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Musical theme reuse has become my film-geek obsession. There are two things I excel at in film-nerd-terms and that is spotting the Willhelm Scream, and spotting film re-use. I’m also quite good at spotting actors and voices who are lesser known but crop up in films from time to time- but this is negated by the fact I can’t remember names for toffee, leading me to the amusing but embarrassing situation where I’m rambling and saying “oh, you know, that guy…”.

But musical theme re-use is taken to brand new elevations by the living legend that is Hans Zimmer.

Hans Zimmer is, unsurprisingly ubiquitous. Largely through having become associated with Pirates of The Carribbean as a result of the renowned theme “He’s a Pirate”; he has become a household name, the like of which has not been seen in orchestral music since John Williams rendered the return of classical orchestral themes to cinema when he played his part in Star Wars (in which, by the way, Greedo shot first…).

What’s interesting about the pirates theme is that Hans wasn’t the original composer in the credits- that previously was Klaus Bedelt. It was only with later releases and the disc releases that Klaus Badelt was relegated to co-composer alongside Hans, which is a by-product of the professional relationship they have. It is also a byproduct of the fact that “He’s a pirate” is also a complete rip-off of a theme from Hans’s earlier work,”The Battle of Carthage.”

Having asserted that the piece by Klaus/Hans was a (what I shall politely re-term) a rearrangement of Hans’s earlier work, a listen to the score from the 1996 movie “The Rock” will enlighten you as to a few of the chordal sequences and leitmotifs true origins.

Oh, no, wait, actually, if you listen to “Too Many Notes, Not Enough Rest”, used in the film Drop Zone, you’ll be able to close your eyes and imaging Johnny Depp running along, sword in hand and dreadlocked beard in tow…

And now pause to allow the ladies (and gentlemen of a certain inclination) in the audience to regain their composure…

From Gladiator, we can trace other musical themes also, through Black Hawk Down. But actually, some of those vocal themes can actually be picked up scattered in Mission Impossible II. These are far more subtle, and wander the line of stylistic- the themes are broken apart enough to simply be considered “Essence of Zimmer”, if you will; not to mention that the re-use of Lisa Gerrard’s vocal talents in these pieces would obviously tilt the ear.  Though that excuse cannot be made for the odd three or four note segments from the Lion King that show up in “Tennessee” from “Pearl Harbour” If you start listening for his self plaigarism.

That said, there is nothing like the wholesale reuse of a piece, as with “Roll Tide” from “Crimson Tide” where it resurfaces in “Deep Blue Sea”.

This does not however, decry his brilliance. To observe the list of films for which he has composed at IMDB, is a grand adventure in music. And one need only listen to the scores of The Last Samurai or of course the 2009 take on Sherlock Holmes (my personal favourite) to hear something deliciously different, and so it is I depart this article to go and urge you to seek out theme re-uses by musicians everywhere, and especially Hans Zimmer’s work, because it’s so damn good.

Philip Adler

Philip Adler is a postgraduate student at Southampton University. Though strictly still a student member of the club, he's increasingly feeling like one of the "Old Boys". He watches films as a way to meet up with friends, old and new, and shoots highly focused x-ray beams at crystals to find out what they're made of the rest of the time. An uber-geek, he programs to make extra cash on the side, and when he gets round to it, to help with the Union activities. His favourite film is the Matrix, and he has a wonderful wife.

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