Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
The Director's Edition
It is the 23rd century. The Federation starship U.S.S. Enterprise is on routine training maneuvers, and Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) seems resigned to the fact that this inspection may well be the last space mission of his career. But Khan is back. Aided by his exiled band of genetic supermen, Khan (Ricardo Montalban) - brilliant renegade of 20th century Earth - has raided Space Station Regula One, stolen a top secret device called Project Genesis, wrested control of another Federation starship, and now schemes to set a most deadly trap for his old enemy Kirk... with the threat of a universal Armageddon!
Member Reviews
The Best of the Bunch - MovieProf
In 1979, Star Trek fans yearning for a big screen revision of the popular series felt underwhelmed: “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” reunited fans with all of the original crew, but a slow pace and storyline that wasn’t quite compelling enough left them frustrated and angry. The strategy for the sequel was simple: action, and lots of it.
It worked. “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” is a major improvement over the original, and is also the best of the entire film franchise. Nicholas Meyer was brought in to direct, and he added to the script (though this was uncredited); he would return for the final film to feature the original crew, “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.” Here, he made decisions that would change the focus of the series forever: he altered the uniforms to reflect a naval feel, and approved the biggest change of all, the death of Spock.
The plot for the film is simple: the producers dipped into the original series, eventually focusing on an episode in the first season called “Space Seed.” In the episode, the Enterprise stumbles upon Khan Noonien Singh, who was once a bloodthirsty tyrant who controlled vast portions of Earth in the twentieth century, but who escape persecution through cryogenically freezing himself and his followers and fleeing Earth. Although that episode ended amicably, things have changed by the time of the film: Khan now feels betrayed by Admiral Kirk, and is intent on having his revenge.
The film has all the elements of classic Star Trek: epic space battles, and the raw emotion from the characters that fans remember from the series. All in all, a classic film from start to finish.Now that's the way to do a Star Trek film - Coconut_Willy
Although I don't really subscribe to this theory that even numbered Star Trek films are necessarily better than odd numbered ones, I must admit that this one is much, much better than the first one. It does help for a fan of the original series like me that it goes back to one of the great episodes for inspiration. The storyline is excellent with many of the elements that made the television series exciting. Lots of action, scientific aspects, strong characters and plenty of human/emotional sides. It has some humor in it but the story does not lend itself to a lot of funny moments as others would. The cast in this one is excellent doing a very good acting job with a fair dialogue. The sets and locations are excellent, the soundtrack is very good as well as the camera work. If you're a fan, this has to be one of your favorites too. If you're not and don't want to see all the Star Trek movies, this one is a must. The bonus disc is packed with excellent interviews. Highly recommended.Sequel Far Outshines Predecessor - Gregg
A now uncomfortably middle-aged and desk bound Admiral James T Kirk (William Shatner) is aboard the USS Enterprise for a training cruise when an ominous message from an important research scientist and the Admirals ex-lover alerts the crew to a crisis. In the meantime we discover that the Admirals former nemesis Khan (Ricardo Montalban) has captured a star ship and engineered this crisis for revenge.
Unlike it predecessor Star Trek: The Motion Picture this film had exciting action as well as both humor and effective human drama. It also had continuity with the original television series in that Khan (played by Montalban) and his crew had appeared in the episode Space Seed.
Also unlike it predecessor this film introduced an interesting and well developed new character in Lt Saavik (Kirstie Alley). Unfortunately for the series Alley did not return in the subsequent film and the part was recast less successfully.
We also have the rest of the crew/cast returning and they are also all noticeably more effective than in the previous film. Although somewhat limited at times by his character Leonard Nimoy has one very powerful scene.
The film was directed (and co-written although uncredited) by Nicholas Meyer whose success here would prompt his return as a co-writer for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and as both co-writer and director for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
The commentary track by Nicholas Meyer is good if not outstanding. According to him William Shatner's performance was somewhat more subdued and effective because he would require him to do the scenes over and over again until he got bored and lost his affectation.
With the release of this the second film in the series we would see the first example of the even numbered movies in the sequence of Star Trek movies being superior to the odd numbered movies in the series. Coincidentally or not Nicholas Meyer would return for the 4th & 6th films in the series.
Member Reviews
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The Best of the Bunch - MovieProf
In 1979, Star Trek fans yearning for a big screen revision of the popular series felt underwhelmed: “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” reunited fans with all of the original crew, but a slow pace and storyline that wasn’t quite compelling enough left them frustrated ...Now that's the way to do a Star Trek film - Coconut_Willy
Although I don't really subscribe to this theory that even numbered Star Trek films are necessarily better than odd numbered ones, I must admit that this one is much, much better than the first one. It does help for a fan of the original series like me that ...Sequel Far Outshines Predecessor - Gregg
A now uncomfortably middle-aged and desk bound Admiral James T Kirk (William Shatner) is aboard the USS Enterprise for a training cruise when an ominous message from an important research scientist and the Admirals ex-lover alerts the crew to a crisis. In ...