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John Williams CONFIRMED for Episode VII — Page 2

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I've had the pleasure of seeing Williams a few times here in Massachusetts conducting film music with the Boston Pops, and he said just back in May that he would "keep eating his Wheaties" in regards to the new trilogy announcement.  Glad it's official now!!  Got to briefly meet him too (as I also have in past years), such a nice guy!

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At least Williams was the one positive aspect of the PT. In theory, he should put out a decent effort, as long as he stays alive.

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Ryan McAvoy said:

Bester said:

Great news.  Now I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the Ben Burtt announcement.

As long as Burtt isn't allowed near an editing suite. Sound YES PLEASE!, visuals no thanks.

Agreed.  Although, judging from the TPM behind-the-scenes features, I got the impression Burtt simply edited the way GL instructed him to.  And begrudgingly, at that.

Anyway, back on topic...

Will Williams still be around for Eps VIII and IX?  I think it unlikely.

 Spoiler free for the ST

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Hopefully he will emulate the brilliance of Empire and Raiders. My 2 personal faves. Just take a moment to listen to the the score when the falcons being chased in Empire and into the Asteroid field. Exceptional. Williams at his best. (Makes the hairs on my neck stand up) Episode VII needs that type of stuff.

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DominicCobb said:

Why would you even say that?

 

He's not exactly a spring chicken.  He is in his 80s now. Even if his health holds up over the next 6 years, he may give some serious consideration to retiring within that time. I would love to be proven wrong.

 

 Spoiler free for the ST

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that is great news

Remember, Highlander, you’ve both still got your full measure of life. Use it well, and your future will be glorious.

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This deal is getting better all the time!

Forum Moderator

Where were you in '77?

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Hey, it's me. said:

Hopefully he will emulate the brilliance of Empire and Raiders. My 2 personal faves. Just take a moment to listen to the the score when the falcons being chased in Empire and into the Asteroid field. Exceptional. Williams at his best. (Makes the hairs on my neck stand up) Episode VII needs that type of stuff.

The Indy Trilogy was amazing. His work on Temple of Doom is what makes me love that movie so much. That music that plays when Indy frees the slave children is epic.  Raiders is a better overall soundtrack though. From the first fading in notes of the intro piece to the end credits fanfare.

"The other versions will disappear. Even the 35 million tapes of Star Wars out there won’t last more than 30 or 40 years. A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the DVD version [of the Special Edition], and you’ll be able to project it on a 20’ by 40’ screen with perfect quality. I think it’s the director’s prerogative, not the studio’s to go back and reinvent a movie." - George Lucas

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Tobar said:

Here's a great interview they did with him about working on VII.

That is the video they showed at the end of Kathleen Kennedy's talk at CEII.
I chuckled at the way he referred to Kennedy and Abrams as young. Everything is relative...

Bester said:

Great news.  Now I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the Ben Burtt announcement.

In Ben Burrt's panel at CEII, he did not announce right out that he was involved in Episode VII, but it was pretty much implied. He said at least that he is looking forward to future Star Wars work, and that he knew some things that he was not allowed to talk about.

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Considering he did the sound effects for both of JJ's Star Trek movies, I can't see him not coming back for VII.

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EyeShotFirst said:

They just need to tell John Williams to emulate  Mahler, and Stravinsky. 

 Hey, what's wrong with these? Listen to OT soundtrack and the influence is obvious already (Prob Droid, Luke's rescue from Bespin and many-many other scenes). Mahler was post-Wagnerian romanticist composing with a very complex dense and elaborate approach including all possible sub genres of the era (even street music). Stravinsky's neoclassic + Mahler's complexity = Star Wars sound. No need to "emulate" them. All's about story  - not about William's talent to wrap it up.

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EyeShotFirst said:


I could argue that John Barry destroys everybody, but in the end I love all above mentioned composers.


John Barry was fabulous. He may have had a bit more range than Williams, but I love them both. Jerry Goldsmith, too.

timdiggerm said:



imperialscum said:


Ryan McAvoy said:

As a writer of film scores Williams is overrated IMO.


That is your opinion.


Yes, which is why he said "IMO", which stands for "In My Opinion".


Lol. God forbid anyone should express their opinion on the interwebs. ;-)

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The two Non Barry scores on Bond done while he was alive were not as good if he had done them.

Yeah variety is great and all but other than the main themes Spy Who Love Me and For Your Eyes only were pretty big misses in my book.

While Living Daylights was a  great score by Barry.

Its all opinion of course.  I have met people who prefer Hamlich over Barry.

The Rocky Composer whose name escapes me at the moment was passable but no Barry.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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I much prefer Kid Karate 4: Girl Karate

“Ow! It`s hot in here, the butter in my pocket is melting!”

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skyjedi2005 said:
Yeah variety is great and all but other than the main themes Spy Who Love Me and For Your Eyes only were pretty big misses in my book.

Its all opinion of course.  I have met people who prefer Hamlich over Barry.



"The Spy Who Loved Me" is one of my favorite Bond themes (even though it's a Hamlisch/Bayer-Sager composition) along with "You Only Live Twice", "Thunderball", "Goldfinger" & "Live & Let Die".

"From Russia With Love" & "Diamonds Are Forever" are pretty good, too. I'm not too fond of the later (80s-present) ones.


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According to this official tweet, Williams is only confirmed for Episode VII at this point.  However, Kathleen Kennedy said he was scoring all three films.  Even SW Insider said he was scoring the entire trilogy.  Wonder what has changed since then or if the official tweet was mistaken?  Very confusing...

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unamochilla2 said:

According to this official tweet, Williams is only confirmed for Episode VII at this point.  However, Kathleen Kennedy said he was scoring all three films.  Even SW Insider said he was scoring the entire trilogy.  Wonder what has changed since then or if the official tweet was mistaken?  Very confusing...

 The guy is over 80, they probably don't want to put too much on his plate at once.  Taking it one film at a time is better.  I just saw him in concert in Boston the other week, and he's still doing great (and even mentioned the new trilogy).  I'm not worried about it.

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That's true.  Also, he even though he has expressed interest in doing all the films, he may be only be officially signed on for Episode VII and therefore why the tweet says Episode VII only... at the point.  "At this point" makes a big difference.

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That would imply they would have a very rough cut of the film for him to view?

As Anthony Daniels has finished his part in the movie, perhaps the end of filming can't be too far away now.

Maybe we'll get a teaser this Christmas after all...

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Where were you in '77?

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I was thinking the same thing, but it seems too early even for a rough cut and Williams, as a rule, doesn't score off of scripts.  It's hard to hear Williams in the video, but it does sound like he said "start scoring" implying that he's already written some material or maybe he'll start writing within the coming weeks.