Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan (1982) – A Deep Dive Review & Analysis

I’m continuing my series driving deeply into the Star Trek Original Series movies with Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan from 1982. Listen to the podcast version or read the text version below.

Welcome to Nerd Heaven.

I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars

And I am a nerd.

This is episode 110 of the podcast.

Today, we’re talking about Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan, as we continue our journey through the original series Star Trek movies.

The description on IMDB reads

With the assistance of the Enterprise crew, Admiral Kirk must stop an old nemesis, Khan Noonien Singh, from using the life-generating Genesis Device as the ultimate weapon.

This movie was Jack B. Sowards, and Nicholas Meyer

The story by Harve Bennet, Jack B. Sowards, and Samuel A Peeples.

It was directed by Nicholas Meyer

And it first released on the 4th of June 1982.

Jack B. Sowards was both a writer and producer. He also worked on TNG.

Harve Bennet has executive produced a bunch of films and TV before Star Trek, including the James Bond movie, The Man with the Golden Gun. He’d go on to run the show Time Trax, which I remember really liking.

Samuel A Peeples wrote Western novels and a bunch of TV, including the second pilot for TOS, Where No Man Has Gone Before.

Before Star Trek, Nicholas Meyer directed a movie called Time After Time. He’s written and directed a bunch of stuff, and most recently created the story for an upcoming podcast series about Khan’s life on Ceti Alpha V, set between Space Seed and The Wrath of Khan.

The Music and Opening

The first thing you notice with this movie is that we no longer have Jerry Goldsmith’s theme. We won’t have Goldsmith back again until Star Trek V, although we will obviously hear a version of his theme on TNG.

The music for the next two movies were written by James Horner. 

It actually took me a while to warm up to Horner’s music. It didn’t feel particularly Star Treky to me. But over time I came to appreciate and even love it. 

Horner’s score really defines the TOS movie era for me.

The starfield that plays behind the credits is actually a computer simulation of real stars from a planetarium. They pointed a camera up at the domed screen to record it.

The last text to display at the end of the credits is “In the 23rd Century.”

This may actually be the very first time that Star Trek was placed in the 23rd century. Originally, Gene Rodenberry wanted the setting of Star Trek to be a little unclear. Some time in the future. That’s why they used stardates in the show. Here, the 23rd century setting is canonised.

The Kobiashi Maru – An Unexpected Beginning

CGI was not common in filmmaking in the 80s, but it did exist in rudimentary form. The starfield simulation I already mentioned is one example. Another is the wireframe image of the Enterprise, which is the first thing we see after the credits. This was created using an Evans and Sutherland computer (look this up). 

But these graphics are not meant to represent something real. This is a computer readout displayed on a screen that the characters are looking at.

We will get an iconic CGI scene later in this movie in the more traditional sense, but even that, technically is still something the characters are viewing on a screen.

The next surprise is a female voice giving the Captain’s log for the USS Enterprise. That’s not Kirk! I remember being very confused by this. The rest of the familiar crew are all here, so what happened between that final scene of the last movie, and this one?

And then, we see the new Starfleet uniforms for the first time. Affectionately called The Maroon monster, by some. I love these uniforms. They are my second favourite Starfleet uniform, right after the gray uniforms from First Contact and later seasons of Deep Space Nine.

These things look so great. They have a more military bearing to them, which I believe Gene Roddenberry didn’t like. They strike me as a uniform of a Starfleet that takes itself seriously.

Even more than James Horner’s music, these uniforms define the TOS movie era for me.

This movie is the first time it is established that there is a neural zone between the Federation and the Klingon empire. We learn about the Romulan neutral zone in the TV show. It makes me wonder if this was just a mistake by the writers. But in the rest of the TOS movies, the Romulan neutral zone will be forgotten and whenever characters refer to “the neutral zone” they’ll be talking about the Klingon neutral zone.

It does make sense that both would exist. The Federation have been in a cold war with the Klingons ever since Discovery.

The Klingon ships are reused footage from the motion picture. But works perfectly.

This movie had a fraction of the budget of the previous. 11 million dollars compared to 35 million dollars. That tends to happen when a movie isn’t financially successful, if a sequel does happen, it’ll have a reduced budget. 

The filmmakers made excellent use of their budget in Star Trek 2. Little things like redressing the bridge set for the training simulation room, reusing footage like the Klingon ships. There’s also a lot of re-purposing of set elements from the previous movie.

The Enterprise fails to rescue the Kobiashi Maru, and all the crew except the captain die. Spock, Bones, Uhura.

Well, that was a short movie.

And that’s when we learn we’re in a simulator room for cadets, and Admiral Kirk is their instructor.

This is our introduction to the infamous Kobiashi Maru test. The cadet, Saviik, doesn’t believe it was a fair test of her command abilities. There was no way to win. Kirk explains to her that it’s a test of character. The lesson is that how we deal with death is at least as important as how we deal with life. This is a very important thematic line.

In the previous movie, Spock had a major character arc. Kirk was set up for one but it didn’t really go anywhere in the end. In this movie, Kirk gets the big arc.

We get our first hint of another big theme in this movie when Kirk says “galloping around the cosmos is a game for the young.”

Spock seems much more settled and at peace with himself in this movie. There’s a serenity about him. The result of his arc in the previous movie.

We get a little foreshadowing of Kirk’s unique solution to the Kobiashi Maru back when he was  cadet.

So it’s Kirk’s birthday, but he doesn’t seem to be overjoyed about it. In fact, there seems to be a solemness about him.

We get to see Kirk’s apartment. This is a first. We’ve never seen any of our characters’ homes on Earth before. It’s pretty cool. He has this really nice sitting room with big windows looking out over what I assume is the harbour in San Francisco.

I could happily sit there with a good book.

His apartment is filled with antiques, which we’ve already learned in the previous scene is something Kirk has come to enjoy. There’s even a Commodore 64 near the window.

McCoy has come to celebrate Kirk’s birthday. We are introduced to Romulan Ale for the first time. There’s a couple of new lines added to the discussion about Kirk’s glasses in the director’s cut. Not essential, but they do fill out the conversation a little and make it feel just a tad less uncomfortable.

We learn here that glasses are not common in the 23rd century due to a drug called Retnax. But Kirk is allergic to it, hence his need for glasses.

I can relate to that. I had to get glasses a couple of years ago.

I’m in a similar state of life to Kirk, which makes this movie a bit more relevant and meaningful to me.

This whole exchange is very awkward. At least from Kirk’s end. McCoy calls him out. “Other people have birthdays, why are we treating yours like a funeral?”

Kirk definitely seems to be going through a mid-life crisis of sorts. He realised that his youth is gone, and that makes him feel old.

I definitely wouldn’t say I’m experiencing a crisis but I’m familiar with the feelings and thoughts that tend to come upon you in mid life. One only has to look at the way young people today talk, they have a completely different culture to me. Almost a different language. Sometimes I feel like an alien here on Earth, surrounded by members of a different species, wondering what happened to the world I remember.

But my role in life hasn’t really changed since my 20s, other than my ever changing role as a father. I’m still in the same kind of job. I still have the same interests and hobbies.

But Kirk has had everything pulled out from under him, which we saw in the previous movie, which I guess was the set-up for his arc here.

Kirk defined himself as a Starship captain, but now he’s an admiral. He’s teaching a whole new generation of cadets, essentially, preparing them to replace him.

It’s completely understandable that he’s struggling with this crisis and his birthday is an uncomfortable reminder of it all.

One thing I love about these movies is that they actually develop the characters. The TV show didn’t do that. It was a different time and a different style of storytelling.

McCoy figured all this out. It’s not really about age. He suggests that Kirk try to get his command back.

He drives things home really well when he says “Get back your command before you become a part of this collection. Before you really do grow old.”

That line confused me somewhat when I was in my early twenties. So…is he old or isn’t he?

But the truth is, middle age is not old age. It might feel a bit like it when you look back over your shoulder, but when you look forward, you see there is still so much ahead. You’re not old yet. There’s still time to seize your destiny. We shouldn’t squander the time we actually still have left looking backwards thinking it’s all over.

This is a great message. But it’ll take the rest of the movie for Kirk to really get it.

Star Trek II means so much more to me now.

Checkov and Khan

Okay. Time for a big shift now. 12 minutes in, this is our first scene in space.

Checkov has been given a big promotion. He’s now first officer of the USS Relient.

Walter Keonig was given a really good role in this movie. A big set up from anything he was given in the show, or the even the previous movie. Sadly for him, this will be the pinnacle for him.

The Relient is a pretty cool ship. This is the first Starfleet ship we’ve ever seen that wasn’t he same class as the Enterprise. The idea behind the design of the Miranda class was to do an upside Enterprise. It’s very creative but still very much feels Starfleet.

 The Relient is on a scientific mission, looking for a lifeless planet in relation to project genesis. We’ll hear a lot more about that over the next 3 movies.

Star Trek II, III, and IV are all very closely linked. We get an early example of serialised storytelling in Star Trek, and it’s great.

Paul Winfield, who plays captain Terrel, was kind of a big deal. He was critically acclaimed for his portrayal of Dr Martin Luther King jr in 1978. He’ll later make an appearance in Babylon 5 as Doctor Fanklin’s father, and in TNG as Captain Dathon in the fan favourite episode Darmok.

Cool to see that transporter chief Kyle has also joined Chekov on the Relient, with a pretty massive promotion of his own to Commander.

I’m amused by the difficulty they seem to be having locating a completely lifeless planet. From what we’ve been able to figure so far, lifelessness is very much the default in our universe. Earth seems to be unique in that it contains life. Even the world of Star Trek, which is brimming with habitable planets, and alien civilisations, there still should be a multitude of lifeless rocks in space.

We meet Dr. Carol Marcus here. From the beginning, it’s clear that she is a woman who values ethics very highly. There can’t be so much as a microbe present on a world if her experiment is to be carried out there. She values life in all its possible forms, and will not be responsible for the destruction of such life.

David tells her not to have kittens. She responds by saying ‘no respect for my offspring.’

I always found that really weird, considering David is her offspring. We don’t know he’s her son yet, but the characters both do.

Is Starfleet a Military?

We see a very different portrayal of Starfleet in this movie.

David says that every time they have dealings with Starfleet, he gets nervous. They are dealing with something that could be perverted into a dreadful weapon.

Starfleet fans have long debated whether Starfleet is a military. Gene Roddenberry was adamant that it wasn’t.

I’m of the opinion that yes, it absolutely is a military, except, it also isn’t.

It’s a strange beast. It has no parallel in the real word. Starfleet’s mission is not primarily one of a military nature. It exists for scientific endeavours and exploration. And yet, it is also the sole defense force of the Federation. When wars are fought, it’s Starfleet that does the fighting. They use military ranks and a military command structure. Starfleet is heavily based on the US Navy.

I’m quite happy existing in that paradox, personally.

This movie emphasises the military aspect of Starfleet much more. David clearly views them as a military organisation. In fact, we’ll see later that he sees an enmity between scientists (his people) and the military (starfleet). Forgetting that Starfleet has its own scientists. What he’s really seeing is a conflict between civilians and Starfleet. But even then, that conflict isn’t real. But I’m getting way ahead of myself.

We learn here that Carol used to know Kirk.

Ceti Alpha

Ceti Alpha 6 looks pretty cool, at least what we can see of it through all the dust. Tricorders say there is some life nearby, but how could anything survive here?

They find some old cargo carriers.

Somebody has obviously been marooned here. They’ve been set up like little houses.

It’s no accident that Moby Dick is one of the books on the shelf.

When Chekov sees the name “Botany Bay” on the seat belt buckle, he freaks out. He knows what that means.

Of course Botany Bay is a much more recognisable reference to me, as an Australian, than it would be to the average Star Trek fan.

I always enjoy it when Australia gets a mention in Trek. It was especially fun to hear mention of my home state Tasmania in Deep Space Nine’s Past Tense.

Before they can escape, a band of hooded figures appear. As their leader removes his head covering we get the big reveal. It’s Khan Nonien Singh from the TOS episode Space Seed.

So we all know how odd it is that Khan recognises Chekov, who wasn’t in Space Seed, and didn’t even join the cast until season 2.

My head canon is simple. Chekov was already on the ship, we just never saw him on screen. He probably didn’t yet work on the bridge. He might have even still been a cadet, like Uhura was in the first season of Strange New Worlds.

They must have run into each other at some point during the course of the episode.

The movie does a good job of getting new viewers up to speed who may not have seen Space Seed. in fact, I saw this movie a number of times before I saw Space Seed.

Here’s another targ in the room. When Space Seed was made, the year 1996 seemed a long way in the future. A little less so when this movie was made. Obviously I don’t remember the eugenics wars and launch of the Boton Bay happening while I was at university.

Star Trek fans have handled this in various ways.

Some have said that the Star Trek timeline is not our timeline.

Deep Space Nine quietly retconned it by suggesting the eugenics wars happened in the 22nd century, not the 20th.

Strange New Worlds retconned the whole thing, making it happen in the 21st century, but also suggesting that various temporal incursions had caused this to change. That episode also made the Eugenics war and world war 3 one and the same, which kind of annoyed me. As much as I don’t like it, this is now the canon answer.

But my preferred approach is the one taken by the Eugenics Wars novels written by Greg Cox. These books used the “secret history” genre to suggest that yes, the events did in fact happen in the 90s, but we simply didn’t use the term eugenics wars. In fact, Khan did rise to power and caused lots of problems in the world, tying in various real historical events from the 70s, 80s, and 90s.

The books didn’t manage to pull off this concept perfectly, but I still really like it.

This next bit has some problems.

Chekov and Tarell think they are on Ceti Alpha 6. Khan was left by Kirk on Ceti Alpha 5. It turns out, Ceti Alpha 6 exploded, altering the orbit of Ceti Alpha 5, laying waste to the harsh but livable planet.

They are currently standing on Ceti Alpha 5.

Okay, let’s lay aside how a planet could suddenly explode. I’m sure there was some reason. But clearly it had been a barren lifeless world, because that’s what Chekov expected to find.

It’s odd to me that they would enter the Ceti Alpha system without at least thinking (and probably mentioning him).

But for a Starfleet science ship to enter a system, and not notice that one of the planets is missing, and actually beam down to the wrong one, keeping in mind that they’ve been conducting detailed scans. They’re not just passing through.

Well,  I always had real trouble swallowing any of this.

It’s also kind of sad that nobody from Starfleet, Kirk or otherwise, ever bothered to check on Khan’s progress.

But Khan has a realisation. If these two thought they were beaming to Ceti Alpha 6, then the’re not here to check on him. They must be here for some other reason. He wants to know what it is.

And since neither Starfleet officer is interested in talking, Khan uses aggressive techniques to get the information he wants.

In what can only be described as a horror scene, Khan implants ceti eels, the only surviving indigenous life form, into their ears. It will make them susceptible to suggestion before eventually driving them mad and killing them.

We learn that one of them killed Khan’s wife, Lieutenant Marla McGivers. The Starfleet insignia Khan wears around his neck belonged to her.

Gotta say, the eels look very cool. Nice alien effect work.

While harvesting the baby eels, Khan says a bunch of stuff. I was never able to understand what he was saying.

So this time, I turned on the subtitles to figure it out once and for all.

Turns out he says:

“Not all at once, and not instantly to be sure.”

Well, that doesn’t help. Maybe I did hear it mostly correctly, but I’m still not sure what he’s on about. Oh well.

Inspecting The Enterprise

Admiral Kirk and his senior crew arrive on the Enterprise. It makes sense why Kirk is here. His job is to assess the cadets on their training cruise. Spock makes sense as well. He’s their main instructor. It’s a little less clear why Scotty, Uhura, McCoy and Sulu are here. Are they all working at Starfleet Academy now? I think they’re basically here so they can be in the movie.

 We first meet Engineer’s mate Peter Preston in this scene. Weird how Kirk randomly picks out a junior officer and asks his name. But out of universe it serves to introduce the character and give us some sympathy for him as he’ll have more significance to the plot later on.

Saviik observes to Spock that Kirk is so …. Human. 

An odd thing to say, since he is indeed human. But we’ll flip this line on its head at the end of the movie so it serves as some thematic foreshadowing.

Kirk and Preston have a bit of a weird exchange in the engine room. Kirk is having a little fun with Preston, but Preston is taking the conversation very seriously. The acting style for Peter Preston kinda feels like we’re back in TOS, somehow.

This scene was cut from the theatrical version, but the next part of this scene is really important. Scotty makes it clear that Preston is his nephew. He’s very eager to get into space. I guess Scotty’s sister raised her family in America, given Preston’s accent. This family connection is vital to a later scene. It’s removal guts the emotion of the film, so I’m delighted to see it restored.

Kirk is bored with the inspection very quickly and decides it’s time for a training cruise to put the cadets through their paces.

The lighting on the bridge set is much darker than it was on The Motion Picture, making it look very different. It’s amazing the effect lighting can have.

Spock gives Saviik command, to “pilot” the Enterprise out of spacedock. She’s not at the helm, but she’s giving the orders. This is logical. She’s got to learn somehow. She’s never done this before.

Kirk is very nervous.

I kinda get this. I’ve been teaching my daughter to drive. In the really early days, you can sometimes feel a little nervous. But it’s important to stay calm and have a little faith in the one you’re teaching. They’re already nervous enough themselves, afterall.

There’s a lot of reused footage with the shuttle docking, and the Enterprise leaving space dock. But Horner’s very different musical score gives them a whole new life and makes them seem like they are new shots.

Chekov calls Marcus on Regula 1. He tells her Ceti Alpha VI has checked out and they’re on their way. The Relient’s arrival at Regular 1 is not expected. Chekov tells her that Starfleet is taking over. All materials and equipment are to be handed over to him, which outrages the civilian scientists and only gives credence to David’s paranoia about Starfleet.

Of course, Starfleet are not behind this. It’s all Khan’s doing. He has learned about the Relient’s mission and now wants Genesis for himself. While it was designed as a tool to help people, Khan immediately sees its potential as a weapon. Incidentally, so will Kruge in Star Trek III.

When pressed Chekov blames Kirk for the order, which prompts Carol to contact the Enterprise, launching the main plot of this story forward. 

In terms of Story structure, we could say that Khan’s capture of Chekov and Tyrell is the inciting event, while Carol’s call to Kirk is the first plot point.

Saviik is still bothered by her performance on the Kobiashi Maru and will continue to press Kirk about it throughout the movie.

The call from Marcus comes in. McCoy’s reaction to hearing this always made me think the movie was referencing a character we’d seen before. Later, when I went back and watched all the TOS episodes, I kept waiting for the one that would introduce Carol Marcus to us as a love interest for Kirk. But it never happened. Carol Marcus was a new character for this movie. However, in the early planning stage, they considered using the character Janet Wallace, Kirk’s old lover from the episode “The Deadly Years”. Maybe that’s why this whole thing feels like we should already know her. But I guess somewhere along the way they decided to create a brand new character. I wonder if it’s because they couldn’t get the actress from the episode.

You may remember the episode “The Holiest Thing” of the fan-made series Star Trek New Voyages. I covered it previously on this podcast. That episode introduced a younger Carol Marcus to Kirk in the TOS era.

But we now have a canon introduction to their relationship. In the Strange New Worlds musical episode, Subspace Rhapsody, we learn that Kirk is in a relationship with Carol Marcus, and that she is pregnant. This is while Kirk is still a Lieutenant and has not yet taken command of the Enterprise.

And based on the assumption that David is about 24, this lines up in the timeline pretty near perfectly.

In the Kelvin universe, things happened differently. Kirk first met Marcus during Star Trek Into Darkness, where she came aboard the Enterprise as a Starfleet science officer. It’s not overly surprising that in the more tumultuous timeline, she would go into Starfleet, rather than remaining a civilian like she did in the prime timeline.

Carol’s message to Kirk keeps cutting out, blocked by Khan. Kirk gets just enough information to entice him to come investigate. Bringing him exactly where Khan wants him.

Kirks doesn’t want to step on Spock’s toes. He won’t take command, he just needs a ride to Regular. Spock won’t take emotional offense at Kirk’s assuming command.

Spock now tells Kirk the same thing that McCoy told him earlier. It was a mistake for you to accept promotion. Commanding a Starfleet is his destiny. The same advice from his two friends. The two friends that represent the different aspects of Kirk’s personality. Spock, his intellect and logic, McCoy his compassion and emotion.

It’s going to be hard for Kirk to ignore when both are telling him the same thing.

During this conversation, Spock quotes a line that will be thematically important for the next three movies.

“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

This trilogy will explore that notion and also challenge it. It’s very interesting stuff.

I love how comfortable Spock has become at expressing his affection and friendship to Kirk. This really is the new Spock following his character arc in The Motion Picture.

The Enterprise jumps to warp. This is the same effect we saw in The Motion Picture, but with slightly less harsh sound effects. As with most warp effects, the ship is moving away from the camera.

This is the last time we’ll see this warp effect in the Star Trek movies. At the end of this movie, we’ll see the Enterprise flying at warp speed toward the camera. Essentially, it’s the same effect, but it looks so much cooler going the other direction. I’ll talk more about that when we get there.

Khan’s aid suggests that they have already defeated Kirk by escaping. They don’t need to defeat him again. The crew just want to go on with their lives, but Khan is obsessed with revenge. This is the first time he quotes Moby Dick. In some ways, this movie is almost a re-telling of Mob Dick. And while they may not agree, Khan’s followers are devoted to him in an almost cult-like way. Where he leads, they’ll follow.

Project Genesis

It’s time for Kirk to bring Spock and McCoy up to speed with project Genesis. They watch a recording of a proposal by Carol Marcus.

Genesis is life from lifelessness. A process where inorganic matter is modified at the sub-atomic level into life-giving results.

The second stage of the experiment was done in a lifeless underground. The third stage will be on a planetary scale – that’s what the Relient have been helping prepare for.

This is our second big CGI sequence for the movie. 

It’s interesting to me that this whole animation is created in a 4:3 aspect ratio. I never noticed this in the past because I always watched this movie on VHS on a square TV. It was until a few years ago when I got the blu-ray that I realised. You see static images of computer panels to the left and right of the animation. I supposed it’s always been like this. I just never knew.

First, we see molecular graphics, more wireframe stuff developed by Dr. Robert LAngridge of the University of California at San Francisco. It shows a scientifically accurate DNA molecule.

The CGI animation of the lifeless moon being transformed into a lush planet was created by Pixar! They existed this far back and were owned by Lucasfilm at the time. This was really cutting edge stuff at the time.

After all the effort that went into creating this animation, it gets re-used in Star Trek III and Star Trek IV. I don’t tire of seeing it.

McCoy asks a very important question. “Do you think we’re intelligent enough to…” he pauses and asks what would happen if Genesis were used where life already exists. Spock confirms that such existing life would be destroyed. That’s why Marcus was so adamant that they find a completely lifeless planet. It’s a moral issue to her.

Most technologies can be used for good or for evil. It takes wisdom on our part to ensure those technologies are used the right way. Sadly, not all people have that wisdom.

We get a great back and forth between Spock and McCoy here. As good as any exchange they had in TOS, possibly better. This is what really makes the Star Trek dynamic between these characters. Kirk sits in the middle, appreciating both their points of view. It’s always great stuff. Fantastic writing. And the director’s cut adds a few lines making it even better.

Khan Confronts Kirk

Khan quotes a Klingon proverb as the Enterprise and Reliant approach each other 

It’s a little surprising that Khan would know about Klingons, having been awoken from the Botany Bay by the Enterprise crew and then shortly after being marooned on Ceti Alpha V.

He must have read about them while on board the Enterprise. I think, from memory, he did a bit of reading in sickbay while recovering from stasis.

But what’s even weirder is that the Klingon proverb he quotes is actually from Pierre Amroise Francois Choderlos de Laclos, a French human who made the statement in 1782

This starts a truly bizarre trend in the TOS Star Trek movies of attributing human literature to Klingons. It’s really really weird. I don’t understand why they kept doing this. It’s a very strange choice. Don’t worry, I’ll complain about this more in Star Trek VI.

Kirk is confused why the Relient hasn’t made contact, which apparently is Starfleet procedure whenever two ships meet.

It’s not until the Reliant raises shields and locks phasers that Kirk knows for sure that something is up and orders the Enterprise shields to be raised.

But before that happens, the secondary hull of the Enterprise takes a direct phaser blast causing all sorts of havoc in Engineering.

Scotty orders the crew to maintain their posts but the cadets are running all over the place in fear.

All except for one – Peter Preston.

The Enterprise is stuck with only auxiliary power, effectively crippling them.

This shows just how powerful the element of surprise can be. The Enterprise vastly outguns the Relient in every way, but because they weren’t expecting an attack from a fellow Starfleet ship, they’ve been totally disabled.

Nick Meyer took a lot of inspiration from the modern US Navy in the way he had the Enterprise operate. The red lights on the bridge during red alert is one example. (I assume that happens on real submarines. I know I’ve seen it in the movies.)

They get hit again, and now they don’t even have auxiliary power.

The commander of the Relient wants to talk terms of surrender.

At this point, Kirk still has no idea who is on that ship, and why they’re attacking.

Kirk accepts the call.

If nothing else, talking terms will buy them some time.

Shatners reaction when he sees Khan on the viewscreen is well done. He remembers Khan. 

It’s interesting that Kirk and Khan never share a physical space in this entire movie. But they don’t really need to.

Contrast that with the TNG movies, where they almost always had to get Picard into a fistfight with the villain.

Kirk offers to sacrifice himself to Khan to save his crew. Khan agrees, as long as they provide him with all materials regarding Genesis. 

Obviously Kirk is never going to do that.

It’s time for another of his classic bluffs. He has an idea. Use the prefix code to hack into the Relient and lower its shields using the Enterprise’s console. This idea of prefix codes will only rarely be referenced again. It may have come up in early TNG, and I think it might have been mentioned in Picard season 3.

Luckily, Khan doesn’t know about prefix codes and so hasn’t changed it.

He may be super intelligent, but he’s a stranger in the 23rd century, unfamiliar with the technology of the time.

This allows the Enterprise to get a few shots in, damaging the Relient’s weapons and warp drive. Now the two ships are more evenly matched, and Khan is forced to withdraw, giving Kirk and his crew time to lick their wounds and plan their next move.

Why on earth did Scotty bring his wounded nephew to the bridge? It makes no sense.

I’m not sure what Preston meant when he asked Kirk if “The word was given.” But Kirk confirms that it has been. It seems to comfort the dying cadet.

This is a heartbreaking scene, made all the more powerful by understanding that Preston is Scotty’s nephew. Star Trek rarely gave James Doohan the opportunity to play emotional scenes. This is actually the only one I can think of.

The blood from Preston’s hand staining Kirk’s uniform will serve as a powerful reminder of the costs of the conflict in this movie.

We also get a nice moment from McCoy, acknowledging the struggle Doctor’s face when they lose patients, and Kirk’s concern for him as both ship’s doctor, and friend.

Kirk understands the sobre reality. They’re only alive because he know something about their ships that Khan didn’t.

The Enterprise has crawled on hands and knees to Regula 1. They’re receiving no answers. From the little added line in this director’s cut, we know that’s because the crew have hunkered down somewhere in hiding. While I love almost every addition in the director’s cut, I do think this whole scene is more impactful when you don’t know what happened to the civilians. Are Carol and David still alive? What if they’re not. We lose some of that tension.

Away Mission to Regula

We get a new transporter effect in Star Trek II. I quite like it. It’s a lot better than the effect used in The Motion Picture, and the original series, for that matter.

In the previous movie, they never got to beam down anywhere. The transporter was only used at the start of the film to get the crew on board prior to their mission. It’s nice to see a classic away mission here. Although going into V’ger’s control centre technically counted as one.

This movie re-introduces the idea of an away team jacket worn over the standard uniform. This concept was last seen in “The Cage”. I’m not really a fan. Why cover up those awesome maroon uniforms?

There are definitely some horror elements to this scene as they quietly search the creepy abandoned space station, and a nasty jump scare complete with a music sting from James Horner guaranteed to send jolts down your spine as McCoy comes face-to-face with a blood covered dead body.

The civilians have been killed and hung upside down. Our worst fears for Carol and David seem to be realised, but they are not here.

Uhura’s unending attempts to raise someone on the station, after it’s clear nobody is answering, and the away team are investigating, seems to annoy Saviik as much as it annoys me. I find her terse message back to Uhura somewhat amusing.

Kirk finds Chekov and Tyrell. Chekov brings Kirk up to speed with what happened on Ceti Alpha 5. They are apparently free of the Ceti Eel’s control now.

Some of the civilians have escaped with Genesis. Those murdered scientists bought escape time with their lives.

So far, the Star Trek movies have been much more respectful to dead redshirts than Trek usually is.

The coordinates show the scientists beamed into the centre of Regula, a lifeless rock. It seems obvious this is the location of the stage 2 Genesis experiment.

We beam down to try to find them.

And they immediately find the Genesis device in the tunnels. David and his people attack the away team. Kirk asks where he can find Doctor Marcus, and David replies, “I am Doctor Marcus.” That gets his attention. This must be Carol’s son. Does that mean….is this his son?

He asks Carol, “Is that David?”

So apparently, he knew what she called their son.

As soon as she sees Kirk, Carol knows he isn’t behind all of this. She knows him.

It seems Captain Terell and Chekov aren’t as free of Khan’s control as we thought. 

Before Khan beams up Genesis, he orders them to kill Kirk.

They are fighting hard against the conditioning. In the end, Terell kills himself rather than become a murderer and a traitor.

And then, for reasons completely unknown, The ceti Eel in Chekov’s head decides to leave his body, freeing him from its control.

That is extremely convenient.  Way too convenient. The movie really should have come up with something better here. Some reason for Chekov to be free.

I quite like the phasers in this movie. A slight visual modernisation of the TOS phasers. I think the ultimate form will be seen in Star Trek 6.

As he steals the genesis device, it occurs to Khan that he doesn’t have to kill Kirk. He’s got a better revenge. He’ll leave Kirk marooned inside this moon for all time. Buried alive.

It’s a fitting revenge, but does he really think nobody will come looking for him? That nobody will rescue him?

It’s possible that nobody will think to look deep inside the planet if he destroys the records on Regula 1, but Starfleet people are pretty resourceful, and they know these caves exist.

Anyway, it’s time for that famous kirk scream. “Khaaaaan.”

Even people who know nothing about Star Trek and have never seen an episode or film are familiar with this line.

People have criticised Kirk’s scream here as over-acting. Certainly Shatner can overact a little from time to time, but the assumption is that Kirk is angry at Khan for marooning him here. If that’s the case, then it seems excessive and feels very cheesy.

However, we’ll soon learn that Kirk doesn’t expect to be marooned here forever. He and Spock have a plan. He knows he’s getting out of here. The audience don’t but Kirk does.

So, if Kirk knows he’s getting rescued, why does he scream?

It’s a ruse.

He’s putting on a show for Khan to strengthen the deception.

It means that Kirk is acting here.

And Kirk is not as good an actor as William Shatner.

In this light, it’s actually a very well performed moment.

I’ll admit that I had to have all of this pointed out to me, which is kind of embarrassing.

Carol reveals that these caves are not genesis. This is just a tunnel dug out by the Starfleet corps of engineers, filled with oxygen.

She sends David off with McCoy and Saavik so she can have a private word with Kirk. A talk that’s been a long time coming.

Saviik addresses Kirk. All she says is “Admiral?”

Her intonation makes it clear that it’s a question, but ….. What IS her question? She doesn’t ask anything.

The Star Trek movies tend to do this a lot and I find it annoying. It feels very unnatural.

Kirk responds to her unspoken mystery question by quoting Spock. There are always possibilities.

I guess she wants some reassurance that there is some hope they won’t be trapped here forever, but for goodness sake, have her actually say that.

Not just say “Admiral and leave it hanging so he has to guess what she wants to talk about.

Kirk says “I stayed away, I did what you wanted.” and then asks “Why didn’t you tell me?”

At least, that’s what I’ve always thought he said. Shatner kind of trails off and whispers the last word.

It always confused me. Did Kirk know of David’s existence or not? What was it he wanted her to have told him?

I decided to turn the subtitles on this time to solve the mystery and wouldn’t you know it, he actually says “why didn’t you tell HIM”

That makes so much more sense.

David doesn’t know that Kirk is his father.

Carol chose to hide the identity of David’s father from him because she wanted to keep him for herself. She and Kirk lived in very different worlds. They were never going to be able to make a proper relationship work. And she wanted David in her world.

It was a tricky situation, I have no doubt, but I’ve always thought that Carol was very selfish in this regard. Not only did she deny Kirk the chance to have a relationship with his son, she also denied David the chance to have a relationship with his father.

And that really really sucks.

It’s clear from Kirk’s face that this wasn’t what he wanted.

Now we don’t know how the conversation went down back in the day. You could say that Kirk chose his career over his child, but they could have made it work.

Even if they weren’t going to be together, there could have been opportunities for Kirk and David to have known each other. To see each other.

I dunno. It’s hard.

Kirk tells Carol he feels old. Worn out. This is an important thematic moment for his character.

Carol offers to show him something that will make him feel young, like when the Earth was new – Genesis.

The Genesis cave looks pretty cool, although the perspective when the live action shorts are mixed with animation looks really out of whack.

Still, there are some beautiful visuals here that I appreciate.

Khan’s crew have managed to repair damage to the Reliant, but he’s surprised to find that the crippled Enterprise is not where he left it.

Saavik is still troubled by the Kobiashi Maru test. She really wants to know what he did. How he handled it. McCoy confirms he is the only cadet to ever beat the no-win scenario.

Kirk reprogrammed the simulation so it was possible to rescue the hostages. He cheated. But he was given a commendation for original thinking.

Then Saavik says something very important – “Then you never faced that situation. Faced death.” Another very important line to remember.

Kirk says he doesn’t believe in a no-win scenario.

And that’s very Kirk,

As if to prove his point, he contacts the Enterprise. It’s been two hours. Can they beam aboard? Yes.

Kirk and Spock were speaking in code over the open channel (according to Saviik’s beloved regulations). Spock exaggerated his repair estimates. Days instead of hours. The Enterprise is in better shape than Khan was led to believe.

This is a nice little heroic moment. As the audience member we feel good. These little triumphs can affect us powerfully as audience, and James Horner’s score mirrors that feeling wonderfully.

The Battle of the Mutara Nebula

Their plan is to go into the Mutara nebula where they can hide. A good old-fashioned game of cat and mouse.

But in the nebula, sensors and shields won’t work.

Spock says to Saviik “Sauce for the goose, the odds will be even.”

I always found this an odd expression for Spock to use. So I googled it this time and discovered the phrase “what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.”

Okay. That makes sense. The same things that plague the Enterprise will also plague the Reliant. The odds, as Spock says, will be even.

Except, I’ven ever heard that expression. Not in that form. I’ve heard a more modern phrasing “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”

So with Spock quoting a more old-fashioned version, and not fully quoting it, the reference was completely lost on me.

The scene as the crew prepare for battle is where Horner’s music really shines.

The shot of the torpedo being loaded in the torpedo room is ominous foreshadowing.

The nebula battle sequence makes significant use of motion-controlled camera technology, pioneered by ILM.

This movie gives us the visual look that Star Trek will use for nebulae for decades to come.

It looks great.

Sadly, it’s not very scientifically accurate. I’ve come to learn that while a nebula may look like a big cloud of gas from a distance, the individual particles are in fact so sparse that if you were in a nebula, you’d see nothing at all.

In my first Jewel of The Stars book, I had planned to have my cruise ship hide in a nebula. That’s how they managed to survive the alien invasion. But when I learned this inconvenient fact, I decided to change the story.

Still, what would Star Trek be without these cool nebula scenes?

The climactic battle scene in this movie is very different to the climactic space battle at the end of Star Wars A New Hope. This is much slower, rather than the fast-paced action in Star Wars. This is more like naval combat. Star Trek II is essentially a submarine movie in space. But while this is not faced-paced, the battle is no less tense. (although back in the day, I found that the scene dragged a bit on my old VHS. But my blu-ray gives the cinematic experience as it was meant to be.

Kirk is able to goad Khan into following by appealing to his massive genetically enhanced ego, and desire for revenge.

Khan’s aid, Joaquim is wise. They should let Kirk go. They have Genesis. They can rule the galaxy. But just like Captain Ahab, Khan can’t let go of his hatred.

In one furious exchange of fire, the Enterprise engineering section takes heavy damage. There is a radiation leak. Scotty has to take the main off-line, but the radiation is affecting him.

I’m no medical person, but I’m not aware of radiation causing people to pass-out. It can burn and cause long-term damage to the body, such as sterilisation and cancer. Scotty acts like he’s been injected with anesthesia.

The Reliant suffers damage as well. Joaquim dies. Khan vows to avenge him.

Chekov enters the bridge a little sheepishly, asking to resume his duties. He’s no longer a member of the Enterprise crew, of course. Kirk is happy to overlook his past behaviour. He wasn’t himself, so nothing even to forgive.

This movie addresses the common complaint that spaceships always seem to meet each other on the same plane in sci-fi movies.

In one shot we see the Enterprise flying above the reliant. In fact, this concept plays into Kirk’s victory. Khan is from the 1990s. He hasn’t lived in a space-fearing culture. He’s used to thinking two-dimensionally, not three-dimensionally.

Kirk is able to sneak up from below the reliant and surprise them. He deals Khan’s ship a crippling blow. The nacelles are blown clean off.

The battle is won.

Khan, of course, is never going to surrender. His face and hand scarred and burned, he acts out his final revenge. He activates the genesis device.

The activation of the device is rather convoluted. Surely a button would have sufficed. But I have to admit the turning of the metal cylinder, constantly shrinking like a Russian doll, looks pretty cool.

Spock picks up the genesis wave. David is able to identify it.

Interesting that the Genesis device can’t be turned off. Kirk doesn’t waste any time asking David for explanations. If he can’t stop it, he can’t stop it.

Spock’s Great Sacrifice

Kirk needs warp speed in 3 minutes or they’re all dead.

Scotty, of course, is in no condition to do anything. Spock stands up and leaves the bridge.

He knows what must be done. We don’t realise the significance at first.

McCoy uses an old favourite line from TOS. Are you out of your Vulcan mind?

In this context, he is expressing care and concern for Spock’s wellbeing.

McCoy confirms Scotty is too ill to repair the engines, so Spock incapacitates McCoy with a nerve pinch and goes in to perform the repair himself. A repair that will surely kill him.

But before he does, He places his hands on McCoy’s face to perform a mind meld and says remember.

This little moment was absolutely brilliant. It gave the writers a loop-hole for the next film. I don’t think they even knew exactly how, or if, they’d use it at this point. But it’s a wonderful setup that they’ll pay off beautifully in Star Trek 3.

Spock’s sacrifice is very moving to me. Any act of self-sacrifice like this can’t help but remind me of Christ, and that’s something that personally very meaningful to me.

There is no way in hell the enterprise crew can survive without warp drive.

But Spock’s done it. Warp engine online.

Sulu jumps them into warp just as the genesis device detonates.

And we get our first look at what will, from here on, be he standard warp effect for the TOS movie era, the ship files toward the screen (where most effect effects show the ship flying away from the camera into the distance), trailing coloured streams of light, accompanied by a cool zooming sound effect.  

I really like this effect, and was so impressed and happy with Star Trek Generations (essentially a TNG film) used that same effect for the Enterprise B back during the prologue back in Kirk’s time.

We get a wondrous moment as we see the nebula gasses coalescing into what will become known as the Genesis planet.

In the past, I always thought the Genesis was just regular, transformed from a lifeless moon into a life-supporting planet.

But I guess the nebula was some distance from Regula. There can’t possibly be enough matter in the nebula gasses to make a planet, but anyway.

So we get to have this big happy triumphant moment. They’ve escaped. It’s so awesome.’

But then, after we’ve celebrated, we’re sobred by the realisation of the cost.

McCoy calls Kirk down to engineering.

Horner breaks our heart with his music as Kirk runs through the corridors to find Spock, his face deformed by radiation.

They can’t let him out, it’ll flood the whole compartment. Scotty’s words cut deep when he says” Jim, he’s dead already.”

Spock still breathes, but not for long. Nothing can prevent his death at this point.

 Seeing Spock stumble and crash into the glass just drive the knife a little harder into our hearts.

Spock wants to know that the ship is safe.

To him, this action was logical. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. This is the most important thematic element of this trilogy of films. (by that, I mean 2, 3 and 4).

Spock never took the Kobiashi Maru test. I wonder why. He would have gone through Starfleet Academy just like any other officer.

This is his first time facing the no-win scenario. This was his solution. To sacrifice his life to save his ship, his crew, his friends.

While this scene is an important moment for the Kirk/Spock friendship, it’s fitting that bones is where too. The other part of their trio.

Spock’s last words express the strength of his friendship with Kirk. Words he never could have said out loud before his character arc in the previous movie. A sentiment he could only hint at back in Bread and Circuses.

Killing Spock was a controversial decision, especially among fans. It was originally conceived as a way to entice Leonard Nimoy to be in the movie.

But as Nicholas Meyer said “you can kill a beloved character, if you do it right” and he definitely did it right.

It certainly had a big impact on people. I never really got the full force of the experience. I saw Star Trek 3 and 4 before I ever saw 2. So I knew he was returning. To me, this was the story of HOW he died.

Now we see a torpedo being loaded in the torpedo room again. But this time, it’s a coffin delivering Spock’s body to the deep of space.

Kirk’s statement, that of all the souls he has encountered, Spock’s was the most human is interesting.

On one hand, it’s a statement that Spock would be somewhat insulted by. He’ll say as much to Kirk in Star Trek 6.

But I think it’s Spock’s humanity that really drove the friendship between them. Spock likes to pretend that side of him doesn’t exist, but he, Kirk and bones all know that’s not true.

David comes to see Kirk – to meet his father for the first time. Kirk doesn’t know how to deal with him. He is broken by the loss of his friend, his brother.

David points out that Saviik was right. Kirk has never faced death before. Now, with the loss of Spock, he is forced to admit that no-win scenarios can exist. He can’t charm or bluff his way out of this loss. He can’t cheat his way out of death this time.

And because he never took the test the way it was intended, he is emotionally unprepared for dealing with this kind of grief.

He knows nothing. But he told Saviik that the way we face death is at least as important as the way we face life. When he said them, they were empty words. Now, he has to learn to take them in.

David has learned that he was wrong about Kirk. He’s no warmonger. He’s a good man, and David is proud to be his son. As a father, are there any greater words in the universe to hear?

Horner’s music enhances the moment as Kirk learns that although he’s lost a brother, he’s gained a son.

In one of the closing shots, Kirk tells Bones that he feels young, contrasting when he told Carol he felt old.

I always struggled with this line. What reason did Kirk have to say this? I felt he came across as too happy after Spock’s death.

Thinking about it recently, I considered that the movie hadn’t really given Kirk a significant enough reason to change his opinion. There was no real aha moment during the climax as he let go of the lie, that he was past his usefulness, and accepted the truth that Bones tried to tell him on his birthday, that while he isn’t young anymore, he’s not old yet. There is still so much more ahead of him.

The nebula battle didn’t really give Kirk that moment of realisation as happens in traditional story structure.

But watching it, I can see, at least a little. This experience has reconnected him with David. They both want to be in each others’ lives. Kirk is about to embark on a new adventure – the adventure of fatherhood. That combined with observing the birth of the Genesis planet, life from Spock’s death, gives him a completion of his character arc for the movie. Is it enough? It could be more, but it’s still powerful.

The final shot shows us Spock’s coffin soft-landed on the surface of the Genesis planet. We don’t really know what it means, but it gives us hope, just a tiny bit of hope, that maybe the story isn’t over yet.

The movie ends with Spock delivering Kirk’s famous words from the original series intro.

A fitting way to farewell the beloved character. (at least for now)

Final Thoughts on Star Trek II

This was a brilliant movie. It presented us with some great action and adventure, it set up a fantastic serialised trilogy, and it had a lot of heart. This movie had a great arc and delved into some interesting thematic ideas, embracing, rather than shying away, from the aging of its characters.

We owe a lot to Star Trek II. Had this movie not been as good as it was, we wouldn’t still be making new Star Trek today,  over 40 years later. 

I’ve loved revisiting this movie. I hope you’ve enjoyed revisiting it with me.

Next time, we continue the trilogy with one that has always been a favourite of mine – Star Trek III The Search for Spock.

Until then, live long and prosper.

Make it so.

 

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