Which Has the Better Score: TMP (1979) or TWOK (1982)?

[trevanian]

My wife got my the original APES CD, and it had almost 20 minutes of stuff from ESCAPE on the end of the disk.

Enough to make me want to rewatch the movie (though to be honest, I'm a huge Eric Braeden fan, dating back to a MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE he did when he was still called Hans Gudegast, so seeing Braden running in a suit with a gun in hand as he does in APES is a great thrill, as I'm of the opinion that he could have played Bond at any time in the history of the franchise -- up until the insidious reboot, that is -- and still been somewhat more credible than Moore.)

I have to rewatch SECONDS as well .. I'm a big Frankenheimer fan, and I think Goldsmith only did two for him, that and SEVEN DAYS IN MAY.

 

[QuasarVM]

My wife got my the original APES CD, and it had almost 20 minutes of stuff from ESCAPE on the end of the disk.

Enough to make me want to rewatch the movie (though to be honest, I'm a huge Eric Braeden fan, dating back to a MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE he did when he was still called Hans Gudegast, so seeing Braden running in a suit with a gun in hand as he does in APES is a great thrill, as I'm of the opinion that he could have played Bond at any time in the history of the franchise -- up until the insidious reboot, that is -- and still been somewhat more credible than Moore.)

I have to rewatch SECONDS as well .. I'm a big Frankenheimer fan, and I think Goldsmith only did two for him, that and SEVEN DAYS IN MAY.

Braeden is great, but I think of him as Victor Newman on the soap opera The Young and The Restless now... I agree, he would have made a good Bond!

Anyway, I have that PotA soundtrack with the few Escape tracks on it...good stuff! I just wish there was a full release of Escape on CD.

Seconds is a great film!

 

[Hyper]

TMP for "The Enterprise" track. The music absolutely made love to that scene.

I do like Horner's work in ST2 though. To me, much of the music has the same feel as music from some of the old navy movies of the 1940s. I think this went well with Meyer's Horatio Hornblower theme for that movie.

 

[RandyS]

They are two different kinds of scores for two very different movies. I like both but I like TWOK score a little better. The two movies have such different styles and each score fits its movie very well.

Agreed.

 

[Psion]

I favor TMP over TWOK as a movie, but I favor the music of TMP even more. Goldsmith's score is rich and textured, with beautiful themes for the major elements of the film. It is the product of an accomplished professional at the top of his game. TWOK was too early in Horner's career to show the same quality; a shortcoming apparent in his repitition of musical cues from Battle Beyond the Planets for TWOK and later for Aliens. The amazing thing is that, even years later, for his soundtrack for Titanic, a soundtrack I far prefer to TWOK, you can still hear the Enterprise leaving drydock during the launch of the Titanic. The man simply never found the creative range of Goldsmith.

But that isn't necessarily a damnation of Horner. No one in the 20th century came close to Goldsmith. I'm still waiting for the next big film composer. I'd hoped it would be Giacchino, but after hearing what he did for Trek and Up, I'm looking elsewhere.

 

[Jolantru]

I prefer TWOK music. Horner's score is just hauntingly beautiful. Although I do like TMP score, and of all the scores Goldsmith wrote TMP is the best of his.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

I can't choose, myself, because the tracks are made for two different movies. And they're both amazing.

 

[Caliburn24]

TWOK gets my vote.

I like Goldsmith. I like his TMP score. But only three movies have ever made me cry and TWOK is one of them, due in large part to Horner's score.

 

[RandyS]

As scores go, they're both good. As opening credits go, Wrath of Khan wins by a light year. TNG should have stolen that instead.

 

[RandyS]

I prefer TWOK music. Horner's score is just hauntingly beautiful. Although I do like TMP score, and of all the scores Goldsmith wrote TMP is the best of his.

I don't know. Personally I think Goldsmith did a better job with First Contact. Now, THAT was some beautiful music.

Minus the Roy Oribson song and that other one whose name escapes me of course.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

"Magic Carpet Ride"-- Stepphanwolf.

 

[RandyS]

^Right.

Thanks.

 

[Prons]

The music and sound in TMP blew me away, as such it's a favorite of mine to play for "background noise"

 

[doubleohfive]

Both are excellent, but TMP is superior.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Cue-for-cue, Horner wins hands down in my book.

While Goldsmith did some fantastic work on TMP, aside from five or six cues, the rest just never gets play.

And to be fair to Horner and the two scores you mentioned, Psion:

Aliens" had a tremendously horrible turn around period. any lesser composer might have snapped from the experience:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAciDfxBN7U


"Battle Beyond the Stars": by that film Horner had only a dozen film, TV movie, and random other things not on IMDB, to his scoring credit, while Goldsmith had worked on about three dozen TV series, alreayd had a handful of "classics" under his belt, and he did his first film credit (uncredited) in 1952, so Goldsmith sort of had Horner over the barrel by 1980.

 

[Bones2]

Out of these two, I'd do for TWOK. But my favourite score for any film is Goldsmith's STV. I'm very much an admirer of Goldsmith.

 

[Jbarney]

I don't think there's any comparison. Goldsmith was already an accomplished veteran when he did TMP, and it's one of the finest scores of his career. Horner was a newbie when he did TWOK, and while it's a respectable early effort, it's lacking in sophistication and subtlety. Heck, even Horner's work today as a veteran composer doesn't rise to the same level as Goldsmith's scores.

I think there is. Perhaps it is because STMP didn't allow for the type of music or the range of emotion that TWOK could, but I think the score for TWOK is MUCH better. That is not to take ANYTHING away from what Goldsmith has done, because I LOVE some of what he has created, but Horner's Star Trek II music was awesome.

1. The scene where the Kahn controlled Reliant is approaching the Enterprise and Kirk is walking into the trap has terrific music.

2. Where Captain Terrell and Chekov are under the influence of Kahn and they turn their phasers on themselves is extremely well done.

3. The battle music at the end of the movie really hits home. As the Enterprise is being chased into the nebula the music is fast paced and filled with tension.

4. The last couple of minutes before the destruction of the Reliant and the activation of Genesis is strong, emotional, and exciting.

Also, Horner's work over the years is pretty respectable. Troy, Enemy At The Gates, Deep Impact, Titanic, Apollo 13, Clear and Present Danger, Braveheart...... His contributions made some of those films. Again, not to take anything away from Goldsmith, but I have to disagree.

 

[Jbarney]

By the way, I just wanted to add that Goldsmith has done the music for some of my favorite films. The Edge, Hoosiers, The 13th Warrior.....and the work he did over his career was terrific.

 

[QuasarVM]

By the way, I just wanted to add that Goldsmith has done the music for some of my favorite films. The Edge, Hoosiers, The 13th Warrior.....and the work he did over his career was terrific.

I've always found Goldsmith to be far more innovative and less repetitive than some of his former peers...