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STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982) (***)

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My history with STAR TREK is spotty. I am a fan of the original TV series, which I’ve probably seen all the episodes. Not knowing this for a fact probably doesn’t make me a Trekkie or a Trekker or whatever. I’ve never seen one episode of any of the spin-off series. I’ve seen five of the six films starring solely the original cast, but that was long ago and I don’t remember them all that well. I’ve seen none of the NEXT GENERATION films. So now that you know my history with the series, you’ll know where I’m coming from in reviewing what many consider the best STAR TREK film.

Where the first STAR TREK feature was an attempt to ride the coattails of STAR WARS by making a space opera, the second film brings the franchise back to the characters. Capt. Kirk (William Shatner) has taken an administrative post as admiral. Spock is now captaining the Enterprise space vessel, which is being used for training missions. One of the students is a female Vulcan named Saavik (Kirstie Alley, TV’s CHEERS), who like Kirk does not like to lose.

The spaceship Reliant, captained by Clark Terrell (Paul Winfield, THE TERMINATOR) with first officer Pavel (Enterprise’s old gunner) Chekov (Walter Koenig), is searching for dead planets and in the process discovers an enclave of humans led by Khan (Ricardo Montalban, TV’s FANTASY ISLAND), who was exiled on the planet years ago by Kirk and now wants revenge. Khan sets out to capture the Genesis project from Dr. Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch, TREMORS) and her son David (Merritt Butrick, FRIGHT NIGHT PART 2), which can be used to destroy whole planets. So Kirk is again called to take charge of the Enterprise and face Khan, who wants revenge against him. For the mission, Dr. Bones McCoy (DeForest Kelley), engineer Scotty (James Doohan), pilot Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) and communications officer Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) have all returned.

The film isn’t afraid to address the fact that the original actors are much older now. This dogs Kirk the entire movie and he must rise above it to reclaim his old swagger. Most people at this point know the big twist at the end, but I’ll keep it secret nonetheless. However, I will say that it stays true to the characters and brings an emotional poignancy to the end of the film that is truly touching. Even though the cliffhanger ending smells so much like an EMPIRE STRIKES BACK wannabe that’s a mute point. By bringing the story back to the characters, STAR TREK II understands what the original series knew — this franchise isn’t about fancy special effects and action sequences, but about how these characters stand for noble ideals.

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Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks