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* Several places in the soundtrack of ''TITANIC'', such as at 0:50 of ''Southampton'', and the entire soundtrack of composer Joel Mcneely's ''DISNEY'S IRON WILL'', is suspiciously similar to Stephen Foster's classic song ''Jeanie With The light Brown Hair''.
* The song ''LET'S ALL SING LIKE THE BIRDIES SING'' in Disneyland/Disney World's ''Enchanted Tiki Room'' is suspiciously similar to Offenbach's ''BARCAROLLE'' from ''The Tales Of Hoffmann'' (also called ''BELLE NUIT'' from ''Les Comtes d'Hoffmann'').
* Several parts of James Horner's ''Stealing The Enterprise'', ''Battle In The Mutura Nebula'', and ''Genesis Countdown'' in ''[[Star Trek II: theThe Wrath of Khan (Film)|Star Trek II the Wrath of Khan]]'' and ''[[Star Trek III: theThe Search For Spock (Film)|Star Trek III the Search For Spock]]'' was later reused in his own score for the ''[[The Rocketeer]]'' and parts of the score was reused in Walt Disney World's ''Fountain of Nations'' in E.P.C.O.T. Center.
* The first part of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCNHVMIYqiA "Hedwig's Theme"] from ''[[Harry Potter (Filmfilm)|Harry Potter]]'' is similar to Greensleeves.
* [[James Horner]]'s four-note "danger motif" is put in freakin' ''EVERYTHING'' (''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jORgHv7zGc4 Willow]'' (starting at 0:34), ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyL7m16U9wg Enemy at the Gates]'' (0:32), ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR2794mpDyQ Troy]'', ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRo4GnxOZ1I&feature=re%C2%ADlated Avatar]'' (5:24), ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv8dl9jCn58 Star Trek II]'' (1:10), etc.), but it isn't even something he came up with! It's originally from Sergei Rachmaninoff's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwVgUlO_xpE first symphony].
* ''[[The Phantom Menace]]'' uses a knockoff of the third movement of Dvorak's ninth symphony in the lightsaber battle at the end.
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* Also, "Across the Stars", the love theme from ''[[Attack of the Clones]]'', is a [[Shout-Out]] by John Williams to Nino Rota's theme from the 1968 film of ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]''.
* The Imperial March (Darth Vader's theme) from ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]'' is suspiciously similar to the third movement of Frédéric Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 35...the part known as Chopin's Funeral March.
* "Augie's Great Municipal Band" music in the same movie is suspiciously similar to "The Emperor" music in ''[[Return of the Jedi]]''. Part of the "A New Hope" music in ''[[Revenge of the Sith]]'' is suspiciously similar to of "Hedwig's Theme" from the ''[[Harry Potter (Filmfilm)|Harry Potter]]'' series.
** Although in the case of the former, that's the whole point. It's intended to invoke the Emperor's theme, {{spoiler|the newly-elected Chancellor Palpatine being the Emperor and all.}}
* A Suspiciously Similar Song to of [[Queen]]'s "Who Wants To Live Forever?" shows up in the movie ''[[Highlander II the Quickening]]''.
* The short film ''George Lucas in Love'' (a [[Satire, Parody, Pastiche|pastiche]] of ''[[Shakespeare in Love]]'') has a Suspiciously Similar Song to the ''[[Star Wars]]'' theme for the end credits music.
* "Make 'Em Laugh" from ''[[Singin' in Thethe Rain (Film)|Singin in The Rain]]'' bears more than a small resemblance to Cole Porter's "Be a Clown", which had appeared a few years earlier in MGM's ''The Pirate''.
* ''[[Gone Withwith the Wind]]'' uses a Suspiciously Similar Song to Offenbach's "Galop Infernal" (or "Can-Can") in a restaurant Scarlett and Rhett visit when dating - for some reason, since it's a public domain song (and probably was even back when it was filmed).
* The "Parlay" music from the third ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' sounded ''very much'' like Ennio Morricone's [[Once Upon a Time Inin Thethe West|Harmonica]] music. In fact, it ''was'' intentionally used to [[Word of God|"give an air of the end of an era.]]
* ''[[Angels Revenge]]'' features a triumphant melody that's not [[Also Sprach Zarathustra]].
** And later on, the background music sounds ''suspiciously'' like the ''Charlie's Angels'' theme...
* ''[[Starship Troopers (Filmfilm)|Starship Troopers]] 2: Hero of the Federation'' 's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVHf-8MUDDg theme] was similar to ''[[Backdraft]]'''s [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8Xk38J0cYo Fighting Seventeenth]...
* [[Woody Allen]]'s 1969 comedy ''Take the Money and Run'' has an escape scene accompanied by a knockoff of Quincy Jones' "Soul Bossa Nova".
* The ''[[James Bond (Filmfilm)|James Bond]]'' theme is actually a Suspiciously Similar Song to an unused song composer Monty Norman wrote for a [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5041409 musical].
* The ''[[Ghostbusters (Film)|Ghostbusters]]'' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvkKX035484 theme] was suspiciously similar to "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6uEMOeDZsA I Want A New Drug]" by [[Huey Lewis and The News]], and Huey actually sued Ray Parker Jr. over it.
** The same riff was first used in "Pop Musik" by the band M.
** Another ''Ghostbusters'' example would be the main theme for ''[[FilmationsFilmation's Ghostbusters (Animation)|Filmations Ghostbusters]]'', which in was was based on Edvard Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King."
* Alex North's original score for ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' opened with a [[Suspiciously Similar Song]] to "[[Also Sprach Zarathustra]]", which was eventually used in the final version instead.
* The music that they're trying to pass off as ''not''-'[[Shaft]]'" from the ''[[Tank Girl]]'' movie.
* The theme from ''[[The Natural]]'' is similar to [[Aaron Copland]]'s "Fanfare for the Common Man".
* The music in ''[[Star Wars: theThe Clone Wars]]'' sounds kind of like this when compared to the music from the films.
* Brad Bird originally wanted [[John Barry]] to score ''[[The Incredibles]]'', and used Barry's theme from ''[[On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Film)|On Her Majesty's Secret Service]]'' in the first trailer. When Michael Giacchino was hired after Barry turned out to be unavailable, the opening fanfare for the theme he wrote closely resembles the ''[[On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Film)|On Her Majesty's Secret Service]]'' theme.
* The rape/seduction scene in Akira Kurosawa's ''[[Rashomon]]'' is set to music that sounds suspiciously like Ravel's ''Bolero''. The composer claimed he wanted to create something that sounded more original (and more appropriately Japanese) but Kurosawa kept pushing him back towards ''Bolero''.
* The "Stairway to Heaven" scene from ''[[WaynesWayne's World]]'' uses a Suspiciously Similar Song in the home video version. In the original theatrical release, they used the actual "Stairway" intro.
* The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hNItU7wiCw end theme] of ''The Lawnmower Man'' is only a couple notes off from being the ''[[Terminator]]'' theme.
* [[Jerry Goldsmith]]'s theme for the ''[[Supergirl]]'' movie intentionally matches the style of [[John Williams]]' ''[[Superman (Filmfilm)|Superman]]'' theme. In fact, [[Smallville|almost]] every adaptation of Superman after 1978 has used a Suspiciously Similar Song to the Williams theme: see under [[Suspiciously Similar Song/Live Action TV|Live Action TV]] and [[Suspiciously Similar Song/Western Animation|Western Animation]]. The same goes for parodies of course, e.g. as part of a cartoon episode.
* Baz Luhrmann's ''[[William Shakespeare's Romeo+Juliet (Film)|William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet]]'' has "O Verona", which is suspiciously similar to "O Fortuna" from ''Carmina Burana''.
* The cultists performing a human sacrifice in ''[[Young Sherlock Holmes]]'' (not to be confused with the ''other'' [[Sherlock Holmes (Filmfilm)|Sherlock Holmes movie]] with cultists performing a human sacrifice) chant a song which also rips off "O Fortuna".
* In the movie adaptation of ''[[Ghost World]]'', the character Doug blares some heavy metal from his car stereo - it sounds a lot like an instrumental knockoff of [[Metallica (Music)|Metallica]]'s "Master Of Puppets".
* Leonard Rosenman's theme for ''[[Robo CopRoboCop]] 2'' is suspiciously similar to Basil Poleduris's theme from the original ''[[Robo CopRoboCop]]''.
* In [[David Lynch]]'s film of ''[[Dune]]'', the scenes set on Caladan are scored with ambient string music that sounds a lot like the first movement of Dmitri Shostakovich's 11th Symphony, although the resemblance may not necessarily be intentional.
* ''[[Spaceballs (Film)|Spaceballs]]'' more or less did this with the ''[[Star Wars]]'' theme.
* The original teaser trailer for ''[[UHF (Film)|UHF]]'', meant to parody the ''[[Indiana Jones (Franchise)|Indiana Jones]]'' franchise, used an intentionally-obvious knockoff of the theme.
* Averted ''hard'' in ''[[The Room]]'', in which Tommy Wiseau shelled out the money for the rights to ''[[Happy Birthday to You]]''.
* The famous ''[[Jaws (Filmfilm)|Jaws]]'' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvCI-gNK_y4 theme] is actually very similar to the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFZcCNYF6-4 beginning of the fourth movement of Dvorak's New World Symphony.] The two sound completely different after the first few notes, however.
* The original version of French Canadian film Elvis Gratton used many songs by Elvis Presley. It has been replaced by instrumental Suspiciously Similar Songs.
* John Travolto... da un Insolito Destino is parody/exploitation disco movie set (and filmed) during the [[Saturday Night Fever]] era about a [[John Travolta (Creator)]] lookalike. Most of the score sounds like some other disco hits of the time. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfxHj9nLFvA Halfway through this clip], you can hear that "It sounds like [[Staying Alive]] from [[The Bee Gees]] but it's not" music.
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** Speaking of Hans Zimmer, the soundtrack from ''[[The Rock]]'' is very similar to the score from Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. (For those not in the know, Zimmer worked on both).
* The opening credits music for ''[[War Games]]'' is a slightly tweaked version of the overture to Georges Bizet's opera ''Carmen''.
* In the scene in ''[[Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure]]'' when the two play Poker against Billy the Kid, the music is a very unsubtle rip-off of 'Il Triello' from ''[[The Good, the Bad Andand Thethe Ugly]]''. Similarly, the song "In Time" from the movie's soundtrack sounds [[The Four Chords of Pop|''very'' similar to "With or Without You" by U2.]]
* The [[Testosterone Poisoning|opening song]] to ''[[Orgazmo]]'', [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiXaT_1I-vw Now You're A Man], has elements of "You Give Love A Bad Name" by [[Bon Jovi]], [[Ronnie James Dio]] songs and "Eye of The Tiger",
* The bridge section in [[John Williams]]' theme for ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' resembles a major-key transposition of Fugue no. 2 from Book 1 of [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]]'s ''The Well-Tempered Clavier''.
** A similar motif can be heard in "The Key to the Gates of Heaven" from [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]]'s musical ''Whistle Down the Wind'': "Open up the gates, open up the gates, we've got to find the key...."
** ''[[Sesame Street]]'' uses the unmodified tune of Fugue no. 2 for the "Monsterpiece Theatre" theme: "ABCDE, EFGHI, HIJKLMN, O-oP...."
* The fight theme from the unreleased ''[[The Fantastic Four (Filmfilm)|The Fantastic Four]]'' by Eric and David Wurst is basically John William's "Here They Come" from Star Wars. While the Theme song is more or less shades of "the Main Theme" from Jurassic Park.
* Somewhat averted in the DVD release of ''Where The Buffalo Roam'', as the new songs don't sound anything like the ones used in the original movie. Still pretty lame, though.
* The trailer for the film ''[[The Mask (Filmfilm)|The Mask]]'' uses a Suspiciously Similar Song to the Danny Elfman composition "Breakfast Machine" from ''[[Pee Wee's Big Adventure (Film)|Pee Wees Big Adventure]]''.
* A home-video trailer for the second ''[[The Mighty Ducks (Filmfilm)|The Mighty Ducks]]'' film uses a painfully obvious Suspiciously Similar Song to the theme from ''[[Back to The Future]].''
* The theme from Kinji Fukasaku's ''Blackmail Is My Life'', which appears throughout the film, is a wordless soundalike of "Over Under Sideways Down" by the Yardbirds.
* The music in the second [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxE8N2TldZ0 Bibi Blocksberg movie] sounds suspiciously similar to Hedwig's Theme from the ''[[Harry Potter (Filmfilm)|Harry Potter]]'' films.
* "Thank You Very Much" from ''[[A Christmas Carol|Scrooge]]'' sounds similar to "A Bushel and a Peck" from ''[[Guys and Dolls]]''.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rbv2nPqS8W0&feature=player_detailpage#t=57s "It's Our Fight"] from ''[[Transformers (Filmfilm)|Transformers]]: Dark Of The Moon'' sounds a lot like [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpR4p41F8G4&feature=player_detailpage#t=51 "Mind Heist" from the ''Inception'' trailer]. Zack Hemsey, the composer of "Mind Heist", even called attention to it on his [http://zackhemsey.blogspot.com/2011/07/its-our-fight-bysteve-jablonsky.html blog.]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHqLcEtt368 This] trailer for the 2011 ''[[The Muppets (Filmfilm)|Muppets]]'' movie -- which parodies a ''[[The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo]]'' trailer -- [[Lampshades]] this, with intertitles that read:
{{quote| We couldn't / get the rights / to the real / song / so we had / some dude / write / this one / but we / had to / put him / in the / movie. / Here he is. / ''(shot of crowd scene with one person in the background circled)'' Totally/ [[Worth It]]}}
* In the first [[Alvin and the Chipmunks (Film)|Alvinandthe Chipmunks]] movie, [http://youtu.be/zuJOoXE1Cn8 Dave's demo song] is suspiciously similar to [[Death Cab for Cutie]]'s [http://youtu.be/rePcHxFJIuU?t=29s "I Will Follow You Into the Dark"].
* The ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' theme sounds suspiciously like [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2VKbm2hp0o 2 Unlimited's "Twilight Zone"]. Of course they're the same [[Orchestra Hit Techno Battle|orchestra hit stadium techno]] style so there's bound to be resemblance.
* The opening credits to ''Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare'' features music that sounds '''very''' similar to "Night On Bald Mountain" by Modest Mussorgsky. Almost to the point, that you'd swear it actually was "Night on Bald Mountain."
* As part of it's [[And You Were There]] sequence, loose ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]'' adaptation ''The Witches Of Oz'' features a street musician ( {{spoiler|the wizard himself}}) playing a clarinet tune that's just similar enough to [[The Wizard of Oz (Filmfilm)|"Somewhere Over The Rainbow"]] to be recognizable.
 
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