#5 NOV 11, 2017 · 8 yr ago
I've been a fan of Star Trek for about twenty five years now. I first got into it through the original series, repeated on BBC2 in 1992-4, and saw most the original films during the same timeframe. The Wrath Of Khan was the second one I saw. The first, oddly enough, was The Voyage Home (which we'll be doing in a couple of weeks). But I digress.
In 2013, just the day after my 31st birthday, my best friend and I went to the cinema to watch the then-new Star Trek film, Into Darkness. We both left the cinema feeling a little bit short-changed, and were in full agreement that this new film was little more than a remake of Wrath Of Khan. Disillusioned, we went back home where we put on my DVD of Wrath Of Khan, and enjoyed that film, on the small screen, infinitely more than Into Darkness on the big screen. That says it all really.
If you look at the five decades plus that Star Trek has been a thing, it's worth noting that its entire history is littered with second chances. The first pilot, "The Cage", with an almost completely different cast (save for Leonard Nimoy as Spock and Majel Barrett in a different role, the unnamed "Number One"), was not approved, but the network liked the idea enough to let Gene Roddenberry make a second pilot. That second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" which introduced Kirk, Scotty and Sulu (McCoy and Uhura didn't appear until the first season proper), won them the commission for the series. It's the same with the movies. Star Trek: The Motion Picture, released in 1979, although technically a hit, was artistically a disappointment, and it could easily have been the death-knell for the franchise, despite its cult popularity. The only way to save it was to make another movie that pulled out all the stops . . . and that's exactly what we got.
Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan is quite simply, the movie you put on to convert non-Trek fans. You show me someone who says they don't like Wrath Of Khan and I'll show you someone who's not to be trusted.
The plot is fairly basic, Khan, the villain from the classic episode "Space Seed" seeks revenge on Kirk for abandoning him there 15yrs previous. But that's fine. Everything fits together. The only tiny niggle is the fact that Khan recognises Chekov despite the latter not being in the episode - as "Space Seed" was in season 1 and Chekov didn't appear until season 2. But that doesn't mean that the character wasn't on the ship already, so we can let it pass.
The way Khan is discovered by accident - it works. They couldn't just have him appear out of nowhere, they had to bring him in in a way that made sense. The Genesis idea worked well for this. Of course, the Ceti Alpha system must be in quite a remote corner of space, considering that a planet in it exploded and nobody in Starfleet had noticed in fourteen and a half years! Then again, if you're looking for somewhere to test a dangerous device, you don't want to go anywhere too heavily populated, so it probably is quite remote.
Khan himself is a great villain. Of course, "Space Seed" was one of the highlights of the original series to begin with, and he was great in that. Here, we see what 15yrs of isolation have done to him. There are several times in this film that Khan quotes from Moby Dick, to emphasise his obsession with defeating Kirk. Actually, this isn't the first time Moby Dick has been an inspiration in Star Trek, two second season episodes, "The Doomsday Machine" and "Obsession" both have similar themes (two great episodes, especially the former). It wasn't the last either, the TNG film First Contact has a similar theme running through it. Perhaps the most remarkable thing is that despite all this, and their numerous conversations over the monitors, Kirk and Khan are never in the same room together in this movie. Khan never leaves the Reliant, Kirk never boards it.
In the late 90s I read a few Trek actors' autobiographies, including James Doohan's, "Beam Me Up Scotty" - he talked about some scenes from this movie being cut. These scenes were restored in the Director's Cut, and so Scotty gets a bit more screen time. The scenes elaborate on the relationship between Scotty and cadet Preston, who we learn is actually Scotty's nephew. The inspection scene in engineering is extended, as is the scene in sick bay in the middle of the movie.
The interplay between Kirk, Spock and McCoy is the best it's ever been. When they are initially talking about the Genesis weapon, that is a classic moment between the three of them. Also, did you notice Spock's line to McCoy, "you must learn to govern your passions, they will be your undoing" - considering the course that Spock's logic leads him to at the end of the film, the tragic irony here is a thing of beauty.
Of course, it's famous for its ending, the death of Spock. Apparently Gene Roddenberry was dead set against the idea, and leaked it to the fans by way of protest. The writer, an uncredited Nick Meyer (who also directed the film) was able to get around this very cleverly by using the training sequence at the start. Still, fans were worried at the thought of Spock dying . . . until they saw it, and then they were moved. The response was, "OK, we knew you said you were going to kill off Spock, but we didn't think you'd make it so good!" And it is. Spock's death is a jaw-dropping moment. He sacrificed himself to save the ship because he knew it was the logical thing to do. He freely acknowledges this to Kirk in his final moments. That doesn't make it any easier on his friends though. And the funeral scene at the end is a great tribute.
If this film had flopped, Star Trek would have been no more. But it was a hit, and well-deservedly. Everything about this movie is top class. The story is great, the effects are great (a little dated now but still great), and the acting is great. I can't say enough in praise of this film. I've just watched it, and talking about it, I want to watch it again!
