Different films, Same score (1 Viewer)

[MichaelPe]

I've been trying to think of examples where the same music was used in several films. Most of the time, these are classical pieces that are simply used between films, but many times it feels like the film's entire score is recycled music.

In the last 2-3 years, I think I've seen over a dozen films containing Arvo Pärt's "Alina" & "Spiegel im Spiegel" themes. Some that come to mind are Heaven, Gerry, Depuis q'Otar est parti, Mostly Martha, Wit, Japon, Swept Away, La Chambre des officiers, Abandon, ...

Yann Tiersen, best known for his work in Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (which was mostly rehashed from his earlier work), has also scored a few films... though his newest project, Good bye, Lenin!, contains a lot of the same music as in Amélie.

Maybe it's just me, but I sometimes find it distracting when I hear a familiar/overplayed piece in a new film. In some instances, especially in films like Swept Away, I see it as a lack of creativity. Perhaps it's simply because they didn't want to hire someone to write new music, or perhaps they didn't have the time. Don't get me wrong... I'm not against this practice, but I do think that it's sometimes done untastefully.

So, any other examples that come to mind?

 

[Shawn_KE]

The music for Bram Strokers Dracula has been used for several horror flick trailers. Frankenstein and Mummy come to mind, but I know there were lots more. Don't remember if it was actually used in those movies though.

 

[george kaplan]

Well it's only one piece of the score, but "Fashion Show" from Designing Woman is used in the Herrmann's score of North by Northwest.

 

[Andy Sheets]

IIRC, Broken Arrow and Scream 2 used the same score, or at least a segment of a score. I'm not sure if it was a pre-existing piece of music, but it was very noticeable.

 

[Robert Floto]

The opening theme to Re-Animator is essentially the same opening theme to Psycho.

 

[Sean Moon]

The theme reused from Broken Arrow was an original piece for that film. It was from Hans Zimmers score and played by Duane Eddy. The liner notes on the soundtrack from Zimmer explain that Travolta's theme needed to be smooth and charming, as the devil always had the most beautiful music. I can dig up the disc and post the exact notes as needed, but I loved the idea behind giving the villian the calm and relaxed music. I was very upset to see it used in Scream 2, as I feel it kind of cheapened that wonderful piece of film score. Broken Arrow is one of my favorite scores by Hans Zimmer.

 

[Gabe D]

I recently watched The Shakiest Gun in the West, and I noticed right away that a lot of the score was the same incidental music they used on "Green Acres."

 

[MikeRR]

Most of the score for Ron Howard's "The Missing" sounds exactly like "Braveheart". It's the same composer, too (James Horner).

 

[Chauncey_G]

One of the most blatant that I ever noticed was with the first Die Hard in the scene where Karl shows back up at the very end and is about to shoot Bruce Willis before being shot himself. The music is a straight lift from James Horner's score for Aliens in the scene where they're flying away from the nuclear explosion.

 

[Ruben Zamora]

OMG, I know plenty but dont remember LOL...


The GLADIATOR theme is used a lot. WHen he's back in Rome.


A lot of movies use the same notes from shawshank redemption as well.

 

[Andy Sheets]

Most of the score for Ron Howard's "The Missing" sounds exactly like "Braveheart". It's the same composer, too (James Horner)

Horner recycles tons of stuff for his scores. His entire score for Patriot Games is an expansion of his opening to Aliens, for example.

 

[Drue Elrick]

The music used in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story has been used in many movies. Unfortunately I don't recall their names. Just that there have been so many. =/

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

The theme reused from Broken Arrow was an original piece for that film. It was from Hans Zimmers score and played by Duane Eddy. The liner notes on the soundtrack from Zimmer explain that Travolta's theme needed to be smooth and charming, as the devil always had the most beautiful music. I can dig up the disc and post the exact notes as needed, but I loved the idea behind giving the villian the calm and relaxed music. I was very upset to see it used in Scream 2, as I feel it kind of cheapened that wonderful piece of film score. Broken Arrow is one of my favorite scores by Hans Zimmer.

I knew I had heard that piece of music before, and couldn't place it. They used it for Dewey's theme, if I remember correctly.

 

[Patrick McCart]

The Flash Gordon serials made by Universal re-used music from Bride of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man (and other films).

The Man Who Laughs' Movietone score re-uses some cues used in the score for Sunrise and the 1929 version of Phantom of the Opera.

Charlie Chaplin used some cues from The Great Dictator in his 1942 sound version of The Gold Rush.

 

[Simon Massey]

The music played during the Quidditch match for Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets (when Harry and Draco are trying to catch the gold thing) sounds very similar if not the same to the chase through Coruscant sequence of Attack Of The Clones.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

I've heard the same music used in different porno movies, or does that count?

 

[Sean Moon]

I thought the music from Die Hard at the end was from something different. I remember it being used in trailers for the Abyss the following year, but the music when they fly off in Aliens is pretty different. If I remember correctly.

 

[Chad R]

I thought the music at the end of "Die Hard" was from "Cocoon." Although I could be wrong.

James Horner has a specific piece of music which he uses quite a bit. It's in the opening of Aliens and used again during the research scenes from his Jack Ryan scores. Although I can't really deride him too much for it, I'm sure coming up with the amount of original music per year he has to is a daunting task.

 

[JeremySt]

James Horner is the biggest offender in re-using his own music.

Some of Star Trek II show up in Aliens

Some of Aliens shows up in Cocoon

Almost all of Clear and Present Danger's score is from Patriot Games.

Some of Aliens is in Patriot Games.

 

[John_Berger]

Hell, I heard themes from Star Trek II in Krull, which he also composed.