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A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

After a ten-year break from Star Trek, Jerry Goldsmith returned to provide the music for the fifth film installment, The Final Frontier, directed by William Shatner.  The film is unfairly underrated, certainly not the weak creation many paint it to be; the plot may be a little silly, but that hardly distinguishes it from the other nine movies in the series, and the Kirk-Spock-McCoy triumvirate has never seemed more human and their relationship never been explored in such depth.  It is also blessed by lots of humour and exciting action scenes.  Unfortunately, the special effects are not the best, and most people's attention spans don't extend beyond the special effects, so they hate the film.

Goldsmith's score is excellent.  It's far smoother and more polished than his original Star Trek: The Motion Picture score, but doesn't have quite the same number of standout moments.  Needless to say, Goldsmith reprises his theme from the first film, but then "The Mountain" segues into a beautiful piece underscoring Kirk's attempt to scale El Capitan in Yosemite, a wonderful highlight of Goldsmith's entire Star Trek canon.  "The Barrier" introduces another new theme, a quasireligious, hymnal piece for the mystical elements of the story.  "Without Help" is the first action piece and it's on this that the score really succeeds, with some wonderfully-constructed, entirely-satisfying music throughout.  It's in Goldsmith's action/suspense stop-start style, but with lots of different themes and motifs sprinkled through it.  Of particular note is Goldsmith's reorchestration of his Klingon music from the first film, here used as a thrilling action motif for the aliens throughout the film.  "A Busy Man" brings another new theme, a four-note motif that Goldsmith went on to use in his later scores in the series, along with the theme for God himself.

"Open the Gates" is more first-rate action music - and yes, there's yet another new theme, used throughout the rest of the score during the action scenes, a fluid and malleable piece that gives the orchestra a real workout.  The lengthy "An Angry God" sees the omnipotent (or perhaps not, if you believe the film) one's theme get a rapturous performance.  "Let's Get Out of Here" is arguably the standout action cue, a terrific combination of the main theme, the Klingon theme and lots of other bits and pieces.  Thrilling stuff.  "Free Minds" is a more ethereal, mysterious track with some imaginative electronics.  Things close with "Life is a Dream", the finest Star Trek end title cue to date, in which the main theme sandwiches the Klingon theme.  Perfect stuff, with a magical performance as well.

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Tracks

1. The Mountain (3:50)
2. The Barrier (2:50)
3. Without Help (4:10)
4. A Busy Man (4:40)
5. Open the Gates (2:59)
6. An Angry God (6:55)
7. Let's Get Out of Here (5:12)
8. Free Minds (3:17)
9. Life is a Dream (3:56)
10. The Moon's a Window to Heaven Hiroshima (4:00)