Corey Gouker's Machine Inside the Mind

Saw 300 tonight, was totally awesome. If you've got an IMAX showing it, see it there. Certainly was cool. Anyway, I heard this one piece of the score and knew for sure I had heard it before. Got home, popped in the Titus DVD, tried not to get pulled in, then sure enough it's basically the same. Hear for yourself, first the Titus version then 300's. Then I searched for more info to see if there was some underlying classical music tones similar to Nike's campaign with The Second Coming and Mozart's Lacrimosa. You know sometimes this stuff comes from all over. So much sampling and borrowing is done in music today that it's impossible to really know who's actually done what. Heck I bet at the heart of it all they do it to make us do just that, try and remember exactly what came from what and it'll stay with us. So congrats on a job well done.

The search ended up revealing this bit of review:

"Returns a King" brings in the first appearance of the powerful choral pieces Bates wrote for the film, though fans will note similarities to Elliott Goldenthal's Titus score. The choir cues are impressive, sung in a phonetic language and epic on scale.

Ya think!? I mean "note similarities"? You mean other than the few extra notes and more up to date recording? ROFL. Please. Rather than think that Bates' is copying Goldenthal's score as well as using similar musical tactics as Zimmer, I'd rather think or hope I guess, that he's paying homage to Titus and Gladiator. The former of which I happen to think was an underappreciated yet awesome film.

All that being said, see 300 in a theater, it was great.

UPDATE: Looks like Warner Bros. has released an official statement saying sorry for their knowledge that the music was taken from Elliot's Titus score... "Warner Bros. Pictures acknowledges and regrets that a number of the music cues for the score of "300" were derived from music composed by Academy Award winning composer Elliot Goldenthal for the motion picture "Titus." Warner Bros. Pictures has great respect for Elliot, our longtime collaborator, and is pleased to have amicably resolved this matter."