Righty time for another review, so this time I've dug back in time to an old sci-fi classic and its one of the Star Trek films, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which is widely regarded as the best of the original crew's films. So let's give it a look....
OK starting with the usual stuff, i.e the plot the film begins with Starfleet officer, Lt Saavik (Kirstie Alley) who is taking the "Kobayashir Maru" test, which is a test of Starfleet officer's character and leadership qualities in battle situations. Saavik fails the test as it ends Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) comes as he has been overseeing the test and speaks with Captain spock (Leonard Nimoy) afterwards. Kirk by now has given up his command of the Enterprise, as he insists "galloping round the cosmos is a game for the young". On the night of his birthday back on Earth, Dr McCoy (DeForrest Kelly) visits Kirk and insists he get back his command on the Enterprise.
Meanwhile the USS Reliant, is on a mission to find a lifeless planet so they can test the Genesis device, which is a torpedo that has the ability to reorganise matter and create habitable worlds for colonisation. On beaming down to a barren planet named Ceti Alpha V, Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) and Captain Terrell (Paul Winfield) beam down to the surface, during a heavy sandstorm they are soon captured by mysteriously masked figures. The leader reveals himself to be Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) a genetically engineered tyrant who was exiled to the planet 15 years ago by Kirk. Khan tells them that he was abandoned by Kirk and that he blames him for the death of his wife. Kahn then uses small eels which he places into Chekov and Terrell's space helmets which crawl into their ears, which Khan uses to control the men's minds and he get's them to find out where Kirk is, and they soon take the Reliant. Chekov then sends a strange message to the Genesis research team, who created the weapon, insisting that they transport the Genesis materials to them. The leader of the group Dr Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch) then contacts Kirk to ask why they are taking Genesis away from them, but their transmission is jammed. Kirk then decides out of concern to take command of the Enteprise, which is supposed to be on a three week training cruise. And its not long before Khan shows up in the Reliant and launches an attack on the Enterprise, but Kirk manages to trick them into lowering their shields and they counter-attack and escape.
On arriving at the scientist space station, Kirk with Lt Saavik and McCoy find most of the crew murdered and also Chekov and Terrell, who tell them that Khan tortured and killed most of the crew to get information about Genesis. Saavik tells Kirk that the remaining might have beamed down into the planetoid of Regula, and they teleport down, to soon find the remaining project team members, including Carol Marcus and her son, David (Merritt Buttrick) which turns out to be Kirk's son. At this point Chekov and Terrell draw their guns on Kirk, as Khan has been using them as spies, and they beam up Genesis at Khan's command, who tells them to kill Kirk. Terrell however resists and feeling the torment of the eel inside him, kills himself, whereas Chekov collapses, but eel drops out his ear and Kirk shoots it, and angrily speaks to Khan who taunts him. Stranded on the planetoid for a short while until Spock on the Enterprise can restore enough power to the ship's engines, Carol shows them around the Genesis cave, which is a beautiful paradise like world. After a short time, Spock calls Kirk and beams them back onboard the Enterprise, where Kirk once again is involved in a battle of wits against his old foe Khan for the final time.
There is no doubt that Star Trek II is one of the best films if not the best in the Star Trek movie franchise, and after a very disappointing and frankly boring first film, Star Trek: the Motion Picture, this saw the makers refind the essence of what made the TV show so entertaining. The re-introduction of an old enemy from the TV series was also an excellent choice, as the filmmakers decided to go with Khan, who appeared in the original TV series episode "Space seed". Khan himself is a very charismatic villain and at times even quotes pieces of Shakespeare, especially near the end when he is (PLOT SPOILER) abotu to detonate the Genesis device and he says "for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee!". Its also a really good choice in the film that Khan and Kirk never actually meet in person as they only communicate over the radios, or the ship's screen, and this is used to great effect in the scene where Kirk is left stranded on Regula planetoid and Khan taunts him by saying "I will leave you marooned for all eternity on the centre of a dead planet, buried alive!". And Khan's mean motivation for vengeance is the death of his wife, although in the film its not really specified directly that this was Kirk's doing, it was more the eel like creatures that were responsible for her death as he says so himself "they killed 20 of my people, including my beloved wife!". In the end however it is more about Khan purely out for revenge over Kirk for abandoning him on a desolate planet in the end more than anything else.
So getting onto the performances, well starting with the Star Trek crew themselves, they all give reassuringly charming performances that are very much akin to the TV series. William Shatner is great as James T. Kirk and after playing Kirk in a very stiff and serious manner in the first film, here we see the proper Kirk, with a wry sense of humour. Shatner himself get's some great lines in the film such as in the scene where he beams down to the planetoid with McCoy and Saavik and McCoy asks and tries to find the remainder Gensis project crew:
McCoy: Where are we going?
Kirk: Where they went?
McCoy: Supposing they went nowhere?
Kirk: Well this will be your big chance to get away from it all!
Shatner also shows Kirk as being quite vulnerable at times and at the start of the film he appears to be undergoing a sort of mid-life crisis, as he refuses to take command of the ship. And in one of the best dramatic scenes, his former lover, Carol Marcus asks him how he feels and he replies "old, worn out". Although later on he changes that to the film's last and cheesiest line where McCoy asks him how he feels and Kirk replies "young, I feel young!". There is also of course the classic line which he delivers after Khan angers him by leaving him stranded on the planetoid and Kirk yells into his radio "KHANNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!".
Leonard Nimoy also plays Spock nicely in a very subtle way, and he also shows that over time he has grown used to human customs and has a good understanding of their behaviour, and even at times displays a quirky sense of humour himself, as he says at one point to Kirk "I'm a Vulcan, I have no ego to bruise!". Spock's friendship with Krik has always been one of the key relationships in the series, and they also share a couple of good scenes, mainly the one at the end where (ANOTHER PLOT SPOILER) Spock sacrificies himself to save the ship from the Genesis detonation, and in his dying moments he says to Kirk "I am and shall always be your friend!". This still is one of the more poignant scenes in the Star Trek movie franchise, and no doubt there will be a few fans out there with something in their eye when this scene comes on! Although in an earlier scene the way in which he phrases his friendship to Kirk sounds a bit suspect, as he says to him "you are my superior officer, and also my friend, I am and shall always be yours". Ahem!
Of the other regular cast members DeForrest Kelly is great as Doctor McCoy, and he too get's some great lines when he argues with Kirk and Spock over the merits and flaws of the Genesis device and he says "according to myth the Earth was created in six days, now watch out, here's Genesis, now we can do it in six minutes!". Later on McCoy becomes instrumental in the saviour of Spock's life in the scene just before Spock goes into the engine room, Spock uses his nerve pinch to knock out McCoy and he performs a mind meld on him, simply saying "remember". Which amusingly brings to mind a story from William Shatner who was totally unaware of this scene at the time and implications of how it meant they were leaving it open for a third film, which Shatner had no idea about and jokingly accused Harve Bennet the producer and Leonard Nimoy with coming up with this sneaky idea to extend the film series. And Shatner jokingly said "they knew about it, and did it on purpose and I didn't know, and I'm going to get them for it one day!". Walter Koenig also does fairly well as Pavel Chekov, despite his forever dodgy Russian accent (always overpronouncing his v's as w's) he get's more to do in this film than normal, and its a nice change-up that he is used as a spy by Khan.
And as for the supporting new cast there is Bibi Besch, who is good as Dr Marcus, although she does have one cringeworthy line where she speaks to Kirk down on the Regula planetoid and she says "let me show you something that will make you feel young, as when the world was new!". Although Besch does have a good line when David refers to Kirk as an "overgrown boyscout" and Dr Marcus says "listen kiddo, Jim Kirk was many things but he was never a boyscout!". Merritt Buttrick is also good as Kirk's feisty and stubborn son David, and he would later go on to reprise his role in Star Trek III, and it was a great pity that he later on died only at the age of 29 due to AIDS related toxoplasmosis.
And finally there is of course Kirstie Alley as Lt Saavik, who is really good as the cool headed and ambitious Starfleet officer, who for half the film is frustrated at her failed attempts to succeed in the Kobayashi Maru test, before she get's a chance to have a shot at the Enterprise command chair herself when Kirk says "Saavik, you have the comm!". As Saavik, Alley shares a nice little scene with Kirk in the elevator scene where she asks him how he passed the test and he says "you may ask! That's just a little joke" to which Saavik shakes her head and says "humour its a difficult concept, it is not logical!". But of course Kirk later on tells Saavik his solution to the test, which in effect suggests that he cheated to win, although Kirk puts it as "changing the conditions of the test". Saavik also most notably cries near the end of the film at Spock's funeral, which was very uncharacteristic for a Vulcan, although in the script it was revealed that Saavik was of mixed Vulcan and Romulan ancestry, although Vulcans do of course have emotions, they just suppress them, and its fair to say that even Vulcans might shed a tear every once in a very long while.
Which brings me onto the star of the show, Ricardo Montalban as Khan, and he does a terrific job as Kirk's old arch enemy. Montalban plays Kahn as a charming, intelligent yet vicious villain who is quick to take lives when he feels like it, as we see the bloody aftermath of his attack on the Regula space station. Montalban get's plenty of great dialogue in the film and he has several highlights in the film, especially in his first scene where he reveals himself to Chekov by removing his mask and he interrogates him, lifting him off the ground asking "why are you here???". There is also the scene where Montalban is about to launch his first attack on the Enterprise and he says "Ahh Kirk my old friend, do you know of the old Klingon proverb that revenge is a dish best served cold? It is very cold in space!". I also like the line where Khan's second in command, Jaochim tries to convince him that he doesn't need to go after Kirk now they have taken the Reliant but Khan insists and says "He tasks me and I shall have him! I shall chase him round the moons of Nibia, and around the Antares Maelstrom and around Perdition's flames before I give him up!". Montalban also did a fair bit of physical work to give himself a strong physique for Khan and he does impose himself as a very effective villain throughout the film both physically and mentally.
As for the technical specs of the film, direction wise Nicholas Meyer does a terrific job here, and he also co-wrote the screenplay, and he adds in some doses of Shakespeare for measure here (although not Measure for Measure!) with several quotations from Hamlet, as Kirk and Khan both separately quote from the play. Meyer also provides the perfect balance of humour, drama as well action to the film, and he nicely conveys how Starfleet is more like on giant navy in space, with even an admiral ranking to back it up.
The special effects for the film are also excellent as the Industry of Light Magic bring the space battle between the USS Enterprise and Reliant brilliantly to life in space and the model work for both ships are great. And one of the most visually impressive sequences in the film is the cat and mouse chase through into the Nebula, where the two ships can't detect one another due to the large amount of static discharge in the Nebula itself. Star Trek II is also one of the first films to have used computer graphics effects as well, which is shown in the Genesis proposal video, which shows the effects of the torpedo and how it creates a world. And its ironic how Star Trek II cost a quarter of the amount that Star Trek The Motion Picture did ($11 million as opposed to $46 million), yet Star Trek II is by far the more visually impressive film, as I guess they used the money in just the right way.
And finally I can't finish without mentioning James Horner's brilliant and wonderful music score for the film, which easily stands as one of his very best film scores and it was also his debut major film. And throughout there are so many terrific passages of music, especially in the scene where Khan is introduced, and also in the scenes where the Enterprise comes under attack, as well as the film's terrific main theme.
Sooooo that's it for my pretty exhaustive look at Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which for me is the best of the Star Trek films and to this day remains a very enteratining, suspenseful and enjoyable film.
And that's it for now, till the next time, beam me up!
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