Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
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Nuke67 remembers...After seeing Star Trek the movie which was long and pretty dull, I think this movie is what kept the ... More »
Posted on 08/04/08
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Hailed almost unanimously as the best film in the multigenerational history of the franchise, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan took a hiatus from the special effects and science fiction of the first film. The result was a focus on character, revenge, and friendship that set an almost unmatchable standard for every future entry into the pantheon.
Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) is celebrating his 52nd birthday by inspecting starships and overseeing training exercises. While Kirk broods over his unsatisfying Admiralty, the crew of the U.S.S. Reliant prepares to test the Genesis Project on an uninhabited planet. But when Captain Terrell (Paul Winfield) and Commander Chekov (Walter Koenig) teleport down to the surface to ensure lifelessness, they discover an old nemesis: the genetically enhanced criminal tyrant Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) and his rabble of supermen. When Kirk receives a garbled transmission from the project leader, he assumes command of the Enterprise to go and investigate.
By the time the Enterprise arrives, they discover all-too-late that the Reliant has been seized by the devious Khan and his men. Disabling the Enterprise, Khan demands surrender and the data pertaining to the Genesis. Kirk stalls long enough to disable the Reliant with a phaser blast, then rushes the Enterprise to the ‘lifeless’ planet in order to search for survivors. But Khan’s prowess proves all-too-cunning when he conspires to have Kirk and his landing party stranded forever on the planet just as he was. But unbeknownst to Khan is the power of Kirk and Spocks’ friendship, for the half-Vulcan comes to the rescue. With a limping Enterprise, Kirk lures the hateful Khan into a nebula where only the victor will survive.
The film was supervised by the television wing at Paramount on a television schedule. Herve Bennett replaced series creator Gene Rodenberry as executive producer with a mandate for efficiency and responded by shooting well over half of the film on the same set (the Enterprise and the Reliant double for each other). Bennett watched every one of the series’ episodes and chose 1966’s “Space Seed” as the one best suited for a sequel. With a smaller budget than the original, the script was pieced together by director Nicholas Meyer from three separate Star Trek scripts: one about a doomsday device being stolen from the Federation, one about Lieutenant Saavik (played by Kirstie Alley in her film debut), and a third one about Khan. Montalban was so eager to reprise the role that he accepted a significant pay cut to do it. And the hearty souls playing his lackeys were actually all Chipendale dancers hired for their superhuman looks. The only holdout was Leonard Nimoy who was talked into joining the cast only after Meyer promised him a great death scene. Bennett, Meyer, and everyone involved, delivered.
Packed with more action than the original despite its budget (barely eleven million dollars as compared to forty-three for the first), fans packed the theater to see Kirk, Spock, Bones, and the rest of the Enterprise crew in action. The opening weekend box office of over fourteen million dollars was the largest opening weekend for a film in history up to that point. Many fans also believe that it is Shatner’s best performance, a fact attributable to Meyer shooting endless takes to get the actor to tire of his over-the-top style of portraying Captain Kirk. Despite the legendary animosity between Kirk and Khan, William Shatner would reveal in an autobiography that their scenes were filmed four months apart. Nimoy had such a pleasant experience on the shoot that he asked if there was a way for him to come back. After test audiences expressed the same thing, the hopeful ending was shot (without Meyer at the helm) to give audiences a taste of what was in store for the next two films in the franchise.
