The story of Born on the Fourth of July follows one man's similar journey, and through Stone's realistic examination of sanity in its primary character, the film remains an underestimated and unfortunately diminished memory for most viewers. One of the most powerful elements of the film was John Williams' remarkable score. The maestro would begin to accept more projects of a grand political stature in the late 1980's and early 1990's, and while the quality of these scores would vary (as would the quality of the Stone films for which Williams would write music), the composer always seemed to capture the grim solitude of the subject matter better than anyone else. His sense of translating alienation and heroicism into remorseful and sorrowful solo performances in the orchestra is unmatched in the era. His integration of those solos into the full ensemble performances is also of note, particularly in Born on the Fourth of July.