Follow TV Tropes

Following

Orchestra Hit Techno Battle

Go To

"Change the scheme, alter the mood! Electrify the boys and girls, if you'd be so kind."
Castor, TRON: Legacy

Rave music is generally regarded as Background Music to pop drugs to and dance. The songs are uplifting, entrancing and quite often promote the ideas of peace, love and happiness. People who enjoy House Music, Techno and Speedy Techno Remakes generally dance to it to get lost in the music, like a form of well deserved escapism from Real Life.

But sometimes, said "Rave music" can go the other way, into the realm of aggression and rage. Mostly a trope confined to fiction, The Orchestra Hit Techno Battle is when high energy rave music is used as BGM for a Fight Scene or an epic battle, rather than a peaceful dance party.

Named for the orchestra hit synth that is frequently used in early 90's techno groups such as 2 Unlimited and of course The Immortals and their Mortal Kombat remix. The film adaption of Mortal Kombat is probably the most notable example of utilizing this trope as well as being the Trope Codifier.

In some cases, the song itself only has to be about fighting as in the case of the aforementioned Mortal Kombat remix.

Since the decline of rave culture, many of these songs such as 2 Unlimited's 'Get Ready For This' are frequently played at hockey games to amp the testosterone levels in the crowds up.

May overlap with Ballroom Blitz if the battle actually is taking place at a dance club and the music is actually playing in universe.

In video games, this is a type of Battle Theme Music, mostly reserved for Boss Battles.


Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Fan Works 
  • Many videos of MMORPG boss kills (most prevalent in regard to World of Warcraft) actually invoke this, by layering techno or electronic music on top of the boss battle footage. This video (the 25 man world first kill of Algalon the Observer, by the guild Ensidia) is one such example.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • The nihilists from The Big Lebowski actually bring a ghetto blaster playing techno music to a battle with the Dude and his posse.
  • The Fifth Element: A fight between Leeloo and the Mangalores is choreographed to the techno portion of the Diva's aria.
  • The Matrix series is fond of this, and often mixes pumping techno from Juno Reactor and others with more orchestral fare by Don Davis and crew.
  • Mortal Kombat: The Movie:
    • The track "Techno Syndrome" from The Immortals underscores the first phase of the final showdown between Liu Kang and Shang Tsung.
    • The fight scene between Liu Kang and Reptile features an instrumental remix of Traci Lords' "Control".
  • Pretty much the entirety of the soundtrack from The Raid is a pumping selection of breaks and dubstep.
  • Scott Pilgrim vs. The World features a rave soundtrack during the fight with Roxxy. Understandable, since it takes place in a nightclub.
  • The Terminator uses an electronic soundtrack with synthesized orchestra hits for many of the chase scenes, notably the Tunnel Chase and Factory Chase. Long before the days of techno, but the idea is the same. Arguably, movies like Terminator retroactively helped inspire techno's dystopian aesthetic to begin with.
  • TRON: Legacy has a cameo from Daft Punk as the DJs inside a virtual club while a Ballroom Blitz breaks out, thanks to Clu's forces.
  • A particularly brutal and gritty version appears in True Romance during the fight scene between Clarence and Drexl, with Nymphomania's "I Want Your Body" playing in the background. The music in the scene is pretty loud, which almost drowns out Gary Oldman's dialog.

    Music 

    Pro Wrestling 
  • Too Cool was an interesting subversion. They would have a dance number to a techno/hip-hop beat in an environment that is normally reserved for fighting and aggression.
  • WWE has been using electro house-inspired pop songs more and more with their PPv's such as WrestleMania.

    Video Games 

    Web Animation 

Top