E.T. The Extra Terrestrial

Of his longtime collaborator composer John Williams, director Steven Spielberg has said, "He sees my movie, rewrites the whole thing musically, and makes the whole thing better." Williams's scores, which include Jaws, Star Wars, and Raiders of the Lost Ark, are among the most memorable in film music history, and his 1982 Academy Award-winning score for E.T. is his crowning glory. Perhaps the score's beauty is best illustrated by the closing passage, "Escape/Chase/Saying Goodbye," which begins slowly with muted brass joined by quickly darting strings. Oboes flicker in the background and then the full orchestra comes in, an accelerating tension signaled by horns and timpani. The quickening, strings-driven tempo is interrupted by a brief, lovely piccolo restatement of the main theme, which recurs throughout the score. In a sudden, transcendent moment -- as E.T., Elliot, and the listener are swept skyward -- the passage shifts, incorporating rapid strings before the full orchestra soars and gradually fades into a tender conclusion.