John Williams: The Great Movie Soundtracks

John Williams

October 30, 2015

57 ratings

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	Sample this album Title by Artist 0:00 / 0:00
1	Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone - Harry's Wonderful World by Royal Philharmonic Orchestra;David Arnold	5:15	$1.29
2	End Credits (From "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom") by Royal Philharmonic Orchestra;John Williams	6:47	$1.29
3	Dartmoor, 1912 by John Williams	3:35
4	Sabrina: Theme by Itzhak Perlman;John Williams	4:57	$1.29
5	Theme (From "Far and Away") by Itzhak Perlman	5:34	$1.29
6	American Journey: I. Immigration and Building by John Williams	5:37	$1.29
7	American Journey: II. The Country at War by John Williams	3:22	$1.29
8	American Journey: III. Popular Entertainment by John Williams	2:30	$1.29
9	American Journey: IV. Arts and Sports by John Williams	2:38	$1.29
10	American Journey: V. Civil Rights and the Women's Movement by John Williams	3:25	$1.29
11	American Journey: VI. Flight and Technology by John Williams	7:06	$1.29
12	Suite for Cello and Orchestra (From "Memoirs of a Geisha"): Sayuri's Theme by Yo-Yo Ma;John Williams;Chicago Symphony Orchestra	4:35	$1.29
13	Suite for Cello and Orchestra (From "Memoirs of a Geisha"): Going to School by Yo-Yo Ma;John Williams;Chicago Symphony Orchestra	4:13	$1.29
14	Suite for Cello and Orchestra (From "Memoirs of a Geisha"): The Chairman's Waltz by Yo-Yo Ma;John Williams;Chicago Symphony Orchestra	4:54	$1.29
15	Suite for Cello and Orchestra (From "Memoirs of a Geisha"): Brush on Silk by Yo-Yo Ma;John Williams;Chicago Symphony Orchestra	4:20	$1.29
16	Suite for Cello and Orchestra (From "Memoirs of a Geisha"): Chiyo's Prayer by Yo-Yo Ma;John Williams;Chicago Symphony Orchestra	5:27	$1.29
17	Suite for Cello and Orchestra (From "Memoirs of a Geisha"): Becoming A Geisha by Yo-Yo Ma;John Williams;Chicago Symphony Orchestra	5:03	$1.29
Disc 2
1	Main Theme (From "Jaws") by London Symphony Orchestra;John Williams	2:50	$1.29
2	Out to Sea / The Shark Cage Fugue (From "Jaws") by John Williams;Boston Pops Orchestra	4:23	$1.29
3	Adventures on Earth (From "E. T.") by John Williams	9:47	$1.29
4	Flying Theme (From "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial") by John Williams;London Symphony Orchestra	3:40	$1.29
5	The Adventures of Tintin by John Williams	3:04	$1.29
6	The People's House by John Williams	3:41	$1.29
7	Suite from "Born on the Fourth of July": I. Theme from "Born on the Fourth of July" by John Williams;Boston Pops Orchestra	6:19	$1.29
8	Suite from "Born on the Fourth of July": II. Cua Viet River, Vietnam 1968 by John Williams;Boston Pops Orchestra	3:37	$1.29
9	Suite from "Born on the Fourth of July": III. Massapequa...The Early Days by John Williams;Boston Pops Orchestra	4:04	$1.29
10	Main Theme (From "Schindler's List") by Itzhak Perlman;John Williams	3:32	$1.29
11	Main Theme (From "Jurassic Park") by John Williams	5:29	$1.29
12	Cadillac of the Skies (From "Empire of the Sun") by John Williams	4:57	$1.29
13	Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Main Theme / When You Wish Upon a Star by John Williams;Boston Pops Orchestra	9:42	$1.29
14	Sugarland Express: Title Theme by John Williams	3:35	$1.29
Disc 3
1	Main Title / The Arrival at Naboo by John Williams;London Symphony Orchestra;London Voices	2:55
2	The Flag Parade by London Symphony Orchestra	2:11
3	Qui-Gon's Noble End by John Williams;London Symphony Orchestra;London Voices	3:47
4	Jango's Escape by London Symphony Orchestra;John Williams	3:47
5	Yoda and the Younglings by London Symphony Orchestra;John Williams	3:56
6	General Grievous by John Williams;London Voices;London Symphony Orchestra	4:07
7	Anakin's Dark Deeds by John Williams;London Voices;London Symphony Orchestra	4:04
8	Imperial Attack by London Symphony Orchestra;John Williams	6:44
9	Ben Kenobi's Death / TIE Fighter Attack by London Symphony Orchestra;John Williams	3:53
10	Yoda and the Force by John Williams	4:05
11	The Clash of Lightsabers by John Williams	4:09
12	Sail Barge Assault by London Symphony Orchestra	5:04
13	End Title from "Star Wars Episode VI" by London Symphony Orchestra	6:05
Disc 4
1	Air and Simple Gifts by Yo-Yo Ma;Itzhak Perlman;Gabriela Montero;Anthony McGill	4:30	$1.29
2	Song for World Peace by John Williams	4:40	$1.29
3	Summon the Heroes by John Williams	6:14	$1.29
4	Hymn to New England by John Williams;Utah Symphony Orchestra	3:09	$1.29
5	The Five Sacred Trees (Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra): I. Eó Mugna by London Symphony Orchestra;John Williams;Judith LeClair	6:48	$1.29
6	The Five Sacred Trees (Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra): II. Tortan by London Symphony Orchestra;John Williams;Judith LeClair	3:49	$1.29
7	The Five Sacred Trees (Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra): III. Eó Rossa by London Symphony Orchestra;John Williams;Judith LeClair	4:00	$1.29
8	The Five Sacred Trees (Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra): IV. Craeb Uisnig by London Symphony Orchestra;John Williams;Judith LeClair	2:53	$1.29
9	The Five Sacred Trees (Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra): V. Dathi by London Symphony Orchestra;John Williams;Judith LeClair	7:59	$1.29
10	Sound the Bells! by John Williams	2:46	$1.29
11	Elegy by Yo-Yo Ma	6:16	$1.29
12	The Mission Theme (Theme for NBC News) by John Williams	3:28	$1.29
13	March (From "1941") by John Williams	4:12	$1.29
14	The Olympic Spirit by John Williams	4:05	$1.29

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Customer reviews

5 star		67%
4 star		17%
3 star		9%
2 star		3%
1 star		4%

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David RoweTop Contributor: Classical Music

An enjoyable box set, but odd choices for inclusion and extremely misleading title and labeling

Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2015

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Essential John Williams, but an odd - and inanely random - choice of selections. Sigh...Where to begin?

The most obvious place to start is with the title of this box set: "John Williams: The Great Movie Soundtracks". First, discs 1 and 2 are a miss-mash, cobbled-together collection of excerpts from numerous albums of suites that Mr. Williams recorded with various orchestras in the 90s, most with the Boston Pops. Therefore, these are not "soundtracks" at all. Second, disc 4 is not even movie music. It contains "other orchestral works by John Williams" (as labeled on the sleeve).

Misleading, misguided title aside, here's what you get. This 4-disc set is essentially a reissue of the 3-disc, 2012 SONY set, entitled: "The Music of America John Williams", with a 4th disc of Star Wars excerpts thrown in. (For clarification, the 3 non-Star Wars discs are not identical to that 3-disc set, although very close: some selections have been shuffled around a bit with just a couple of extra tracks included, bringing the playing time of disc 1 up a bit.)

As to the Star Wars disc (disc 3 in this box), it contains just 55 minutes of excerpts from all 6 films. These are indeed taken from the original soundtracks. What is frustrating about this disc is that nowhere does SONY tell us these are original soundtracks (thus differing significantly from the other 3 discs) nor from which film the selections are taken. Instead we are only provided simple, rather meaningless titles, such as "Flag Parade" or "General Grievous", etc. Most unhelpful. And why only 55 minutes from 6 full-length soundtracks? Surely they could have filled up the disc and given us more music. Finally, none of the most familiar/beloved selections is included. We hear mostly unfamiliar excerpts that one would not normally single out to listen to. In a way, I'm actually glad about that - it was enjoyable to hear some of the less over-played music from these films. But, others (such as those casual listeners for whom this box is primarily intended) may justifiably disagree wholeheartedly.

The remastering of the meager selection of items from the original 3 films is very successful here. Although I did not compare these tracks directly to the 2007 DSD remastered 8-disc set of the complete soundtracks, this 24-bit remastering sounded fuller, more open and dynamic, (yet still refined and sounding not at all its age), than I remember the DSD set sounding. But, alas, it's been several months since I listened to that and aural memory can be deceptive.

Final verdict: this is a nice box set of orchestral music by John Williams. If only SONY had put some thought into it and titled it correctly, labeled it more helpfully/thoroughly, and included more music, it would be better than it is. For the true collector and/or movie-music connoisseur, this box won't do it in any way. But for the non-collector who enjoys John Williams, this would be a lovely gift. It is attractively presented, the remastered sound is uniformly excellent, and it will provide over 4 hours of entertaining music while cleaning the house.

43 people found this helpful

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Laszlo

WIlliams gets 100 stars, Sony does not.

Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2019

Verified Purchase

Since Sony, to their detriment, was not the original label of John Williams' soundtracks, there are some basics missing fine. On the other hand, there is a lot of John Williams as a composer here, to the extent that I don't care if the title of 'Great Movie Soundtracks' is misleading -- which it blatantly is. This is great John Williams, period. Included are pieces written for occasions, artists and events, not films or TV. You get more than a sample of the composer's versatility and genius. Which I liked.
My last note refers to a funny yet insulting mistake. In reading all previous reviews not one person mentioned this. CD1/Track 4 says: 'Sabrina, the Teenage Witch' Main Theme. I thought that had to be a mistake. So I researched everywhere and never found this piece in JW's filmography, film or otherwise (only the sitcom with Melissa Joan Hart). There is a reason. My conclusion is: Sony made a mistake, so ridiculous it will make you laugh first and swear last about the sloppy ignorance of some people. The lovely theme belongs to 'Sabrina', a 1995 Pollack movie with Harrison Ford & Julia Ormond (remaking the Wilder 1955 original with Bogart & A.Hepburn) with one of JW's loveliest scores. Which makes the mistake as ridiculous as it is hilarious.

3 people found this helpful

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Movielovinmom

What about Superman?

Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2016

Verified Purchase

My kids have been obsessed with the music of John Williams ever since they watched the Star Wars movies. This is a great collection of John's work, but it's disappointing that there is no Superman music in this set of DVDs

3 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

There is a lot of music on this soundtracks. Really great

Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2019

Verified Purchase

If you like movie themes, you will love this.

One person found this helpful

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John W. Reiser

Great film music but very amorphus spacy "movie" sound without ...

Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2016

Verified Purchase

Great film music but very amorphus spacy "movie" sound without orchestra directional or instrument clarity. I prefer the orchestra concert sound of Williams' music he recorded with the Boston Pops, or that of the Cincinnati Pops.on Telarc discs.

4 people found this helpful

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Unknown

Don't ever use thhis Vender!

Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2019

Verified Purchase

I bought this as a gift for someone . She returned it to me and said the CD skips in part. I find that it is too late to return now. So I have a corrupted disks and am embarrassed with a friend. I do a lot of business with you and now I have to decide what to do. This is the second major complaint recently.

2 people found this helpful

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Sherri Reinstatler

Excellent set!

Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2016

Verified Purchase

John Williams is the best and this CD set is wonderful and covers a good variety of his music. Great price for 4 CDs!

2 people found this helpful

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Liang-Jang Chiang

Good value for good music

Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2017

Verified Purchase

4 disks included. If you buy LPs,you need change sides at least 12 times.

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I. A. Wright

Excellent

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 4, 2019

Verified Purchase

Thus album contains several items that I had never heard and many that we've all probably heard. They're all at least interesting and mostly excellent pieces of worldwide renown. You'll not be disappointed if you buy this album... or if you persuade family or friend to give it to you for a birthday or Christmas.

sarah

Some scores maybe unfamiliar but the music is enthralling

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 6, 2019

Verified Purchase

I suppose you can say I grew up listening to John Williams music but now I am older I actually appreciate it more; the 4 CDs are quite brilliant and I am encouraged to rewatch a number of films; over all very happy

Brian Fisher

I like this disk set a lot

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 21, 2018

Verified Purchase

I like this disk set a lot. It has great music from films and also several non-film works that are new to me.

One person found this helpful

Alberto

Buena recopilación

Reviewed in Spain on July 27, 2016

Verified Purchase

Buenas interpretaciones y una selección adecuada de la muchísima música que el genial Williams ha compuesto. Un buen acierto también incluir otras composiciones no orientadas a la gran pantalla. El precio bien (16€ por 4 cd)
¿Por qué entonces 3 estrellas?: básicamente porque en una recopilación hecha por una casa discográfica como Sony, que no se ofrezca un folleto con algo de información, reseñas, etc, me parece un error bastante grande.

One person found this helpful

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BBB

Reviewed in Spain on February 5, 2016

Verified Purchase

Bueno, bonito y barato.

Una selección amplia que va más allá de los típico temas de John Williams (aunque también los incluya) en grabaciones espectaculares desde cualquier punto de vista.

En realidad el título podría llevar a engaña, pues no solo incluye bandas sonoras de películas: el cuarto cd incluye otras obras orquestales del compositor.

Ideal para adentrarse en el universo Williams.

2 people found this helpful

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