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March 28, 2024, 11:24:25 AM

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Films/TV where the theme music is retrospectively incorporated

Started by Thomas, April 19, 2022, 11:06:14 AM

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Thomas

Watched The Godfather Part III yesterday. Liked the bit where Corleone Jr. performs 'The Godfather Theme (feat. lyrics)' and prompts an existential moment for our Michael. After such a rich and lengthy saga, I thought it was earned rather than indulgent.

If I'm not mistaken, throwaway spin-off Solo: A Hans Solo Solo Outing reveals that 'The Imperial March' (or whatever it's called) is actually a bit of tinny promo music for space nazi enrollment. Fun, but I can imagine it pissing off the nerds. The Jurassic Worlds have been pap, but, to their credit, they have thankfully avoided incorporating John Williams' score in a similar way.

In a particularly spine-tingling sequence of Twin Peaks: The Return, a brief waft of the original soundtrack is somehow recognised by Cooper, stirring him from his reverie for a couple of seconds. I adore this one. In-world, of course, Cooper shouldn't recognise the music. It's non-diegetic. But it's a beautiful, spiritual, metatextual moment, an overlap of dimensions, a flitting on the edges of nostalgia and fiction. T2 Trainspotting has a similar vibe at times; Renton only attaches such significance to 'Lust for Life' because we, the audience, know it well from the original.

Toy Story 2 fabulously repurposes Randy Newman's 'You've Got a Friend in Me'. Perfect, As above, Buzz and Woody act as if recognising the song and its pre-existing resonance.

Any more? Must be loads.

Bad Ambassador

Vijay Armitraj, undercover as a snake charmer, playing the Bond theme within a scene in Octopussy. "That's a charming tune," says Roger Bond.

Thomas

Of course - though it's also possible that Roger Bond was just a fan of A House for Mr Biswas.

QDRPHNC

Quote from: Thomas on April 19, 2022, 11:06:14 AMIn a particularly spine-tingling sequence of Twin Peaks: The Return, a brief waft of the original soundtrack is somehow recognised by Cooper, stirring him from his reverie for a couple of seconds.

They did this earlier too, I think in season 1. The episode opens on the Horne family having dinner and Johnny is humming the music (although not the theme music, to be fair, buts it's very recognizable).

Edit: Checked, I think it's season 1, episode 2, right before Jerry comes in with the baguette.

ZoyzaSorris

The Sam Raimi Spidermen feature a busker playing the old Spiderman TV series theme, does that count?

SweetPomPom

Quote from: Bad Ambassador on April 19, 2022, 11:20:54 AMVijay Armitraj, undercover as a snake charmer, playing the Bond theme within a scene in Octopussy. "That's a charming tune," says Roger Bond.

The cleaner in OHMSS whistles the Goldfinger tune, if only Lazenby was capable of raising an eyebrow..

Neomod

The Bond's do this loads.

Even including a tongue in cheek tribute to someone else's theme in Moonraker.


Brundle-Fly

Which Romero 'Dead' sequel has a tiny refrain of 'The Gonk'; shipping mall musak? Is it a scene with Bub from Day Of The Dead (1985)?

Magnum Valentino


Angst in my Pants

I have a vague recollection of an episode of Batman: The Animated Series where Mark Hamill's Joker is humming his own theme from the series, although I don't seem to be able to find that so perhaps I'm remembering incorrectly (there's mention of him humming the Looney Tunes theme, perhaps I've accidentally linked the two).

Thomas

Since, for medical reasons, I can't go a thread without mentioning Doctor Who, Russell T Davies' 2007 introduction of the Time Lord heartbeat motif sounds like a direct reference to the theme tune (itself, of course, written way back in 1963). Apparently a coincidence.

It's about time a Weatherfield busker under a railway arch plays the Corrie theme on a harmonica innit.

Magnum Valentino

Marge telling Bart off for humming the Simpsons theme is another.

Just spotted one of the kids from Hey Duggee humming theirs, too.

Sebastian Cobb

Am I imagining it but don't the Back to the Future sequels go far more 'classical score' than the original? I know Silvestri worked on the lot, but the first had a fair bit of contemporary music.

Brundle-Fly

I'm sure Bates Motel had a subtle nod to Bernard Hermann's Psycho (1960) score in a homage to the shower scene in the final season.

zomgmouse

a film i recently watched, I as in Icarus, had the film's theme play on a cassette tape

Catalogue Trousers

Quote from: Magnum Valentino on April 19, 2022, 02:11:08 PMIt is, I'm not sure it's a Bub scene but it is in Day.

Yeah - I'm pretty sure it's the end of the scene where he's trying to figure out using a razor.

olliebean

Not music, but Crazy Ex Girlfriend usually had a scene where the lyrics of that season's theme turned up in the dialogue.

Ant Farm Keyboard

Solo wasn't even the first instance of a major Star Wars theme getting used in a diegetic way.


thenoise

Typically witty example in Dario Argento's 1982 giallo/slasher Temebrae. The film's Goblin score pounds away while the camera prowls over the walls and roof of an apartment building before revealing a killer's hands breaking in, then the stalkee lady inside screams "Turn it down!!",followed by a close up of her roommate taking a needle off a record; and the rest of the stalk and slash scene plays out in suspenseful silence.

Magnum Valentino

This one is debateable but I was rewatching The Batman at home recently and it didn't hit me in the cinema that the main 'Batman' theme in the film uses the same two notes as Nirvana's "Something In The Way", which also plays twice in the film.

However, what I DID notice is that when it's playing the first time, Bruce hears something on the news and turns a knob down and the song fades off the soundtrack completely, so he's listening to Nirvana in the bat cave when mopily solving big crimes.

Are they the same two notes? They're very similar, at least.

Noodle Lizard

There's a strange fourth wall break in Boston Legal where a character has the theme music stuck in his head: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2gl3sLDHiU

Gurke and Hare

The first episode of The Young Ones opens with the theme tune playing on Rick's radio.

jonnycuba

Charlie Ahearn's classic graffiti 1982 film Wild Style has a scene where Grandmaster Flash is cutting up two copies of Bob James's 'Take me the the Mardi Gras', it was not licensed and has been replaced in subsequent DVD releases with a pretty lame replay. Track down the og VHS version to hear it as nature intended.

Norton Canes

Don't know if I've missed the point of this, or just missed someone mentioning it, but the band in the cantina in Star Wars play a jazzy version of the theme tune, don't they?

Quote from: Thomas on April 19, 2022, 11:06:14 AMIf I'm not mistaken, throwaway spin-off Solo: A Hans Solo Solo Outing reveals that 'The Imperial March' (or whatever it's called) is actually a bit of tinny promo music for space nazi enrollment

Similarly, the original theme to Battlestar Galactica is used in the remade series as a fanfare

idunnosomename

Birthday party scene in Ghostbusters 2 uses the theme diegetically implying in their initial fame the ghostbusters had a song written for them

beanheadmcginty

I'm currently watching The Living Daylights and during the murderous milkman opening section he is listening to the film soundtrack on his Walkman headphone/garrotte.

Curb your enthusiasm - orchestra theme music from the most recent series.

This sort of fits:
QuoteAfter the end of the first season of Monk, producer David Hoberman approached Randy Newman to create a new theme song. Newman composed the song and played it for Hoberman and Tony Shalhoub. The song debuted in the second season premiere "Mr. Monk Goes Back to School." It remained unpopular with some fans. USA Network reported that they received many complaints from viewers who wanted the series to continue using Jeff Beal's "Monk Theme."[2] Some references to this were made in season 2, episode 12, "Mr. Monk and the T.V. Star," where a character is upset about the detective show changing its theme song, and she claims no one else likes the new song. At the end of the episode, Adrian Monk agrees not to change the theme if he ever gets a T.V. show, and the old theme plays at the end of the episode.

This isn't what you asked for but Goro repeatedly whistles the theme tune through Velvet Hustler. At 2 minutes and 20 seconds; 6 minutes; 26 minutes and 15 seconds; 1 hour, 1 minute and 30 seconds; 1 hour, 35 minutes and 50 seconds.

purlieu

Sam Carter hums the Stargate SG-1 theme in an episode of Stargate SG-1.

Honky tonk version of the Red Dwarf theme in Gunmen of the Apocalypse.

There's an episode of Thunderbirds where the incidental music used for the Martian Space Probe journey in an earlier episode is being played on a radio in the background.

Rolf Lundgren

Craig alone in the house dancing to the theme tune in the first series of Big Brother without realising it was the theme tune. Real Truman Show vibes to that, everyone in the country recognising the theme but the guy in the middle of it all.

notjosh

Quote from: purlieu on May 20, 2022, 09:57:30 AMThere's an episode of Thunderbirds where the incidental music used for the Martian Space Probe journey in an earlier episode is being played on a radio in the background.

I just finished watching the first episode and it ends with the main Tracy saying "boys, we're in business!", then one of the other Tracies starts playing the theme tune on the piano. HOW DID HE KNOW?