discography to spot them all!

Link: John Williams Discography – Somewhere In My Memory

 

Right the opposite for me, once I got the 1996 remixed, remastered and expanded CD never again played the soundtrack album from 1982, only once on the last 21 years and after some minutes I stopped playing it, I like how music sounds and how is arranged on the film and that's what I like to listen to.

 

But the 1982 OST is the Gold Record and Grammy winning album, not the score! I always prefered the original album.

 

Enjoy it then. Maybe you should get the E.T. UHD BD Limited Edition set with the remastered soundtrack, it's the original 1982 album. I don't think this can sound much better than the original CD, as I said before it was tracked and mixed down to Low Res digital from the 1980's. The original CD was remastered by Mr. Hoffman, sure he can tell us what kind of digital equipment was used for this recordings as back in the early 80's there were several digital audio recorders and standards at different, but not by much, resolutions.

 

When I saw E.T for the first time and E.T was dying (or was he actually dead for a while?) I cried like the 5 year old that I was because of John Williams' beautiful score.

 

I will wait a standalone CD, this deluxe set is not for me, I already have E.T. in DVD, that's enough.

 

When E.T was first released i had it on VHS tape to review.
My son and daughter invited all there friends round to watch it.
I think there were around 12 neighbours kids all under 10 years old and a couple of mums round in my living room to watch this masterpiece.
It was fun watching the boys making out they were not crying when E.T was in that ditch.
I was welling up and had to walk into my kitchen and get kitchen roll for all the girls.
Most of them have there own children now and the film lives on.

 

Lucky you, 1080p Blu ray doesn't cute it for me anymore after trying HDR UHD BD. Is a stand alone release of this CD set for reléase?

 

Not for now...

 

I've seen two of his films recently with live orchestral performance of the score, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "E.T." Interesting to hear that "Raiders" is apparently his favorite. I love it too; it is awesome in its deployment of the orchestra for effects, but of course it is a real winner because of its rousing theme and gorgeous romantic melody. Truly one of the very best of all film scores. "E.T." by comparison is rather undistinguished and but for the opening five notes that presumably were intended to recall "Star Wars" is almost forgettable.

In any event, he's a great composer, if only for "Star Wars" and "Raiders." That's enough.

EDIT: I almost forgot "Superman," which is also a fantastic score.

 

One of the very, very few god things about the Phantom Menace was his score.