Who ripped off who?

[seventy3]

Watched my copy of HKLs The Big Boss last night and noticed a striking similarity between the Chinese score on chapters 11, 17 and 28 to the intro to Pink Floyd's 'Time' from Dark Side Of The Moon is it just me or what?

If it is the same (and I'm pretty bloody sure it is :-) then my question is 'who ripped off who? They both date from around the same time so which came first?

C'mon guys I bet someone knows!

Cheers
Seventy3

[Michael Brooke]

Although made in 1971, <I>The Big Boss</I> wasn't released in English-speaking territories until 1973, so I suspect the supervisor of the English dub simply ripped off whatever was current at the time, on the assumption that they'd probably get away with it.

This seems to have been common practice with Hong Kong films at that time - <I>Way of the Dragon</I> recycles Ennio Morricone soundtracks, while <I>One-Armed Boxer II</I> rips off early 1970s Faust and Tangerine Dream albums.

[seventy3]

That is the wierd thing about this, though, Michael. I switched from the Chinese track to the English one and the music on that dub was some very cheesy soul/funk keyboard bit. No hint of ver Floyd!

Also the producers of the english dub have to rapped on the knuckles for completely failing to insert the audio cues that occur everytime Cheun takes out the jade necklace that his mother gave him 'to remind him not to fight'.

I find it enormously amusing every time I switch from an Eastern dub to the (universally poor) English one, just to see how much butchery is going on!

seventy3

[Michael Brooke]

<B>That is the wierd thing about this, though, Michael. I switched from the Chinese track to the English one and the music on that dub was some very cheesy soul/funk keyboard bit. No hint of ver Floyd!
</B>

OK, change of story - the film was originally released in Mandarin, and not dubbed into Cantonese for many years. Presumably the Pink Floyd cues were added then - and <U>not</U> added to the English version in order to minimise the chances of being nicked for copyright infringement.

How's that?

[seventy3]

That'll do for me guvnor! I shall be keeping an ear out for other rip-offs now. A good excuse to buy more 70s Hong Kong films methinks! Time to watch Way Of The Dragon again and listen out for those Morricone stylings!

seventy3

[gZa]

'Nicking' music from other films for HK film soundtracks is/was common practice...

e.g.

Snake in the Eagle's Shadow; Oxygene - JM Jarre and some music that reminds me of Heidi! :o :p
Drunken Master; I believe this has some Bond music in it!
The Way of the Dragon; Once Upon a Time in the West - E Morricone
Magnificent Bodyguards; Star Wars - J Williams
..and more recently...
The Killer; This used Silvestri / Horner's No Mercy / Red Heat scores (altho' I believe Woo cleared the rights)