Music by John Williams

What a great documentary! You don't have to be a huge lover of music to enjoy this film. I do love movies, so this was of instant interest to me, and I'm so glad I was able to see this. It covers Williams' life and his vast career. Something that struck me was that I knew John Williams' music before I even knew John Williams! That's how immense his reach is, how broad his range across films of multiple genres. There were interviews by several well-known people including Stephen Spielberg, Chris Martin, and many others. A lot of behind the scenes moments are shown as well as many times where Williams himself talks about his various experiences (some challenging, some heartbreaking). This is a fascinating and touching look at the man and his decades of musical talent. Video review to come shortly.

Chronicling the life & career of inarguably the greatest film composer alive today, Music by John Williams is crafted with heart, soul & admiration and celebrates the decades spanning legacy of the artist whose memorable compositions over the years have left an indelible mark on both film & pop culture. More a tribute than an in-depth sketch of his personal & professional life, Laurent Bouzereau's documentary provides a glance into the ideas & incidents that inspired his greatest scores, his collaboration with Steven Spielberg & endeavours outside the film industry but it isn't as informative as I expected and fails to offer any new insights.

Brought to screen through interviews, behind-the-scenes footage & film clips, the documentary observes the significant impact his orchestral scores had then n now and garnered him a whole generation of fans all over the world. Perhaps, the only thing I can complain about is that it isn't long enough, for I would've enjoyed many more hours of it. Also, for no valid reason, there is too much Chris Martin in it. Nevertheless, anyone not aware of Williams' contribution to the medium is in for a treat as they finally learn about just how many iconic themes this legendary maestro has graced us with and how vast & versatile his body of work throughout the decades has been.

I saw this film as the first red carpet event of the AFI film festival of 2024. Introduced by Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard, who produced the film, they expressed their devotion and dedication to John Williams. John Williams certainly deserves that dedication - filmgoers and music lovers will definitely agree with Messrs. Howard and Spielberg. The documentary details how Williams got his start in the film industry as well as his personal life which had a tragedy that I was not aware of until seeing this film. We learn how Williams came up with the score to films such as "Jaws", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Star Wars" and many others. There are also funny anecdotes of Spielberg's initial reaction to Williams' score of "Jaws" and Spielberg's quip about Williams' composing the score to "Schindler's List", which adds a bit of levity to otherwise emotionally devasting story. I also learned about the Boston Pops musicians' snobbish reactions to Williams' direction as well as many more interesting facts about this absolute musical genius. I highly recommend this film to anyone interested in filmmaking as well as music.

Like most of us, I have loved John Williams music since being aware of it in the original Star Wars. I also spend many hours listening to the soundtrack with headphones on, while holding the album cover.

I loved this documentary, but it felt like it was scratching the surface of such a brilliant man's work, I wish it was a multi-part 90 minute series (similar to the recent Beatles documentary) with each film/episode being focused on his early life, work and then each decade of work from the 70's onwards. I could devour hearing about his process and work for hours and hours. Maybe Disney will release an extended version in the future from cut footage.

Thank you sir for bringing so much joy to our lives.

I was 12 minutes into this documentary when I knew I was going to love it. I was an early collector of movie scores, and the composer whose work most filled my shelves was always John Williams. I was the nerd that played his scores while doing my homework. The first time I heard the Jurassic Park score I was in love with his work, though perhaps even before then, of course.

This documentary is a love letter to a man so brilliant and great that you just can't believe how humble he is. His entire career is showcased here, as well as personal struggles I didn't even know about!

Of course, I spent too much time on Amazon buying some of his earlier jazz albums because I didn't even know that's how he truly got his start.

This documentary is a longtime coming. It's about time this man got the showcase he deserves in this format. The best night of my life was when I was lucky to get a ticket to watch John Williams conduct his music with the Seattle Symphony. Act 1 was phenomenal, but when he started Act 2 with "Theme from Jaws" and then welcomed Steven Spielberg onto the stage, an outstanding night got that much better. This documentary took me back to that amazing night, but it also brought me more of an understanding of the man and his music that I love SO much!