Jerry Goldsmith is a titan of film music, the genius behind 'Alien,' 'Chinatown,' and 'Star Trek.' But with over 250 scores, some masterpieces inevitably get overlooked. It’s time to dig deeper and give these hidden gems their moment in the spotlight.
‘A New Beginning’ from The ‘Burbs (1989)
Joe Dante’s black comedy about suburban paranoia gave Goldsmith a chance to do something rare: parody himself. The score for 'The ‘Burbs' is a brilliantly unhinged work, blending gothic horror organs, military marches, and schmaltzy neighborhood bliss into a chaotic symphony. The track ‘A New Beginning’ (often listed as 'Main Title') perfectly encapsulates this genius. It opens with an idyllic, almost comically sweet theme for a peaceful cul-de-sac before descending into ominous, synth-driven suspicion. Goldsmith even quotes his own iconic theme from 'Patton' for Bruce Dern's paranoid veteran character, turning his own dramatic language into a punchline. It’s a masterclass in tonal juggling, showcasing a witty, self-aware side of the composer that many who only know his serious action and sci-fi scores would never expect. The music is as schizophrenic as the film's characters, and all the more brilliant for it.
‘The Tractor’ from The Secret of NIMH (1982)
When Goldsmith signed on to score Don Bluth’s animated fantasy, he insisted on treating it like a live-action feature, not a cartoon. The result is one of the most sophisticated and powerful scores ever written for animation, and the action cue ‘The Tractor’ is its ferocious centerpiece. As the terrified mouse family faces down a monstrous farm plow, Goldsmith unleashes the full might of the National Philharmonic Orchestra. The track is a stunning piece of musical storytelling, a relentless and terrifying musical onslaught of churning strings, snarling brass, and percussive terror. It’s pure, uncut Goldsmith action, with a complexity and ferocity that rivals his work on films like 'Alien' or 'Poltergeist'. In an era when animated scores were often much simpler, Goldsmith delivered a symphonic tour de force that elevated the drama and stakes to an epic level, proving that animation could be a canvas for genuine musical terror.
‘A Busy Man’ from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
William Shatner's directorial turn is widely considered a low point for the 'Star Trek' film franchise, but its score is an undeniable highlight. Jerry Goldsmith returned to the series after a decade and delivered a score filled with warmth, adventure, and several new themes. While he reprised his classic 'Star Trek' march, the hidden gem is ‘A Busy Man'. This track masterfully weaves together multiple motifs, most notably Goldsmith's iconic, guttural Klingon theme, which he first introduced in 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture'. Here, however, he presents it not just as a theme of aggression but with a surprising sense of beauty and grandeur. The cue is a perfect example of Goldsmith’s ability to develop a theme and find new emotional colors within it. Buried in a maligned film, this rich, layered piece of action and character scoring is often unfairly ignored in favor of his music for the more popular 'Trek' films.
‘The Mission’ from The Sum of All Fears (2002)
By 2002, the Jack Ryan film series had moved on from Harrison Ford to Ben Affleck, and the movie received a mixed reception. But it also featured one of Jerry Goldsmith's final major works, a powerhouse thriller score that stands with his best. The opening track, ‘The Mission’, is a piece of soaring, choral majesty that feels more like it belongs in a historical epic than a modern techno-thriller. Goldsmith composed a deeply moving and lyrical theme, performed with a full choir, that speaks to the immense weight of history and the gravity of the nuclear threat at the heart of the plot. While the score has plenty of Goldsmith's signature tense, percussive action, this main theme is pure, unabashedly melodic splendor. It was even adapted into a song, ‘If We Could Remember’, with lyrics by Paul Williams. It’s a beautifully somber and powerful piece that elevates the entire film.
