John Williams is best known for having composed knockout scores for a long list of Steven Spielberg films, reaching all the way back to the Gerald R. Ford administraion. But of all his rousing musical world-builders, the absolute peak was his score for E.T., the Extra Terrestrial (’82). The final four minutes of Spielberg’s suburban family fantasy is owned by Williams’ violins, horns and cymbal-crash moments. It’s as if the film’s emotional finale exists to support Williams’ music rather than the other way around.
YouTube commenter: “Very few movies have an emotional climax this poignant and tear-inducing, and so much of that comes from Williams’ score here. Really one of his greatest moments, and Spielberg trusts that Williams will deliver.”
