I edited several versions of the theme, including the unused opening credits, together to create a more powerful, varied and expanded theme for Captain Archer.
Kirk was a cowboy playing sheriff on the frontier of a growing federation. Picard was a diplomat and peacekeeper putting out brush fires and keeping stability in an established utopia. Sisko was a warrior and a leader the federation needed in it's darkest hour. Janeway was a shepherd who would go to any lengths to get her crew back to the federation safe. They may all have been explorers, especially Picard and Janeway, but they all joined starfleet to some degree because they live in the federation and want to serve it. Archer didnt have an interstellar civilization to worry about, he wasn't trying to maintain a status quo. He was a pathfinder, a true pioneer taking humanity's first steps into the stars like he had dreamed of doing since he was a child. In the ep Home, Archer is deeply troubled that his time in the expanse turned him into a soldier instead of an explorer. He was worried he was losing his way and becoming an arbiter for admirals and politicians. It's that moment in my mind that makes Archer such a model of what starfleet captains should be about. He'll do what he has to to protect Earth and keep the peace, but that's never what he wanted to be. All Archer ever wanted was to see what's over the horizon, what's beyond the next star, to reach out and touch the unknown. It's that purity of purpose that makes him the prototypical starfleet captain to me.
I agree but as I just said that it takes a lot of guts to put in either a Romulan war or a change of heart of the Earth high command to become a far flung exploratory organization. Absent of a character on the ground like John MacDonald was in the 1860s it takes a lot of guts to sign a treaty of the nature like was implied at the end. What if that confederation failed to heel the Romulans? What then?
Martin Theiss another reason why I would’ve loved to see a war, by the time the war started, Starfleet ships wouldn’t be numerous most likely, so most of the fleet would be Vulcan, andorian, tellarite ships to fend off the Romulans
DKman24 In novels humans almost lost the war because the rest of the Coalition was reluctant to join the war. It wasn't later，until archer convinced T'Pau to send warships，and Shran came with volunteering ships，did the tide got turned in humanity's favor
It's because stupid CBS and Paramount insisted on fettering the show with byzantine distribution deals and running it through their stupid UPN that most people didn't have. Less eyeballs meant less revenue which led to early death.
Absolutely. It was the absolute foundation of all star trek. Even JJ Abrams refferel to Archers Begal and the Xindi in his motion pictures. Who makes these horrible decisions to cancel something truly beautiful.
@@axenledgie1423 It had so much potential. They had plans to go at least 8 seasons. They tried but with UPN shutting down and being bought out, it couldn't happen. There is still hope if they plan to make a series of movies with the NX crew. That should happen.
Before Captain Janeway, the Shepard. Before Captain Sisko, the Warrior. Before Captain Picard, the Diplomat. Before even Captain Kirk, the Maverick. There was Captain Archer, the Pathfinder.
many trekkies will call me a heretic for this but i am glad archer and his crew gave me this world of star trek. of infinite stars and so much to see. i know some trekkies dont like our generation of the fandom but we still dream the dreams of kirk and picard. an even if i am the last of this proud story by Gene then i call my self lucky to have been here.
Gene didn't always have good ideas ( _See Ferengi Sexual positions.. ugh_ ), and as for Trekkies not liking new fans, the issue isn't new Fans per se. But rather fans who spit on the old stuff and calling it hogwash and other things because it's not Discovery or stuff like that. Any new fan who wants to get into Star Trek, regardless of their starting point, who goes ahead and watches all of the shows or most of them or are even curious about them and the movies is heartily welcome. Anyone who doesn't welcome that is no Trekkie. Then again, the same goes for most fandom I'd say. You'll always have your rotten eggs.
You are the future of the fandom and you will always be welcome by those that matter. Doesn’t matter how or why you got into it. Fact is you’re here and you’re family. Happy Star Trek Day. 🖖
I love the Archer's theme, it is so poetic, so symbolic of hope, of exploration, of discovery. It perfectly symbolizes all the values of Starfleet, all the values of the Federation, of that utopian future that Gene Roddenberry envisioned more than 50 years ago. Archer is my all time favorite captain, and I'm not ashamed to say that the last episode of Enterprise made me cry, that series ended at its best, long before its time.
Beautiful words 😭 Thank you for saying this. Star Trek, and Starfleet, is the hope to a better and brighter future, for all mankind. It is just a matter of overcoming. Texts like what you wrote, makes me feel proud to be a trekkie.
When I was in my early twenties on a trip to East Africa, I saw a gazelle giving birth. It was truly amazing. Within minutes, the baby was standing up, standing up on its own. A few more minutes, and it was walking; and before I knew it, it was running alongside its mother, moving away with the herd. Humans aren't like that, Ambassador. We may come from the same planet as those gazelles, but we're pretty much helpless when we're born. It takes us months before we're able to crawl; almost a full year before we can walk. Our deep space mission isn't much different. We're going to stumble, make mistakes - I'm sure more than a few, before we find our footing. But we're going to learn from those mistakes. That's what being human is all about.
Archer was such a sweet captain. Kirk and Picard are legends, Sisko and Janeway are total badasses that re-defined what a captain can be, but Archer just oozes positive atmosphere. He is, in my eyes, the very heart of the United Federation of Planets.
I don't know if it's the character's personality or my own love for the show but whenever I see Archer it puts a smile on my face. Props to Scott Bakula for playing the character wonderfully. Archer to me is the embodiment of humanities finest qualities.
Grew up with my dad introducing me to Star Trek with Captain Kirk. Found Picard, Sisko and Janeway on my own after my dad died. But Captain Archer, he will always by my favourite Captain. Scott Bakula is an amazing actor.
There's no chance at all, if they stick with their own established timeline, and Discovery is supposed to be in the "prime" universe, set only ten years before the first TOS stories. The Romulan war would be a history lesson. CBS screwed their chances of showing that when they cancelled "Enterprise"...
It is very hard to maintain a series for over 5 years these days. Particularly if CBS could end it on a note like Archer keynoting a diplomatic mission that resulted in the formation of the old core of the Federation. As someone who is seriously into history I think there can be an argument to leave out something like a Romulan war because sometimes history is best told by the perspective of main key events and not details. Noting even in Gene Roddenberry days the franchise did not embrace violence or war as a means to solve political issues, I really think that part of the story should be left out of the major timeline since warfare is not a key aspect of Federation tactics or external policy.
I can really appreciate what you're saying. That being said, seeing how peaceful explorers deal with warfare can be interesting. Ds9 got serious with the Siege of Ar558 I really liked that. it's not always easy to solve things peacefully.
I loved Archer's enthusiasm for first contact and making "friends" with other life forms....too bad the show was so short, there would have been so many episodes which would have laid the foundation for everything that was set up in TOS, and the rest of the shows....I personally loved the "Reed Alert", which became "red alert", and the mentions of the prime directive, the captain's chair, and so much more. I also loved the way TPol became the captain's confidant and most trusted advisor (even though she was "annoyed" at times with his disregard for protocol).
Your point about Archers enthusiasm for exploration and making friends with new life forms is a good one. I think they cut it short though, especially when season 3 came along. I do like the fact he had to make difficult decisions that Picard, Kirk etc never had to make to get to the Xindi but I think that should have come later (season 4 or 5 if they'd given it that long). Season 1 and 2 Archer had a lot longer to run
That was always something I loved about Enterprise. Just seeing humanity's first steps getting out and meeting new races. Honestly the war was when it started to get difficult for me to remain interested, since it started to lose that positivity and just get very focused on fighting and the time travel.
The showrunners really dropped the ball as a prequel... Considering what was already known about pre-federation history why they felt they had to go with yet another time travel story ark to kick things off? I can't believe they couldn't find something interesting to go with as a season long story.
Agreed... you know, now the next time I watch an episode of Enterprise, I think I'm going to mute the sound when the title montage comes on and play the audio from this instead haha! I don't even totally dislike the vocal theme song as a song in isolation, but this feels much more in line with the lineage of Star Trek theme music, to me anyway.
+Commander800 I didn't like it. Casting was on average awful, some key charactres where look a like, without strong facial feauters, totaly unfit for their roles, story was thin and mostly hardly watchable, opening theme was disaster... Only thing that was left to producers was to cancel the show.
I know how you feel but with so much done in the future for an Enterprise scenario it would be very hard to do a good production on the early days of Earth based exploration. Particularly if one is not sure that the high command has made a final decision to be an inter-system operation.
As someone who grew up with Trek and loved it all, I have to put Enterprise as my favorite. The first and second seasons were lame, sure (and what Trek show's opening seasons weren't?), but seasons 3 and 4 are easily the best that Star Trek has to offer. Not saying there weren't misfires in those seasons, but the serialized stories still touched on really relevant issues while raising the stakes and capturing my imagination like never before. I loved the level of technology that they had in the show, the general aesthetics, and the awesome, memorable characters. Seriously one of my all-time favorite shows ever. I still lament the show's cancellation after all this time, and I suspect I always will.
This show was under-rated and had so much potential. At it's heart it was true star trek. And Jonathan Archer is my second favourite captain after Picard. And this theme should have been used on the intro.
I recently finished Enterprise for the first time, and I fully wept. Scott Bakula as Archer was fantastic, and I found myself really drawn into the series. I was certain that I was going to hate it, but I actually loved it a lot. There might have been some mis-steps, and some bad episodes but (and don’t crucify me for this) literally every series of Trek has those moments. Whether it’s Discovery, Next Generation, or the original series, there are always some moments that aren’t quite right. But despite these moments, I still love all of these series. I felt Picard’s PTSD with the Borg, Burnham’s loneliness and difficulty fitting back in with her crew in season 3 of Discovery, Janeway’s fear that she couldn’t get her crew back home, and Archer’s hatred of the changes in him after everything with the Xindi. And I also felt the joy of discovering something new, of making new and alien friends or allies, the exhilaration of flying a fucking starship, and the togetherness of being part of the United Federation of Planets. Even if Archer didn’t exist when Star Trek was first being written, his adventures in the NX-01 were the basis of the Federation, and without him, it wouldn’t exist. People may dislike Enterprise, just as they may dislike Discovery, or Voyager, or Deep Space Nine. It doesn’t change the fact that *I* love them. They will all forever hold a place in my heart. 🖖 Live Long and Prosper. And remember that the Federation exists on the ideal of cooperation across borders.
Something about this theme just *REALLY* sells the feel of what Enterprise was, at it's best, about. It really gives the sense of humanity's first baby steps out into the Star Trek universe.
September 26th, 2021 will be the 20th anniversary of Enterprise. I hope and pray that they will release the anniversary version of this show on Blu-ray and 4k HD. Archer's Theme needs to be the opening intro as part of the special as it was originally meant to be. Who agrees?
The actor who played Captain Archer...also acted in an older series called "Quantum Leap". I could NOT resist the joke...I have enjoyed his acting in BOTH series.
@@Robby4291 It was great to Scott Bakula with Dean Stockwell, his co-star in "Quantum Leap" in the episode where Archer and Lewis were prisoners in an internment run by Colonel Kragk? (Dean Stockwell)
Hearing this in he new episode of Discovery as the spacedock was unveiled, I choked up. touching gesture by the Disco team to another underrated Star Trek program
Cadets, if I may turn your attention to the newly-constructed Archer Space Dock. Here, our existing fleet will be upgraded, and the next generation of Starfleet vessels constructed. Vessels that will once again take us to new worlds, new civilizations, places we can't even begin to imagine right now.
That's music's purpose. to move the otherwise immovable ..to conquer our lesser natures and elevate us , our imaginings, our dreams and finally, our accomplishments.
Enterprise has played a part in my life when everything went sideways for me. Archer helped me get through some really rough times, and this song still manages to make me cry. Just thought I'd share this with you all. No idea why.
I am a Trekkie since the day I was born and I have to say after watching every series I wholeheartedly believe that if Enterprise would have gotten this 7 season treatment the everyone else in that area was getting it would be considered one of the greatest star trek shows of all time
Beautiful piece of music! I wish Star Trek :Enterprise would have stayed on the air. I even got to tell Brannon Braga this at last year's Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas.
I think the thing that sticks out the most for me when I think about Enterprise, and this is something reflected in the original score, is that the whole show is just so damn optimistic. I mean it has to be, right? Mankind is making its first big strides to interstellar travel. Every small new encounter is this big and exciting event because Archer and his crew (minus T'pol and Travis) have never done or seen what they encounter. And I love that the music reflects this by starting with these really naive and quiet melodies that escalate in the complexity of the arrangement. Moving from optimism and curiosity to he big triumphant sounds. Not like Next Gen or TOS which answer the curious four notes with blasting horns.
Enterprise was how I first discovered the Star Trek universe as a kid, and I've been hooked on Star Trek ever since. Lots has changed in the world since then and sometimes I look out the window at it reminds me of "In a Mirror Darkly", both at home and across the globe. As a kid I assumed societal progress was one way - forward - but the events of the last half decade has proven that not to be the case, going backwards is entirely possible. Even as we still progress in many areas, democratic societies can degenerate in certain ways and become more authoritarian, social services get strained as wages stagnate, fear pervades, and sense of community weakened. Progress requires a lot of work and some days it's hard to remain optimistic. Star Trek's role in providing that optimism to the youth, the elderly and everybody in between is now more important than ever.
This theme is humanity at it's best. It perfectly represents the good in Starfleet and Humanities quest for peaceful discovery of our amazing galaxy. Archers optimism and kindness are really reflected well in this theme. This is by far the best Star Trek theme
Enterprise has been and always will be my favorite star trek, it holds a special place in my heart because it was the first star trek I ever saw, archer always reminded me of my grandfather, a captain in the navy going out and discovering, even after everything on earth was discovered he still saw so much and had such a story to tell, and so does Archer. A toast to the good captain of the first Enterprise.
I was introduced to Startrek with Enterprise, it is a pity that it was canceled. It has an incredible spirit, a pity that those who call themselves "real fans" hate the series.
It wasn't corny enough for the supposed "real fans". It was to realistic for their silly Science fiction appetite. But I think that is stupid because this was part of a bridge between the "near" and far future. I loved Enterprise and Cap'n Archer!
1:14 - 1:35 (Captain Archer's voice): "Space....the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: To explore strange new worlds. To seek out new lives and new civilizations. To boldly go where no humans have gone before!"
Damn, I wish they'd used this for the intro credits! It feels way more like a grand orchestral Trek theme while still retaining that modern-day edge that they were going for with Faith of the Heart. I didn't hate Faith of the Heart like many did, but let's face it, this is the VASTLY superior theme!
When Enterprise first aired I wrote it off due to the theme song and the fact they'd got rid of the words 'Star Trek' from the title like they were ashamed of it. I watched it properly for the first time seven years ago and it's carved out a place in my heart. Even the theme song's grown on me now.
This crops up on my reccomended every now and then. It makes me cry every time as Enterprise is what got me into star trek. Sitting at home after school watching the re run of it on our Tv in 2013-14 and watching it with my dad
Star trek enterprise is much better than i remembered. Flawed, but most of it was due to restrictions imposed to the show. And it was getting awesome. Shame we won't see it in its final form, or ever truly see archer's speech at the foundation of the UFP.
I heard people complain about it having too much rock and I kinda understand... but I don't mind because: -Every song in StarTrek conveys a feeling, a direction, an ambience, a purpose: TOS music has a light-hearted feeling but conveying the feel of exploration and something deeper, TNG originally conveyed enjoying the wonders of the Universe to go where no one has gone before, while the later seasonsmusic conyevs a bit of "the coldness of space" to me, DeepSpaceNine's music originally felt like the slow pace of a (static) station then after third season it got a more war-drums style, Voyager conveyed the feeling of exploring but needing to return home. On all of this StarTrek:Enterprise was set in a more human experience, before the Federation was even founded, it makes some sort of sense that is has a more contemporary human feeling, "rock" style for example, like humanity in the middle of a sociocultural transformation, leaving their past behind, yet so close. -It sounds good. Now, with that said, while I also liked the intro music ST:Ent finally had, having this as the real intro would have been perfect.
Listening to this and hearing Archer's speeches got me to the Tokyo 2020 (which was held in 2021) Paralympic Games as a 1 handed Recurve Archer. I remember walking onto the finals field hearing this exact theme as I went out to compete, after 15 years of hard work and then right in the middle of the Pandemic last year it had been a long road... 💘🖖🏻 Thank you to everyone that made Enterprise a reality.
Watch this on Netflix for the as my first Star Trek series in my first apartment that me & wife bought. First time I became a team manager overseeing a regional team. I can totally relate to Captain Archer. I've love space fiction like prometheus, star wars etc and being a space fiction enthusiast, I am ashamed I only started watching Star Trek at 30 when I've heard of it 11 years ago hehe
I love Archer's Theme! When I hear it, it seems like I'm aboard Enterprise NX-01. Perhaps there will be a United Federation of Planets, and Starfleet, one day. Maybe it'll begin as United Earth and United Earth Starfleet. I remain hopeful for this.
Think this show had the most potential to be the best trek show since TNG. Too bad it got a raw deal and they were really hitting their stride by the final season.
Such an underrated show! His theme song always gives me goose-bumps... For me the song perfectly describes him as a human being and a Captain. Kind, caring, authoritative, loyal, heroic, compassionate and a strong leader. He'll always be the best Captain to me. There are rumours that he may be returning to the Star Trek Universe and it COULD make sense and may tie into Pikes era. He's rumoured to make an appearance and, if things go well, he may get his own show. Now THAT would be fucking awesome! Bring Enterprise back! Oh well lol.
This song is aptly named: 'Archer's Theme'. It embodies the very heart, and soul of Enterprise and the First Warp 5 Pre-Federation Starship, and the Journeys of her fine crew!
The beginning simple, almost cliché. But close my eyes and I can see... a ship at sea, and the captain climbs onto the deck to feel the warmth of the first ray of dawn. The stage is set, yet the curtain still remains. Then, everything quiets, an oboe, playing as if it's unveiling away any doubt, weaving through the melody, till a harmonica took over and sweetened it into a phrase of such delight! This was no composition by Jeff Russo! This was a music I'd never heard. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing.....
Every time I hear this, I imagine I am Archer, sitting in his chair on the Bridge as the small Human ship departs the construction yards on her maiden voyage. And I feel the sense of wonder and excitement as the main part of the theme kicks in, what it would feel like to be at warp, traveling to some unknown, distant planet. Plodding along at warp 4 or 5, knowing it will take time to get where I am going... And then I fall in love with Enterprise all over again, for bringing that sense of wonder to the show. Archer and crew were explorer's first, and defenders of Earth second, and they laid the groundwork for every ship named Enterprise to come.
I swear Archer is underrated. Yes Enterprise did poorly but Scott Bakula was wonderful. We need Archer to return in some form to give him the proper story/send off he needs A proper one for the FIRST Starship Captain
This embodies everything Star Trek stands for. Which is why this piece makes me even more emotional after having watched episode 6 or so of ST: Picard...
Katie Carr No, It saddens me greatly. Archer’s theme reminds me of what Star Trek really (used to?) stand for, things that Star Trek Picard mostly just throws out the window. I’ve been disappointed before because a new show was bad (like Discovery or some of the motion pictures), but ST:P genuinely made me feel depressed.
Great expanded theme. Beautiful and keeps to the depth & heart of this series. I used to always wait for this ending theme as i watched this series, and i felt that this should have been the Opening theme every time I heard it! I still feel this was as I listen to your wonder version. Thank you.
Comparing Stargate theme to Archer's theme. Stargate evokes a circle in its very phrasing and keys, always coming back to the first one. Archer's on the other hand evokes taking one step at a time, one after the other and once you've taking your pace, you just can't stop if you don't want to fall, you are forced to take the next step, always going forward.
I Really like this Startrek Song for some reason I think Archer Theme should be use as the Intro song instead of End credits. But Anyways I looking forward What they will come up with in New Trek Series.
Man I LOVE this song, it gives me goosebumps every time. This series was so magical in showing where Starfleet and the Federation came from. It deserved so much better than to get canned after four seasons.
