10 Underrated John Williams Tracks

1941 is widely regarded as one of Spielberg's worst films. It was the false step in what had seemed like an unstoppable march toward greatness. The Sugarland Express was a modest success, Jaws was a groundbreaking, game-changing event that invented a new genre, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind was the other science fiction masterpiece of 1977. But then came this misjudged comedy about Pearl Harbor.

All of Spielberg's excesses are on display and the film is obviously the product of a wunderkind convinced of their own untouchable greatness. Time has been kinder to other Spielberg misfires like Hook, but 1941 really is a dud. John Williams' score is, unsurprisingly, not.

The March, in particular, has all the gusto and self-aware pomposity the film is sorely lacking. At first listen, it sounds like typical militaristic pomp and circumstance but there is a hint of madness running throughout it. It's patriotic but repeats itself, as if ending the song would mean acknowledging the surrounding nonsense. It's the appropriate musical accompaniment for a war film starring John Belushi and Dan Akroyd.