Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was the first major score for a film that James Horner ever produced. Originally, the studio was against the idea of having a full score done by an orchestra and was opting for a cheaper synthesized score, but upon hearing James Horner's score, director Nicholas Meyer was able to convince the studio execs otherwise. And thus, James Horner made his grand entrance into the major motion pictures with one of the best scores he has ever produced. A few things to note when you read this, as most of you probably already know, I am a Star Wars fan to the core so the fact that I own a Star Trek soundtrack and that this is one of the only Star Trek films I like, this says a lot about the soundtrack and the movie.
Unlike the scores that Jerry Goldsmith has produced so far for the Trek movies, James Horner made sufficient use of the TV theme so that it was clearly linked to the old series. In addition, he introduces several new themes which remain as some of the most memorable pieces from the Trek movies. His chime-esque piece for Spock gives the Vulcan a unique theme that makes it clear that he is not of our world but is a logical being. Seeing as how this was one of his first scores, there are no real predecessors to make a clear comparison to so this is one of the few that both Horner and non-Horner fans seem to enjoy.
Although still occuring in some of the action cues, Horner's "trademark" orchestra and piano crashes are not very prevalent on the soundtrack as one might expect. In fact, when they are presented, it is slightly more subdued than they are in his later projects. Although the entire soundtrack is worth listening to, the best tracks in my opinion are Main Title, Enterprise Clears Moorings, and Battle in the Mutara Nebula.
Total time: 44:56
1: Main Title (3:03) *
2: Suprise Attack (5:06)
3: Spock (1:10)
4: Kirk's Explosive Reply (4:02)
5: Khan's Pets (4:18)
6: Enterprise Clears Moorings (3:32)
7: Battle in the Mutara Nebula (8:08)
8: Genesis Countdown (6:36)
9: Epilogue/End Title (8:40) *
* Contains TV theme by A. Courage