Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan

Spock: "Were I to invoke logic, however, logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

After watching the first Star Trek Movie (The Motion Picture) and being utterly disappointed, I did begin to re-watch the series. While it's still not my favorite Star Trek series, it did kindle my interest and it was therefore with part trepidation and part excitement that I awaited the next installment in the series. After watching the utterly slow and painful first movie, I was hoping that they couldn't make the same mistake twice. I was actually surprised that there was another movie coming out 2026.

Well, The Wrath of Khan arrived on the big screen, with a small budget, the same artistic feel, with some stunning effects (for the time) and a pretty good score and some larger than life actors. However, rather than revel in these things, the directors actually managed to make them secondary as they came up with a more convincing, more real and more satisfying plot that while obviously in the realms of Star Trek, could adorn any other sci-fi genre pretty well. What you ended up with was an action flick that had just enough social commentary in it to stick to the bold guidelines that Rodenberry instilled into the original series.

Rather than a staid and very slow movie, we have a vibrant cornucopia of action, comedy and intelligence that manages to produce some decent performances from a cast that was decidedly wooden in 'The Motion Picture'. It seems that the Captain Kirk from the original series has been resurrected and restored to full 'larger than life' action hero, a hero who always fights for good, and is seemingly always at the edge of disaster.

The main key that was missing in the first movie was heart. This is very evident in this movie and not just in the good guys. With the introduction of Ricardo Montalban (hmm I was look for a little guy to start shouting The Spaceship, The Spaceship) we find an anti-hero that is somehow noble yet hugely misguided, whether this is inherent to his upbringing, or his own evil is for you to judge. This real-life anti-hero is very important to a movie like this; Khan is not overdone, he is evil but is also strangely likable.

I was quite surprised and pleased by the clever tie-in to the series. Having revisited the series after the first movie, I was intrigued to find out that the movie was a follow up to one of the better episodes in which Captain Kirk had exiled Khan Singh and his followers to an unpopulated world - Khan and his followers were genetically improved humans who had taken over part of the Earth in the 1990s.

Khan, quite perturbed with the Captain, manages to capture his own space ship and seek revenge on Kirk. Now on this ship is a device that is used to terra-form worlds and make them 'earth' like. This Genesis Device is very powerful and as such is very dangerous as the power it holds can be used to destroy as well as create. To complicate things further, Krik meets up with his ex-lover and his son he barely knows...

Well I won't go much further into the plot, suffice to say that it is very satisfying and blends elements of the old series (particularly the fisty cuffs that Kirk always seems to get into) with a human element that is taken from the series but is enhanced - this element is primarily focused on Kirk, Spock and Bones (Dr McCoy) and shows a camaraderie that is unexpectedly real. With all the old familiar faces, and the re-introduction of a 'bad guy' from the series, you immediately feel at home as this time the cast seem to perform far less wooden and you get a feel of the 'crew' being a team, rather than a collection of actors.

The movie builds on the effects from The Motion Picture, and modernizes the 'series' - the phasors, transporters, electronics etc now look real, and this adds to the atmosphere that is built and makes the idea you are in a spaceship in the future very plausible. It's this believability that makes the movie transcend the series in a way - I always thought the series looked a little fake and therefore perhaps lost a little interest due to this - the movie feels real, and therefore I didn't question the reality and basically just enjoyed the plot.

As mentioned before the acting in this movie was on a different plane to the previous movie, and perhaps the series. William Shatner produces probably a career-best performance as the Captain (OK so he's admiral in this movie, but he'll always be captain to me!). He was somehow more real in this movie, and lost a little of the swagger of the unbeatable-hero type he played in the series. Perhaps the integration of the intrepid 'trio' enhanced this feeling, especially as it meant that you saw a more vulnerable Kirk, one who realized he needed help.

Montalban added a touch of class as Khan. After seeing him in Fantasy Island, it was amazing to see his abilities create a unique, daunting and often charming adversary for Kirk. The interplay between the hero and anti-hero was particularly good, and perhaps is the catalyst that makes the movie something more than an action flick, and makes it a thrilling drama as well.

What is perhaps most evidence is a passion and fervor with all the main characters (be it good or evil) - this intensity sets the movie up well, and makes the flow and pace very good. This is important; you need time to let the plot seek in, but not too much time that you get bored. This was a huge mistake of the first movie that took 30 minutes to get going. The Wrath of Khan blends the action and the quiet moments perfectly, never quite slowing too much and keeping you always interested.

Overall, The Wrath of Khan is an exceptional movie. It has all the elements of a classic action sci-fi movie, combined with the social sensibilities we have come to love from Rodenberry. Most importantly , this movie focuses more on character development than most sci-fi movies and this gives it a very strong foundation, and one that compliments and enhances the superior plot. While perhaps a little secondary, the special effects are excellent and serve to re-enforce the qualities of the movie somehow grounding it to reality.

This movie probably saved the whole Frnachise - without a successful movie, there would have been no Picard, Worf, Next Gen, Enterprise etc etc. This shows the importance of the movie, as well as the achievement. It added much needed life after 'The Motion Picture' almost killed off the series - a whole generation have 'A Wrath of Khan' to thank!

Wrath of Khan ranks up there as one of the best Star trek movies, and probably enters my top ten Sci-Fi list (and for once, it's one without Harrison Ford in it!).