NoFace for Film

Title: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Year: 1982
Director: Nicholas Meyer
Starring Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Ricardo Montalban, Kirstie Alley
Rated: PG

NoFace for Film rating: 6 out of 7

From Hell’s Heart, I stab at thee…

-Khan Noonien Singh

Often considered by Trekkies as the real Star Trek 1 (since the actual Star Trek: The Motion Picture sucked eggs), The Wrath of Khan is in my opinion the best Trek film ever made, including those with the Next Generation cast. It had humor but didn’t stoop down to corny jokes, it had drama, tension, a great plot, and by some great miracle Shatner left his hamminess at home when he acted in this film.

In The Wrath of Khan, much of the original Enterprise crew have gone their separate ways. Spock (Nimoy) is captain of his own starship and Kirk has been promoted to Admiral. Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig), who was only a young ensign in the original series, is now a commander on the USS Reliant under Captain Terrell (Paul Winfield). Chekov and Terrell detect life signs on Ceti Alpha V, a deserted wasteland of a planet.

On the planet the two men find Khan Noonien Singh (Montalban), a criminal genius who, along with his crew, was exiled 15 years ago by Kirk. Naturally Khan is a mite peeved at his situation and seizes the opportunity for revenge. After “persuading” Chekov and Terrell to talk (I’m sure many of you know this famous, squirm-inducing scene), Khan learns about a top secret project called Genesis. Realizing that Genesis can be used as a weapon, Khan resolves to get his hands on it as well.

Although The Wrath of Khan seems to have a typical Trek plot (since when are bad guys NOT plotting against Trek captains?), there are several themes in the movie that are carefully interwoven together. One major theme deals with Kirk’s midlife crisis, for the movie opens with Kirk reluctantly celebrating his birthday. He dislikes his boring Admiral position and yearns to return to the captain’s chair. Another major theme deals with the father figure role. Kirk has a son that he never knew, while Spock passes on many wise words and advice to Lt. Saavik (a very young and thin Kirstie Alley), an ambitious young Vulcan training to become Captain someday. Scotty introduces Kirk to his nephew, a newly-minted ensign. Even Khan is a father figure to his young second-in-command. A third theme deals with life after death; rather, creating life out of nothing. I can’t say more about the third theme since it’ll give away too much of the movie.

As for the actors, as I mentioned before, they all did a very good job. It’s surprising to see that Shatner can actually act if he wants to. Montalban’s Khan is just the right amount of crazy- not too over the top, John Travolta overacting crazy- but not boring either. Nimoy as Spock was especially good, but then again he’s portayed Spock perfectly over the years.

I really enjoy watching this movie. It has so much depth that’s not to be expected from a Trek movie. I always found the original series cheesy and have only liked a few of the Trek movies that followed Wrath of Khan. Not even First Contact, by far the best Trek movie with the Next Generation cast, can match Wrath of Khan. Hell, the last 15 minutes alone gets to me every time. And how can you top Khan’s famous quote?

I recommend this film for Trekkies and non-Trekkies. Hell, rent it tonight!

Star Trek II:The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Ricardo Montalban, Genesis Project, Trekkie