I have recently been contemplating Harry Potter movie music; which is natural as I am a massive John Williams fan, and I pay close attention to music while watching movies. Now, if you didn't know, John Williams only composed the music for the first three Harry Potter movies, two out of which got him Oscar nominations. John Williams' music for the first three is BY FAR some of the best music ever composed. Hedwig's theme can never be forgotten. His energetic pieces stay in one's mind and engulf your soul into the films. Now, after that, they hired new composers for 4, they hired Patrick dowley as Williams was busy with his old friends Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. How many memorable scores does it have? One. No more, no less. And for 5 and 6, everything went just downhill. Nicholas Hooper's score , is some of the emptiest, most boring, least innovative film music I have heard. But, for 7 and 8 ( AKA 7 part two), they hired legendary composer Alexandre Desplat, and BOY did he hit it outta the park. 7 and 8 are brilliantly complemented by memorable, epic, grand music, rightfully so. They suit the sheer grandeur of these films extremely well. If I had to give them a rating, and rank them, this is how it'd be.
Here is how i'd rank the soundtracks:
1. Prisoner of azkaban ( near perfect ) 10/10
2. Philosopher's stone (masterpiece) 9.5/10
3. Chamber of secrets (excellent) 9/10
4. DH part 2 (excellent) 8.5/10
5. DH part 1 (very good) 8/10
6. Goblet of fire (mediocre-ish) 7/10
7. Order of the pheonix (very forgettable, doesn't even aid the film much) 5.5/10
8. Half blood Prince (awful) 5/10
