John Williams Filmography

Superman Returns

Crew: Songwriter

Actors: Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, James Marsden, Frank Langella, Eva Marie Saint

Synopsis: The Man of Steel returns to the big screen with this continuation of the icon's film legacy that picks up after the events of the first two Christopher Reeve films. Some time has passed since the events of Superman II and the world has gotten used to life without Superman (Brandon Routh) ever Read More

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, Marlon Brando, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Terence Stamp

Synopsis: Reconstructed using archival film and sound elements long thought to be extinct, this special cut of Superman II pieces together unseen footage shot by Richard Donner in order to present the most comprehensive version of what was to be the original cut of the blockbuster sequel. As initially Read More

The Shark Is Still Working

Munich

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Ciarán Hinds, Mathieu Kassovitz, Hanns Zischler

Synopsis: Much as Steven Spielberg followed 1993's special-effects blockbuster Jurassic Park with a far more downbeat and personal project later the same year, Schindler's List, in 2005 after tearing up the box office with War of the Worlds the director closed out the year with a powerful and thoughtful Read More

Memoirs of a Geisha

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Zhang Ziyi, Ken Watanabe, Michelle Yeoh, Koji Yakusho, Youki Kudoh

Synopsis: This film, based on the novel by Arthur Golden, unfolds from the perspective of Chiyo (Zhang Ziyi), a girl who, at the age of nine, is sold to a geisha house in Kyoto in the early 1930s. Here, she learns that becoming a geisha can be the single path to wealth and independence for a woman. The head Read More

War of the Worlds

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto, Justin Chatwin, Tim Robbins

Synopsis: An ordinary man has to protect his children against alien invaders in this science fiction thriller, freely adapted from the classic story by H.G. Wells. Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a dockworker living in New Jersey, divorced from his first wife Mary Ann (Miranda Otto) and estranged from his two Read More

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Samuel L. Jackson, Ian McDiarmid, Jimmy Smits, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor

Synopsis: George Lucas draws the Star Wars film series to a close with this dark sci-fi adventure which sets the stage for the events of the first film and brings the saga full circle. After a fierce battle in which Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin (Hayden Christensen) join Republic forces to help free Read More

Star Wars: A Musical Journey

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Synopsis: Specially included with the {^Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith} soundtrack, this collection of music videos highlights sixteen of John Williams' strongest pieces from the film series while setting them to footage from all six films. Glimpses of production drawings and paintings can Read More

The Terminal

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stanley Tucci, Chi McBride, Diego Luna

Synopsis: Shot almost entirely on a two-and-a-half-story recreation of a full-size operating airport terminal, this romantic comedy from director Steven Spielberg revolves around an Eastern European man by the name of Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks), whose plans of immigrating to New York were hastened by a Read More

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Gary Oldman, David Thewlis, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane

Synopsis: After directing the first two movies in the Harry Potter franchise, Chris Columbus opted to serve as producer for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and passed the baton to Y Tu Mamá También director Alfonso Cuarón. Though "immensely popular" is an understatement when it comes to Harry Potter Read More

Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Chris Strompolos, Eric Zala, Angela Rodriguez, Michael Bales

Synopsis: Plenty of folks have a favorite movie they'll watch over and over again, but Jayson Lamb, Chris Strompolos, and Eric Zala enjoyed Steven Spielberg and George Lucas' freewheeling action picture Raiders of the Lost Ark a bit more than the average fan. The three friends were between the ages of 11 Read More

Catch Me If You Can

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Nathalie Baye

Synopsis: A gifted forger and confidence man attempts to stay one step ahead of the lawman determined to bring him to justice in this comedy-drama from Steven Spielberg, based on a true story. Frank W. Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a 16-year-old high school student who finds himself emotionally cut Read More

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Kenneth Branagh, Robbie Coltrane, Richard Harris

Synopsis: Youthful wizard Harry Potter returns to the screen in this, the second film adaptation of J.K. Rowling's wildly popular series of novels for young people. Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and his friends Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) return for a second year at Read More

Minority Report

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Max von Sydow, Lois Smith

Synopsis: Based on a short story by the late Philip K. Dick, this science fiction-thriller reflects the writer's familiar preoccupation with themes of concealed identity and mind control. Tom Cruise stars as John Anderton, a Washington, D.C. detective in the year 2054. Anderton works for "Precrime," a Read More

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Christopher Lee, Samuel L. Jackson

Synopsis: The second prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy takes place ten years after the events depicted in Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace. Now 20, young Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) is an apprentice to respected Jedi knight Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor). Unusually powerful in Read More

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Rickman, Richard Harris

Synopsis: The best-selling novel by J.K. Rowling (titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in England, as was this film adaptation) becomes this hotly anticipated fantasy adventure from Chris Columbus, the winner of a high-stakes search for a director to bring the first in a hoped-for franchise of Read More

A.I.: Artificial Intelligence

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor, Brendan Gleeson, William Hurt

Synopsis: Based on the 1969 short story Super-Toys Last All Summer Long, by Brian Aldiss, this science fiction fantasy bears similarities to Pinocchio (1940) and originated as a long-gestating project of director Stanley Kubrick that passed to his friend Steven Spielberg after Kubrick's death. Haley Joel Osment Read More

The Patriot

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Joely Richardson, Jason Isaacs, Chris Cooper

Synopsis: Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, the director/producer team responsible for such sci-fi blockbusters as Independence Day, Stargate, and Godzilla, take a step back in time with this drama set during the American Revolution. Farmer Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) was born and raised in South Carolina Read More

Angela's Ashes

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Emily Watson, Robert Carlyle, Joe Breen, Ciaran Owens, Michael Legge

Synopsis: Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir by Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes is an alternately funny and heartbreaking look at growing up in Ireland. Born in Brooklyn, NY, young Frank (Joe Breen) moves at an early age to Limerick, Ireland, with his parents Angela (Emily Watson) and Malachy (Robert Carlyle Read More

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Pernilla August

Synopsis: In 1977, George Lucas released Star Wars, the ultimate sci-fi popcorn flick-turned-pop-culture myth machine. It quickly became the biggest money-making film of all time and changed the shape of the film industry. After two successful sequels (1980's The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's Return of the Read More

Stepmom

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, Ed Harris, Jena Malone, Liam Aiken

Synopsis: Mrs. Doubtfire director Chris Columbus continues to explore the family turmoil of divorce in the tearjerker Stepmom, a story that pits the birth mother against the new mother. Jackie (Susan Sarandon), a one-time book editor, is now the consummate soccer mom juggling the schedules of her two kids Read More

Saving Private Ryan

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, Jeremy Davies, Vin Diesel

Synopsis: Steven Spielberg directed this powerful, realistic re-creation of WWII's D-day invasion and the immediate aftermath. The story opens with a prologue in which a veteran brings his family to the American cemetery at Normandy, and a flashback then joins Capt. John Miller (Tom Hanks) and GIs in a Read More

In My Life

Actors: George Martin, Jim Carrey, Phil Collins, Celine Dion, Goldie Hawn

Synopsis: Before retiring, recording producer George Martin, famed for his for association with The Beatles, returned to The Beatles songbook, shaping performances by several artists not usually associated with The Beatles, and some not even recognized for their musical abilities. This documentary captures Read More

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Richard Attenborough, Vince Vaughn, Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Pete Postlethwaite

Synopsis: Just when you'd think that scientists would realize dinosaurs and humans don't mix, along comes The Lost World: Jurassic Park to prove you wrong. In this sequel, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) summons chaos theorist and onetime colleague Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) to his home with some Read More

Rosewood

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Jon Voight, Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, Bruce McGill, Loren Dean

Synopsis: Rosewood is the true story of an almost unknown incident in a small Florida town, (fictionalized, but faithful to the known facts, as documented in a 1994 report by the Florida Legislature). The town was inhabited almost entirely by quiet, "middle-class" African- Americans (most of them home and Read More

Seven Years in Tibet

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Brad Pitt, David Thewlis, B.D. Wong, Mako, Danny Denzongpa, Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk, Lhakpa Tsamchoe

Synopsis: Typically impressive natural vistas from director Jean-Jacques Annaud (some secretly filmed on location in Tibet) highlight this adaptation of the memoir by Heinrich Harrer. Brad Pitt stars as the arrogant Heinrich, a famed Austrian mountain climber who leaves behind his wife and infant son to Read More

Amistad

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Arliss Howard, Jeremy Northam, Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins, Matthew McConaughey, Nigel Hawthorne, Djimon Hounsou

Synopsis: This Steven Spielberg-directed exploration into a long-ago episode in African-American history recounts the trial that followed the 1839 rebellion aboard the Spanish slave ship Amistad and captures the complex political maneuverings set in motion by the event. Filmed in New England and Puerto Read More

Sleepers

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Kevin Bacon, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Billy Crudup, Bruno Kirby, Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Vittorio Gassman

Synopsis: Barry Levinson directed this crime drama based on a controversial bestseller. Jason Patrick stars as Lorenzo, a New York reporter more commonly called "Shakes," a nickname courtesy of his three childhood pals from Hell's Kitchen -- Michael (Brad Pitt), John (Ron Eldard), and Tommy (Billy Crudup). Read More

Nixon

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Anthony Hopkins, Joan Allen, Powers Boothe, Ed Harris, Bob Hoskins

Synopsis: Oliver Stone, the most outspokenly political American filmmaker of the 1980s and '90s, directs this epic-length biography of Richard Nixon, the 37th President of the U.S., who was re-elected by a landslide in 1972, only to resign in disgrace two years later. Taking a non-linear approach, Nixon Read More

Sabrina

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond, Greg Kinnear, John Wood, Nancy Marchand

Synopsis: A remake of a 1954 Billy Wilder romance, this updated version of the play Sabrina Fair was directed by Sydney Pollack. Julia Ormond stars as Sabrina Fairchild, the daughter of a kindly chauffeur (John Wood) at the Long Island estate of the upper-crust Larrabee family. Sabrina has grown up Read More

Jurassic Park

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Bob Peck

Synopsis: Steven Spielberg's phenomenally successful sci-fi adventure thriller is graced by state-of-the-art special effects from the team of Stan Winston, Phil Tippett and Michael Lantieri from George Lucas's Industrial Light & Magic. The film follows two dinosaur experts -- Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Read More

Schindler's List

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagall

Synopsis: Based on a true story, Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List stars Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler, a German businessman in Poland who sees an opportunity to make money from the Nazis' rise to power. He starts a company to make cookware and utensils, using flattery and bribes to win military Read More

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O'Hara, John Heard

Synopsis: John Hughes and Chris Columbus repeat their best-selling formula from the first Home Alone film with this sequel. Once again Kevin McCallister's (Macaulay Culkin) family leave him behind, only now he gets on a flight to New York instead of going with his family to Miami. Kevin manages to hail a Read More

Far and Away

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Thomas Gibson, Robert Prosky, Barbara Babcock

Synopsis: In this epic Ron Howard film, Joseph Donelly (Tom Cruise) is an impoverished 19th-century Irish tenant farmer who has recently lost both his father and his home to the agents of his unscrupulous landlord. On a mission to avenge his family's injustice at the hands of the ruthless land baron Joseph Read More

JFK

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Kevin Costner, Sissy Spacek, Joe Pesci, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Oldman

Synopsis: The November 22, 1963, assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy shocked the nation and the world. The brisk investigation of that murder conducted under the guidance of Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren distressed many observers, even though subsequent careful investigations have been Read More

Hook

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins, Maggie Smith, Phil Collins

Synopsis: Steven Spielberg filters J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan through a distinctly 1990s sensibility in Hook. Peter Pan has become Peter Banning (Robin Williams), a 40-year-old mergers and acquisitions lawyer with a permanent scowl on his face and a cellular phone in his belt. Banning has lost any memory of Read More

Home Alone

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O'Hara, John Heard

Synopsis: Home Alone is the highly successful and beloved family comedy about a young boy named Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) who is accidentally left behind when his family takes off for a vacation in France over the holiday season. Once he realizes they've left him "home alone," he learns to fend for himself Read More

Presumed Innocent

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Harrison Ford, Brian Dennehy, Raul Julia, Bonnie Bedelia, Paul Winfield

Synopsis: Rusty Sabich (Harrison Ford) is a bland, oppressed man who burns with a quiet, corrosive intensity that can flare uncontrollably. A Philadelphia prosecutor, Sabich's fire seems to have one outlet: his job. He loves prosecuting people. Otherwise, his life is dead-ended. He has a loveless marriage Read More

Stanley & Iris

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Jane Fonda, Robert De Niro, Swoosie Kurtz, Martha Plimpton, Harley Cross

Synopsis: In this socially conscious drama with romantic overtones, Iris (Jane Fonda) is a working mother with a job at a large commercial bakery who is still getting over the death of her husband, though her circumstances don't give her much time to grieve. She's sharing her house with her two children Read More

Always

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, Brad Johnson, John Goodman, Audrey Hepburn

Synopsis: For all its state-of-the-art special effects, Always is essentially a remake of the 1943 Spencer Tracy-Irene Dunne fantasy vehicle A Guy Named Joe--minus the wartime context. Richard Dreyfuss stars as a reckless fire-fighting pilot who is killed in what was to have been his final mission. Read More

Born on the Fourth of July

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Tom Cruise, Raymond J. Barry, Caroline Kava, Kyra Sedgwick, Brian Larkin, Willem Dafoe

Synopsis: The second of three films by co-writer/director Oliver Stone to explore the effects of the Vietnam War (Platoon and Heaven and Earth are the others), Born On The Fourth Of July tells the true story of Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise), a patriotic, All-American small town athlete who shocks his family by Read More

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, Alison Doody, John Rhys-Davies, River Phoenix

Synopsis: The third installment in the widely beloved Spielberg/Lucas Indiana Jones saga begins with an introduction to a younger Indy (played by the late River Phoenix), who, through a fast-paced prologue, gives the audience insight into the roots of his taste for adventure, fear of snakes, and dogged Read More

The Accidental Tourist

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Geena Davis, Amy Wright, Bill Pullman

Synopsis: Director Lawrence Kasdan and Frank Galati adapted their screenplay for The Accidental Tourist from Anne Tyler's novel. William Hurt plays Macon Leary, a well-known "travel advisor" headquartered in Baltimore. The tragic death of Leary's son causes him to withdraw from the world, which in turn Read More

Empire of the Sun

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers, Joe Pantoliano

Synopsis: Based on J.G. Ballard's autobiographical novel, Empire of the Sun stars Christian Bale as a spoiled young British boy, living with his wealthy family in pre-World War II Shanghai. During the Japanese invasion, Bale is separated from his parents. With the help of soldier-of-fortune John Malkovich Read More

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure, Mariel Hemingway, Jon Cryer

Synopsis: Superman (Christopher Reeve) tries to save the world from nuclear destruction at the hands of Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) in this action film featuring the man of steel. In a speech to the United Nations, Superman declares he will rid the world of all nuclear weapons. Arch-villain Luthor emerges Read More

Jaws: The Revenge

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Michael Caine, Lorraine Gary, Lance Guest, Mario Van Peebles, Karen Young

Synopsis: This third sequel to the 1975 mega-hit Jaws returns Lorraine Gary to the role of Ellen Brody, widow of the Roy Scheider character from the first two films. When her son Sean, the current police chief of shark-plagued Amity Island, is killed by the beast, Ellen goes to the Bahamas to comfort her Read More

The Witches of Eastwick

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer, Veronica Cartwright

Synopsis: The Witches of Eastwick, a memorable comedy with a dark edge, is based upon a novel by John Updike. On Thursday nights three female friends -- Alex (Cher), Sukie (Michelle Pfeiffer), and Jane (Susan Sarandon) -- meet to chug martinis, learn Chinese aphrodisiac cooking and lament the scarcity of Read More

The Secret of My Success

Crew: Featured Music

Actors: Michael J. Fox, Helen Slater, Richard Jordan, Margaret Whitton, John Pankow

Synopsis: Released at the height of his popularity on Family Ties and in the wake of Back to the Future and Teen Wolf, Michael J. Fox stars in this "country boy in the big city" comedy, directed by Herbert Ross. After making the move from Kansas to New York City, Brantley Foster (Fox) secures a job in the Read More

One Crazy Summer

Crew: Featured Music

Actors: John Cusack, Demi Moore, Joel Murray, Curtis Armstrong, Bobcat Goldthwait

Synopsis: In this madcap comedy, Demi Moore plays Cassandra and John Cusack is Hoops McCann, two people who eventually fall in love and help each other out. Hoops is a cartoonist working on a teen love story that he hopes will get him accepted into art school. Cassandra is a troubled young woman about to Read More

Spacecamp

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Leaf Phoenix, Kate Capshaw, Lea Thompson, Kelly Preston, Larry B. Scott, Tom Skerritt

Synopsis: This is an eerily prescient family adventure starring Kate Capshaw as Andie, a frustrated NASA astronaut who's never actually been into outer space. Her husband, flight controller Zach (Tom Skerritt), is sympathetic, but he can't influence her place in the rotation. Andie is assigned to train a Read More