Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan by Nicholas Meyer (1982)
18 May 2009Considered by many, including me to the be the best of the Trek films, this one has the greatest Trek Villain, the return of Ricardo Monalbán as Khan Noonien Singh from the original series. This is also one of the most moving episodes with 2 major deaths. I also greatly enjoy the new uniforms, which gave Starfleet a more militaristic feel, and which would persist through the next 5 Star Trek films. This is much more of a swashbuckling action adventure, and not so much a thinking man’s trek, but it proved to work much better for big screen. And this also was the start of ILM doing the Trek films, and they continued on the amazing special effects. Sure it has some issues, like the fact that Khan was in the first Season of the show, before Chekov (Walter Koenig) joined the cast, and yet Khan knows him, but I can buy the explanation that he was in engineering at the time, already on the ship, but not part of the bridge crew. This also introduced the Kobayashi Maru simulator which played such a big part in the new Star Trek film by JJ Abrams. There is not much to complain about here, because this is an amazing film, and the models have never looked better in the effects. A great film all the way around, and it has never looked better than it does on blu-ray! A must have for all Star Trek fans!
Vulcan Lietenant Saavik (Kirstie Alley) is in command of the Enterprise with familiar crew members ,Captain Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Chief Medical Officer Lenoard “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley), helmsman Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) and communications officer Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) near the Klingon Neutral Zone, when they get a distress call from a Federation Ship named the Kobayashi Maru which is in the Neutral Zone. Saavik decides to break regulations and go into the nuetral zone to rescue the ship and it’s over 300 passengers, but it is a trap, and they are set upon by three ships, and quickly disabled. The crew is killed, and Saavik orders them to abandon ship, when the simulator opens and Admiral James Tiberius Kirk (William Shatner) comes in ending the simulation, and going to talk to Captain Spock, who wants to know how his cadets have done. It is also Kirk’s birthday, and Spock gives him a book. Kirk goes to his quarters, and is depressed, and McCoy arrives with Romulan Ale, and some glasses since Kirk can’t use the prescription to fix his eyes. McCoy berates Kirk for acting like his birthday is a funeral, and tells him to get his command back before it is too late. Meanwhile the USS Reliant commanded by Captain Terrell (Paul Winfield) and Commander Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) is searching for a planet with no life on it for an experiment called the Genesis Experiment. They detect something on the surface of Ceti Alpha VI so they beam down to investigate, and find on the planet the cargo pods of the ship the Botany Bay, Chekov, realizes what is going on, and they try to leave, but are taken by Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán) and his men, who use the only surviving native creature, which bores into your eye and wraps around your brainstem, and makes the person extremely susceptible to suggestion. Khan stands the crew, and gets Terrrell and Checkov to contact the Genesis scientists at Regula one including Dr. Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch) and her son David Marcus (Merritt Butrick) who argue that it was always the Federations plan.
REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…
Kirk goes with McCoy to the Enterprise to go a training cruise with Spock’s trainee crew, when Kirk gets a message from his ex, Dr. Carol Marcus who is asking why he is taking Genesis. Kirk explains to Spock and McCoy about her creation of a device that is supposed to bring a lifeless space moon into a living breathing planet, something that could easily be perverted into a weapon. Kirk reluctantly takes command of the Enterprise from his friend Spock, and they head to Regula One to find out just what is going on.
On route, the Enterprise runs into the Reliant, and not knowing anything is wrong, doesn’t raise shields in time, allowing Khan to attack, and severely damage the Enterprise, though Kirk and Spock are able to use Reliants command codes to lower her shields, and thus severely wound her, allowing them some time.
The Enterprise heads to Regula one, and Kirk with McCoy and Savik beam over and find the people there tortured and dead, except for Chekov and Terrell. They find that the transporter has been activated, and heads into the planet, so they decide to see where it goes, ordering Enterprise (which has no power for beaming) to leave if they don’t hear from them.
They beam down, and are attacked by David, who is of course Kirk’s son, and they calm things down and meet with Carol, and they show them the genesis cave they created. They get a message from Spock, where he says the ship will not be repaired for 2 days.
They are betrayed by Chekov and Terrell who are under Khan’s control, and he gets the Genesis device, but Terrell
Kirk ends up explaining to Savik how he cheated and beat the Kobayashi Maru simulator as a cadet, since he does not believe in the no win scenario, and he calls Spock and gets them beamed over to the Enterprise, and explains he exaggerated since they were on an open channel, days instead of hours.
The Enterprise is in bad shape, so to make things even, they head in the Motara Nebula, where static discharges will make the shields and sensors useless, so they will be even. Khan of course follows.
It turns out Khan is not familiar with three dimensional combat, so they are able to defeat him with that, but the Enterprise has had it’s warp drive knocked out, and Khan activates the Genesis Device with his last breath.
Spock goes to Engineering to help with the warp drive, McCoy tries to stop him, but he knocks him out, and does something, telling him to remember, thus going into the chamber and fixing the warp drive, but being irradiated, and not having a chance of survival.
Kirk goes down and talks to Spock before he dies, discussing how the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. They have a funeral, and send Spock’s body in a torpedo tube down to the newly created Genesis planet, where it lands, as Kirk and the crew head home.
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Such a good movie, and it has never looked better. Everything is well done, they have a great story and a great villain and it all jus came together perfectly!
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