James Horner

One of Hollywood's most prolific blockbuster composers, later known for Titanic and Avatar — his sweeping, brass-forward score gave The Rocketeer the unashamed romance of a real 1930s adventure serial. Classically trained at the Royal College of Music in London, he scored an extraordinary volume of major studio films across a four-decade career before his death in a 2015 plane crash. His Rocketeer score is frequently cited by film-music enthusiasts as one of his most purely joyful, old-fashioned adventure scores.