Star Trek: First Contact (Original Soundtrack)

It's no secret that Jerry Goldsmith was the best at scoring Star Trek. His opening music for Star Trek: The Motion Picture was so good Gene Roddenberry demanded it be used for the Next Generation title sequence. But what the Trek movies really lacked was a definitive theme outside of the famous bookending cue. Every entry seemed to come up with new music to fit new stories (and, most of the time, new composers to do it).

First Contact has the best music of all. The opening music is so noble and uplifting you'll be getting goosebumps. Of his five Star Trek scores he never did better than First Contact and it may be in his top five personal best score ever. Some of the tracks sound a bit too similar to Goldsmith's score for Executive Decision (which he also did that year) but when that wonderful First Contact theme kicks in, man does this CD soar!

This edition of the score is one of those enhanced CD thingies. On it you'll find interviews with Goldsmith,...Read more

I first bought this CD when the movie came out, and was generally upset because they've made it an "Enhanced CD," and I didn't even own a computer. That really griped me. But I listened to the music, over, and over, and soon enough I caught myself waving my arms about as a director would, because I just love the music so much. I'll go through this CD track-by-track.

1.) Main Title/Locutus - Loved the "TNG Theme" to open it up, gave it a familiar feeling. Then it moves into a mellow, soft French Horn serenade. Add in a few harps, other string instruments, and beautiful creschendo's. It's very moving, very Hollywood. Then it moves into a deep, Borg/dream state. March-like. Uniform, and frightening.

2.) Red Alert - Once again, the familiar "TNG Theme" comes into play, and we quickly move into our standing Borg theme. The brass instruments are done wonderfully, in a menacing, metallic type of fanfare. Then enter the Klingon theme, from early...Read more

Jerry Goldsmith's score for the first "Star Trek" motion picture (1979) remains a classic in the art of sci-fi scoring. His score for the 1996 installment in the feature film franchise, "Star Trek: First Contact" shows Goldsmith's mastery of the genre to still be firm. This is an excellent score, full of drama and excitement.

Some aspects of the score (in particular, the main title) have a stirring, solemn, almost religious flavor. This is fitting when one considers the theme of the film: humanity's first contact with the people of the planet Vulcan (one of the most important historical events in the fictional "Trek" timeline). But Goldsmith also delivers the goods for the film's action scenes. It's particularly fun to hear the theme music for the Klingons during one of the space battle sequences. His music also effectively complements the sinister, frighteningly alien nature of the Borg Queen and her drones, who threaten Earth in this film..

As a...Read more