Soundtrack Review: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Posted by Jon Blough

May 7, 2009

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Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country This is a review of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country by Cliff Eidelman.

“Like ST2, ST6 proves once again a series’ musical wheel can be reinvented at a comparable quality.”

Being a reviewer of anything can be unnerving because we’re all apt to change our minds as years go by, which somewhat undermines the finality of any review I write. Thankfully, my ratings for scores have rarely shifted by more than one number, and thus my opponents have had little evidence to base a swift-boating campaign on. One outlier would be Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. My earlier impressions of the score was that it lacked the excitement and depth of its predecessors, with a barely present theme for the Enterprise, slightly directionless action music, and a mostly dark, unmemorable approach to most cues. And now…well goodness, one has to wonder what was wrong with me.

The Planets

Anyways, as the story goes, the director wanted to just use The Planets, but when expensive licensing fees prevented that he decided to give the series yet another fresh voice (remember this is the same director who hired at-the-time relatively unknown composer James Horner) in Cliff Eidelman. The score had to fit a film defined not by sweeping grandeur but the oppressive nature of the Klingon enemy, thus those seeking cues of extended grandeur like “The Enterprise” will be disappointed. That initial feeling should not detract from the fine quality of the mostly dark material ahead, made bluntly obvious by the menacing suspense the opening six-note theme for the Klingons creates. The main titles would then lunge into a grand militaristic take that would be the other primary identity for the score, a brilliant effort that merges implicitly menacing string and brass work with lighter percussion and woodwind parts that hint at heroism. This dualism is not present in any other cue, and while its absence doesn’t detract from the material, I can’t help but think how freaking brilliant the score could have been if it sounded more like this.

Dark Nature

This dark nature permeates the vast majority of the cues without ever sounding repetitive, thus giving the listener and the film a sense of unease right until the end. “Arrival of Kronos One” and “Revealed” highlight a restrained sense of impending doom. “Assassinations” completes its militaristic snare presence with, in a first for the series a haunting male choir (gone in the alternate, replaced mostly by muted brass). An additional rolling brass motif gains clear identity in “Surrender for Peace” and would later highlight the action, while “Rura Penthe” uses a pulsing choir beat amidst tribal drums and ethnic flute strikes for a brilliant suspense cue. Most of these elements weave together in the penultimate “Battle for Peace” stretch of cues. This action may not have the sheer glorious thrill of ST5’s or the ballsy hammering of ST2’s, but it adequately replaces that with a fine sense of how to build up a sense of menace (the first 2:25 of part 1) before unleashing its more powerful, frenetic parts. The trilling trumpets straight out of Holst’s Mars (looks like it got in after all!) are fantastic, while the low brass rumblings on the primary Klingon theme are grandly menacing. I suppose with ravings like that the less bombastic action cues might pale for some, yet while “Alien Fight” is just tribal drumming, the piano rumbling and clicking percussion 90 seconds into “Escape From Rura Penthe” create an effective propulsive rhythm.

Conclusion

Outside of this identity, Eidelman does respect some of the earlier musical works in the saga, weaving Alexander’s Courage’s fanfare into the fantastic “Finale/Sign Off” fanfare amidst a second noble brass fanfare. The glistening and restrained styles of Horner’s Vulcan themes are respectively mirrored in “Arrival of Kronos One” and “The Mind Meld”, though best are the sweeping takes in “Escape From Rura Penthe” and the closing credits. And then the actual theme for The Enterprise, a noble affair that’s a notch below the excitement of Goldsmith and Horner’s title themes but makes up for it with a structure that sounds more wise than before, mirroring the final journey of the aged crew. Easily its best performance is in the end credits, weaving trilling trumpets and a thundering timpani part for one of the most celebratory moments in the saga’s history. While it might have been nice to hear this theme more often, that approach may have undermined the dark, militant nature already so wonderfully established. Like ST2, ST6 proves once again a series’ musical wheel can be reinvented at a comparable quality. You’ll also wonder why Eidelman has been stuck in romantic comedies for much of the last decade when he can write like this, but I think we’ve all had enough dark thoughts for one review.

Album Situation: The commercial album should suffice for most listeners. A 2005 bootleg contains about 24 extra minutes of material. The alternate takes on “The Battle For Peace” feature some good alternate brass arrangements, while the alternates for “Rura Penthe part 1” and “Assassinations” have excised the choir. An alternate “Sign Off” has a nice string conclusion. The unreleased cues are mostly incidental but add to the finely tuned dark style.
Best Album: Bootleg

Original Album (45:16)
1. Overture (2:57)
2. An Incident (0:53)
3. Clear All Moorings (1:39)
4. Assassination (4:45)
5. Surrender for Peace (2:46)
6. Death of Gorkon (1:10)
7. Rura Penthe (4:22)
8. Revealed (2:38)
9. Escape from Rura Penthe (4:22)
10. Dining on Ashes (1:00)
11. The Battle for Peace (8:03)
12. Sign Off (3:13)
13. Star Trek VI Suite/End Credits (6:18)

Bootleg (69:05)
1. Main Title (2:58)
2. An Incident (1:06)
3. Spacedock (0:19)
4. Clear All Moorings (1:38)
5. Arrival of Kronos One (3:10)
6. Guess Who’s Coming (0:48)
7. Assassinations (2:16)
8. Surrender for Peace (2:47)
9. Death of Gorkon (2:05)
10. The Trial (1:03)
11. Morally Unjust Evidence (0:28)
12. The Sentencing (1:01)
13. Rura Penthe (Part I) (2:14)
14. Rura Penthe (Part II) (1:52)
15. Alien Fight (1:00)
16. Finding a Clue (0:41)
17. Escape from Rura Penthe (5:32)
18. Kirk Versus Kirk (1:13)
19. Revealed (2:47)
20. The Mind Meld (2:06)
21. Dining on Ashes (1:00)
22. The Battle for Peace (Part I) (4:10)
23. The Battle for Peace (Part II) (2:31)
24. The Battle for Peace (Part III) (1:33)
25. The Undiscovered Country (1:03)
26. Finale/Sign Off (3:13)
27. End Credits (6:16)
28. Guess Who’s Coming (Alternate) (0:48)
29. Assassinations (Film Version) (2:13)
30. Revealed (Alternate Excerpt) (0:29)
31. The Battle for Peace (Part II – Alternate 1) (1:05)
32. Death of Gorkon (Alternate Excerpt) (0:22)
33. The Battle for Peace (Part II – Alternate 2) (2:22)
34. Rura Penthe (Part I – Film Version) (2:15)
35. The Battle for Peace (Part III – Film Version) (1:33)
36. Sign Off (Alternate Ending) (1:11)