J.J. Abrams Talks his Favorite John Williams Star Wars Track.
J.J. Abrams shares his thoughts on his favorite Star Wars soundtrack cues and fans finally get to see legendary composer John Williams receive his AFI Life Achievement award tonight on television. Read on for more details.
Last week the AFI awarded John Williams with the Life Achievement Award for his music from movies like Star Wars, Harry Potter, ET, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones and many more. Fans who weren’t lucky enough to attend the event will finally get a chance to see him grab the award tonight on TNT.
In an exclusive chat with the ET, Abrams shared his thoughts on John Williams, his favorite cues from the maestro in the “The Force Awakens’ original score and which cue from the original 1977′ flick required tissues to hold back the tears.
“Watching him talk to the orchestra is a lesson in expression. It’s a lesson in communication,” said Abrams of working with Williams. “I was amazed by how gentle and kind and humble he is. He was like that every day we worked together. “The two cues I love the most are ‘Rey’s Theme,’ and he did a theme for the Resistance that was just…an incredible thing,” said Abrams, who got to take a piece of the Resistance home. “He actually gave me [the Resistance] score, bound, in this leather-bound book,” revealed Abrams.
Abrams was also asked which piece of John Williams musical scores has touched him the most.
“There are so many. I mean, I guess the first one that made me cry was the Force theme, when Luke is looking over the Binary Sunset,” he shared.
Also at the AFI’s 44th Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute with Abrams was Director Steven Spielberg and the now retired from directing George Lucas. All three have worked with Williams on several different major motion pictures and each had a few wonderful things to say about Williams’ powerful work.
“‘Oh Angel, I just hope this cue is good enough.’ These are the kinds of preposterous things that John Williams says at his own scoring sessions,” Abrams said. “It’s like he’s never read his own resume. He’s the sweetest superhero of all time.”
Lucas may not have gotten the chance to work with Williams on Star Wars: The Force Awakens since he turned the franchise over to Disney. However, if anyone knows just how much Williams adds to films it would be the man that started it all with Star Wars.
“Star Wars was meant to be a simple heroes journey, a fantasy for young people. But then John’s music raised the film to an art that would stand the test of time,” Lucas said in his tribute speech. “I had so many ideas for other movies, but I never got to them because you ensured that Star Wars would live forever.”
Spielberg who has also worked with Williams on many films including E.T., the Indiana Jones films and Jaws shared his thoughts on the magic of how musical scores can make a scene come to life.
“When he played it for me the first time on a piano, he had a big old grin, and I thought he was joking,” Spielberg said of the Jaws theme. “He wasn’t.”
He went on to say:
“Without John Williams, bikes don’t fly and neither do brooms in Quidditch matches nor do men in red capes. There is no Force, dinosaurs do not walk the earth. We do not wonder, we do not weep, we do not believe.”
Speaking of beautiful sunsets, Astronomers from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and San Diego State University used the Kepler Space Telescope to locate a planet that’s similar to Tatooine, home of Luke Skywalker.
The planet — with the unwieldy name of Kepler-1647b — is the largest one yet discovered that orbits two suns. These planets are known as “circumbinary” planets. The discovery was announced Monday at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society in San Diego.
AFI’s: Tribute to John Williams will air tonight on TNT at 10:00 p.m.
Check back for more Star Wars news here at SWNN.
May the Force be with you.
Source: ET, uinterview.com
The Kepler planet’s only similarity to Tatooine is that it orbits two suns. Its a gas planet about the size of Jupiter.
Thank you, Luke!
Anakin: “I hate gas”
pffff mainstream choice
Star Wars without John Williams:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj-GZJhfBmI
Chewie! LOL
Oh my god, I’ve never thought about what shooting that sequence must have felt like. That’s stunningly, awesomely hilarious and awkward.
Apparently all the British extras were calling Mark Hamill a wanker as he was walking down the isle.
Off the top of my head……
Episode I – Augie’s Great Municipal Band
Episode II – The Chase Through Coruscant
Episode III – Anakin Vs Obi-Wan
Episode IV – The Throne Room
Episode V – Rescue From Cloud City
Episode VI – Victory Celebration (1983 and 1997 version)
Episode VII – Rey’s Theme
Episode V – Pursuit of the Falcon and the Asteroid Field. That is an absolute tour de force, with WIlliams playing in and around tiny visual moments onscreen in the VFX, and catching bits of micro expressions between HF and CF. He makes that whole sequence absolutely soar.
His early 80’s stuff is my favorite, That truly was his prime. He could have made any bad film then halfway decent had he composed it.
For me? ALL OF IT.
No duel of the Fates?!?!?!
One of my favorites.
I was trying to go for the less obvious choices and as much as I like it, I’m kind of sick of it after hearing it in every PT film but I wouldn’t mind seeing it come back in IX.
Yoda lifting the X-Wing. That theme gets me everytime!
That’s my favourite too. Closely followed by ‘The Rebel Fleet’ & End Credits from ESB as well.
Rey’s Theme is phenomenal, but March of the Resistance is a pretty baldfaced redo of an Indiana Jones theme.
And The Main Title Theme is a redo of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJwa9mX0bxA
And the fax machine is just a telephone with a waffle iron attached!
Lol….not really
It’s the same 5-note opening. Of course it’s similar. More similar than the Resistance March is to the Indiana Jones theme…
You gave the impression that it was basically a complete redo or copy of the entire piece, not just 5 notes. Be more specific next time.
I wasn’t aware that the term, “redo” equated to exact copy. My understanding of the term was that it could also be something merely similar to what was already done. I was responding to the idea that “March of the Resistance” was a “baldfaced redo” of an Indiana Jones theme. Meaning that is was structured very similar to one used in the Indy scores. I was pointing out that Star Wars music has, from the beginning, drawn from similar music from other composers or Williams’ own music in other films.
Is there any way to see this ceremony?
Was on TNT Wednesday night. Will probably make it online somehow.
hopefully
My favourite from TFA is The Jedi Steps. Its phenomenal if you ask me. 🙂
To think, hundreds of years from now, I’m pretty sure the Imperial March will still be used at sporting events.