I think his two best soundtracks are definitely
Hook and Harry Potter

guys, John Williams has to be one of the BEST composers of the 20/21 century. If anything, for Harry Potter. Without the perfect music, that movie woudl`ve been crap...but he brought it all together, he is just amazing

Uh huh, so do we all know who John Williams is? He wrote music for Star Wars, Superman, Terminator and many other classics. I just wanted to educate you generation X kids out there, you kids getting your panties in a knot over f ucking harry potter garbage

james horner is probably better to listen to than john williams.. john williams is still good to play..

JOHN WILLIAMS KICKS ASS

Can someone on this damn forum can show off his point when he speaks. You`re all like "John William`s best ever cause he made Star Wars" So what, i mean is he good because he made classic movies. Bring arguments, kids. To me, John William is a great composer cause he bring all the contemporary music writing techniques together to serve the movie. He took a new style for every movie he did, cause the style of the movie was different. For exemple, for Schindler`s List, he studied swiss jewish music to bring to his soundtrack a dark and traditionnal sound. Now can someone learn me something?

You can`t really choose who the better composer is. Williams, Horner, Elfman, and Shore all have differnt styles. Williams is a huge fan of march music, hence you`ll notice his music following that type of style. Same with Elfman, he`s music is very distinct.

Also, Williams did not do Terminator.

IMO, Williams is my favorite because listening to his music brings back memories of the movies I grew up with. But, I believe all the above mentioned composers are brilliant.

Well, it`s hard to give an objetive critic of movie music when we grew up with the theme of those movies running in our head. In fact, we often love the music cause we loved the movie and when they fit together like Danny Elfman`s Batman, or William`s Star Wars, or Ennio Morricone`s The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, the music always reminds you the movie. Just a sec...

Sorry didnt have time to finish the message.
So we`ve got the music and the movie printed in our brain and we can not make an objective choice because of that. And on the other hand we cant really analyse the music separately from the movie cause it have been made for the movie, to fit it. So like i said it`s pretty hard for me to make a choice. If i relate to my feelings, i think Ennio Morricone, who made every Sergio Leone`s movie soundtrack. If you know him, try to find John Zorn`s Tribute to Ennio Morricone. The album is "The Big Gundown".

PLEASE get your facts straight before posting things like "Oh, he did teh musikl 4 taht movie with BATMAN!!1111!"

John Williams, in my opinion, is the greatest living composer. All of his themes are memorable, some are unforgettable, and I don`t mean just the Star Wars Main Title, Imperial March and the Raiders March.

His works have also included the Harry Potter movies, Hook, Schindler`s List, Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Angela`s Ashes, Seven Years in Tibet, Star Wars Saga, Indiana Jones Trilogy, Jaws and E.T. just to name a few.

He DIDN`T compose the Zelda music, that was by one of the most famous Japanese Video Game composers Koji Kondo, who also did Mario Bros. He DIDN`T compose Terminator, OR Batman, OR Edward Scizzorhands, OR Back to the Future, OR Braveheart. KaZaA descriptions are extremely unreliable.

And whoever said "John Williams SUCKS, James Horner is teh awesome!!!11!" You are sorely mistaken. Yes, Horner has composed some wonderful things but the most memorable tunes he has composed is the Theme to Titanic. That`s about it...

Zephros, you really know your stuff! I`ve been an avid John Williams fan for awhile now and I totally agree with everything you said. Also, some of his other works include: Olympic Fanfare and Theme, Saving Private Ryan, JFK, Summon the Heroes, Home Alone, the March from 1941, Far and Away, Jaws, Sugarland Express, Superman, Seven Years in Tibet, Rosewood, Empire of the Sun, and Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra, my personal favorite. If you want to check out some awesome John Williams stuff, buy the CD... "John Williams Greatest Hits 1969-1999". Enjoy!

Zephros, you really know your stuff! I`ve been an avid John Williams fan for awhile now and I totally agree with everything you said. Also, some of his other works include: Olympic Fanfare and Theme, Saving Private Ryan, JFK, Summon the Heroes, Home Alone, the March from 1941, Far and Away, Jaws, Sugarland Express, Superman, Seven Years in Tibet, Rosewood, Empire of the Sun, and Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra, my personal favorite. If you want to check out some awesome John Williams stuff, buy the CD... "John Williams Greatest Hits 1969-1999". Enjoy!

i do agree that john williams is a great composer... although i wouldn`t say the greatest. I totally object to whomever said that horner was better, because even though he did Titanic, he obviously stole themes from John`s classic "Schindler`s List Theme" in his piece where the titanic is sinking.
my personal favorite is Howard Shore, his music that he did in Lord of The Rings is magnificent. Also, he sets the mood perfectly with his chords.

Yeah, I loved Scherzo as well, it was from The Last Crusade wasn`t it? I also agree at the quality of Howard Shore`s work on the Lord of the Rings. He really did do an amazing job, extremely deserving of the Oscar he recieved for The Fellowship of the Ring.

Wow I didn`t know he made the Home Alone soundtrack too. I love that part where Kevin makes up his plan and builds his "defenses" around the house. Ow and you were right by saying that Koji Kondo made the Zelda theme, officially...
However they are talking about an orchestral composition which could pretty well be made by JW because it really sounds his style. Try dl`ing it on Kazaa and you`ll know what I mean!