Star Trek: Ranking All 13 Movie Soundtracks

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is the seminal work of James Horner's illustrious career, the basis for many of the composer's more famous themes, including his notorious four-note "danger motif" (here used to represent Khan) which would go on to be heard in countless other Horner scores like Avatar and his Oscar-winning Titanic.

With the Wrath of Khan's reduced budget and the production unable to afford a return effort from Jerry Goldsmith, director Nicholas Meyer turned to the young James Horner for his big break, requesting a more nautical, less fantastical score. Abandoning all of Goldsmiths' thematic material and most of the electronic accompaniment, The Wrath of Khan is an almost purely orchestral effort, as suited to battles in space as to battles on the high seas.

Horner composed a sweeping, loving theme for the Enterprise ("Enterprise Clears Moorings") and a harsh, driving action theme for Khan and the battle with the Reliant ("Surprise Attack", "Battle in the Mutara Nebula"). For the darker material, including the murder of the Regula I crew and the disgusting Ceti eels, Horner goes full horror, scoring these scenes with piercing strings – sometimes painfully so.

Superior to the monotonous, Vulcan-related material in Horner's followup, the death of Spock is handed with quiet, ethereal strings and a solemn bagpipe and orchestral rendition of Amazing Grace. These poignant moments coupled with the swashbuckling nature of the action music performances make James Horner's The Wrath of Khan a versatile, emotional score, one of Trek's most famous and influential installments.