Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Jerry Goldsmith)
Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (James Horner)
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (James Horner)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (Leonard Rosenman)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Jerry Goldsmith)
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Cliff Eidelman)
Star Trek: Generations (Dennis McCarthy)
Star Trek: First Contact (Jerry Goldsmith)
Star Trek: Insurrection (Jerry Goldsmith)

I'd have to go with Insurrection. I am very fond of Goldsmith's more recent style than his 1979 ST works. I still am proud to have TMP and FF in my collection. I can't wait to see what Mr. Goldsmith has in store for us with....

1. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Jerry Goldsmith) - One of the best scores of all time.

2. Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (James Horner) - One of Horner's all time best.

3. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Cliff Eidelman) - The most underrated Star Trek score... I've probably underrated it here

4. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Jerry Goldsmith) - The Mountain cue alone is worth picking this score up. The score also features some of Goldsmith's best action writing.

5. Star Trek: First Contact (Jerry Goldsmith) - Beautiful main theme. If you rate this score based on the commercial album may I suggest finding the session bootleg. The unreleased tracks including "The Launch of the Phoenix" cue will have you appreciating this score more.

6. Star Trek: Generations (Dennis McCarthy) - Last score to feature an overture... and what an overture. Action cues are fantastic although repetitive. Nice choral work during the quiet moments of the film.

7. Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (James Horner) - Rehash of Khan... "The Katra Ritual" is the only highlight.

8. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (Leonard Rosenman) - Just too goofy for me. Nice overture but nothing else interests me about this score.

9. Star Trek: Insurrection (Jerry Goldsmith) - Just plain bad. The Ba'ku theme is nice but that's about it. This is Goldsmith's rehash of U.S. MARSHAL’S, which is a even worse score then Insurrection. I'm praying Goldsmith makes up for this mess with his score to Nemesis.

-Erik-

ST2: The Wrath of Khan: I still think Horner captured the TOS feeling better than the others, but I admit I've become tired of the WoK score. There's nothing in it to find anymore - the orchestrations are too thin. Still a fine score though.

ST3: The Search for Spock: Very good in parts as far as I remember (the overture, for example), though the Katra Ritual sounds like an exaggerated version of ET's finale. The only Trek score I still don't have on CD.

ST4: The Voyage Home: Very underrated Rosenman score. Goofy but fun in parts (and it fits the movie), with a wonderful main theme.

ST5: The Final Frontier: I keep forgetting how good it is when I haven't played it for some time. Some outstanding adagio pieces.

ST6: The Undiscovered Country: Different from the others, very good, too. Lovely main theme, and it has a really good TOS-feeling, too.

ST: Generations: Underrated. Rosenman-like in parts, fits the movie very well. Nexus music is unpleasently cheesy, which is perfect for the movie but annoying on the CD.

ST: First Contact: Very very good. Some of the best music is missing from the official album.

ST: Insurrection: Very underrated. The score is far better than it's presentation on the official album, which contains mostly redundant action music and leaves out everything that makes the score work. There's a lot more great music on the boot, and in that form, the action bits become very good as well. I actually think it might be better than First Contact.

quote:

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Originally posted by Marian Schedenig:
So what about Nemesis?

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After reading the script (and you said I wouldn't, right Jeron? ), I think it gives Jerry a lot of different things to work with, and most possibly(?) a kick-*ss "Romulan" theme that will rival his "Klingon" theme from TMP.

I see dead people.... Wait...

No, I see a few different thematic areas:

(And I won't cite any areas of the script, just for those who don't want to know)

1. The "quiet, tender moments"
2. Intrigue
3. Action and Adventure.

If this is truly the "Last Voyage of a Generation" and they are (attempting to) pulling out all the stops, Maybe this score will rival ST:TMP.

One can only hope.

quote:

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Originally posted by Kevin:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=1 face=arial>quote:</font><HR size=1>Originally posted by Marian Schedenig:
[b]So what about Nemesis? <HR size=1></BLOCKQUOTE>

After reading the script (and you said I wouldn't, right Jeron? ), I think it gives Jerry a lot of different things to work with, and most possibly(?) a kick-*ss "Romulan" theme that will rival his "Klingon" theme from TMP.

I see dead people.... Wait...

No, I see a few different thematic areas:

(And I won't cite any areas of the script, just for those who don't want to know)

1. The "quiet, tender moments"
2. Intrigue
3. Action and Adventure.

If this is truly the "Last Voyage of a Generation" and they are (attempting to) pulling out all the stops, Maybe this score will rival ST:TMP.

One can only hope.

Kevin[/B]

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Well, this one is being given the full feature film treatment. Most of the other movies never quite filled the screen the way ST:TMP did. I mean, this was an important film to Paramount... their Star Wars, and they threw an A-list director and the equivelent of what I'd guess to be in excess of 100 million dollars by today's standards at the project.

The biggest musical difference, I think, from ST:TMP and the following movies is that ST:TMP is a far more grand visual film with a true Sci-Fi core rather than the action/character orientation of the subsequent movies. Goldsmith was scoring vistas rather than action set pieces. Even the Klingon battle is more an experience in scale and power than action.

Nemesis looks like the biggest, and most mainstream Trek since then and it does have a director who is experienced in feature films rather than TV. I do have high hopes for the score. It would be cool if Goldsmith did a grand anthem for the Romulans. And though I like the pastoral themes of First Contact and Insurrection I hope the main title for Nemesis will be way meaner.

As for the films, I also have to rank TMP at the top since it is a seminal work for the genre and the composer. It works great on every level and works well as just really wonderful music. The next spot would be a tie between STII and STIII. I always loved Horner's more emotional music for STIII and the marvelous cue "Stealing the Enterprise". I hunted for months to find this on LP and it was completely worth once I discovered. As for STII, there is so much great action music, emotionally charged in a different manner, which never fails to get my adrenaline pumping!

As for the rest, I love Goldsmith's work for STV and Eidelman's STVI next. FC has a marvelous main theme and the cues "The Dish" and "Flight of the Phoenix" are stellar, but the rest isn't as engaging as it should be. INS holds together better as an album, even just on the commercial release, but it can be repetitive in its action sequences. GEN I liked better in '94. It's kinda fallen by the wayside for me, although there are some nice moments McCarthy achieves with his Nexus music and battle cues. Otherwise, it just marks time.

quote:

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Originally posted by JJH:
the TMP score is so good because they allowed the score to "breathe."

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1. Star Trek: First Contact - I was very surprised with this grand score, even though the opening reminded me of Air Force One immediately...I think it's one of the most pleasing scores--there's a real humanity to the music.

2. Star Trek III - It's a very interesting soundtrack as Horner had to score the destruction of the Enterprise--which always seemed like this untouchable icon, and here they were destroying it. The action tracks are great, it has a great finale which incorporates the original Courage theme, and everyone seems to hate that pop-cue bonus track, but it's still got value, if just for those "behind-the-scenes" films with that cue playing in the background...

Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek 2
Star Trek: Insurrection
Star Trek 5
Star Trek 4

I uh don't really remember any other scores.....

Jz

quote:

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Originally posted by John Zimmer:
I uh don't really remember any other scores.....

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quote:

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Originally posted by Lancelot:
1. Star Trek: First Contact - I was very surprised with this grand score, even though the opening reminded me of Air Force One immediately...I think it's one of the most pleasing scores--there's a real humanity to the music.

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That's an interesting observation Steve, as AFO came out after First Contact. I remember seeing AFO in theaters and thinking to myself "gosh, this is a great theme, but it has a certain First Contact-edness about it."