ST VIII: Elegiaco largamente (Star Trek: First Contact - Soundtrack)

Member Name: berlioz II

Product:	Star Trek: First Contact - Soundtrack
Date:	06/12/07 (129 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gorgeous First Contact theme, menacing Borg theme

Disadvantages: Little in the way of outstanding material anywhere

It is interesting to note how Star Trek has evolved over the years from being a fairly campy TV series that was not successful enough on its first outing to last even through its initial five year mission, to gathering such a strong cult following to eventually manage to spin out a horde of feature films (both exceptionally good and equally bad) and no less than four spin-off series (and cartoon series) in later life. With the films up until the sixth installment being still the playing ground for the old crew of the Enterprise, the shock switch to the Next Generation crew's feature film life via the uneven TV episode masking as a feature film, Generations, was seen as the perfect opportunity to completely revamp the old style of the franchise. Just as Star Trek II largely defined a new, more full-blown romantic look for the new age, so did the eighth film in the series get rid of the old styles of the TV series with new uniforms, a darker atmosphere away from the fully lighted sets and replaced the, admittedly, very ugly looking Enterprise-D (destroyed in the last film) with the new, snazzier and more streamlined Sovereign-class Enterprise-E that looked as if it can really move and kick ass at the same time. Star Trek: First Contact therefore was entirely different from Generations and provided a much needed boost to the series' popularity. First Contact is by far one of the darkest Star Trek films ever and quite successfully manages to make some very thrilling viewing when the seemingly unstoppable Borg attack Earth and, while not succeeding thanks to Picard's timely arrival, travel to Earth's past to assimilate the entire population of the planet still trying to get back to their feet after World War III. Therefore Picard of course will have to go back in time as well to stop this from happening, while at the same time making sure that "First Contact" with the Vulcans takes place after the first successful warp-speed experiment of Zefram Cochran gets their attention. Directed by "Number One" Jonathan Frakes, the film is a very good thriller that exploits the dark corridors of the Enterprise as in Alien's Nostromo and at the same time provides some lighter moments for the crew's newer acquaintances with the older population of the planet.

Returning once again to score the film is Jerry Goldsmith, whose work on the first and fifth films (as well as the provider of the Next Generation series title theme and the new, Emmy-winning Voyager title theme) has probably had the largest impact on the music of the franchise since Alexander Courage's original TV themes. However, the large difference with the Next Generation films as opposed to the previous two is that the main fanfare has been replaced by film centric themes that on their own diminish the original theme's importance to a largely subsidiary role. For First Contact, this theme takes the form of the First Contact theme, a langorously lyrical and slightly nostalgic melody that is noble and dramatic, though maybe not really dramatic enough for the film itself (let alone being one of Goldsmith's best themes). Apart from the "Main Title" cue, the theme is not presented in full that often, being mostly heard as references in "Welcome Aboard" and the end of "The Dish", and finally receiving a full on performance in the titular "First Contact" cue, a moment that makes for a quite glorious a listen. The other big theme for this film is the one for the Borg, a hard, mechanised four-note motif that is oppressive and dark, perfectly summing up the unyielding cyborgs quite effectively, though in truth it is not a theme that is likely to provide one with a lot of replay value, no matter how appropriate it is. With these two large new ingredients, the score is then further bolstered with the usage of the older themes in more or less subtle ways. The main theme is often integrated in quite a number of places but outside of the familiar end credits suite it is never really presented with the same kind of presence. An even larger part is given to the "adversity/friendship" motif from Star Trek V that permeats this score with as much regularity as in that previous score, though when combined with the largely similar Borg theme and a larger emphasis of performing it with an oboe, the monotonous feel is avoided better than in Trek V. Also making an appearance is the Klingon theme that is now assigned as a character theme for Worf, appearing at the outset in the cues "Red Alert" and "Temporal Wake", but doesn't figure that strongly otherwise.

Taken as a whole, Star Trek: First Contact is a score that functions in the film, but is unfortunately not anywhere near the same level as either of Goldsmith's previous two Trek scores. One part of it must have been the lack of time he had to concentrate on the score. Balancing the scoring duties of First Contact and the post-production changes taking place in The Ghost and the Darkness simultaneously, Goldsmith decided to give more attention to the latter film and thus he was also forced to bring in his son Joel to write a number of additional cues, such as the suspenseful "Retreat" and "39.1 Degrees Celcius" as well as the entirety of the final "Flight of the Phoenix" sequence, which ironically turned out to be one of the most interesting musical moments in the entire film, but which has almost criminally been left off GNP Crescendo's album release. The score, therefore, is an unfortunate melée of functional suspense ("Temporal Wake", "Retreat", "Evacuate") and more lyrical moments concerning the First Contact theme, but simply fails to elicit much in the way of elevating the score to a higher pedestal. The lengthy "The Dish" is a perfect example of the converging of thematic usage in a slow-burning action sequence and how unengaging it is on the whole. The album release offers some 45 minutes of score and two additional rock songs, "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf and "Ooby Dooby" by Roy Orbison, that are of course important inclusions due to their predominance in the film, but that somehow just feel kind of out of place on a Star Trek album (like the Yellowjackets pieces on the album of Trek IV). But as far as the score is concerned, the only real attraction to it is the quite beautiful First Contact theme and the suspense created by the Borg theme. Otherwise it is an effort that falls short of being genuinely interesting (a point strangely shared by the following Goldsmith Treks as well), which is not helped by an album release that is sorely lacking in some of the best music in the film. A decent effort, but no cigar.


1. Main Title/Locutus* (4:17)
2. Red Alert (2:13)
3. Temporal Wake (2:07)
4. Welcome Aboard (2:40)
5. Fully Functional (3:18)
6. Retreat* (3:59)
7. Evacuate (2:19)
8. 39.1 Degrees Celcius* (4:44)
9. The Dish (7:05)
10. First Contact (5:52)
11. End Credits (5:24)
12. Magic Carpet Ride (performed by Steppenwolf) (4:25)
13. Ooby Dooby (performed by Roy Orbison) (2:22)

*Composed by Joel Goldsmith

Music Composed and Conducted by Jerry Goldsmith
Additional Music by Joel Goldsmith
Orchestrated by Arthur Morton, Alexander Courage & Jeff Atmajian
Music Recorded and Mixed by Bruce Botnick
Recorded at Paramount Pictures Scoring Stage M
Music Editor: Ken Hall & Clifford Kohlweck
GNP Crescendo, 1996 (GNPD-8052)

© berlioz, 2007

Summary: Warp Factor 8, I'm starting to feel the speed...