There are good movies and there are great movies, and a big part of what can transform a good movie into a great movie is the score. A score can go a long way towards setting the mood, and as a movie, to be compelling and meaningful, should evoke an emotional response from the audience. Some composers can do this, while others fall flat.
When it comes to movie scores, though, it's impossible to deny one of the masters: John Williams. He has had a career that has spanned seven decades, producing scores that many of us recognize immediately within the first few bars: Iconic, memorable scores that everyone associates with the films in question.
Here are five of my favorites.
Jaws, Main Title and First Victim. The slow buildup, the ominous, deep, almost tangible horn section, the sudden increase in tempo - even before anything appeared on the screen, it had everyone in the theater on the edge of their seats, expecting something dramatic. We weren't disappointed, and now this theme is forever associated with any sudden buildup of tension with a deadly conclusion.
Raiders March, the Indiana Jones Theme. Forget the later movies - easy, as they are eminently forgettable. But the original "Raiders of the Lost Ark" remains as fun today as ever, and John Williams came up with the perfect theme for the adventurous archeologist who was modeled after the flamboyant, revolver-toting paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews. It's a perfect theme, evoking the courageous, tough-as-nails main character and the setting of his best and original adventure.
See Related: Portrait of an American Hero: Roy Chapman Andrews
Superman March. I grew up watching George Reeves play Superman on television, but my expectations of superheroes on the screen changed in 1978 when I went to see Richard Donner's film "Superman," starring George Reeve's nephew Christopher Reeves as the Man of Steel, back when we still expected heroes to be, well, heroic. The effects were great for the time, making the movie's tag line "You will believe a man can fly" come true, and John Williams' theme did justice to the original Man of Steel, who came to Earth to fight for "truth, justice, and the American way."
See Related: Why Social Justice Superhero Writers Have a Bizarre Need to Make Everyone Gay
The Imperial March (Darth Vader Theme.) Nobody who grew up in the late '70s can miss this one. We all remember the intro of the brooding, dark, menacing figure of Lord Vader in the first film, and Williams made us shudder in anticipation every time Vader's singular theme played. The notes are hammered into being, the horn section jarring, the tone, ominous and threatening. A big part of the apprehension we felt when seeing what may be one of the most sinister figures in American cinema was due to this theme.
The Cowboys: Overture. A great theme from a great movie. The 1972 John Wayne film portrayed a grizzled old veteran taking a use a bunch of kids to carry out a cattle drive across a vast Western landscape full of dangers from snakes to armed rustlers. The theme portrays the setting: Vast, wild, and free. This signature piece is as majestic as the West itself, and it does credit to one of the best Western actors ever, John Wayne. And that, folks, is a pair of mighty big boots to fill.
John Williams is still around, at 92 - and he's still working. He's had an amazing career, he's provided some of Hollywood's greatest movie scores, and he's not done yet. He's still working on some of the newer Star Wars series, according to his Internet Movies Database (IMDb) profile, and I suppose given his great career, we can forgive him for that.Have you any favorite movie scores (or composers) of your own? As always, the comments are yours!
