'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'

IN THE 23RD CENTURY...

I'm not even going to try to avoid sounding like a smitten schoolgirl while I write about The Wrath of Khan.  It's my favorite film of all time, and pretty can do no wrong in my eyes.  It's the standard against which I compare--unfairly, most of the time--all other incarnations of Star Trek.

My apologies to my friend Nick, with whom I was supposed to work out some kind of long-distance joint viewing / liveblog of this movie.  I'm down in the back today and it's a bit dreary here in Indy.  I didn't want to do much but curl up on the sofa and watch my favorite movie the old-fashioned way.  The best I could manage was to keep my smartphone nearby to make notes of parts of the film I wanted to comment on when I was finished watching it, so I could write all of this up later.  If you're reading this Nick, we'll definitely do it another time--it's not like I'll never watch TWoK again ;)

And now...

• James Horner's soundtrack for this film remains my favorite motion picture soundtracks of all time, and indeed I consider it to be one of the finest collections of orchestral music of the 20th Century.
• As with TMP, I'm viewing the director's edition of TWoK.
• "Captain's log, stardate 8130.3. Starship Enterprise on training mission to Gamma Hydra. Section 14, coordinates 22-87-4. Approaching Neutral Zone, all systems normal and functioning."  
• Saavik's log entry at the beginning of the film is the first mention of the Federation having a Neutral Zone with the Klingons, as it does with the Romulans.  This interstellar political fixture will feature heavily in future TOS-era films, most notably The Undiscovered Country.
• The Klingons encountered during Saavik's run at the Kobayashi Maru must be glad to have been reincarnated--the footage of the three K't'inga class battlecruisers is recycled from the opening sequence of TMP.
• The above is just the first such example of this kind of recycling.  Paramount had very little faith in this movie and didn't want to spend a lot of money on new costumes, sets, etc.  From uniforms to exterior model shots, a lot of things designed for TMP had to be repurposed for TWoK. 
  
  One of the most prominent examples is the uniforms.  Nick Meyer didn't like the look of the TMP uniforms, but he didn't have the budget to create new uniforms from scratch.  He had costume designers cut up and re-sew uniforms from TMP, creating the familiar red tunic that would become the standard Starfleet uniform for the rest of the TOS-era films.  The reason that familiar tunic is red?  They had to die the fabric from the earth-tone TMP uniforms, and that shade of red (or maroon, burgundy...whatever you want to call it) was the most effective at covering up the fabric's original color.
  
  If you're a fan of this movie and haven't already, treat yourself to the special features on the director's edition DVD.  There are a ton of really interesting factoids and anecdotes of this nature.
• Nick Meyer's desire for the film to have a more naval/military tone than its predecessor is evident from the beginning of the movie.  From the uniforms to the "technobabble" used during the faux attack sequence with the Klingons, the movie sets its tone early and remains consistent.  Despite Gene Rodenberry's misgivings, this tone would also remain consistent for the remainder of the TOS-era films.  This is one of many ways that Meyer left his mark very heavily on the 1980s films, despite "only" directing two out of five of the movies.
• I'm not going to comment on or quote every scene in this movie--although I could.  But there are some choice scenes, and the scene in Kirk's quarters with McCoy on his birthday is probably my favorite scene in all of Star Trek--top two or three, at least.
• Because the remastered edition of TOS was decades away and TAS wasn't really considered "canon" at the time, USS Reliant was the first Federation starship most people saw aside from the Constitution class and its refit.  The Miranda class would go on to be one of Trek's most enduring starship designs, appearing frequently in other films and series.  It remains one of my personal favorite designs as well.  A Hot Wheels model of USS Saratoga sits atop my primary workstation, actually.
  
  
  
  Wow, I really need to move all that stuff out and dust that corner, eh?
• The on-screen appearance of Reliant also gives us our first expatriated member of the Enterprise family--Chekov, now a commander, is the first officer of the ill-fated light cruiser.
• "Listen, kiddo.  Jim Kirk was many things, but he was never a Boy Scout."
• One of the most famous "goofs" in this film (and maybe in all of Trek) is when Khan tells Chekov "...I never forget a face".  Walter Koenig's character didn't appear on TOS until the second season, after Khan Noonien Singh's first appearance in the episode "Space Seed".
  
  Of course, the real explanation is that the writers just screwed up here.  But the little retconned "fanon" explanations include the very plausible idea that, just because Chekov wasn't a member of the Enterprise's bridge crew at the time of the events of "Space Seed", it doesn't necessarily mean that he wasn't on board in some other capacity and might have bumped into Khan.
  
  Both Koenig and the late Ricardo Montalban joked about this apparent discrepancy.  Their "explanation" was that Chekov was, indeed, on board at the time--and that Chekov took too long in the bathroom, making Khan wait in line.  So naturally, Khan never forgot his face :)
• Speaking of DVD extras, watch the bit on how they did the practical effects for the Ceti Eel sometime.  It's amazing how much they used to be able to do without CGI.
• "Well, I for one am glad to have you at the helm for three weeks.  I don't think these kids can steer."
• I've always thought that when Kirk steps off the shuttle and hands Uhura his book, she shoots him the tiniest look that says "Does it LOOK like I'm your motherf**king secretary?"
• "A wee bout of what?"
  "Shore leave, Admiral."
• The Genesis Device simulation sequence is the first use of CGI in Star Trek, and marks one of the first uses of it in a major motion picture.
• "I would not remind you of that which you know so well."  <-- If you watch a lot of Star Trek, you pick up on the things Spock says that are really the Vulcan equivalent of "I love you, man!"  When he's speaking with Kirk in his quarters, just after they receive the distress call from Carol Marcus, his speech is sprinkled with these comments.  This is one of my favorites.  He's basically saying "You're my best friend and you know everything about me."
• 1-6-3-0-9:  This is the first mention of a starship's prefix code, and there will be only one other--when Captain Picard gives the prefix code of USS Phoenix to the Cardassians in an attempt to stop rogue captain Benjamin Maxwell in the TNG episode "The Wounded".
• Shortly after Enterprise narrowly escapes destruction by Kirk's clever exploitation of the aforementioned prefix code, Scotty brings his mortally-wounded nephew Peter Preston to the bridge.  The whole bridge crew gasps, and there's a very brief close-up of Spock--who simply closes his eyes solemnly.  If you don't think Leonard Nimoy is a good actor, watch this scene.  In the context of a character who shows very little emotion, he conveys so much in that one gesture.  It's a wonderful touch for both the character and the tone of the film, and it's one more of the little brush strokes that makes this more than a "good Star Trek movie"--this is a great film.  The fact that so many people who aren't even Trek fans love this movie is a testament to that.
• "He stayed at his post...when the trainees ran!" <-- I love Scotty in this scene.
• In the spirit of re-using materials from TMP in this movie, the model for the Regula I space station is a redress of the Orbital Office Complex from TMP--flipped upside down and with a few greebles changed/added.
• "Go?  Where are we going?"
  "Where they went."
  "Suppose they went nowhere?"
  "Then...this'll be your big chance to get away from it all."
• "I've done far worse than kill you.  I've hurt you, and I wish to go on...hurting you."
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• "I don't believe in the no-win scenario...Kirk to Spock, it's two hours--are you ready?"
• "That young man...he's my son!"
  "Fascinating..."
• "Sauce for the goose, Mr. Saavik."
• Of Nick Meyer's many acts of genius in this film, one of the greatest is treating the Battle of the Mutara Nebula as--essentially--a submarine battle in space.
• I can't bear to quote the death scene.  I...I think I have something in my eye.  Just watch the movie yourself, or at least watch the scene:
  
  

So...that's The Wrath of Khan, my favorite film of all time and--in my not-so-humble-opinion--the very best of Trek.

One of the most interesting things about this movie is that the story is very much about aging.  Kirk is feeling his years and is dealing with regrets, and the crew as a whole is aging and preparing to make way for a new generation of space heroes.  But just as Kirk's zeal for life is revived by the events in the film, the franchise itself was revived by how well-received this movie was.  It's been almost 30 years since this film's release, and although it's had its ups and downs, Star Trek certainly isn't going anywhere.