Buy it... if you're interested in hearing the roots of many of James Horner's great motifs and thematic styles in one of the best scores in the history of the "Star Trek" franchise and the science fiction genre at large.

Avoid it... if an abrasive, harsh, and somewhat archival recording quality and/or Horner's broad, sea-faring style seems out of place for you in this franchise.

Horner

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: (James Horner) After the hit television series of the 1960's was finally brought to big screen in 1979 to critical and popular acclaim, director Nicholas Meyer would take the series in an entirely new direction three years later. Whereas Star Trek: The Motion Picture had wowed audiences with its majestic fantasy elements, many of which overextended into lengthy sequences to accentuate their mere brilliance of color and sound, Meyer's approach for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was a plot-driven one. With the elements of brutal power, surprise attacks, character development, emotional turmoil, and, most of all, primal revenge all driving the basis of the sequel, there was finally appealing substance to go with the franchise's impressive special effects. The wild success of Star Trek II in providing a personal cat and mouse thriller in space solidified the franchise for at least another nine films, earning respect despite considerable competition from the concurrent Star Wars trilogy (and fans angry with the death of Spock). The story introduced the concept of a villain challenging the intellectual and technological capabilities of the Enterprise crew while also making a crucial link back to an episode of the original television show. The picture is arguably the one of the two best of the series, and it also established a new dramatic standard for its musical scores. Jerry Goldsmith had adapted Alexander Courage's television theme into the first film's score and had composed an elegant, orchestrally sweeping theme for the heroic crew that was destined to become the franchise's fanfare identity throughout the 1990's. Despite an Oscar nomination for that work, Meyer wanted an increasingly edgy sound for Star Trek II, one that could actively accompany the film's emphasis on intense action. Encouraged by James Horner's highly innovative science-fiction sound (on a low budget) for Battle Beyond the Stars, Meyer handed the scoring assignment to the then almost completely unknown composer. Fresh out of college and working on trashy B-rate science fiction projects, Horner was given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Like Cliff Eidelman nearly ten years later for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Horner would jump at the challenge and write the score of his career. Fortunately for Horner, the outstanding recognition achieved from Star Trek II would lead to an extremely productive and lucrative career in Hollywood, something which Eidelman struggled unsuccessfully to obtain. In the many years since Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Horner has also become one of the most artistically controversial composers in the industry. Known for constantly borrowing material from his previous scores, Horner collectors can often point back to Star Trek II as being the source for many of the composer's trademark, career-defining motifs. Thus, even if you believe in the perpetual theories of Horner's self-borrowing techniques, you must admit that Star Trek II is still a fantastic score for debuting all of these ideas at once. In general, for comparative purposes, Horner's approach to the "Star Trek" universe was entirely different from Goldsmith's. Instead of winning over audiences with the graceful spectacle of space travel, Horner treats space no differently than he would the savage, yet exhilarating era of high seas adventures back on earth. The opening title, exploding with its swelling theme for the Enterprise while tipping the hat to Courage's theme, is a preview of the monumental statement of this theme for the "Enterprise Clears Moorings" scene. The swashbuckling aspect of this idea is prominent as the Enterprise seemingly unfurls its sails and heads out to rough seas. The broad, orchestral theme takes you back to the adventures scored by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, with masted ships in close combat and displaying the brilliance of their own colors and sails. Such an interpretation by Horner makes sense, given the parallels between space fleets and those of the sea. Meyer's film follows the sea battle mode until Spock and Kirk defeat the evil Khan (Ricardo Montalban and his fake chest) by reminding the audience that space is three dimensional, the key to winning the battle between the stolen Reliant and the Enterprise. Complimenting the nautical title theme is a fledgling idea for Spock and his Vulcan culture, introduced prominently in two cues in Star Trek II before significant expansion in Star Trek III and slight alterations by Eidelman for Star Trek VI.

The ethereal nature of Spock's meditation and death scenes in Star Trek II is well suited by Horner's material, and the connection between the second and third films and their scores would be crucial in these regards. Horner pays a basic tribute to the previous Star Trek score by using a Blaster Beam effect (well reconstituted) to add power to some of his bass whole notes (a technique used by Goldsmith) in the scenes involving the Mutara Nebula near the end of the story. Oddly, this effect can't be heard as well on album as in the film, where it serves as obvious backing for Horner's harsh brass tones. The real key to success in Horner's Star Trek II score, however, is the brutal energy and enthusiastic battle music that follows the maniacal Khan in his quest for revenge. During the two major battle sequences and the escape from the Genesis explosion that ends the film, Horner unleashes a primordial and powerful sense of rhythmic inevitability from his orchestral ensemble that perfectly resembles the unrefined, torn edges to Khan's brilliance. A relentless, slapping percussive rhythm is accompanied by a precursor of Horner's four-note motif of danger (representing evil in general and heard best at the start of "Surprise Attack") that would follow him for decades of scoring. The explosive energy generated by the orchestra during these action sequences is magnificent, and, with the employment of menacing lower brass performances, parallels similar cues offered in Brainstorm. The tapping and snorting of this rhythmic device doesn't cease until the beautiful explosion of the Genesis torpedo at the film's climax. No better a musical representation of Khan's single-minded character could be made than with this extremely focused environment of forceful movement. It's hard to imagine how Horner could accomplish this overwhelmingly engaging sound with 80 musicians when you compare his score to something like Dennis McCarthy's Star Trek: Generations, which featured two dozen more players and accomplished nothing close to exhibiting the same power. A charged performance by Horner's chosen musicians is likely the reason for the disparity. The score concludes with the format of accelerating progressions that Horner would employ in scores ranging from The Rocketeer to The Legend of Zorro, a familiar but effective method of closing many of his scores.

The title theme for Star Trek II remains the score's greatest asset, though when looking back upon Horner's music for the franchise, it's hard not to return more frequently to the battle music in both works. This may be due to simple overexposure of the primary theme due to its concert arrangement and consequent performances. But, most importantly, it proves that Horner's work for the concept is at least well rounded. Sadly, the music for Horner's two Star Trek scores has been badly neglected on album, with only a couple of antiquated GNP Crescendo products transferring the music from LP form in the early 1990's. This sole album for Star Trek II features only 45 minutes of material, though it's important to remember that there was only about 60 minutes of music recorded for the film. The missing cues are largely insignificant except, perhaps, for the short one during which Captain Kirk takes a shuttle up to the Enterprise at the outset of the journey. One of the beauties of Star Trek II was Meyer's intelligent employment of music, sometimes leaving sequences to the realm of unimpeded sound effects or dialogue. Thus, Horner's effort is well represented, though sadly out of print, on the ancient GNP Crescendo album. Cost restrictions have been cited most frequently as the reason why these memorable scores have never been considered feasible on an expanded or remastered product. The sound quality of Horner's two scores in the franchise is somewhat archival, matching Brainstorm in flatness during some of the explosive brass sequences, and a remixing from masters would be extremely welcomed. For some, in fact, the sound quality will be too dull for a complete appreciation of the score. The GNP album does feature Leonard Nimoy's vocal performance of the standard "Star Trek" epilogue over the beginning of the end titles suite, a tasteful finale to a classic score. Overall, enthusiasts of the "Star Trek" franchise all agree that this score is superior to the marginally creative, but watered down Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, though debate continues about the merit of Star Trek II when compared to the first Goldsmith score and Eidelman's single entry. At any rate, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan would inspire great Horner music in Brainstorm, Krull, Willow, and The Rocketeer, and it remains a fine example of a surprisingly impressive score with which a young composer suddenly made his name. *****

Bias Check:

For James Horner reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.21 (in 76 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.44 (in 157,463 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.