This week on Film Score Friday, we listen to the score from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn. James Horner wrote the score for this 1982 edition in the Trek franchise. This was Horner's first big profile movie. He delivered well. When Horner was brought on board, producers asked him to not use any of Jerry Goldsmith's material from the prior Star Trek film.
“I’m sure that I was influenced by Goldsmith’s large orchestral scores when I started out, and that was because the people who employed me wanted that kind of sound. I wasn’t in a position to say, ‘Go To Hell!”
The director asked Horner to make the score sound "seafaring." This comes through quite a bit. There's a triple motive from the horns that adds drama at the right times in the top end of the range. Trumpets have lots of great fanfares as well. The low brass has plenty of chances to put air in their horns as well.
In many ways, this film resembles an old submarine movie. The programmatic themes Horner inserts match this theme well.
Where does this rank for Star Trek score? Let us know in the comments.
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