15 Greatest Film Scores of All-Time

E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (John Williams)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgTaKTo9_0Y E.T. The Extra Terrestrial is not only John Williams€™ finest work but for me it€™s the greatest film score of all time. Spielberg€™s classic (soon arriving on Blu-ray *squeal*) is a story full of heart anyway but the score lifts this film to places it would not have reached without it. The initial eeriness in the film€™s opening credits give a dark fairy tale feel to the alien separated from his spaceship. Lost in the woods has never felt so dramatic, the change of pace around 2:40 in the track €˜Far From Home€™ really feels haunting but when this is followed by the tender change at 3:11 you€™re heart is already broken and you€™ve not even seen your lead character€™s face yet. Where this score goes as it builds through E.T. being chased and the first meetings with Elliot is sold with the delicate and pitch perfect score. The danger, the tenderness, you feel absolutely everything the film is trying to convey and despite the popularity of film scores, this is not an easy thing to pull off, especially in a film that on paper is essentially a kid meeting an alien. As the score moves through the second half of the film and E.T. (*gulp*) dies, we get the ever so human and tender scene with Elliot saying goodbye. The track €˜E.T. is Alive€™ is so perfectly structured, never reaching for emotional highs but dealing with loss in a very human way. Where this score really solidifies itself in my heart is the final 15 minute epic €˜Escape / Chase / Saying Goodbye€™ (above) which covers the final act of the film. The fact that John Williams€™ score becomes so important to the drive towards the end of this film, shows how important it is to the film itself. This final race to get E.T. back to his ship is full of everything that makes film scores great, selling danger, excitement and wonder at every turn but the strength of the final goodbye and the heart tugging build it has leading to the two friends hugging each other for the last time is heartbreaking and epic in every way making E.T. The Extra Terrestrial the greatest film score ever (and a score that says, €œit€™s okay that you€™re crying, let it all out€). Marcus Doidge
Contributor
Contributor

A regular film and video games contributor for What Culture, Robert also writes reviews and features for The Daily Telegraph, GamesIndustry.biz and The Big Picture Magazine as well as his own Beames on Film blog. He also has essays and reviews in a number of upcoming books by Intellect.