Best John Williams scores?(Non Star Wars)

[MyCylon]

I've been a fan of Williams's music for a long time. I think he's so many great scores, often outshining the films themselves IMHO.

Some of my favorites include (in no particular order):

- A.I. ("Stored Memories and Monica's Theme" is one of my all-time favorite film music pieces - ironic then, that it's from the part of the movie I wish they'd cut ).
- The Eiger Sanction (love the 70's Jazz style).
- Earthquake (kind of cheesy but I really enjoy the 70's style).
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (IMHO a masterpiece and one of his very best - not easy to listen to at times but well worth it).
- Jaws (simply but effective, counting both scores here).
- Indiana Jones (I think all the soundtracks features some great music so consider them all included here).
- Star Wars (again, including all the soundtracks, really, though I do think that the first two, episodes IV and V, are probably the strongest).
- Presumed Innocent (always just liked the feel to this one).
- JFK (very different from many of his scores but very effective indeed, I think).
- Jurassic Park (both scores - 1 was one of the first if not THE first Williams soundtracks I got, 2, I think is a pretty amazing percussion-based soundtrack, totally breathless).
- Schindler's List (great soundtrack but hard to listen to due to the serious subject matter).
- The Reivers (very lively, very vibrant score).
- Amistad (quite a powerful score with some unusual instrumentation and use of songs for Williams).
- Rosewood (probably even more unusual for Williams than Amistad, very powerful IMHO).
- Minority Report (took some time for me getting used to - not as focused on memorable themes such as Star Wars - but definitely a very interesting score, I think).
- War of the Worlds (reminded me of Close Encounters in some parts, very interesting IMHO).

 

[Turd Ferguson]

1. The Lost World
2. Jurassic Park
3. Raiders of the Lost Ark
4. Superman: The Movie

 

[Nerdius Maximus]

I've been a fan of Williams's music for a long time. I think he's so many great scores, often outshining the films themselves IMHO.

Some of my favorites include (in no particular order):

- A.I. ("Stored Memories and Monica's Theme" is one of my all-time favorite film music pieces - ironic then, that it's from the part of the movie I wish they'd cut ).
- The Eiger Sanction (love the 70's Jazz style).
- Earthquake (kind of cheesy but I really enjoy the 70's style).
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (IMHO a masterpiece and one of his very best - not easy to listen to at times but well worth it).
- Jaws (simply but effective, counting both scores here).
- Indiana Jones (I think all the soundtracks features some great music so consider them all included here).
- Star Wars (again, including all the soundtracks, really, though I do think that the first two, episodes IV and V, are probably the strongest).
- Presumed Innocent (always just liked the feel to this one).
- JFK (very different from many of his scores but very effective indeed, I think).
- Jurassic Park (both scores - 1 was one of the first if not THE first Williams soundtracks I got, 2, I think is a pretty amazing percussion-based soundtrack, totally breathless).
- Schindler's List (great soundtrack but hard to listen to due to the serious subject matter).
- The Reivers (very lively, very vibrant score).
- Amistad (quite a powerful score with some unusual instrumentation and use of songs for Williams).
- Rosewood (probably even more unusual for Williams than Amistad, very powerful IMHO).
- Minority Report (took some time for me getting used to - not as focused on memorable themes such as Star Wars - but definitely a very interesting score, I think).
- War of the Worlds (reminded me of Close Encounters in some parts, very interesting IMHO).

I feel the same way about Schindler's List. That one really impressed me, but it's just so SAD.
You're right about so many of his scores surpassing the movies they're attached to. Hook definitely springs to mind in that regard. Space Camp as well. The Space Camp score is just magical. I don't think it's commercially available anymore, so for anyone who likes John Williams but doesn't have it, I'd definitely recommend either seeking out a used copy or downloading it somewhere.

I went through a phase when I was younger where most of the music I listened to was film scores. People used to wonder why I'd listen to a soundtrack of a movie that sucked or that I hadn't even seen.