Welcome everyone to the latest edition of Top Five Fridays! A few days ago, the Academy Award nominations came out and legendary composer John Williams earned his 51st nomination, more than any other living person. He’s composed the scores for some of the most iconic films of all time and set the mood for every main Star Wars film.
With all the franchises that he’s worked on in the past, I’ve put a guideline in place that I’m only picking only one song from a franchise because if I didn’t do that, then it’d be all Star Wars songs. On with the countdown!
5. The Attack on the House (Home Alone)
During the holiday season, I watched Home Alone quite a few times. I’ll always enjoy the second one, but I gained a newfound appreciation for the original and hearing that particular song made me laugh at the scene even more.
It worked because of the fact that this was a real-life cartoon scene. Seeing Kevin set up all these traps reminded me of the old Wile E. Coyote cartoons. Let’s be real that there’s no way Harry and Marv would’ve survived all that in real life.
4. Main Title Theme (Jaws)
His second-ever Oscar win came for this very film and it’s pretty obvious as to why. The suspense that builds as you hear it play throughout the film when the shark is about to attack once again.
Also, I’m giving it bonus points for the Salsa Shark scene in Clerks paying homage to the iconic film.
3. The Raiders March (Indiana Jones)
Another iconic theme that I keep having in my head whenever I’m playing Uncharted. It works so well with some of the high-action scenes in the series of films following one of Harrison Ford’s most iconic characters. It also reminds me a little bit of The Great Escape’s theme which I love for several reasons.
2. Wide Receiver (Sunday Night Football)
NBC does a fantastic job when it comes to the music they use for their sports programming. Roundball Rock is possibly the greatest sports theme song ever made and hearing it during the 2016 Olympics was a blast from the past.
That being said, John Williams composition for the Sunday Night Football theme song (not the Carrie Underwood one) fits in the pantheon of great NFL compositions that you might’ve heard on the old NFL Films.
1. Binary Sunset (Star Wars: A New Hope)
For me, this has been my favorite song from all the movies for a long time. It fits so well when Luke looks off into the sunset after Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru were killed in A New Hope and you can even hear it in the final moments of The Last Jedi (no spoilers here).
I’ve always loved the Star Wars movies and it’s fitting to put this at the top of my personal list of favorite songs from one of the best modern composers in John Williams.
-Clint@1063RL