Star Trek: Ranking All 13 Movie Soundtracks
10. Star Trek III: The Search For Spock – James Horner
James Horner's second and final contribution, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock continues the groundwork laid by the composer's previous effort in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Faithfully extending the thematic material from his first score, Horner's music for The Search for Spock is restrained, even introspective compared to its predecessor. A blaring theme for the Klingons (reminiscent of but inferior to Goldsmith's The Motion Picture counterpart) that pulls directly from Horner's own theme from Aliens, and dissonant, atmospheric compositions for the Vulcan sections of the film, distinguish The Search for Spock as intelligently composed, but often a challenging listening experience.
The Search for Spock does contain some truly majestic moments, including the arrival at Spacedock and the destruction of the Genesis Planet, but these highlights are separated by long stretches of anonymous or obnoxiously dissonant underscore and an underwhelming climax on rising strings.
Still, while Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is considered the superior of Horner's two Trek entries, "Stealing the Enterprise" comes close to topping anything in that first effort and Horner's reprise of Alexander Courage's theme from The Original Series at the end of the film is worth the listen.