Star Wars Music---How Important in your view?

In my mind the Star Wars theme song has as much to do with the success of Star Wars as anything. It is truly a master piece, the entire work
in the movie is stunning, I feel without that music the "SPIRIT" of Star Wars would never have been captured.
The Force and all its mysteries are synomonous with the music.

This is what is lacking in many of today's movies, a really good soundtrack.
Star Wars has what is in my humble opinion the best Movie Soundtrack since it came out, nothing since has come close.

John Williams is truly a genius and a great part of the "FORCE" that left Star Wars having such an indelible impression upon a great many people.


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It's interesting to listen to how Lucas envisioned the Star Wars films as "silent films"- films whose narrative is told through music. The SW music is very operatic and becomes just as much of the experience as the visuals. It doesn't just enhance the viewing of the film, but stands on its own as a distinct artistic expression of the story.

 

Agreed!
Actually if there ever was a perfect match, it was between the music and the movie.
I can't imagine any other music to that movie, it was like it was meant to be that way, and that type of magic is really special and awsome to have in our lives.
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The music helps make the movie in my opinion. Darth Vader's prescence wouldn't have been nearly what it was ithout the Imperial March behind him...

 

As part of a worldcon party (given by Bantam Books at Skywalker Ranch) (wow!!!), I got to watch a layer-by-layer recreation of the sound work for a brief scene from ANH: the scene where we first see Darth Vader, stepping on board Leia's ship through the mist. We first saw it with the sound "as filmed" (knowing the movie as well as I did, this was comical!). Then with rerecorded voices, foley artistry, sound effects, etc. It was impressive at every level, but it didn't "feel" like a movie until the last layer of sound was added: John Williams' music. At that point, it grabbed the gut and wouldn't let go.

This isn't meant to diminish the work of the actors, director, other sound people, or the writers (heavens, we can't diminish the writers! ), but there is something about music that communicates at soul level. Am I making sense? Sometimes it lets us ALMOST comprehend the incomprehensible.

I've got a friend who works in Hollywood as an orchestrator. Sadly, he tells me that music no longer moves him this way. He's very good at analyzing film music -- he could tell by listening to my "Star Tracks" CD which pieces had been written by which composer, not by having the information memorized but by pointing out (for example) the doubling of strings and brass on certain themes. But I don't know if gaining that ability would outweigh (for me) the loss of my ability to FEEL the music.

But maybe that's just me.

 

Aside from George Lucas's Vision and Ralph McQuarrie's conceptual art, John Williams' score MADE Star Wars what it is today. Without such an outstanding score, Star Wars would probably have been forgotten.

 

That's how Conan the Barbarian was. The whole point of the movie was to tell the story through the visceral images and the music, hence the sparse dialogue. That's why the movie is underappreciated -- because people don't know what they're looking at, what the point of the thing is.

 

Who better to write the music to a Space epic than a Wagnarian? the use of the leitmotife is brilliant, and I can't wait to see how Williams will score the next two.

 

Lots of things contribute to the magic of SW, but the music really *makes* it. And I can't imagine anyone who could create that music like JW can.

 

Nietzsche over Wagner.....but John Williams is awesome so whatever works...

 

VERY important. Honestly, I can't think of any other movie soundtrack that, to this day, stops me in my tracks (frequently at Wal-Mart *blush*) or causes my heart to beat just a little faster.

And not just the main theme like in Jaws, ET (well, ET had that lovely piano piece), Jurrasic Park, or Raiders - but all the different themes possess a power of their own. The music itself "speaks" the emotions of the entire saga.

Don't get me wrong, the soundtracks of the other movies mentioned definitely hold their own...but SW seems different, IMHO.

 

Conan the Barbarian does just that Jedi Trace. And another is the Main theme from 1492.

 

This is true, except for in TPM, where the music, like almost every thing , isn't nearly as good as in the OT.

 

IMO, the only person more important to SW's success than John Williams is Lucas himself.

 

The music helped give Star Wars a identity. It's VERY important.

 

Important enough to have it's own forum.

In all reality, the music is a vital part and I do mean vital. Without the music the SW films would not be nearly so good. The whole soundtrack is awesome.

 

Can't agree with you guys more! Every note just adds so much more to the movies.

 

Music can make all the difference. I liked X-Men, but I think that film would have been a lot better if it had a memorable main theme like Star Wars, Superman or Batman.

 

Was it just me, or did X-men's music sound exactly the same as Usual Suspect's, which was also directed by the same guy.

 

In any movie, whilst the acting, the props and the screenplay are important, IMHO no single thing makes or breaks a movie as much as the soundtrack. Case in point: I was watching Hitchcock's "Spellbound" and the soundtrack there too is superb. Whilst the story, in itself, is not very scary, thanks to the music, the smallest details got your heart racing.

The music describes the characters in a way words cannot, and thus the soundtrack is of utmost importance.

 

The music describes the characters in a way words cannot, and thus the soundtrack is of utmost importance.


Exactly!

Yoda's theme, Han and Leia's theme, DOTF and the Imperial March all define the tone and tell a story of basic character and underlying attributes.

I believe that Star Wars music currently stands as the last great attempt at a masterful score in a motion picture and continues to do so.

Today we listen to Mozart and the other classical composers, but I can bet that in 100 years humanity will be looking back on JW's work and stating it as some of the most perfect musical masterpieces ever.

 

Sw wouldn't be the same without the music. I think a poor soundtrack would ruin much. What about the Ep1 trailers? Would they work without the music?
As for Ep1, think of the Naboo invasion or the duel in the power generator. I remember sitting in cinema for the fourth time and waiting for those scenes to come because it was just so great.
Or the whole SE-soundtracks. If they only made such a CD-package for TPM...