Is John Williams overrated?

Hardly overrated. He is being praised and loved for his now iconic music compositions for greatly equally iconic films.

Those films’ creators couldn’t have asked for a better artist than Williams. He delivered masterfully what music these movies required.

I’m no music expert but crude is hardly a word I could associate with William’s music.

Maybe there is something wrong with your ears (do you even have ears?) He is deservedly one of the most popular and critically acclaimed composer of all time.

I don’t know @ragingloli The Jaws theme song is one of the iconic pieces of film composing there is. It’s on par with Morricone’s The Good the Bad and the Ugly theme song.

A bit, yes, but I do think he is a great film composer and deserves credit for it. I wouldn’t say he’s on par with innovative composers of the common practice period, though. But I’m not such a huge fan of film music outside of films. lol

This John Williams, not in any way.

I would only compare him to film & television composers. He’s written music we all recognize, he must be doing something right.

Recently I stumbled across this and it made me appreciate him a little more. It’s from 1965, early in his career. There’s an intro from the conductor, skip to 0:50 for the music.

Cincinnati Pops presents American Soundscapes: Lost in Space

He has created themes and soundtracks that add dimensions to the films. You instantly recall the soundtracks to Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and many others. He is rated highly, and deservedly so.

Not in my opinion. Not at all!

My comment above aside, although I do like John Williams, I’m a much bigger fan of Hanz Zimmer. His score of Dunkirk was genius.

He has composed great soundtracks to action movies but I couldn’t listen to his music at a concert. It is too loud and brash for me.