Why Star Wars & Harry Potter Both Use The Same Musical Cue
The Star Wars and Harry Potter films are renowned for their memorable music scores, and one particular cue can be found in both Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Both films were released in 2002, with legendary composer John Williams composing the scores for them as well. The shared musical cue is nearly identical in both films due to the similar pace and energy of the two scenes, but the cue is slightly different in each film, highlighting the difference between both scenes.
Most of the Star Wars franchise’s films are scored by John Williams, who provided the music for all three trilogies, as well as providing Han Solo’s theme for Solo: A Star Wars Story. The Star Wars franchise’s various spinoff films were scored by Peter Bernstein, Kevin Kiner, Michael Giacchino, and John Powell, whose soundtracks captured the essence of Star Wars as well as Williams’ work. Williams only scored the first two Harry Potter films, but his trademark leitmotifs were used by his successors throughout the film franchise.
In Attack of the Clones, a memorable cue in the track titled “Zam The Assassin and The Chase Through Coruscant” plays while Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker pursue Zam Wesell through Coruscant after her failed attempt to assassinate Padme Amidala. Chamber of Secrets features a near-identical cue in “Quidditch, Second Year” during a portion of the film’s Quidditch sequence. The two scenes, while quite different, have a similarly frantic pace, which coupled with their shared composer explains their near-identical musical cues. However, the few differences between their context are subtly expressed with a slight difference between the two scores.
While nearly identical cues, the key difference between the two is that the Attack of the Clones music has a lower pitch than its Harry Potter counterpart, and the difference highlights the tone of the two scenes. In Attack of the Clones, Anakin and Obi-Wan are attempting to capture one of the galaxy’s deadliest bounty hunters (who is working as a subcontractor for an even deadlier mercenary) after she nearly killed an invaluable politician (and close friend of theirs) for the second time, making the stakes of the chase extremely high. In Harry Potter, the higher-pitched version evokes the mindset of Harry Potter as he competes with Draco Malfoy for the Golden Snitch while a rogue bludger pursues him, threatening serious injury. The different tones highlight that, while both scenes are serious, one is much darker and potentially more far-reaching than the other.
This wouldn’t be the last time that the cue would show up in another property with a slight change. In Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Kevin Kiner, who typically composed new and exciting themes for the show’s characters and planets, brought back Williams’ score from Attack of the Clones for the season 1 episode “The Hidden Enemy.” Portions of the theme were high pitched while others were lower, expressing the reluctance of Clone Trooper Officers Rex and Cody as they overpower their traitorous brother, Slick, in an intense brawl.
Williams similarly reused one of his Star Wars cues in 1978’s Superman. When Superman pursues Lex Luthor’s hijacked nuclear warheads, the score is remarkably similar to the scene in A New Hope when Luke Skywalker disables his targeting computer during the Death Star trench run sequence. In this case, like that of the second Star Wars prequel and Harry Potter film, Williams retooled one of his music cues to fit a similar movie scene. This all highlights how music can not only be recycled for different properties, but also how subtle shifts can imbue different meaning.
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