Track Listing

1. Main Title
2. Surprise Attack
3. Spock
4. Kirk's Explosive Reply
5. Khan's Pets
6. Enterprise Clears Moorings
7. Battle In The Mutara Nebula
8. Genesis Countdown
9. Epilogue

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #83142 in Music
• Released on: 2003-06-10
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack

Amazon.co.uk Review
Director Nicholas Meyer concurred with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry that what they had was Horatio Hornblower in space. Gambling on wet-behind-the-ears James Horner, Meyer commissioned the Star Trek II: Original Soundtrack; a score of epic nautical proportions. Without exception, the cues on this album shine with a robust glee. Integrating the original series fanfare into the beginnings of his Main Title, Horner rolls out a beautiful new Enterprise theme. It later takes on tragic meaning for the death of Spock and in being re-used for Star Trek III: The Search For Spock. Stepped up into feel-good spiritedness when "Enterprise Clears Moorings", the theme's antithesis is the chaotic (near psychotic) motif for Khan's wrath. Its hair-raising opening statement in "Surprise Attack" is a great speaker test. Khan gets the benefit of Horner's experimental nature, with percussive and electronic effects used particularly nicely throughout the downright eerie "Khan's Pets". All this, and there's still the sheer exuberance of "Battle in the Mutara Nebula" and "Genesis Countdown" covering the film's final act of strategic hide and seek. Jointly they qualify as some of the most exciting film scoring ever written. --Paul Tonks

Customer Reviews

Back to school for TITANIC fans...
Fifteen years before the TITANIC score, a young James Horner produced one of the finest orchestral film scores ever recorded. Fitting seamlessly into director Nicholas Meyer's radical "Horatio Hornblower" re-invention of the ageing STAR TREK mythos, Horner's swashbuckling, romantic score announced his arrival as a major movie composer.

There are distinctly Russian influences in many of the melodies, not least the glorious main theme - but even better than the thematic arrangements are the tight and punchy action sequences, complimenting the choreographed special effects to produce some near-balletic cinematic sequences.

Much of Horner's later work (most noticeably ALIENS, COCOON, KRULL and ROCKETEER) is shamelessly lifted from this score, so there's plenty of familiarity here, even if you haven't seen THE WRATH OF KHAN. What you won't find are any of the more recent Horner signatures, like ethereal female vocals or celtic folk tunes. Oh, and Celine Dion is nowhere to be heard. Vintage Horner is so much better without them.

A short review of the best piece of music in Star Trek.
This soundtrack contains the best music of the Star Trek movies. The music of star trek is most remebered as Jerry Goldsmiths work however for the second movie James Horner did the honours. His mastery of the orchestra is unsurpassed and he sends a shiver up the spine of the audience during each piece of soundtrack. This soundtrack is a must buy for all Star Trek fans old and new, it has the ferocity of a borg attack and the mellowing quality of Risa.....

Horner at his masterful best.
Simply put, this is James Horner’s finest movie score ever!

If you're thinking of purchasing this CD, then you're more than likely to be a fan of the film and as such you will be able to connect each track on the CD with its place in the movie. Horner has a talent unsurpassed for writing motion picture soundtracks which perfectly match the mood, pace and emotion of the scenes where they're used.

For example, the powerful "Surprise Attack" will evoke mental imagery of the scenes being scored. Horner's use of sudden and dramatic changes from quiet to powerful percussive passages are used masterfully to punctuate the action perfectly matching the pace, mood and emotion of a given scene.

Horner's ebullient use of the horn section really creates inspiring passages with beautiful crescendos with a sense of majesty often being part of the mix.

To sum up, I cannot use too many superlatives when describing a James Horner soundtrack and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan surely must rank as one of his finest works.