Right its time to revisit and redo one of my older posts yet again on this blog and this time its on what is arguably considered the best of all the Star Trek films: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. But is it as good as they say???? Well let's find out!
And as usual....
SPOILERS WILL BE AHEAD!!!
STORY
OK so the story 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) arrives as he has been overseeing the test and speaks with Captain Spock (Leonard Nimoy) afterwards who gives him a book as a present for his birthday. 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 eel like creatures, 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, shoots 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.
THOUGHTS
There is no doubt that Star Trek II is one of the best films if not the best in the film 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.
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. And Khan's main 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. 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.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!!)
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, which is a big improvement over their stilted performances in the first film.
And to kick off 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. And to mention a few of his best scenes his first one is a good one where after Saavik fails the Kobayshi Maru test. And in the scene Saavik asks Kirk "Any suggestions, Admiral?" and Kirk says "Prayer, Saavik. Klingons don't take prisoners!". And as Kirk is about to leave the scene, McCoy asks Kirk "Jim, wouldn't it be a better idea to put a more experienced crew back on the ship?" and Kirk says "Galloping around the cosmos is a game for the young, Doctor!" and walks out.
And there is the scene where Kirk beams down to the planetoid with McCoy and Saavik and in the scene McCoy where they try to find the remainder Gensis project crew, McCoy asks Kirk:
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 "How do I feel? 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!".
And lastly there is of course the scene where Khan tries to use Chekov and Tyrell to kill Kirk but its backfires on him. And in the next moment Kirk angrily picks up at Tyrell's communicator and says to Khan "Khan, bloodsucker! You're going to have to do your own dirty work now, do you hear me?! DO YOU???!!!". And after Khan beams up the Genesis weapon, Khan taunts Kirk by leaving him stranded on the planetoid and he says to him "I shall leave you as you left me, marooned for all eternity on the centre of a dead planet. Buried alive! Buried alive!". And Kirk trembles with rage yells into his radio "KHANNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!".
Leonard Nimoy also reprises his role as Spock very well and he 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.
Spock's friendship with Krik has always been one of the key relationships in the series, and they also share some good scenes together. And one of those examples is when Kirk meets privately with Spock and tells him something is wrong out at the Regula space station where Carol Marcus is based. And in the scene Kirk says to Spock "It maybe nothing, garbled communications, you take the ship...." and Spock interrupts Kirk "Jim, you proceed from a false assumption. I'm a Vulcan, I have no ego to bruise!". And the scene ends with Spock saying a rather amusingly dubious line to Kirk by saying "You are my superior officer, you are also my friend. I have been and shall always be yours".
Then of course there is the scene near the end where (SPOILER!!!!!) Spock makes the decision to sacrifice himself to save the ship from the Genesis detonation. And before he goes into the mains engine chamber he is stopped by McCoy who says to him "Are you out of your Vulcan mind?! No human can tolerate the radiation that's in there!" and Spock calmly says to him "As you are so fond of observing, Doctor, I am not human". And as McCoy restrains him from going in and says "You're not going in there!" Spock changes tack "Perhaps your right!" and as Spock asks about Scotty's condition, he uses his Vulcan nerve pinch on McCoy rendering him unconscious "Sorry, Doctor I don't have time to discuss this logically" and he places his hand on the side of McCoy's head and says "Remember!".
Of the other regular cast members DeForrest Kelly is great as Doctor Leonard "Bones" McCoy, and he too has some good scenes although I will only mention a couple.
And to start off there is the scene when McCoy pays Kirk a visit at home on his birthday and he says to Kirk how he should get his command back. And McCoy says to Kirk "You're hiding, behind rules and regulations" and Kirk asks "Who am I hiding from?" and McCoy says "From yourself, Admiral!". And as Kirk sits down with his drink he says to McCoy "Don't mince words, Bones, what do you really think?!" and McCoy says to him, sitting down "Jim, I'm your doctor and I'm your friend. Get back your command, get it back before you turn into part of your collection, before you really do grow old!".
And lastly there is the scene where 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 comes Genesis! Now we can do it in six minutes!". And when Spock theorises on how Genesis would destroy life to create its new matrix and as Spock says "Logic would suggest...." McCoy barks back "Logic!The man's talking about logic! We're talking about universal armageddon! You green blooded, inhuman....." and they are interruped by Saavik on the com-link.
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.
Koenig also has some good moments despite his dodgy accent such as the scene where Chekov and Tyrell arrive on Ceti Alpha V and find an old hangar and they look around inside and Chekov discovers a belt that has the words "Botany Bay" inscribed on it, which sends a shiver down Chekov. And Chekov says to himself "Botany bay? Botany bay?? Botany bay???! Oh NO!!" and he urgently says to Tyrell "We've got to get out of here! Damn! Hurry!". And as they leave they are surrounded by masked figures outside in a sandstorm.
And later there is the scene where Khan unmasks himself and Khan questions him and as Khan tells them about the planet and how they survived Chekov angrily refers to the events of the Star Trek episode "Space Seed" where Khan first appeared. So Chekov says to Khan "Captain Kirk was your host. You later tried to repay his hospitality by stealing his ship and murder him!".
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 Buttrick has some good moments too although I will to keep things a bit short mention only on scene, the one near the end where (SPOILER!!!) after Spock's sacrifice and Khan is defeated, David meets with Kirk. And David says to Kirk how he never faced death and Kirk admits that he hadn't and that he knows nothing but David reassures him "You knew enough to tell Saavik that how we face death is at least as important as how we face life". And as Kirk feeling deflated says "Just words" and David says "But good words. That's where ideas begin. Maybe you should listen to them. I was wrong about you. And I'm sorry". And as Kirk asks him is that what he came to say, David says "Mainly. And also that I'm proud - very proud - to be your son" and Kirk walks up to David and hugs him.
Then there is Kirstie Alley as Lt Saavik, who is not bad 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 con!".
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.
And this lastly 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 has plenty of highlights 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 them. And in the scene Khan says how he felt wronged by Kirk for abadoning him on Ceta Alpha V and Chekov says "You lie! On the Ceti Alpha V there was life! A fair chance!" and Khan yells back "THIS IS CETI ALPHA V!!!". And Khan walks over to the men and says "Ceti Alpha Six exploded six months after we were left here. The shock shifted the orbit of this planet and everything was laid waste. 'Admiral' Kirk never bothered to check on our progress. It was only the fact of my genetically-engineered intellect that allowed us to survive. On Earth, two hundred years ago, I was a prince with power over millions...".
Then there is also the scene where Montalban is about to launch his first attack on the Enterprise and he says as he prepares to "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!".
And lastly there is the classic scene where Khan tries to get Tyrell to kill Kirk but Tyrell resists and instead shoots himself. And as Kirk taunts Khan, who is shocked he still alive he says "Kirk! My old friend, you are still alive!" and Kirk barks back "STILL, old friend! You just about killed everyone else but like a poor marksman you keep missing the target!". And Khan says to him "Perhaps I no longer need to try, Admiral" and he has his men beam up the Genesis weapon.
And as Kirk says to Khan "Khan... Khan, you've got Genesis, but you don't have me. You were going to kill me, Khan. You're going to have to come down here. You're going to have to come down here!. And this brings up Khan's classic line "I've done far worse than kill you. I've hurt you. And I wish to go on hurting you. I shall leave you as you left me, as you left her; marooned for all eternity in the center of a dead planet... buried alive! Buried alive...!". And this leaves Kirk furious delivering his infamous "KHAN!!!" line and then we see Khan sitting in his chair onboard the Reliant have a moment of ecstasy (like he has, to pardon the parlance, just jizzed himself!).
DIRECTOR, EFFECTS AND MUSIC
As for direction, 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 Khan quotes from the play (Kirk also later quotes from a Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens). 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 not just for a bunch of long boring close-ups and panning shots.
As for the film's score..... well the score was done by the late James Horner and frankly its brilliant and one of my favourite soundtracks of all time and the fact that it was his major debut work in Hollywood makes it all the more impressive. And throughout there are so many terrific passages of music, especially in the scene where Khan is introduced (known as "Khan's pets" in the album) and also in the scenes where the Enterprise comes under attack, as well as the film's terrific main theme. Horner would then return to score Star Trek III where he provided a fine score but it isn't quite in the same league as this one as for me its his very best and its one to savour.
FLAWS
As for flaws......well as good as Star Trek II: TWOK is it does still have some minor ones here and there.
And for starters there is the issue with the timing of Chekov's involvement in Star Trek's TV show itself as at the time of the "Space Seed" episode, Walter Koenig was not even cast in the series at that point so Chekov wasn't even a character in the story! So this means when Khan first sees Chekov in the film he really shouldn't know who he was because according to the story Chekov never appeared in it so how could Khan have clocked him! So this basically comes down to a bit of lazy writing and a lack of research into the series itself. Perhaps if Gene Roddenberry wasn't booted off the production then just maybe this would have been addressed but hey ho.
Another issue is to do with the scene where Chekov and Tyrell both show up on Ceti Alpha V and enter Khan's hangar bay to find it empty only to later see Khan and his people outside when they both try and leave. I mean why the hell would they bother to go outside in the first place?! Its a pretty nasty and windy day out as it is, so why bother go outside in a full blown blizzard just to try and snare both men into a trap???!! It barely seems worth it!
And lastly there is the issue of the old problem in Star Trek of how the Enterprise is as Kirk at one point says to Spock "the only ship in the quadrant" where he refers to the situation on Regula 1 and the Enterprise is the only ship closest to the space station. I mean why is it that?! Surely to God the Federation has more than just the one Starship out there somewhere! It really suggests that the Federation couldn't be bothered deploying too many spaceships to go out on any missions. Plus it means that the crew have to go out on a dangerous mission with a group of cadets onboard who have little to no experience in combat or crisis situations!
Anyway that's it for the flaws (not too many there).
SUM UP
Right so to sum up there is no doubt that Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan is as Kevin Smith would say a "pimp movie that you could easily sit down any non-Star Trek fan to and they would love it" and it would be hard to argue with this as it really is the best of the franchise. And here the cast, direction, story, the characters, the special effects and the music all come together almost perfectly to create an excellent sci-fi film that after nearly 35 years is definitely still well worth checking out and it remains a film that warrants repeated viewing.
Right! So that's it for now and I will be back soon with another post.
Till then live long and prosp....I mean its goodbye from me!
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