Avatar at the Gates – James Horner rips himself off again.

James Horner is undoubtedly my favorite film composer, but he has a tendency to blatantly rip off his own material.
Avatar is no exception. Nevermind the fact that James Cameron is pulling heavily from his Terminator 2 and Aliens films (See Ship design, Mechs, Sigorney Weaver, etc..) – James Horner is pulling themes from his Enemy at the Gates score.
Below is a direct comparison of the tracks “Crossing Stalingrad” from Enemy and “Scorched Earth” from Avatar played back to back. They have the same theme, albeit in different keys.

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This is just another bullet point that suggests that Avatar is a post modern film, and essentially a rehash of tried and true film conventions. Dances With Wolves meets Aliens meets Terminator 2 meets Enemy at the Gates meets….
.. And I’m totally alright with this. It was a thoroughly enjoyable movie, and I’m it makes me happy to be the first one on my block to find this musical link.