John Williams

If you were born after 1975, John Williams likely composed the soundtrack to your childhood. Stars Wars. E.T.. Jurassic Park. Harry Potter. Home Alone. All John Williams jams.

John of All Trades

Williams has written the score for close to 150 movies, and many of them, like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, were directed by Steven Spielberg. As a composer and director, these guys go together like tortilla chips and guacamole. In fact, Williams has written the score for every Spielberg flick except The Color Purple and Bridge of Spies.

Williams isn't just Spielberg's go-to guy for summer popcorn flicks. He's written the score for everything from Space Camp to Angela's Ashes. In the process, Williams has picked up five Academy Awards, so far. We bet he lines them up on top of his baby grand piano so they can watch him work.

Go Big or Go Home

A Williams score is known for its size. We don't mean he scribbles down his notes on poster board or anything. Rather, bombast is Williams' calling card as a composer. He heightens the action on the screen with surging strings and shimmering brass.

Last Crusade's theme is a prime example of what we're talking about. It starts with two minutes of majestic, yet slightly sinister horns and strings. There's a stately, melancholy quality about the music, too, and it all works together to reflect the film's layers of adventure, emotion, and danger. It's pretty, but it's not too pretty.

Suddenly, a series of familiar, almost militaristic horn blasts kicks in before the theme explodes into an instantly recognizable brass fanfare that unfurls like an avalanche of trumpets. The theme from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade has a rolling, rollicking quality to it, which mirrors the film's globetrotting sense of adventure.

Williams' orchestration is bold and brave. It never stops barreling along—and keeping the audience's pulse racing. Kind of like a certain archaeology professor we know.