Aliens and 2001 music link?
pj...@minster.york.ac.uk
I saw the whole of Aliens (the second film, not Aliens3) last night for the
first time - ok, ok.. I'm a bit behind :) - so this question may have already
been discussed...
Anyway.. I noticed the music playing at the very beginning of Aliens, where
the spaceship carrying Ripley & co is drifting through space, and during the
credits at the end, sounds *almost* the same as the music playing in 2001 in
the first scenes aboard the Discovery, while Dave Bowman is doing his morning
jog around the artificial gravity drum part of the ship.
Has anyone else noticed this? Is it coincidental, or deliberate?
By the way, the version of Aliens I saw was this new, apparently 'extended'
video release - I don't know how much this differs from the previous release(s).
Cheers,
Paul Taylor
PS. Why did they have to make those facehugger things look like spiders.. don't
they know I hate spiders??
PPS. Why don't facehuggers evolve into something cute and fluffy? They'd get on
much better in life.. for example :
"Awwww.. look at the lovely fwuffy widdle cweature.. awww.. come here
and let me give you a nice cuddl..*GLURK* *URGLE* *UCUCKCCkckCkc.." ;-)
Richard Lee Winterstein
>
>Anyway.. I noticed the music playing at the very beginning of Aliens, where
>the spaceship carrying Ripley & co is drifting through space, and during the
>credits at the end, sounds *almost* the same as the music playing in 2001 in
>the first scenes aboard the Discovery, while Dave Bowman is doing his morning
>jog around the artificial gravity drum part of the ship.
>
>Has anyone else noticed this? Is it coincidental, or deliberate?
>
on the VCR; I walked into our house and heard this piece, and rushed into the
living room expecting to see 2001...
I doubt it is coincidence; I would assume it was a deliberate attempt to evoke
the same sense of languor and quietude of space travel in 2001 (Can anyone
argue that Kubrick's choice of music for that film was anything less than
inspired?)
Unfortunately I forgot the name of the piece! I can tell you that is was
composed by Aram Khachaturian (this is a transliteration of his name so
different spellings do exist), and I think it is something like "Suite from
Gayanne."
As coincidence would have it, this Saturday (6/6) is the 89th anniversary of
Kachaturian's birth (so says my public radio program guide that came today)
so if the classical station(s) in your area broadcast a lot of a particular
composer's music on his birthday, you may get a chance to hear it.
I had a similar experience about a year ago. I woke up Saturday morning to
hear "Siegfried's Funeral March" in all its splendor emanating from the
living room; my immediate hope that a film adaptation of the Ring was on can
only be described as religious in intensity...turned out to be "Excalibur"...
enjoyed it anyway, though!
Carry on,
Rick
mus...@lure.latrobe.edu.au
>
> I saw the whole of Aliens (the second film, not Aliens3) last night for the
> first time - ok, ok.. I'm a bit behind :) - so this question may have already
> been discussed...
>
> Anyway.. I noticed the music playing at the very beginning of Aliens, where
> the spaceship carrying Ripley & co is drifting through space, and during the
> credits at the end, sounds *almost* the same as the music playing in 2001 in
> the first scenes aboard the Discovery, while Dave Bowman is doing his morning
> jog around the artificial gravity drum part of the ship.
>
> Has anyone else noticed this? Is it coincidental, or deliberate?
>
>
>
> PPS. Why don't facehuggers evolve into something cute and fluffy? They'd get on
> much better in life.. for example :
> "Awwww.. look at the lovely fwuffy widdle cweature.. awww.. come here
> and let me give you a nice cuddl..*GLURK* *URGLE* *UCUCKCCkckCkc.." ;-)
Undoubtedly the opening credit music in Aliens is a deliberate rip-off
(hommage?) of the drifting-through-space music from 2001. The first
eight or so bars are identical....but then the Aliens version heads
off on a tangent. The original music is taken from the ballet Gayaneh
by Khatchaturian (he also is responsible for the ballet Spartacus, from
which the theme for the Onedin Line came).
As for why there is this link between the two films...I have no idea.
As for cute facehuggers......I have this theory that the Aliens and
Tribbles both evolved on the same planet......
Be seeing you,
Jason Hellwege La Trobe Uni, Melbourne, Oz.
cje...@aud2.aud.auc.dk
> the spaceship carrying Ripley & co is drifting through space, and during the
> credits at the end, sounds *almost* the same as the music playing in 2001 in
> the first scenes aboard the Discovery, while Dave Bowman is doing his morning
> jog around the artificial gravity drum part of the ship.
>
> Has anyone else noticed this? Is it coincidental, or deliberate?
You are right.
The scene where Frank Poole plays chess with HAL a classical piece (Not made
especially for the film, but simply picked out by Kubrick) is being tributed in
Aliens by James Horner. Horner only uses a brief passage of the theme from 2001
but the similarity is unmistakable. By the way, if you listen to the soundtrack
of Aliens you will notice that the music in the last scene differs from the
soundtrack.
The final confrontation-theme on the album is used in the climax of Die Hard
where the black police officer shoots Karl in front of the Nakatomi building.
{konen og boernene har det ellers godt}
-Cjelli
Gunter Ahrendt
The music is definetly in homage, two other paralles to 2001 are, when Ripley's
face fills the screen and then fades out to a shot of the Earth and
spacestation ala 2001' Starchild at the end.
2) hard to catch this one, the sound of the storm shutters and the doors to the
Med Lab in Aliens is sampled from 2001's Pod Bay Doors sound!
Craig Coffin
> The scene where Frank Poole plays chess with HAL a classical piece (Not made
>especially for the film, but simply picked out by Kubrick) is being tributed in
>Aliens by James Horner. Horner only uses a brief passage of the theme from 2001
>but the similarity is unmistakable. By the way, if you listen to the soundtrack
>of Aliens you will notice that the music in the last scene differs from the
>soundtrack.
> The final confrontation-theme on the album is used in the climax of Die Hard
>where the black police officer shoots Karl in front of the Nakatomi building.
I may be mistaken, but there is another instance of music 'lifted' from
another film:
In _Aliens_, as Bishop pilots the dropship away from the about-to-explode
atmosphere processor, the music is very similar, if not identical to the music
being played in _Star_Wars_, when Luke is flying away from the about-to-explode
Death Star.
Can anyone confirm or deny this?
--
-- Craig Coffin --
(cr...@odie.cs.mun.ca)
CS Dept., Memorial University of Newfoundland
Pieter Kallemeyn
>
> I may be mistaken, but there is another instance of music 'lifted' from
>another film:
> In _Aliens_, as Bishop pilots the dropship away from the about-to-explode
>atmosphere processor, the music is very similar, if not identical to the music
>being played in _Star_Wars_, when Luke is flying away from the about-to-explode
>Death Star.
>
> Can anyone confirm or deny this?
>
>
>--
>
>-- Craig Coffin --
>(cr...@odie.cs.mun.ca)
>CS Dept., Memorial University of Newfoundland
I know the scene you're talking about, but I think it's from one of the
Star Trek movies, not Star Wars (Most likely STII or STIII).
I believe James Horner did both scores, and it's not uncommon to hear
similarities in the music. Listen to 'Dances with Wolves' and 'Out of
Africa', by John Barry, and you can tell it's done by the same guy.
BTW, Barry has also done the scores for many James Bond movies, plus 'The
Black Hole', and 'Somewhere in Time'.
--
Pieter Kallemeyn | p...@aristotle.jpl.nasa.gov
Jet Propulsion Laboratory | - or -
California Institute of Technology | p...@cabrilho.jpl.nasa.gov
Synth F. Oberheim
cr...@odie.cs.mun.ca (Craig Coffin) writes:
Craig> I may be mistaken, but there is another instance of music
Craig> 'lifted' from another film: In _Aliens_, as Bishop pilots the
Craig> dropship away from the about-to-explode atmosphere processor,
Craig> the music is very similar, if not identical to the music being
Craig> played in _Star_Wars_, when Luke is flying away from the
Craig> about-to-explode Death Star. Can anyone confirm or deny this?
True, the two passages are similar in some ways, but Horner didn't
necessarily lift it out of John Williams' score outright. Horner *did*
however lift it right out of his own score for STAR TREK II (the first
confrontation between Enterprise and Reliant). While it is a most
effective way to add a lot of *tension* to a climactic scene (I almost
wet my 501s the first time I saw STII :-), it can get old fast.
Does Horner rehash his tricks yet again in PATRIOT GAMES, or can we expect
some fresh ideas?
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:: :: :: :: :: :: :: Oberheim sy...@yenta.alb.nm.us in color!
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"Why is there a watermelon there?" "I'll tell you later ..."
Ka Chun Yu
>In article <1992Jun9.0...@cs.mun.ca> cr...@odie.cs.mun.ca (Craig Coffin) writes:
>>
>> I may be mistaken, but there is another instance of music 'lifted' from
>>another film:
>> In _Aliens_, as Bishop pilots the dropship away from the about-to-explode
>>atmosphere processor, the music is very similar, if not identical to the music
>>being played in _Star_Wars_, when Luke is flying away from the about-to-explode
>>Death Star.
>>
>> Can anyone confirm or deny this?
>>
>>
>>--
>>
>>-- Craig Coffin --
>>(cr...@odie.cs.mun.ca)
>>CS Dept., Memorial University of Newfoundland
>
>I know the scene you're talking about, but I think it's from one of the
>Star Trek movies, not Star Wars (Most likely STII or STIII).
>
No the precursor-to-the-explosion music is definitely similar to the music
right before the Death Star explodes in _Star Wars_. Both use percussion (main-
ly timpani I think) to sound out beats. I wouldn't have thought that Horner
was doing a tribute to Williams' bit there, but now that I think about it, the
rhythms are extremely similar (if not the same) and the percussion in both are
slightly accentuated by the brass which bleat out the same rhythm.
_Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan_ has the big Genesis explosion scene at the
end but I don't think there's anything like the Death Star explosion music.
The Genesis explosion is preceded by replays of the central STII theme, with
much more urgency and a bit downbeat to signify the danger the Enterprise is
in. As soon as the main engines come on line, the music perks up and there's
some synthesizer harmonies as the Enterprise enters warp. The score here dies
down considerably and serves to accentuate only the visuals on screen.
The one common thing between all three bits is the fact that the scores are very
light and hushed during the actual explosions, sort of I guess to emphasize the
release in tension.
>I believe James Horner did both scores, and it's not uncommon to hear
>similarities in the music. Listen to 'Dances with Wolves' and 'Out of
>Africa', by John Barry, and you can tell it's done by the same guy.
>
Yep Horner did both scores. I don't mind the similarities between different
movie soundtracks but it really iritates me when whole passages are lifted
from one score to another, especially if one is doing it with his own music.
It makes the composer seem like he's running out of ideas or something. I
don't find John Williams doing this much, but James Horner is rather blatant.
The music that plays when we switch from the Enterprise to Khan's vantage point
on the Reliant in STII is repeated note for note in certain scenes in _Aliens_.
I hear that some of his _Rocketeer_ music is straight from his _Cocoon_ score.
I can tell however that the very end fanfare to the ending credits of the _Ro-
cketeer_ are also straight from the very end fanfare to the ending credits of
STII (except for the last two notes maybe).
>BTW, Barry has also done the scores for many James Bond movies, plus 'The
>Black Hole', and 'Somewhere in Time'.
>
>
>--
>Pieter Kallemeyn | p...@aristotle.jpl.nasa.gov
>Jet Propulsion Laboratory | - or -
>California Institute of Technology | p...@cabrilho.jpl.nasa.gov
--
*Ka Chun Yu * "Deputy dog dog a ding dang depa depa deputy *
*kac...@as.arizona.edu * dog dog a ding dang depa depa . . ." *
* * --"Don't Let's Start" *
Synth F. Oberheim
kac...@delphinus.as.arizona.edu (Ka Chun Yu) writes:
[comparing Horner's ALIENS finale to Williams' Death Star finale in
STAR WARS:]
Ka> No the precursor-to-the-explosion music is definitely similar to
Ka> the music right before the Death Star explodes in _Star Wars_.
Ka> Both use percussion (mainly timpani I think) to sound out beats.
Ka> I wouldn't have thought that Horner was doing a tribute to
Ka> Williams' bit there, but now that I think about it, the rhythms
Ka> are extremely similar (if not the same) and the percussion in both
Ka> are slightly accentuated by the brass which bleat out the same
Ka> rhythm.
The rhythms are similar, but not the same. And I'd say the brass play
a much larger role, especially in establishing a similarity. But
Horner really isn't ripping Williams off here. Williams' chord has
some dissonance in it (a dim7 perhaps?), while Horner is running a
straight tonic chord, adding octaves with the brass every couple
measures.
Ka> _Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan_ has the big Genesis explosion
Ka> scene at the end but I don't think there's anything like the Death
Ka> Star explosion music. The Genesis explosion is preceded by
Ka> replays of the central STII theme, with much more urgency and a
Except that the music being referred to is not in the STII finale, but
rather in the "Enterprise meets Reliant" confrontation halfway through
the film. As Kirk is about to lower Reliant's shields, Horner uses the
exact same brass figure that he later uses in ALIENS (except that this
time it's a Five chord, not a tonic).
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:: :: :: :: :: :: :: Oberheim sy...@yenta.alb.nm.us in color!
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Taking my cue from the CIA, I will neither confirm nor deny any of your
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