# Trailers that hijack their score from other movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 30, 2004, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trailers-that-hijack-their-score-from-other-movies/247852 "2004-05-30T23:12:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trailers-that-hijack-their-score-from-other-movies/247852/21 "2004-06-01T13:35:13Z")
Just to satisfy a curiosity (and to get me subscribed to my own damn thread … I’ve not been getting e-mail updates on this), what was the music used in the trailer for the original Matrix? I distinctly recall it being a lift from something, but I don’t have the trailer to hand any more and I can’t recall exactly what it was. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trailers-that-hijack-their-score-from-other-movies/247852/22 "2004-06-02T17:58:28Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I thought it was the chorus from ‘Carmina Burana’ whcih is also commonly used and sounds a lot like ‘Conan music’. It was also used in the score for ‘Excaliber’. Nope, it was Basil Poledouris’ original piece “Riders of Doom” from _Conan the Barbarian_, which as you mentioned sounds similar to “Carmina Burana” (and was the source of an argument with an idiot friend of mine who insisted that “Carmina Burana” was, in fact, the soundtrack from _Conan_, despite being shown the soundtrack liner notes and my offer of playing the soundtrack for him…). Both are fairly thrilling music, and neither has any place in any movie starring Richard Gere. (Dear God, they get Connery to play King Arthur and it’s in _that_ steaming pile of celluloid?) ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trailers-that-hijack-their-score-from-other-movies/247852/23 "2004-06-02T18:33:53Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > The theme music from _ **The Last Starfighter** _ appears in the trailer to that immortal classic, _The Jetsons Movie_. (I know y’all have been agonizing over not knowing that for years now.) Great, now I’ve got this image of Elroy being the final hope of a desperate Star League against Zur and the Ko-Dan Armada… ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trailers-that-hijack-their-score-from-other-movies/247852/24 "2004-06-02T19:00:47Z")
> [@Hail Ants](#): > > Although I haven’t heard it being used in quite a while now, James Horner’s **‘Bishop’s Countdown’** from **Aliens** was heard over dozens of trailers for years after it first came out. Dangit - you stole my post. To make this more than just a ‘me too’, I’ll add that the trailer for **Minority Report** used Bishop’s countdown. ---
**Author:** ![ForgottenLore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@ForgottenLore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForgottenLore)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trailers-that-hijack-their-score-from-other-movies/247852/25 "2004-06-02T19:04:42Z")
One that I’ve noticed being used in trailers is the music that I think of as the “he-just-knocked-it-out-of-the-park” theme from _The Natural_. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trailers-that-hijack-their-score-from-other-movies/247852/26 "2004-06-02T21:33:50Z")
> [@Evil Death](#): > > Just to satisfy a curiosity (and to get me subscribed to my own damn thread … I’ve not been getting e-mail updates on this), what was the music used in the trailer for the original Matrix? I distinctly recall it being a lift from something, but I don’t have the trailer to hand any more and I can’t recall exactly what it was. The dramatic choral piece? That was Enigma’s _In the Eyes of Truth._ I’ll add…a few trailer for _From the Earth to the Moon_ used a bit from the _Waterworld_ soundtrack, when they discover “Dryland.” And I think I’ve heard other bits from _Waterworld_ in other things, too. ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trailers-that-hijack-their-score-from-other-movies/247852/27 "2004-06-02T22:46:47Z")
I’ve noticed the music from the various Batman movies (_Batman Returns_, particularly) appearing in various trailers. A lot of Danny Elfman’s stuff gets retasked for trailers of often wildly different movies. I’ve noticed _Last of the Mohicans_’ soundtrack popping up more recently. What happened to soundtracks from movies being actual soundtracks? Not, y’know, the pop song they played 15 seconds of during that one scene in the diner that was later cut from the movie. It’s basically the last source of non-irritant new classical music, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trailers-that-hijack-their-score-from-other-movies/247852/28 "2004-06-02T22:54:19Z")
The song “Treat Her Right” from the **Commitments** soundtrack seems to pop up in a lot of trailers, usually sappy romantic comedies. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trailers-that-hijack-their-score-from-other-movies/247852/29 "2004-06-03T06:23:07Z")
“Ronin” from the _Last Samurai_ soundtrack is being used more and more often, from what I understand. It’s even in the “Spider-Man 2” trailer. (It’s the music that sounds like someone playing a Taiko drum inside your skull. 🆒 ) ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trailers-that-hijack-their-score-from-other-movies/247852/30 "2004-06-03T06:36:41Z")
> [@Kilt-wearin' man](#): > > **Titanic** ’s trailer used music from **Braveheart**. It didn’t fit. The TV spots for **Les Misérables** (Liam Neeson, Uma Thurman) used music from **Titanic**. It’s what made me decide not to go see it, because I thought it was just trying to be a rip-off. I know better now and wish I’d seen it in the theater. It seems like you hear the music from **Unfaithful** all the time now. I heard it most recently in a trailer for **Vanity Fair**. It doesn’t work at all there. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trailers-that-hijack-their-score-from-other-movies/247852/31 "2004-06-03T08:09:05Z")
> [@1010011010](#): > > What happened to soundtracks from movies being actual soundtracks? Not, y’know, the pop song they played 15 seconds of during that one scene in the diner that was later cut from the movie. It’s basically the last source of non-irritant new classical music, IMO. They now distinguish the two kinds as: ‘soundtrack’ = pop music the label is trying to shill and is freakin’ everywhere. ‘score’ = the orchestral music you really want but is now annoyingly hard to find. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trailers-that-hijack-their-score-from-other-movies/247852/32 "2004-06-03T08:14:25Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > The dramatic choral piece? That was Enigma’s _In the Eyes of Truth._ I thought it was Enigma, because all Enigma albums sound identical, but I didn’t know which bit - because all Enigma albums sound identical. Thanks. (I’m still not getting e-mail notifications for this thread, you know. How annoying.) ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trailers-that-hijack-their-score-from-other-movies/247852/33 "2004-06-03T15:12:46Z")
The Fugitive music is also used a lot in trailers. Usually for thrillers and such. ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trailers-that-hijack-their-score-from-other-movies/247852/34 "2004-06-03T15:45:54Z")
[http://www.filmmusic.com/trailers/](http://www.filmmusic.com/trailers/) is a great site for questions about the music used in trailers. Incidentally, [The Chronicles of Riddick](http://www.filmmusic.com/trailers/?cid=C&id=1395) also features music by Danny Elfman. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trailers-that-hijack-their-score-from-other-movies/247852/35 "2004-06-03T19:16:30Z")
The opening to the song “More Human Than Human” by Rob Zombie has been used over and over in commercials and trailers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trailers-that-hijack-their-score-from-other-movies/247852.md?page=1)