POLL: Pick the Best John Williams Score

Originally published on September 17, 2026. This article is a poll asking readers to vote for their favorite score composed by John Williams.

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John Williams is a prolific composer and conductor. He is the very first recipient of the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award who is not an actor or director. Originally a jazz pianist and studio musician, he has since made a name for himself in the world of movies and television. Without Williams, our favorite films literally wouldn’t sound the same. His career has spanned over three decades. Incredibly, Williams has scored basically the biggest geeky projects in history, including Star Wars™, Harry Potter, and more.

He’s a household name and a true musical genius. Even if you don’t recognize his name (but really, how could you not?), you surely know his compositions. You’ve probably hummed them — or even sang along at the top of your lungs, moved beyond words by John Williams’ music. As Steven Spielberg once famously said, “Without John Williams … we do not wonder, we do not weep, we do not believe”. So, go listen to something right now, and then come back and tell us which score hit your heart the hardest.

Now, keep in mind that this poll asks for your favorite overall OST. That’s why you won’t find “Carol of the Bells” from Home Alone or “Theme from Schindler’s List” as options. While these compositions stand out within William’s discography, we’re looking at the best full-length scores from the start of the film to the end of the credits.

John Williams’ Best OSTs:

• Jaws
• Star Wars: A New Hope™
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind
• Superman
• Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Jurassic Park
• E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

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Jaws Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

• Released: 1975
• Director: Steven Spielberg
• Most Famous Track: Jaws Main Theme

Get ready for the most sinister tuba and low strings you’ve ever heard. The two-note score is intimidating even without much of a melody, putting the listener in mind of the singularly focused predator/prey chase. Every song after keeps the same thrill and tension until it culminates in the final battle and bloody aftermath.

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Star Wars Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

• Released: 1977
• Director: George Lucas
• Most Famous Track: Main Title — From Star Wars: A New Hope

A New Hope started it all. Remember how you felt when the strings swelled as Luke Skywalker looked at the binary sunset? Yeah. You get it. Williams also scored subsequent Star Wars films, as well. One of his best known compositions from a galaxy far, far away is “Duel of the Fates” from The Phantom Menace™. And don’t forget the “Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme).”

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Close Encounters of the Third Kind Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

• Released: 1977
• Director: Steven Spielberg
• Most Famous Track: “Theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind”

Otherworldly and groovy, this orchestral masterpiece defined the sound of science fiction for generations. While many fans also love “Excerpts,” too, the specific motif from the film’s theme is most famous. It even charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the year 1978, ranking 13th overall. It is one of only three Williams’ songs to make the charts.

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Superman: The Movie Original Sound Track

• Released: 1978
• Director: Richard Donner
• Most Famous Track: “Superman March”

This entire Superman OST takes viewers up, up and away. With the symphony, we soar alongside Kal-El. We feel his loneliness, triumph, love, grief, and more. That’s difficult to master when your protagonist is an all-powerful alien super hero, but John Williams grounds us in an emotional atmosphere like no other.

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Raiders of the Lost Ark Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

• Released: 1981
• Director: Steven Spielberg
• Most Famous Track: “Raider’s March”

Adventure never sounded quite so good. The first Indiana Jones movie soundtrack propels fans from their seats — either at the cinema or home — into classrooms, deserts, and other exciting scenes. The danger is omnipresent, but so is the enjoyment.

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Jurassic Park Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

• Released: 1993
• Director: Steven Spielberg
• Most Famous Track: “Theme — From Jurassic Park“

Honestly, the Jurassic Park score could have easily fallen to cartoonish territory. Dinosaurs roaming the Earth millions of years after their extinction feels improbable and ridiculous. Yet Williams captures the true unadulterated astonishment such an event would inspire. His theme, especially, takes us all back to childhood innocence and an awestruck adoration for these beautiful creatures.

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E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

• Released: 1996
• Director: Steven Spielberg
• Most Famous Track: “Flying Theme”

We were all kids once — sneaking out, making friends, causing trouble for all the right and wrong reasons. In the E.T. OST, John Williams distills the essence of summer and the childhood imaginary friends we share our secrets with. It is a fantastical score like no other, one that can and has brought many adults to tears since its creation.

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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

• Released: 2001
• Director: Chris Columbus
• Most Famous Track: “Hedwig’s Theme”

How do you encapsulate everything Harry Potter is? It’s magic, mischief, threats, and fairy tales. It’s the discovery of where you belong and who you are at your core. John Williams brings us to Diagon Alley, Hogwarts, and beyond. He captures the indefinable joy and heartache of the Chosen One as if we’re on the wings of a snowy owl, taking flight into a franchise that changed millions of lives around the world.

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What’s your favorite John Williams score? Did we forget to include it in this poll? Share your music opinions at side.show/geekgroup or in the Sideshow Social Network. And as always, don’t forget to Let Your Geek Sideshow!