Star Trek was a huge part of my pre-teenage years when it first premiered on NBC in September of 1966. Gene Roddenberry, former L.A. cop, saw it as "Wagon Train to the Stars," and he and his writers took on hot-button subjects of the time, including pacifism, the Vietnam War, and racism.
It was a brave show, far ahead of its time. And it spawned a series of very successful motion pictures — beginning in 1980 with Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and recent iterations with a new set of actors playing the original crew — Chekov, Scotty, Zulu, Bones, Mr. Spock ... and of course, Iowa's most famous fictional son, James Tiberius Kirk.
Some great composers have supplied music for the franchise over the years, including Alexander Courage (composer of the original Star Trek theme), Jerry Goldsmith, or more recently, Michael Giacchino.
Another composer who joined the company is James Horner, who started writing music for the franchise with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It's the movie that brought us together with Ricardo Montalbán as the enemy whom we all hated to love.
On this week's Flicks in Five, we'll hear some of Horner's score to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Original trailer — Star Trek: The Motion Picture
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