View Full Version : Different films which feature the same (or very similar) score??
bruce-leroy
05-10-2003, 15:48
Two which immediately spring to mind are:
48 Hours and Commando - James Horner
Speed and Bad Boys - Mark Mancina
Any others?
DeadKenny
05-10-2003, 16:26
Any film with a Jerry Goldsmith score...
... sounds like a Star Trek film :p
Originally posted by DeadKenny
Any film with a Jerry Goldsmith score...
Agree. Listen to the main soundtrack to Basic Instinct and then watch the motion titles for Hollow Man.
The likeness is uncanny.
Paul Bennison
05-10-2003, 16:47
Titanic & Braveheart - That'll be Mr Horner!
megatron
05-10-2003, 16:52
My Braveheart Will Go On?!:nuts:
James Horner again
Aliens & Patriot Games
Main themes from Conan the Barbarian (Basil Poledouris) and Total Recall (Jerry Goldsmith) are very similar IMO
Michael Brooke
05-10-2003, 18:49
Richard Band's score for <I>ReAnimator</I> is virtually identical to large chunks of Bernard Herrmann's rather better-known score for <I>Psycho</I> - so much so that I'm amazed Herrmann's estate didn't sue!
Hong Kong films routinely ripped off Western soundtracks (they assumed that no-one would bother to sue) - with the result that <I>Way of the Dragon</I> features Ennio Morricone's <I>Once Upon a Time in the West</I>, <I>The Killer</i> features James Horner's <I>Red Heat</I> (made the previous year) and something called <I>The Young Avenger</I> featured the main theme from Nino Rota's score to Fellini's <I>Casanova</I>!
Willow and Enemy at the Gates
Most of Thomas Newman's scores:thumbs:
custard_chris
05-10-2003, 19:03
James Horner's Star Trek 2/3 scores and Battle Beyond the Stars are very similar indeeds.
And isn't the opening of Aliens the bit of Khachaturyan that's used in 2001 : A Space Odyssey?
willow and krull - mr horner again
bruce-leroy
05-10-2003, 19:10
Originally posted by Michael Brooke
Richard Band's score for <I>ReAnimator</I> is virtually identical to large chunks of Bernard Herrmann's rather better-known score for <I>Psycho</I> - so much so that I'm amazed Herrmann's estate didn't sue!
I always wondered that. I was a bit bemused at first, because in the commentary, they fail to acknowledge Herrmann. Now I just like to think of it as an affectionate homage. :)
You can usually tell when a film's been scored by John Williams but they all end up sounding different.
Captain_Chaos
05-10-2003, 19:30
Cliffhanger / Last of the Mohicans are identical in parts...
DeadKenny
05-10-2003, 19:49
John Barry films...
... all sound like Bond films :D
DeadKenny
05-10-2003, 19:54
Originally posted by custard_chris
James Horner's Star Trek 2/3 scores and Battle Beyond the Stars are very similar indeeds.
And isn't the opening of Aliens the bit of Khachaturyan that's used in 2001 : A Space Odyssey?
Indeed it is, and doesn't Aliens in places also feature an uncanny resemblence to the aforementioned Trek 2? ;) (Horner again).
Michael Brooke
05-10-2003, 20:00
Woody Allen's <I>Love and Death</I> features generous chunks of Prokofiev's 1930s film scores (mainly <I>Alexander Nevsky</I> and <I>Lieutenant Kijé</i>).
monkeyboy73
05-10-2003, 20:44
Pirates of the Caribbean uses part of the score from Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Ennio Morricone's score for "Bugsy" sounds remarkably like his score for "State of Grace".
DavidMcGowan
05-10-2003, 23:23
Originally posted by Michael Brooke
something called <I>The Young Avenger</I> featured the main theme from Nino Rota's score to Fellini's <I>Casanova</I>!
Speaking of Nino Rota, there's an interesting documentary about him on Criterion's 8 1/2 DVD that shows how he often reworked and sometimes just basically repeated his old compositions used in previous films. The documentary questions whether he somewhat lazily took the money for new jobs thinking he could get away with it, or whether the similarities were coincidental and he 'forgot' that he used the score previously (despite my choice of wording, the documentary makes a slightly more convincing argument for latter than I have ;)). Most notably, his Oscar nomination for the Godfather theme was withdrawn due to its strong similarities to a previous score (which IMDB reminds me was for the Fellini-scripted 1957 comedy Fortunella). As far as I remember, the extract from the documentary showed what we now recognise as The Godfather tune, but played at a much faster tempo and seeming strangely upbeat. It's interesting to see how the same components have been tweaked to evoke such a different mood in The Godfather.
Danny Elfman :)
Although, whether they all sound the same or whether it's just a distinctive style, I'm not sure.
Fred2002
06-10-2003, 00:10
Aliens and Star Trek 2 could almost be the same film music wise! Also on the soundtrack CD of Aliens, one bit of music that was not used in the final cut of the film turned up at the end of Die Hard!
sweetmate
06-10-2003, 01:28
Hans Zimmer will either do
a) something fairly interesting (e.g. parts of Black Hawk Down, True Romance (although thats stolen from Badlands), Thin Red Line, The Pledge), or
b) the same military bombastic theme over and over again: The Rock, Gladiator, Pearl Harbour, Crimson Tide, Pirates of Carribean.
There's lumps of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade music in Attack of the Clones.
In fact, many John Williams soundtracks seem to 'pay homage' to each other.
Taq
Originally posted by Lee O
James Horner again
Aliens & Patriot Games
Yep, same theme used full stop (scene where Jack's in the CIA building and where he watches the computer kill)
"Badlands" and "True Romance" - exept that is intentional !
"Star Wars: A new Hope"" and "Swan lake" by Tchaikovsky
custard_chris
06-10-2003, 08:43
Originally posted by Fred2002
Aliens and Star Trek 2 could almost be the same film music wise! Also on the soundtrack CD of Aliens, one bit of music that was not used in the final cut of the film turned up at the end of Die Hard!
And it really sounds out of place in Die Hard, too - doesn't match Micheal Kamen's variations on Beethoven at all.
custard_chris
06-10-2003, 08:46
Originally posted by CRB
"Star Wars: A new Hope"" and "Swan lake" by Tchaikovsky
I can't say I've noticed any similarity between those two...
You've got to be kidding me !!! Listen to the final act again. Biggest rip off I think I've ever heard. This is actually common knowledge I thought...
Originally posted by bruce-leroy
I always wondered that. I was a bit bemused at first, because in the commentary, they fail to acknowledge Herrmann. Now I just like to think of it as an affectionate homage. :)
There's an interview with the Re-Animator composer Richard Band on the Millennium Edition DVD, in which he openly acknowledges the 'influence' (read: 'rip-off') from Bernard Hermann's Psycho theme.
Scream 2 oddly features Broken Arrow whenever Dewey appears, but somehow it works.
I love the use of the Aliens finale in Die Hard.
Dan Druff
06-10-2003, 11:55
Maurice Jarre: Passage to India and Ryans Daughter..main theme is practically identical!
Also when I first heard the theme on the trailer of Harry Potter I thought it was part of The Witches of Eastwick soundtrack. John Williams tends to be pretty distinctive, his 'magic' themes pretty similar.
Originally posted by ozric99
Danny Elfman :)
Although, whether they all sound the same or whether it's just a distinctive style, I'm not sure.
that man is a god (imo of course).
i'd say it was more his heavy brass influenced style than the sounding the same, but you can tell an elfman a mile away :thumbs: :luv:
Summerisle
06-10-2003, 12:20
Originally posted by bruce-leroy
Two which immediately spring to mind are:
48 Hours and Commando - James Horner
Speed and Bad Boys - Mark Mancina
Any others?
James Horner is (in)famous for re-using his own music and allegedly other peoples!
Mancina has been involved with Bruckheimer movies most of which are scored by Hans Zimmer or one of the members of his Media Ventures group. See Pirates of the Carribbean for an extreme example of this type of score. Some of the group are better composers than others.
Summerisle
06-10-2003, 12:26
Originally posted by Guiness
Scream 2 oddly features Broken Arrow whenever Dewey appears, but somehow it works.
I love the use of the Aliens finale in Die Hard.
For S2 the bit from BA was on the temp score, they like it so paid a fee to use it. Again in Die Hard it was the temp score used because Michael Kamen didn't have time to score that portion of the movie.
Temping itself is the work of the devil because they get so used to it they just want the composer to ape that sound. Also scores are far longer on average today; the score to Patton is barely 30 minutes long, whereas the latest release can have up to 2 hours of music.
Originally posted by Michael Brooke
<I>The Killer</i> features James Horner's <I>Red Heat</I> (made the previous year)Add to that bit's from Alan Silvestri's <I>No Mercy</i> score.
Paul Bennison
06-10-2003, 19:37
Originally posted by Lee O
James Horner again
Aliens & Patriot Games
Off topic - The music that was used in the Eastenders Phil vs Den trailer is from Patriot Games. It's been nagging me for days and that's just prompted me to work it out!
Thank you!
Michael Brooke
06-10-2003, 20:02
<I>Three Colours: Blue</I> was ruined for me by the fact that its music score was recycled from an earlier Kieslowski film (the much more obscure <I>No End</I>). Normally, this wouldn't be a major issue - except that in <I>Three Colours: Blue</I>, the music is supposed to be an entirely original score written by one (or more) of the film's characters!
DeadKenny
07-10-2003, 11:32
Originally posted by Paul Bennison
Off topic - The music that was used in the Eastenders Phil vs Den trailer is from Patriot Games. It's been nagging me for days and that's just prompted me to work it out!
And the music in the teaser programme with Den vs Dennis was from Once Upon A Time In The West :dork:
arnold schwarzeneggers 'red heat' used the soundtrack to 'the killer'.
Michael Brooke
07-10-2003, 17:29
Originally posted by kerraig
arnold schwarzeneggers 'red heat' used the soundtrack to 'the killer'.
Wrong way round - and already mentioned above!
zakchase
07-10-2003, 17:35
John Williams' scores for "The Patriot" and "Amistad" are almost identical.
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