Deja vu II: Another look at Star Trek II and Aliens

The late James Horner was well-known (and criticized) for heavily borrowing from previous work when he was making new film scores. The first Deja vu post looked at one melody that is shared between Horner's two films Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Aliens. Not surprisingly, this was not the only melody in common between the two films and this post will look at a second one now.

In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the titular villain is introduced after Commander Chekhov and Captain Terrell beam down to the planet that Khan and his followers were marooned upon (in the events of the original season one episode "Space Seed"). The reveal of Khan's identity is slow, with tension building in the music with strings and woodwinds. At last though, the mysterious character unveils his face and a terrified Chekhov whispers "Khan..."

Listen to the melody beginning at 0:34

When I watched this movie as a teenager, I originally thought that this exotic melody was an homage to Khan's theme in the original "Space Seed" episode. However, when I went back and watched "Space Seed," the music sounded nothing like the theme in the film. It wasn't until I began to watch the movie Aliens that I made the connection as to where I had heard this theme (however briefly) before (originally I had seen Aliens first). In the film Aliens, Ripley is talked into travelling back to the asteroid where the xenomorph was originally found because Earth has lost contact with a colony established there. As the ship approaches land, a large object looms out of the mist: the atmospheric processing station. As they circle, you can hear the theme from Wrath of Khan once more at the beginning of the clip.



Many critics liked to disparage Horner's reusing of themes by calling it "unoriginal." But I don't agree with them. I feel that if a composer creates a theme for one film, and then feels that it would also work in a later project, then they should go ahead and use it.

James Horner talks about Star Trek II

It is always invaluable to hear a composer speak about why he created a film score in a certain way. Just imagine if it had been possible to videotape Beethoven or Mozart speaking about THEIR works. Resources like this become all the more valuable (and poignant) when the composer passes away suddenly. While many of the greats (including James Horner) have passed on, at least we have a portion of their thoughts set down and recorded.

A Tale of Two Spocks

Whenever a film franchise is fortunate enough to grow into a large series, it is very rare that each of the films can be scored by the same composer (Star Wars being a happy exception). Because most film franchises (i.e. James Bond, Mission Impossible, Star Trek) change film composers frequently, it is common for themes to differ from one film to the next. For example, if you listen to the themes of Mission Impossible and Mission Impossible 2, you would notice a huge difference in terms of style.

Occasionally though, themes created by different composers for the same character can sound very similar. In this case, I draw your attention to a set of themes, each created for the character of Spock from the original Star Trek series. The first theme was created by James Horner for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in 1982. The music begins with a soft glass-edged melody that gently drops down into the secondary theme (plucked out by the harp). This melody is a perfect characterization of Spock: he is Kirk's rock, the perfect voice of reason.

The second theme was composed by Cliff Eidelman for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. I apologize if the quality of sound isn't as good, I'm still looking for an audio-only clip of this theme and when I find it I will post it here. At any rate, listen to the theme below and note how similar it is to Horner's theme (I find both to be exceptionally beautiful).

Deja vu: Hearing the same melody in different films- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Aliens

It's probably happened to you more than once. You're sitting in the movie theatre, munching on popcorn, when suddenly, it happens. A particular melody begins playing and your ears tell you that you've heard it before, which is strange because you're seeing this movie for the very first time, so how can you have heard the music already?

It's more common than you might think. Film composers have been reusing music from one film to the next since the beginning of the film industry. It usually happens when a composer is up against a deadline and doesn't have the time to write wholly new themes. The late James Horner was particularly known for reusing melodies from one film to the next. For me, one of the most well-known instances of this comes in two films, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, released in 1982 and Aliens, released in 1986.

The primary melody that is shared between the two films was originally associated with the villain Khan (brought to life by Ricardo Montalban). The music was written to evoke a sense of Khan's warlike (and increasingly unstable) nature. In the theme "Surprise Attack," Khan's theme begins at 0:20 and repeats at various intervals.




Keeping that melody in mind, fast forward to 1986 and James Cameron's Aliens. Horner, pressed for time, decided to reuse this melody, only now it is used to represent Ripley racing in to rescue the surviving Marines fleeing the Alien nest. The melody begins at 0:05.




It's fascinating how James Horner turned a theme originally intended for a villain into a theme that now represents the heroine.

"Main Theme" from Star Trek First Contact by Jerry Goldsmith

This haunting theme is the main title from Star Trek: First Contact. This 1996 film is a continuation of a story begun in "The Best of Both Worlds Parts One and Two", the third season finale and season four opener to Star Trek: The Next Generation. In those episodes, Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) was kidnapped by the Borg and forcibly turned into a cyborg himself. Now, six years later, the Borg have returned and Picard must confront his greatest enemy once and for all. I always found this theme to be incredibly beautiful. In fact, composer Jerry Goldsmith originally wrote this theme for the earlier film Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. In that earlier film, this theme represented "friendship," namely the friendship that existed between Kirk, Spock and McCoy, who would literally do anything to help each other. To hear the theme in that movie, watch the opening scene when Kirk is climbing El Capitan, and you can hear a brief echo of the theme, which returns later in the campfire scene.

I hope you enjoy it.

Above is a simplified arrangement of the opening measures of the First Contact theme

"Ba'Ku Village" by Jerry Goldsmith

A beautiful piece from the opening of Star Trek: Insurrection by the late Jerry Goldsmith. Composed only two years after First Contact, Goldsmtih did a complete 180 degree turn in the feel of this score, opting for music that was more lyrical and Romantic in style (though still possessing plenty of action cues in the appropriate moments). This piece plays during the opening credits of the film (notably the last Star Trek film to do this) while the camera pans around the idyllic village of the Ba'Ku people. As the primary melody ends, the music turns sinister, as it is revealed that the village is being secretly observed by Starfleet and their allies, the So'Nah (who have a secret connection to the Ba'Ku).

 Feel free to share thoughts in the comments as well. If you like the music, check out the video below to see the opening credits of the movie (they built the set near Mammoth Lakes in California).

"Enterprise Clears Moorings" from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

This is one of my favorite pieces from James Horner's score for the second Star Trek motion picture. In this scene, Admiral Kirk has boarded the Enterprise as it is about to leave for what is supposed to be "a minor training cruise" with some cadets from Starfleet Academy. Right before they depart however, Captain Spock decides that Cadet Saavik should be the one to pilot the Enterprise out of space dock (even though she has never done so before).

McCoy: "Would you like a tranquilizer?"

The best part (in my opinion) begins at approximately 1:36 on the first recording as that is the moment when the ship begins to move out of space dock. The way Horner builds and swells the music, it reminds me always of an actual sailing ship moving out into the open water.


Enjoy!

To hear the music in context, check out the clip below (music begins at 0:43)