Michael Giacchino has outdone himself. I've just listened to the entire album, and this is an epic Star Trek masterwork if I've ever heard one. This one has A LOT of heart, and just the right amount of winks and nods to what Alexander Courage and Jerry Goldsmith did for the "old franchise". I say old franchise, because I come away from listening to the album with a very distinct, energizing feeling that this is the beginning of something totally new and very, very exciting, particularly for Trek fans.

When I originally learned that MG would be penning the score for my beloved Star Trek, I was initially turned off by the idea. But I'm big enough to admit when I'm wrong -- and I was way off course to prejudge like that. My biggest complaint about the album would be that I simply want MORE! And it only makes me that much more impatient for May 8th. If the film delivers in aces the way MG's score does in the under-an-hour presentation, and after reading Mike Joffe's Facebook post about his trip to see the film, my God this film is gonna blow away most everything that has come before. I haven't even seen it yet, and the score leaves me in heavy anticipation for a sequel! Silly, I know -- but an honest and humble opinion.

MG has written a theme that, only because it is new, is hard to initially accept -- but, as Mike Joffe said, by the end of the film (or album in my case), it feels like an old friend. I can not wait to see how this music underscores the action on screen. My imagination can't help but feel a huge presence of Kirk/Spock/McCoy and crew cheer-out-loud teamwork and cleverness that I only previously thought Shatner and Co. were capable of delivering. Remember how the "Battle in the Mutara Nebula" and "Stealing the Enterprise" sequences from Treks 2 and 3 made you feel, both in the films and on the albums? Yeah. THAT.

The magic is back, and you really don't realize how long it's been gone until you've heard the music and, I'd be willing to bet it all, seen the film.

I originally said that the film, and MG's score would either be a failure or a huge success. Giacchino would either get it right and create something amazing, or it would just suck. I'm SO thrilled that it turned out as great as it did. He swung it into high, high orbit -- and I've already got the feeling this film will long be remembered as the one that put him on THE map.

Simply put, Star Trek's music revives old forgotten feelings of rousing adventure and camaraderie only matched by the nostalgia I still hold in my memory from childhood.

Jeron here. I'm ready to beam up.

ENERGIZE!

--Brian

PS: Glad I could make your day

Like you, Jeron, I feel it's a real pity that the album is so short... Spock's theme, for example, isn't really given a work out until "That New Car Smell" and "End Credits," where it really takes the limelight; this is a different Spock, that's for sure, and while the music is beautiful, it also has many rebellious and heroic turns. The nods to Goldsmith are more stylistic than actually resembling anything Goldsmith's written (like the percussion in "Young Enterprising Man," or his action leaps and jumps in "Run And Shoot Offense"); and the same goes for any resemblance to James Horner's scores--the closest you get, IMO, other than the fantastic and Khan-like menacing Narada battle onslaught ("Nailin' The Kelvin"--although I was expecting an 8-minute piece here! I mean, come on!, Bruce Greenwood's Captain Pike even goads Kirk with it in the trailer) are the snares for Nero in "Nero Sighted" (and that nod actually sounds something like the military percussion from Aliens) and the brief piano presence during the intro to "Enterprising Young Man" (again it sounds like something Horner would write for another film, not Star Trek).

Even though the album is short, there's a lot to sift through, especially for a Star Trek fan, without having seen the movie. I've got a sinking feeling there was a lot of (great) material left off this album... The orbital jump onto the Narada's drilling platform and the following Kirk/Sulu battle seems to not be included (judging from the film clips that have been released).

The only thing that stands out is the theme Giacchino wrote juxtaposed over Mr. Courage's original TOS theme (track 15). Briefly... That is the only artistic value.

Fiddle! Nothing more.

I actually don't know what to think of the score as a whole yet.
I think its one of Giacchinos better film scores, ie. more listenable, IMO of coarse.
I think that part of it sounds like Star Trek music, so thats a good thing.

But there are some cons here....the main theme is the weakest among all Star Trek movie themes as well as all themes that Giacchino ever wrote! I found it even distracting when it segues into its second half. It did'nt grow on me as it progressed through the album as others have expereinced. I listened to Horner's Krull after I listen to this score, and I could'nt help but think that Star Trek needed a theme like that!

I would'nt call the score generic, but theres certianly nothing unique about it. I hate to admit this... I actually would have liked to hear some electronics sounds in this much like how Goldsmith used to use them, or perhaps some experimentation. The music just needed some extra color.

Now I still think its a good score out of Giacchino's previous work, probably the best.
But still it could have been alot better. A weak theme and very nuetral sound keeps this from being truly great.

Also, speaking of experimentation and electronics, it would have been nice to hear some of that woven into the Nero material. Especially with regard to the percussive and chaotic guidelines that Goldsmith gave the Klingons or what Horner wrote for Khan ("Surprise Attack," in particular); what Giacchino wrote for Nero is good, but it lacks anything special to define it as anything other than a generic bad guy theme, and a good one at that (but still! "There are always possibilities...").

Again, this is just my own opinion, but I think it's a fantastic score and certainly one of the better sci-fi action scores in recent years. I dare say that on a whole, without having seen the film, I dig Giacchino's work as an individual effort more than Jerry's score for Nemesis, which was a solid Trek effort, and certainly has its exciting, melodic, and memorable moments, but suffers from an uninspired story. Unfortunately the quality of the story itself didn't inspire a lot of "lightning-in-a-bottle" brilliance from Jerry right there at the end of his days. Trek 5 and Trek 8 were spectacular, but for Nemesis he did his thing and worked his magic. Of course, at that point the franchise itself was being laid to rest.

For me, Giacchino's work is a breath of fresh air in a long history of Star Trek music. Don't get me wrong, I own everything that's come before, and have loved it, but I absolutely cannot wait to see the new film's score married to its visuals.

Scott

N.P. You got it, that Giacchino thing that needs all those electronics and stuff...

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Originally posted by TimT:
But NOT how Zimmer uses them, that is trying to make them sound like an orchestra, and overpowering it.

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The really good...
- 'Enterprising Young Men' (I wouldn't have minded more of this)
- 'That New Car Smell' made me check the track name
- End Credits (though like The Happening credits, it feels a bit stitched together from unused cues)

I'm not falling for the action music for the most part. Just doesn't grip me. Perhaps a bit like some (note: not all) of Williams latter-day action scoring, it works well enough if you know the scene it's fitted to, but on its own has less of a musical throughline. And I think if you've heard a few of Giacchino's video game scores (basically wall-to-wall action music), you've heard it all before, minus the choir.

Could have done with the brass (trombone?) glissando at the end of the first track. A bit LOST-ish.

From the moment I listened to "Star Trek", I knew I was in the right place at the right time.

Most of all, I love the approach of the score itself. Mind you, this is Star Trek, which has a legacy of outstanding orchestral works, so anything different would have had a hard time.
But today's sci-fi/adventure/entertainment films and their scores have become big fat balloons with nothing but hot air inside.

Having that in mind, Giacchino's Star Trek sounds as fresh as nothing else within the past years.
Not because it is a work of Goldsmithian quality - it is fantastic because it goes so much against the current flow of cinematic music. It USES the orchestra, it doesn't go for the cheap thrill, it is layered and yet melodic. It has a main theme that MEANS something, that TELLS something, that isn't just there.
It applies the kind of quality music to a huge budget movie that has been pushed back more and more into the background.

It strikes me as generic as most of MG's music (though "accessible" might be a friendlier term), but it does have a charm to it. I enjoy the tone of it more than any actual melody: it's light and energetic. I appreciate it as a solid and cohesive orchestral score.

That said, I wouldn't say it strikes me as fresh. The part I enjoyed the most may very well be MG's interpretation of the Courage theme, but other than that, it sounds more like underscore for a superhero movie than Star Trek. Some parts even remind me of John Ottman's Fantastic Four, which in itself was fairly generic, if not derivative, but still entertaining.

MG's new Star Trek theme sounds like one of his video game themes, Mercenaries in particular, so maybe some personal style is coming through.

The other thing I thought is that the villain music for choir with the short repeating brass motif reminds me on the surface of Duel of The Fates, especially when the motif rears its head during the Courage theme at the end. Maybe it's a prequel thing.

Overall, it sounds like a good movie.

So... anyone around in reading distance who is friends with Michael Giacchino...

I would like... no, not like. I NEED to hear the rest of the music!!

Please PLEASE PLEASE Mr. Giacchino!

Pretty pretty please please with sugar on it?

Oh yeah, for everyone else. I just saw the movie today, so I know what I'm talking about.

Kevin

SAW Star Trek this morning! An incredible film--I haven't felt that good after a screening since The Thin Red Line; my impression of course. It's fascinating and exciting to watch this film and see all the elements fall into place dramatically and for those parts that might have "frightened" ardent Star Trek fans being taken care of with ease (Trent you're absolutely nuts, pun intended, if you aren't going to see this on the big screen! Now GO! You'll love it). ALL the actors have knocked it out of the park and then-some; Anton Yelchin as Chekov had me in stiches for his introduction, it was absolutely hilarious (in the BEST sense of it). Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Karl Urban are fantastic at their roles and lay down some serious groundwork for their trio. The screenwriters, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, never impressed me before, BUT they really, really knew what they were doing in tackling this franchise... Fantastic script! It helps a great deal, too, if you've read the Star Trek: Countdown comics and the latest issue of Wired, for a lot of the Nero back story. All around tour de force, from J.J. Abrams' directing to ILM's incredible visual effects!

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Originally posted by BigT1981:
If people got a problem that I'm not gonna see Star Trek in theaters, then that's their problem not mine. Just because everyone else is doesn't mean I am. I don't jump off a cliff if everyone else does.

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LMAO! Take it easy--now I'm gonna' go drink!

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Originally posted by BigT1981:
I don't jump off a cliff if everyone else does.

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Trent you're absolutely nuts, pun intended, if you aren't going to see this on the big screen! Now GO! You'll love it.

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To ignore all of the critical acclaim this film is being given, as well as all of the praise from the fan base, is just plain silly and stubborn. Sorry Trent. Just calling it like I see it. If you call yourself a Trek fan, you're going to see the movie. If not, you're not a Trekkie. You're not a fan. You're just a wannabe who gets his rocks off on pretending he's insulted that anyone would dare go back to the beginning and start something new based on the original characters.

Let me guess, you hated Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. You hated Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

If you say yes to any of those, fine - I'll let you off of the hook for simply being a nitwit with no taste in the fine art of reinvention. New realization of brilliant, but aging properties is absolutely necessary if we hope to continue enjoying new film and tv based on the characters and stories we've grown up loving.

Jeron

Trent's taking a stand, based on his personal feelings.

There are different levels of fandom. There's the "normal" fan, and then there are those who are seriously in need of help (see the film [Trekkies if you don't know what I'm talking about).

I saw the film. I like it. Now, I'm not going to gush over it like a rabid fanboy, because I don't think it's the "best Trek film ever!!" For me, I it doesn't beat Wrath of Kahn.

It's good, but it's not going to give classic films like 2001, Forbidden Planet, or The Day the Earth Stood Still (the original, not the Keanu abortion) a run for their money.

It certainly isn't Citizen Kane either, not by a long shot.

So if he doesn't want to see the film in the theater, get off his case. I supposed that if I don't see Wolverine in the theater, everyone's going to beat up on me too, eh?

Trent, I don't know what your issues are with this film, and I don't really care. If you don't want to spend the money to see if on the big screen, that's up to you. It's your call, and no one elses. It won't affect me in the least, and I'm sure JJ Abrams isn't concerned either. It's your choice man. People who are on your case need to get over themselves.

Having said all this, I will state here and now...

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Originally posted by Kevin:
So if he doesn't want to see the film in the theater, get off his case. I supposed that if I don't see Wolverine in the theater, everyone's going to beat up on me too, eh?

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Up is Pixar. I'm already drooling.

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Originally posted by BigT1981:
Yes I am a Trekkie but this does not appeal to me.

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No, you are not.

But that's me, and I fully intend to have fun on Friday night (because I work Thursday and can't see it because for some dumb reaosn therre's NO 12:01am shows in Portland?!)

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Originally posted by Crono/Kyp:
Ok, but really, I don't know ANYONE who would not go see a big epic summer effects movie. Trek or not, not seeing a visually awesome movie like this on the biggest screen you can is a summer movie crime.

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