Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
 
 

Album Review

Trust Jerry Goldsmith to get involved with another under performing Star Trek movie. Still, William Shatner's directorial debut has its moments, and some fun set pieces, but those budgetary limitations did the movie no favours and is generally regarded as the weakest of the series. But it didn't stop Jerry Goldsmith from providing another hugely enjoyable sci-fi adventure score.

The Mountain opens the score with Alexander Courage's famous fanfare before segueing into Goldsmith's inspirational main theme. Here it's a little more restrained than the first score's arrangement, with additional percussion punctuating changes, before it's halted to make way for a beautiful secondary theme for trumpet solo and strings capturing the tranquillity of the picturesque Yosemite National Park and Kirk's rocking climbing antics.

The Barrier introduces an ominous Cloud-like theme for the Enterprise's journey to Shakari via a mysterious vortex. Goldsmith conceives a quasi religious theme, powerfully performed by brass, while strings convey a sense of wonder as the doubters start to believe that perhaps this is the Final Frontier. The ideas are further developed for a shuttle trip to the planet surface (A Busy Man) as rhythm adds pace and anticipation to the 'God' theme.

Without Help and Open The Gates are two perfectly pitched action cues from the Goldsmith canon. The first is a tense build up to a crash landing in the Enterprise's shuttle bay. Goldsmith provides discrete orchestration for dialogue with trembling strings and a delicate horn motif, while bursts of action powerfully utilise quotes from both his theme for the Enterprise and an unrelenting rendition of his Klingon theme, with horn. While Open The Gates is pure Rambo, as Goldsmith kicks off an electrifying tempo for an Ostinato driven action set piece involving horse riding and hand to hand combat.

An Angry God signals the finale sequence as the wonder of meeting God turns to a fight for life. The lengthiest cue on the album is an eclectic mix of sweeping strings and synth work, capturing Goldsmith's expressive, sometimes dramatic religious theme. But when the creature turns and reveals its true self, Goldsmith unleashes violent recurring stabs from brass and percussion as the doubters are punished.

Let's Get Out Of Here introduces crackling brass and suspenseful strings as the Enterprise comes under attack from the Bird Of Prey, while Kirk battles the beast on the planet. Goldsmith's finale action piece is an exercise in stop/start action writing, which does well to mask a poorly edited film sequence. While Free Minds is a melancholy piece as Sybok attempts to free McCoy from his 'pain'. Goldsmith provides a very moving cue for strings and woodwinds, joined by some eerie synth work, for the mysterious abilities of the Vulcan.

The album closes with an alternate take of the end credits (Life Is A Dream), encompassing another rousing rendition of the main themes for the Enterprise and the Klingons. Epic's CD and Goldsmith's selections bring together all the major cues and the sequencing provides a good mix of drama and action, the perfect play with a very polished recording.