THE STAR WARS SCORES RANKED
And here we are. So far this week we’ve looked at a bunch of musical hoojibs from the world of Star Wars, including best themes, best action cues, and best overall music cues. Today is our finale, and it’s an explosive climax true to a galaxy far, far away: the Star Wars scores, ranked.
Apart from ROGUE ONE — this is a Johnny Williams joint all the way.
8. THE LAST JEDI
Just to be clear, this is in this position only because it has just been released. It’s a fine score and I’m still unpacking it, so it may climb later on, so don’t read too much into this.
7. ATTACK OF THE CLONES
Episode II is undoubtedly the worst movie in the saga and I don’t envy John Williams having to put music into it. Maybe that’s why it feels like the least for me, some really nice colours and interesting pieces but not a fantastic whole. Of course, ‘Across The Stars’ is incredible and a theme for the ages, but it never comes together. It doesn’t help as well that the music was edited to hell, with several pieces from the first prequel shoved in with no concern for how it actually really worked.
6. THE PHANTOM MENACE
Whatever your feelings are about the prequels, you have to respect the music, and THE PHANTOM MENACE’s score is incredible in spite of the film. It doesn’t help that the score was completely hacked up during editing, and so much of what was in the film doesn’t represent what Williams actually composed, but even then, it works beautifully. ‘Duel of the Fates’ brought a new sound to Star Wars and ‘Anakin’s Theme’ is absolutely beautiful, full of hope and naivety but tinged with tragedy. The set-pieces are classic — the escape from Naboo, the Tatooine sequences, the final battle — and it’s an exhilarating score, right down to the major key version of the Emperor’s theme for the parade finale.
5. THE FORCE AWAKENS
Many wondered exactly if John Williams was even going to score the first of the sequel trilogy, let alone what he’d bring to it. But Lucasfilm knew not to mess with tradition, and what he brought was a score that perhaps felt structurally a bit different to the previous, a more modernist take dominated by the wonderful Rey’s theme. Kylo Ren and the Resistance also had spectacular material, and it felt like the fresh blood for the saga reflected on Williams, who admitted he absolutely loved Rey as a character. The original themes were revisited perfectly, and it was brought to a stunning finale with the ‘Jedi Steps’ motif that accompanied our first sight of (adult) Luke Skywalker in decades.
4. REVENGE OF THE SITH
The best thing about the final (Lucas) prequel is that it tried. It didn’t perhaps succeed, but it came closer than any of the others, and with that was Williams’ operatic score that gave a real infusion of emotion and rage. From the huge opening battle and use of the Force theme as a military motif to the destruction of the Jedi and the wonderful wordless scene as Anakin and Padme watch each other from across the cityscape. Then there’s the final emotionally-charged duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan and the birth of Darth Vader, completed by a return to Tatooine and the Force cue in its most iconic location, telling us while the darkness has won, there will be a new hope for the galaxy.
3. RETURN OF THE JEDI
Essentially a two-hour finale, JEDI veers between heavy action set-pieces and character beats, both of which are handled with effortless aplomb by Williams — it’s incredible the way he weaves all the returning themes together with the new set for the Ewoks, Luke and Leia, and the Emperor. The latter brought a new flavour to Star Wars with a dark male chorus (EMPIRE had previously briefly used a female chorus) and was perfect for the character’s pure evil and machiavellian malevolence. ‘Luke and Leia’ was a new mature piece representing the (newly revealed) twins and dealing with their heritage and destiny. And the final act required a huge amount of non-stop scoring, ending with the entire Rebellion dancing around to singing bears, which as crazy as it sounds, felt exactly the way it should be.
2. STAR WARS
Obviously, John Williams changed everything with this, blah blah blah. And yes he did, it returned symphonic music to popular movies, but his score is also a spectacular trip through classical music and Hollywood, taking in Holst, Stravinsky, Korngold, and Bernard Herrmann. It’s a repositioning of classical music the same way the film is a reinterpretation of classic myth and genre, and it does it with such flair. All those themes, that classic brass, those soaring strings, the romance, the adventure, the space-jazz… It’s just an incredible ride through two histories; that of Earth music, and that of a galaxy far, far away.
1. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
Back in 1980, who knew what kind of score we would get for the Star Wars sequel? Would it be a re-use? Something completely different? It was kind of all of that. What John Williams did was build on the themes and styles introduced and create something truly larger with more depth, aesthetically and emotionally. The furious The Imperial March, emblematic of Vader’s promotion to lead villain, Yoda’s theme, the polar opposite of Vader representing peace, serenity, and how to actually use the Force. The love theme, themes for Lando, escape motifs, Boba Fett, it was just letting it all wide-open, and did it all bigger, not just in standard terms but was so heightened, so operatic, so different and yet so vital to the raised emotional stakes of the saga as played in the film. And it’s so, so fun, and a pleasure to listen to every time. I’d dare say it has no equal in any film score. It’s that good.
