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How tough is this - because I feel sorry for the low vote on Trek II I should say Trek II and as a standalone, it is wonderful but when you then look at Trek III, it is a fine expansion on Trek II but it's when James Horner first started composing longer cues than he was previously. It is just so lyrical and expressive, the voyage through the clouds of the Genesis planet and then as it tails out to Kirk's captain's log - wow. Then you get the journey to Vulcan and then the EWI solo (back in '82 I thought it was a lovely sound coming from a trumpet) of Sandy Courage's theme as Spock recognises his shipmates - I go all to mush every time!
So unfortunately, I'd say I have to go with Trek III, though each are equally as good.
Funny Trek II story, back in 1982, I used to play my LPs on the record player my sister left behind when she moved out and I used to just have it sitting on the floor playin in my bedroom. The cat comes in, sees this black shiny thingy spinning around at 33 1/3 rpm and takes a leap onto it, goes spinning round, then the centrifugal force flings her off. On my Trek II LP, there is a slight crackle during Nimoy's closing monologue: 'Space... [crackle] the final frontier...' because of the cat attack - 'Catspaw' indeed!
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My vote is for Star Trek II - the score builds terrifically, and the Genesis Countdown is one of my single favorite Horner tracks - can't listen to that one enough - Star Trek III just doesn't seem to go anywhere - again, love both scores, but gotta go with STII!
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Star Trek II I find fresh, vibrant and the work of an enthusiastic (and maybe a little brash) young composer whose been given a golden opportunity to prove himself. Star Trek III is the work of someone who doesn't have to prove himself, and now takes big assignments in stride. I feel like Horner kicked-back a bit on this one, since he already had established the dramatic tone and thematic material. I don't find it "lazy", but it feels half-hearted and obligatory (he only scored III because he promised Harve Bennett he'd do so when they were working on II). A solid, somewhat enjoyable effort, but lacking II's inspiration.
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I can look at these as one massive score (all the sadder that Horner didn't come back for IV just to complete the trilogy). (That's not a dig at Rosenman. But I do kind of miss the continuity.)
I adore III with it's wistful sadness and some great action music and that heart stopping rumble as the Enterprise explodes. It has the opening Captain's Log that is unlike anything else in Horner's Star Trek. It has the Genesis sunset. It has Spacedock.
But II has Kirk in the Shuttle. It has Khan's Pets. It opens with the Courage fanfare in a way that is both thrilling AND menacing. And Horner takes a deep breath and gives us everything from Battle in the Mutara Nebula to Genesis Countdown without missing a step. AND then he tops it all off with the Epilogue (one of the greatest peices of Star Trek music ever).
I love them both, but put me down for II.
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I find II emotional, tense, and exciting.
My feelings, exactly.
I prefer STAR TREK II far and away over STAR TREK III, hands down, without a doubt. I'm hard pressed to even come up with another cue from any STAR TREK film that packs as emotional a punch as THE WRATH OF KHAN's "Genesis Countdown." It's a cue I never listen to lightly.... Add to that the "Main Title" that goes from mysterious to majestic to foreboding in just over three minutes. You can feel Khan's quiet rage boiling in "Khan's Pets." The horror-esque "Eels of Ceti Alpha V".... "Surprise Attack" and "Battle in the Mutara Nebula" up the ante in terms of how to score a space battle. And then the musical flourishes that touch back to THE ORIGINAL SERIES music that tie the film to past events.... There is nary a wasted note in this score!
STAR TREK III, on the other hand, just never seems to jell thematically in the same way that KHAN does. It does carry some themes and ideas from KHAN, but whereas the former score is distinctly and definitively its own "thing," THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK seems to just drift all over the place like Odo when he can't find a bucket to regenerate in! There's no real direction, no real purpose to much of it. Granted, perhaps that was the intent of the score; the characters in the film were all adrift as well following the events of KHAN so I'd concede that in that sense, the score works. The closest it gets to KHAN emotionally is with "A Fighting Chance to Live," which simply (and appropriately) echoes "Genesis Countdown."
I would have preferred to see Horner score STAR TREK IV; it would have been interesting to hear how he would have tied the three films together musically. As it stands, the score to TREK III just seems somehow unfinished to me.
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Posted: |
Aug 17, 2012 - 6:33 PM
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By: |
losher22
(Member)
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Current Score:
The Search for Spock: 16
The Wrath of Khan: 9
Both/Undecided: 4
Most Thought-Provoking Votes:
zooba
Landstander
Redokt64
solium
bdm
Other Tallguy
Penelope Pineapple
Continued thanks to everyone! After reading some of the comments and having listened to II yet again today, I think I, like the surprising majority here, prefer III over II, but I'm beginning to figure out why. I view II as more imposing, foreboding, and just plain stressful than III, in a good way that is. III sounds more rousing, sweeping, and emotional.
Maybe I just don't know what the hell I'm talking about. I think of "Enterprise Attacks Reliant" from II, then "Stealing the Enterprise" from III, and I'm up in the air again. Alas, what a pleasing frustration!
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ST III is a classic, timeless score, but ST II is by far my favorite score of all the films. It was also the first of the new remastered editions, and my excitement over that FSM CD would not be exceeded by anything until LLL announced it's TOS set the other day.
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There are aspects I like about both. I find Star Trek II to be slightly baroque, while III is a bit more romantic. For pure listening enjoyment I prefer III by a small margin, particularly "Stealing the Enterprise", and "Bird of Prey Decloacks". I've never found the main title music of either to be particularly interesting, and particularly on II I see sailing ships. more so than I do listening to Goldsmith's first version of "The Enterprise". Of course I'm sure this is exactly what Nicholas Meyer wanted for II.
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