John Williams is one of the few Hollywood artists whose work is instantly recognizable because of how unique it is. His legendary composing style and the structure of his pieces are part of what make his body of work so signature. He's responsible for composing the most recognizable scores in film history, and his legacy speaks for itself.
The Academy Award winner, who's also been nominated countless times on Oscar night, is usually found in the credits of Steven Spielberg's films, and the duo has been working together since the '70s. In fact, whenever he shows up in a non-Spielberg film, it seems rare. Fortunately, it doesn't mean that the final work is subpar: the musical score for Star Wars being the best example.
In 2023, we heard his work on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and it shows that the musician's work is better than ever. But here are 15 underrated films that you probably didn't know were scored by John Williams.
Some of the latest scores John Williams wrote for films include the following:
Title | Year of Release | Review |
|---|---|---|
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny | 2023 | Read |
The Fabelmans | 2022 | Read |
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker | 2019 | Read |
Star Wars: The Last Jedi | 2017 | Read |
The BFG | 2016 | Read |
Star Wars: The Force Awakens | 2015 | Read |
15 Angela's Ashes (1999)
Alan Parker's Angela's Ashes is a heartbreaking film that's based on the book by Frank McCourt of the same name, in which he describes with detail the ordeal his family went through when they had to move from Ireland to New York in the 1930s, after a tragedy struck.
McCourt's father, Malachy, is an alcoholic army veteran who can't find stability and can't stand the idea of his wife begging for help in a country that didn't exactly receive them well. The performances by Emily Watson, Robert Carlyle and Joe Breen are moving.
The Score by John Williams
The Academy Award-nominated score consists of symphonic pieces that blend well with the film's sad and tragic tone. In the main theme, Williams makes sure to include a mellow piano theme that paves the way for a much broader piece based on strings that's heavily emotional. It's probably Williams' most underrated score on this list, and it's arguably the best thing about a film that everyone seems to have forgotten.
Stream Angela's Ashes on Showtime
14 A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence tells the story of David, a small boy who's actually an android that has been programmed to feel love, as he's assigned to a family in a futuristic society. From the beginning, David is sentient and has the capacity to observe the fact that he's different. This is where his journey begins, one in which he will try to become a real boy so that his human mother will love him.
The Score by John Williams
Once again, John Williams gets nominated for an Oscar, only this time it's for Spielberg's science fiction version of Pinocchio. The score for A.I. Artificial Intelligence is comprised of contemplative pieces that go from lullabies to stronger adventure-like music. The score was heavily edited when originally released, but in 2015 Warner released a three-disc version that's essential to understanding the magnitude of Williams' contribution to the film.
Stream A.I. Artificial Intelligence on Paramount+
13 Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
memoirs of a geisha
- Release Date
- December 6, 2005
- Cast
- Suzuka Ohgo , Togo Igawa , Mako , Samantha Futerman , Elizabeth Sung , Thomas Ikeda
- Rating
- PG-13
Rob Marshall's period drama Memoirs of a Geisha was based on Arthur Golden's book of the same name, and it tells the story of Chiyo Sakamoto, a very poor girl who's sold by her family to a geisha house in the late 1920s. It's a solid depiction of the geisha underworld as told from the perspective of Chiyo, who goes from being an unknown girl to being a very popular geisha. The film stars Zhang Ziyi, Ken Watanabe, and Michelle Yeoh in one of her best performances.
The Score by John Williams
The Golden Globe-winning score by Williams is one of the highlights of the film as it features industry greats like Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman on cellos and violins respectively. Williams incorporates traditional Japanese instruments in a great symphony that perfectly accompanies the film's dramatic tone. The score was, of course, nominated for an Academy Award, but lost to Brokeback Mountain the same year.
Rent Memoirs of a Geisha on Prime Video
12 Munich (2005)
Steven Spielberg's Munich tells the story of Mossad agents who go on a vendetta streak after the events of Black September, in which Israeli athletes were kidnapped and massacred for the whole world to see. The five men swear revenge and must travel around to catch and kill those responsible for the attack. It is one of Spielberg's best and most underrated films.
The Score by John Williams
For Munich's score, Williams includes the wailing woman style of music, and he makes sure to drop listeners into a certain time and era. But the instrumental pieces of Munich are also strongly emotional and translate the spirit of moral ambiguity well in the film.
Without the score, it wouldn't have been as powerful of a film as it was. In 2005, Williams was nominated not once but twice on Oscar night, for Memoirs of a Geisha and Munich, and it's baffling how he didn't win for Munich.
Rent Munich on Prime Video
11 The Fury (1978)
Brian de Palma's supernatural horror film The Fury tells the story of Peter Sandza, an ex-government agent who pairs up with the young Gillian Bellaver, who will use her mighty telekinetic powers to help Sandza get in touch with his son, who has been taken by a government agency to be subjected to very disturbing and dangerous psychic experiments. This is a very underrated Brian de Palma film released during his prime.
The Score by John Williams
This one deserves to be here because it's simply very underrated, both as a film and as a score. The Fury is one of the few times John Williams approached horror directly, and the main theme of his very diverse work for the movie is an eerie composition that elevates the film beyond its campy element.
Film critic Pauline Kael was very vocal in her appraisal of the score, saying it was: "as apt and delicately varied a score as any horror movie has ever had."
Stream The Fury on Max
10 The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
George Miller's very original comedy The Witches of Eastwick tells the story of Alexandra Medford, Jane Spofford, and Sukie Ridgemont, a trio of women living in Rhode Island who discover they have a lot in common. They are, in fact, witches, and they usually meet mostly to speak about men.
But then Daryl Van Horne, a disgusting womanizer, arrives in town, and he holds some strange power over the town and the women. The witches discover they may be dealing with a very powerful man who's not what he says he is.
The Score by John Williams
Williams' score for The Witches of Eastwick is a classic of the horror comedy genre because it's extremely simple, and yet has a lot of presence in the film that jumps from comedy to horror in seconds. To do his, Millers resorts to Williams' tools of transition and heavily incorporates the theme throughout the whole film. Once again, Williams was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on the film.
Rent The Witches of Eastwick on Prime Video
9 JFK (1991)
JFK
- Release Date
- December 20, 1991
- Cast
- Sally Kirkland , Anthony Ramirez , Ray LePere , Steve Reed , Jodie Farber , Columbia Dubose
- Rating
- R
In Oliver Stone's 1991 political thriller JFK, a district attorney by the name of Jim Garrison makes it his life mission to solve the riddle of Kennedy's assassination. Garrison's impeccable work takes him to the very underbelly of the U.S. government of the '60s and ends up discovering the murder may have been part of a political conspiracy, and that Lee Harvel Oswald wasn't exactly the mastermind everyone said he was.
The Score by John Williams
Williams' score for JFK consists of a varied set of instrumental pieces that exactly reflect Stone's contemplative stance on the true event he's depicting. In fact, Williams may have been much more responsible for this, as the film was heavily edited to accommodate the score by Williams, who had been busy composing for Hook when it came time to do JFK. However, he felt a strong connection to the movie's intention, and went for a piano theme that's reminiscent of the film's strong message.
Rent JFK on Prime Video
8 Presumed Innocent (1990)
The 1990 legal thriller Presumed Innocent stars Harrison Ford in one of his underrated features that modern audiences haven't seen. In the film, Ford plays Rusty Sabich, a prosecutor who finds himself in the middle of a mess when his colleague and lover is found dead. There aren't many clues about the murder itself, but everything Sabich discovers points to him being the culprit.
The Score by John Williams
Even though the movie was very successful, it remains an obscure thriller whose score by John Williams is one of the few things people remember. The whole soundtrack is tuned to a piano piece that, with a handful of notes, tells more about the film than you may imagine. It's one of Williams' "dark" scores, because it almost doesn't feature his signature use of fanfare.
Rent Presumed Innocent on Prime Video
7 Seven Years in Tibet (1997)
Seven Years in Tibet is a great film that was sadly mistaken for being problematic because it was condemned by the Chinese government, as it showed the Dalai Lama as a good person. In the film, two German citizens are imprisoned in the Himalayas when World War II begins. When they escape, they find solace in a city in Tibet, where one of them forms a strong connection with the 14th Dalai Lama, who was still a boy at the time.
The Score by John Williams
One of Williams' most emotional works outside an adaptation of fiction. The inclusion of cello master Yo-Yo Ma is one of the many highlights of the signature score by Williams. The score was strangely left out of the Oscar race — but then the whole film was left out, and while no one will say why, perhaps the controversy around the movie was just too much. However, it was nominated for a Golden Globe the same year.
Stream Seven Years in Tibet on Netflix
6 Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
Directed by Oliver Stone as part of his Vietnam trilogy, Born on the Fourth of July tells the story of Ron Kovic, a young man whose patriotic ideals took him to Vietnam in his twenties. Against the wishes of his father, who was a World War II veteran, he enlists, only to become permanently injured.
Now unable to use his legs, Kovic enlists on another journey: to be an anti-war activist, condemning his country for an unnecessary war. The film featured Tom Cruise in his most important and Oscar-nominated performance up until that point.
The Score by John Williams
Williams' subtle use of a military trumpet is only heard for a few seconds in the score. Then it becomes something else altogether, with an American trumpet giving life to the less emotional part of the soundtrack, and then adding the usual patriotic sound of his scores to the film's musical backdrop. As joyful as it sounds in retrospect, many remember Williams' work for being incredibly dark. Can you guess if the score was nominated on the Academy Awards and Golden Globes? You got it.
Rent Born on the Fourth of July on Prime Video
5 Hook (1991)
Hook
- Release Date
- April 10, 1991
- Director
- Steven Spielberg
- Rating
- PG
Hook is a continuation of the adventures of Peter Pan, the classic story we've all heard of. This time, Peter is a grown man. He's now a boring adult who's married and has even become a father. The only vestige of his eternal childhood is the fact that he's married to Wendy's granddaughter.
But then his old nemesis Captain Hook, from Neverland, kidnaps his children, and Peter is forced to return and face memories that have been long forgotten. It is one of Spielberg's most underrated films and one of his least successful.
The Score by John Williams
A fantasy adventure film? Williams' participation was always a given in this kind of Spielberg movie. However, it doesn't mean it's a random job for the composer. In fact, he started working on it before the film was readapted from being a musical to an action adventure film.
2023 saw the release of the ultimate collection for the film's score: a 3-disc collection featuring everything Williams wrote for the movie. It shows Williams' iconic use of fanfare and big symphonic pieces — he truly gave life to the magical world of Neverland.
Stream Hook on The Roku Channel
4 Superman (1978)
Superman
- Release Date
- December 13, 1978
- Rating
- PG
Richard Donner's 1978 version of Supermantells the story of Kal-El, son of Jor-El, as he arrives in Smallville after being sent from Krypton just as the planet was destroyed by a dying sun. On Earth he becomes Clark Kent, and from his childhood, his parents realize he's not a normal boy.
His superpowers turn him into a vigilante in disguise, who tries to stop his eternal nemesis Lex Luthor, who's on a quest to destroy the West Coast to create new beachfront property for him to own — yes, it's an elaborate evil real estate plot.
The Score by John Williams
What is the sound of superheroes? If you believe it's only the Avengers theme, then you've got a ton of music to listen to. Williams defined Superman audibly before anyone else, with a couple of iconic themes that bring to life the sound of flying.
However, Williams wasn't originally attached to the film, and Jerry Goldsmith was supposed to score it. Luckily, he had to drop out, and Williams composed the signature piece that was so successful that it was released as a single and has since become a part of pop culture.
Stream Superman on Max
3 Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Steven Spielberg's crime biopic Catch Me If You Can is the story of Frank Abagnale Jr., a teenager who was able to scam an entire country by faking documents to become a Pan Am pilot after he dropped out of high school, and then a lawyer and a doctor right after that. The film portrays the hunt by FBI agent Carl Hanratty as he trails in Abagnale's footsteps and ultimately catches up to him.
The Score by John Williams
The music of Catch Me If You Can is so unique, that you can't help but feel Williams has stepped out of his comfort zone. A jazz-styled set of notes that take a lot from noir aesthetics delivers a whimsical symphony that feels clever without being random. It sounds like an intrigue taking place right before your eyes, a plot of deceit that's so fast you almost can't follow it. The score was unsurprisingly nominated for an Academy Award.
Stream Catch Me If You Can on Netflix
2 Empire of the Sun (1987)
1987's Empire of the Sun tells the story of Jim Graham (played by a young Christian Bale), a small boy who's part of a British upper middle class family stationed in Shanghai. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan begins invading settlements like Shanghai, and Jim becomes separated from his parents while trying to escape. Right after, the boy gets imprisoned in a Japanese camp, and there he witnesses the horrors of war. It's without question one of Christian Bale's best films.
The Score by John Williams
Spielberg's film was nominated for Best Original Score at the Oscars and Golden Globes. Williams' work for the film is by far one of his best and one of his most underrated contributions to Spielberg's catalog. A beautiful collection of symphonic themes that feel hopeful when expanding on the essence of innocence that the film is known for, considering it's all told from the perspective of a boy.
Rent Empire of the Sun on Prime Video
1 The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
The Adventures of Tintin is a computer-animated film by Steven Spielberg that tells the story of the titular character, his dog Snowy, and Captain Haddock as they embark on a quest for a mythical ship known as the Unicorn. The film is based on the comic book series by Belgian artist Hergé. It's one of the best films by Spielberg in recent times, because it manages to capture the signature approach to action and adventure that the director is so well-known for.
The Score by John Williams
After a 3-year break since scoring Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Williams was back. Only this time, Spielberg took him out of his comfort zone and gave him the job of scoring an animated film for the very first time in his career.
The result was an Academy Award-nominated gem that took us to a jazz-infested Europe and somehow managed to blend well with the adventure aspect of the film. Williams is a natural for the genre, and The Adventures of Tintin is excellent proof of this.
Stream The Adventures of Tintin on Netflix
To keep celebrating Williams' key participation in the Star Wars universe, here are Emperor Palpatine's best quotes in the franchise:
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