Which Film Has the Best Score?

[The Creator]

From the iconic "Hedwig's Theme" to the ominous "Something Wicked This Way Comes", the Potter films have some very catchy musical scores. Rank the films based on overall scores.

1. Prisoner of Azkaban (It's very ominous and much more mystical than any of the other films. It's quite a difference from the first two)

2. Sorcerer's Stone/Chamber of Secrets (Nothing quite compares to the famous "Hedwig's Theme" and to other iconic pieces that play here. The score is really quite impressive. I put Chamber with Stone because the two seem to feature practically the same pieces, although Chamber does have some different pieces that add to its darker tone.)

3. Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (Desplat surprises here. "Lily's Theme" is haunting and other pieces enhance the epic quality of the film. And it's so nostalgic and saddening to hear "Hedwig's Theme" play through the final credits.)

4. Goblet of Fire (Quite different from the other pieces. It's rather thrilling and has some ominous sounding pieces, enhancing the sense of growing darkness.)

5. Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (It's enchanting and softer than most of the others, with some nice action pieces thrown in, and it adds a nice backdrop to the emotional scenes.)

6. Half-Blood Prince (I caught several new sounds here not heard in the other movies. It's very beautiful, much like the film itself, but it's also more forgettable than most of the films. However, there are some really catchy pieces that linger, like the one that plays when Harry comforts a crying Hermione.)

7. Order of the Phoenix (Bleh, compared to all the others. Not bad, but not memorable.)

Edited December 31, 2011 by The Creator

[4815162342]

Chamber of Secrets should be nowhere near the top. John Williams lifts entire segments of his score from Attack of the Clones and puts them into this movie.

[CoolioD1]

1. Philosopher's Stone.2. Deathly Hallows 13. Prisoner of Azkaban4. Chamber of Secrets5. Deathly Hallows 26. Half Blood Prince7. Other two.

[Noctis]

1. DH22. PoA3. SS / DH15. GoF6. CoS7. HBP8. OoTP

[ddddeeee]

GOF is one of my favourite scores ever, so that.

[The Creator]

Chamber of Secrets should be nowhere near the top. John Williams lifts entire segments of his score from Attack of the Clones and puts them into this movie.

It seemed to me like he just lifted entire segments of his score from Sorcerer's Stone, not Attack of the Clones.

[4815162342]

It seemed to me like he just lifted entire segments of his score from Sorcerer's Stone, not Attack of the Clones.

Several musical cues in the film are note-for-note repeats of cues from Episode II. The most flagrant ones I can remember are during the Rogue Bludger Qudditch match and right after Dobby is freed and stuns Lucius.

[Shawn Robbins]

AotC released six months before CoS, and I'm pretty certain that he wrote and scored them in that same order.

[ddddeeee]

He began work on CoS immediately after recording AotC and Minority Report. But since he had already committed to Catch Me If You Can he didn't have enough time to score the entire movie, and William Ross did variations on his work in PS. So Williams isn't really at fault for the repetitive nature of the score for CoS, which is in many ways fitting since the movie is quite similar to PS anyway.His theme for Fawkes is gorgeous.

[fishstick]

Can you guys post Youtube vids with your favorite scores? I think that every Score thread should have actual scores included for everyone to hear. That said, GOF`s Hogwarts Hymn (second on Youtube after HP theme) is my favorite of all series as are Harry In Winter (third in the vid) and Neville`s Waltz (fourth/last in the vid).

Edited January 1, 2012 by fishnets

[ddddeeee]

I'll resist the urge to post half of the GOF score since Patrick Doyle's icy strings and never ending romanticism are constant ear sex for me.

Esp 8:30 - end.

[fishstick]

Awesome!

[Jared Miller]

Thought I'd revive this topic (was going to post a new one, but saw this one was already here)

 

I think my favorite Potter film score is Goblet of Fire. However, ironically, I think it is probably the one that works least well with the film. But it is absolutely gorgeous! Those strings are just fantastic, and it all has a very romantic and lush sound to it.

 

I think Williams' scores work well for the first films, and Hooper's for OotP and HBP, but overall I think the best synergy between score and film is achieved by Desplat's scores for DH1-2. Something about Doyle's score for GoF just seems odd in context of the film, but it is a beautiful score. I do wish he had another score for the series (if only to balance it out so each composer gets two films!)

 

I'd rank them like this (some favorite album tracks in parenthesis, series favorites bold):

 

1. Goblet of Fire (Harry in Winter, Hogwarts Hymn, Neville's Waltz)

2. Deathly Hallows 2 (Lily's Theme, Courtyard Apocalypse, Dragon Flight, Severus and Lily)

3. Sorcerer's Stone (Prologue, Hedwig's Theme, Harry's Wondrous World)

4. Deathly Hallows 1 (Obliviate, Snape to Malfoy Manor, Ministry of Magic)

5. Half-Blood Prince (In Noctem, Wizard Wheezes, Slughorn's Confession, Dumbledore's Farewell)

6. Order of the Phoenix (Fireworks, Flight of the Order of the Phoenix, Professor Umbridge)

7. Prisoner of Azkaban (Secrets of the Castle, A Window to the Past, Finale)

8. Chamber of Secrets (The Chamber of Secrets, Reunion of Friends)

[Kalel009Shel]

Favorites Scores.

 

1. Jurassic Park,

 

2. Avatar.

 

3.. Indiana Jones triology score.. Wonderful work of  Williams

 

4.. Man of Steel Hans Zimmers work definitely is a masterpiece with Big Blues Return

 

5. The Original Superman 78(too much wonderful work done by willams on the soundtrack wow)

 

6.

[ChD]

Favorites Scores.

 

1. Jurassic Park,

 

2. Avatar.

 

3.. Indiana Jones triology score.. Wonderful work of  Williams

 

4.. Man of Steel Hans Zimmers work definitely is a masterpiece with Big Blues Return

 

5. The Original Superman 78(too much wonderful work done by willams on the soundtrack wow)

 

6.

Uhm, this is HP Score talk...? 

I'd go with Deathly Hallows Part 2...

[luna]

1. prisoner of azkaban (even if it might not be completely coherent as a package, it has so many great individual cues that i can't leave this one off the top)

2. deathly hallows 2

3. philosopher's stone

4. deathly hallows 1

5. goblet of fire

6. chamber of secrets

7. order of the phoenix

8. half-blood prince

[Noctis]

1. DH2

2. PoA

3. DH1

4. SS

5. GoF

6. CoS

7. HBP

 

 

 

 

8. OoTP

[Fanboy]

After watching HBP again, I have to say the score has grown on me. It's such an improvement on OotP. It works so well with the film.1. PoA2. DH23. DH14. PS5. HBP6. GoF7. Cos8. OotPAnd still I can only give it 5th place because the HP scores are so good.

[Kalel009Shel]

Uhm, this is HP Score talk...? 

I'd go with Deathly Hallows Part 2...

Oh sorry ChD.... I agree out of the HP series

 

Definitely Part 7 part 2.

 

Also honourable mentions to HP4 and HP3 Prisoner of Aka.

[Goffe]

1 POA

2 PS

3 GOF

4 HBP

5 DH2

6 CS

7 DH1

8 OOTP