Star Trek 2: The Wrath of KhanDirected by Nicholas MeyerStarring: William Shatner, Ricardo Montalban, Leonard Nimoy, Walter Koenig, George Takei, James Doohan, Nichelle Nicholds, Kirstie AlleyStar Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan: Movie A-, DVD B+ The Wrath of Khan is probably my favorite of the Star Trek movies. It has everything the first one doesn't, action, suspense and a fast paced story. As I indicated in my review of Star Trek The Motion Picture, I don't think the movie is bad, but it is greatly surpassed by The Wrath of Khan. Khan makes a great villain, and is excellently played by Ricardo Montalban. He is a genuinely imposing and scary figure. Even if you have never seen (or have not seen in a long time, as I haven't) the original Star Trek episode featuring Khan, it is easy to figure out his relationship to Kirk and the rest of the Star Trek crew. All we really need to know is that he is full of rage and vengeance and will stop at nothing until he sees captain Kirk dead. His pursuit of Kirk goes beyond all logic. Once he escapes the barren planet he has been imprisoned on for fifteen years, he could have gone anywhere and done practically anything he wanted. But the only thing he really wants is revenge for his imprisonment and his dead wife. You could say there is a moral to this story in that a lust for vengeance and power will only lead to ruin, but that is pretty obvious and luckily time is not spent driving this point home. Something I had not realized, and didn't even realize until I was watching some of the special features on the DVD is that Ricardo Montalban and William Shatner do not share any scenes together physically. There total interaction is through comlinks. There focus on eachother is so well done in this movie that it did not matter that they were probably not even in the same room together when filming their scenes. Another great thing about this movie is the interaction of the cast. There are some genuinely funny as well as touching moments in their conversation. It is a running gag throughout the movie that Kirk is "getting on in years." The movie begins with Kirk's birthday bringing the age issue to the forefront. There are some clever scenes involving some good natured ribbing from Bones. Of the more touching moments the most prominent of course are the scenes involving Spock. When the movie was first released in 1982 it seemed everyone knew before going in that Spock would die in this one. I guess they needed to draw audineces in after the the disappointment of the first film. Even knowing the outcome, the scenes involving Spock's last moments are very emotional. It is good to see these characters care for each other after all their years together. This director's edition DVD has less than five minutes of additional footage, or so I've been told. It has been quite some time since I've watched this movie and frankly I never knew where the new footage was. I have heard the new scenes do not change the story in any way, but only add some dialogue or expand the scene somewhat. There is a text commentary that points out where the additional footage is, as well as other tidbits of information, but I have not made my way through all of it yet. Also on the disc is a vocal commentary from director Nicholas Meyer. I have not heard the entire commentary yet, but he does shed some light on the infamous Chekov and Khan knowing each other "gaffe." Basically he says what you might suspect, but I won't give it away. On the second disc there are several interviews both old and new. It is interesting to note Leonard Nimoy's take on the script in the 1982 interview verus what he says about his original thoughts now. The interviews are very interesting and provide a lot of information about the making of The Wrath of Khan. Review by Sherry Read my Star Trek the Motion Picture review. Read my Star Trek 3: The Search For Spock review. |
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