Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Directed by: Nicholas Meyer | 113 minutes | action, thriller, adventure, science fiction | Actors: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Bibi Besch, Merritt Butrick, Jeff McBride, Paul Winfield, Kirstie Alley, Ricardo Montalban, Ike Eisenmann, John Vargas, John Winston, Paul Kent, Nicholas Guest, Russell Takaki, Kevin Rodney Sullivan, Joel Marstan, Teresa E. Victor, Dianne Harper, David Ruprecht, Marcy Vosburgh

The disappointment with ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ was quickly forgotten when the second film was released. Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan is widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best in the entire film series. The film is also a breath of fresh air after ‘The Motion Picture’, which had little action and was too slow. Those mistakes are avoided, although ‘Wrath of Khan’ is less thought-provoking than its immediate predecessor.

The profit lies – as is usually the case in films in which heroes have to perform the greatest deeds – in a memorable villain who is daring for the protagonists. That is amply provided for in this film, because Khan Noonian Singh is certainly a match for his old enemy James T. Kirk. The title of the film can be translated as ‘the wrath…’ or, more traditionally, ‘the wrath of Khan.’ Ricardo Montalban previously played Khan Noonian Singh in an episode of the television series ‘Star Trek’ called “Space Seed”, the 22nd episode of the first season. For the first time in film history, a movie was made based on an episode of a TV series. In that episode, the Enterprise encounters a ship carrying frozen 20th century genetically engineered superhumans. Khan is their captain and after he and his crew are revived, he attempts to hijack the Enterprise. At the end of the episode, they are left on the planet Ceti Alpha VI, which they can colonize. However, that doesn’t turn out so well when the sister planet explodes, endangering the ecosystem of the settlers on Ceti Alpha VI. Khan has been looking for revenge for years. As soon as he gets the chance, he sets a death trap for Kirk.

The adventures of the Enterprise are given extra weight by the use of the ship for training purposes and the approaching age of the crew. In particular, James T. Kirk (William Shatner), now promoted to admiral, is suffering from a midlife crisis. Shatner is usually not very subtle in his acting, but here and there shows more of Kirk’s vulnerable side in small moments. Interaction with Spock (Leonard Nimoy), who now commands the Enterprise as Captain, “Scotty” (James Doohan), and ship’s doctor “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley) is as usual. Of course, the Enterprise has to really spring into action when Kirk is on board, which is of course all too coincidental. Besides Khan’s evil plans and Kirk’s personal worries, the research project “Genesis” of Kirk’s old flame Dr. Marcus (Bibi Besch) and her son David (Merritt Butrick) is of great importance, because Khan wants to get his hands on it.

Viewers who missed the original “Space Seed” episode will be caught up quickly and it’s not a big loss to watch the film without much prior knowledge. The plot development is strong after the somewhat forced premise and director Nicholas Meyer, unlike his predecessor Robert Wise (certainly not the least), keeps the momentum going. However, observant fans will recognize a number of shots from ‘The Motion Picture’, which are recycled here for cost savings. Elements from the film have since become legendary, such as Kirk’s frustrated scream “KHAAANNNN!”, several strong one-liners and of course the famous “Kobayashi Maru” test, which returned in ‘Star Trek’ (2009). And for the true literature aficionados, there are references to and quotes from classics such as Melville’s “Moby Dick” and Shakespeare’s “King Lear”. Director Meyer returned to the director’s chair for ‘Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country’ (1991), the second-to-last film starring the original crew of the Enterprise. He has since admitted one continuity error: Pavel Chekov was not part of the cast during the first series, so it is actually not possible that Khan recognized him from fifteen years earlier. But, as Meyer added, the stories surrounding Sherlock Holmes were full of inconsistencies, and writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never apologized for that.

‘Wrath of Khan’ is also the first installment in an unofficial trilogy within the film series, which continues with ‘Star Trek III: The Search for Spock’ and ‘The Voyage Home’. The film also set the trend for the widespread belief that even-numbered Star Trek films are good and odd-numbered ones less so, although that trend seems to have broken.