John Ottman

[Anonymous]

it’s interesting… i enjoy Ottman’s work, at least with in the context of a given film…
however, on disc… i can’t help but notice him borrowing from other composers and scores.

For example.. I was just listening to THE USUAL SUSPECTS
so far i’ve picked out near direct lifts from Basic Instinct, Sneakers, JFK and The Abyss….

X2 wasn’t as bad, although one thing i noticed in theaters was that … in , i think the Cerebro track, it opens almost EXACTLY like the Hope theme from Requiem for a Dream.

i dunno. i can’t decide how much this bothers me…. because, nontheless his music is very effective in the films… i guess it puts him in a similar catagory to Mr. Horner, although at least Ottman isn’t as blatant about it…. and i don’t hear him recycling his own work…. but, i think his “homages” are a little close for comfort at times..

any other thoughts on this?

~devin

[Anonymous]

I’m a big Ottman fan and have never been bothered by this.

As a matter of fact, Ottman sometimes does it intentionally, as in his score for The Cable Guy where the music occasionally morphs into the theme from an old TV show. This is one of my favorites to listen to because I’m still picking out themes I hadn’t heard on previous listens.

[Anonymous]

well, i certainly enjoy listening to his music.
but, in my mind there’s a difference between paying tribute to an earlier musical incarnation of the current project your working on (ala Elfman in Mission Impossible, or Revell in The Saint) but, copying stuff done by contemporary composers just seems a little bit much…Requiem for a Dream came out a couple years ago.. could Ottman have not come up with something original?

i guess the only reason this bothers me is because Ottman seems like he has the musical chops to do more – develop his own distinct voice.

i suppose the bottom line is how well his music works in the films – and they do work, excellently.

[Anonymous]

I think his score was really good as well not much of a fan of all of his works

[Author]

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