Zanobard Reviews

James Horner’s Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan is iconic for a reason; its heroically adventurous main theme for Kirk and the Enterprise leads a spectacular action charge against Khan’s malevolent orchestrations throughout the score, resulting in not only several truly impeccable action cues, but also some of the best thematic clashes in film music.

Next up with my James Horner tacklings of the year, I reckon it’s about time we dive into one of his most iconic soundtracks; Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan fits into that category in spades, being a sublimely orchestrated and indeed thematic adventure with – in my opinion anyway – the best use of the infamous ‘danger motif’ in Horner’s career. But before we get to that, let’s kick things off with one of the best pieces of music he ever composed; the “Main Title” for Wrath Of Khan. High-pitched, eerie strings open the piece, immediately setting a tone of mystery and wonder before Alexander Courage’s classic Star Trek motif suddenly appears on emboldened brass. Full orchestra then rapidly follows, exploding shortly after with the first proudly heroic statement of Horner’s main theme. It comes in two parts; an adventurous side for Captain Kirk himself, and a more reserved, rather wondrous side for the Starship Enterprise and her crew. The main theme leaps and swirls with gorgeously adventurous grandiosity in its debut here, with bombastic brass and soaring strings playing this first full rendition loudly and proudly. After a few happily triumphant minutes and one final swish of the Courage motif, the music then fades gently back into the high-pitched mystery that opened the track, closing it full circle. All-in, a truly spectacular opener – and Horner’s only just getting started.

The sub-minute track “Surprise On Ceti Alpha V” changes the mood sharply, with loudly horror-like strings building to a rapid crescendo alongside aggressive brass. The musical horror then continues into the subsequent “Khan’s Pets”, with the eerie strings playing alongside some particularly creepy woodwinds and brass (which would also go on to form a sizeable stylistic aspect of the scarier side of Aliens a few years later). “The Eels Of Ceti Alpha V – Kirk In Space Shuttle” then opens in much a similiar horror vein with the hair-raising strings and intense percussive clashes, before the back half of the cue thankfully provides some orchestral relief as Kirk and the Enterprise’s theme returns alongside Courage’s Trek motif on flourishing strings and wondrous brass. I will just take a moment here to acknowledge how cool it is that Horner’s includes Courage’s theme in Wrath Of Khan as well, it truly adds so much colour and depth to this already impeccably adventurous score. “Enterprise Clears Moorings” then brings dramatic percussion to the forefront, ushering in Kirk’s now rather playful theme in the first minute before then exploding with grandeur and flair, playing both the Kirk and Enterprise sides of the main theme in about as triumphant a manner as orchestrally possible – and it sounds utterly spectacular as a result.

Another soaring flourish of Kirk’s theme alongside the Courage motif occupies the short “Chekov Lies”, before Horner then introduces another new theme in “Spock”; unsurprisingly given the track title, it’s a gentle and rather ethereal piece for Spock himself, and it twinkles with melancholic string tranquility through both this track and the first few seconds of the subsequent “Kirk Takes Command – He Tasks Me” before Kirk’s theme then rather bombastically re-takes the orchestral reins. The final seconds of the track though shudder slightly, hinting toward material for villain Khan Noonien-Singh that than explodes intensely in action setpiece “Surprise Attack”. I mentioned earlier that in my mind Wrath Of Khan makes the best use of the danger motif of all Horner’s works, and the reason simply is because it’s used as part of a massive malevolent theme for Khan himself that’s just impeccably villainous. It crashes and surges with orchestral aggression in its major action debut here, circling the main theme almost as if it’s hunting it (which of course in the film, it is). The way Horner utilises orchestral colour here is fantastic as well, the action sounds incredibly powerful with blaring brass and crashes of percussion, and the way both the Kirk and Khan themes literally musically battle eachother is simply sublime.

With tensions palpable, “Kirk’s Explosive Reply” starts villainously with brass flaring before the music then starts to shift the orchestral battle in the Enterprise and crew’s favour. Kirk’s theme starts to build with growing confidence as rapid percussion, frenetic strings and brass then thunder the theme into centre stage. It’s not all over yet though, as Khan’s aggressive orchestrations also start to flare up in the back half before the action then fades out – for now anyway. “Inside Regula One” then returns us to the more eerie, horror-like side of the score with those high-pitched strings reprising alongside brassy murmurs. “Brainwashed”, “Captain Terrell’s Death” and “Buried Alive” afterward do little to alleviate the orchestral wariness as well, as further appearances from said strings echo alongside moody interspersions of the danger motif across all three tracks. Gentle wonder then finally starts to fade back in with “The Genesis Cave” before one of Horner’s best action setpieces ever arrives with “Battle In The Mutara Nebula”. Much like with “Surprise Attack”, Khan’s aggressive danger motif-infused theme thunders malevolently along on brass and percussive crashes throughout, clashing frequently with Kirk’s now dramatically confident theme that swirls continually on heroic orchestra. The result overall is an eight minute action cue that never wavers in its spectacularly epic enjoyability.

“Enterprise Attacks Reliant” finally begins to turn the tide firmly in the direction of Kirk and the Enterprise, with the main theme receiving a breathtakingly heroic rendition atop Khan’s now much tenser motif. The growing orchestral hope continues into “Genesis Countdown”, with Kirk’s theme surging through several grandiose action playthroughs interspersed with Khan’s own floundering piece, before the music starts to breathe a gentle sigh of orchestral relief in its back half. The track ends however on an unusually intense rendition of the Enterprise side of the main theme followed by a brief thematic hint towards Spock. This hint then culminates in “Spock And Kirk” up next, with solemn reprisals of both the Spock and Courage Star Trek themes. “Amazing Grace” then gives us mournful renditions of the titular hymn, firstly on bagpipes before seguing into fully orchestral, before “Epilogue – End Title” brings the entire score full circle with the Courage motif returning, a lengthy adventurous reprisal of the main theme, both Kirk and Enterprise sides, as well as giving a grander sendoff to Spock’s. Horner’s themes I find are usually at their best through long end credits playthroughs, and Wrath Of Khan‘s proves this substantially with its finishing suite being one of the best tracks on the album – hell, one of Horner’s best tracks generally honestly.

Overall, James Horner’s grand orchestral score for Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan is nothing short of an utterly stellar musical adventure all the way through. It’s led by its glorious main theme – for Captain Kirk, the Starship Enterprise and crew – a proudly courageous and indeed very memorable piece that soars its way in through the impeccable “Main Title” and never ceases in its bold orchestral grandeur (both with and without Alexander Courage’s iconic Star Trek motif) throughout the album, with action highlights like “Kirk’s Explosive Reply”, “Battle In The Mutara Nebula” and “Enterprise Attacks Reliant” showcasing not just how spectacular a theme it is, but Horner’s immense action writing talent too. Against the main theme is then of course Khan’s contrastingly malevolent piece, with its intermixing with the iconic danger motif contributing immaculately to the aforementioned action setpieces, and making for the best use of the danger motif in Horner’s career to boot in my mind. Spock’s comparatively gentle and rather wondrous theme is excellent as well, and all together these themes form an incredible musical tapestry that’s still revered over forty years on as one of Horner’s very best scores. A Perfect one, even.

Score: 10/10

Standout Cues: Main Title, Battle In The Mutara Nebula, Epilogue – End Title

Buy the 2-CD expansion for James Horner’s Star Trek II here, by La-La Land Records.

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