Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Review

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Release Date: 13th August 1982 - Australia

Production Companies

Paramount Pictures (presents)

Distribution

Paramount Pictures Australia

Genre: Sci-Fi

Rating: PG

Runtime: 108 minutes


Budget: $11,200,000

Box Office Gross: $97,000,000 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

Admiral James T. Kirk

begins believing that

galloping through the

cosmos is a game for the

young when he senses that

the future is nothing like

the past. But during a

routine inspection of the

U.S.S. Enterprise, Kirk's

career is turned upside

down by his most vengeful

enemy: Khan Noonien

Singh, the genetically

engineered tyrant from

Earth in the late 20th

century.

Now freed from his

forgotten prison, Khan

aims to capture Project

Genesis, a device of god-

like power and destroy Kirk.

Once again, Kirk takes

the helm of the Enterprise.

This time, he meets Khan's

ship in an intergalactic

showdown.

Cast

William Shatner - Admiral

James T. Kirk

Leonard Nimoy - Spock

DeForest Kelley - Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy

James Doohan - Scotty

Walter Koenig - Chekov

George Takei - Sulu

Nichelle Nichols - Uhura

Ricardo Montalbán - Khan

Noonien Singh

Kirstie Alley - Lt. Saavik
Bibi Besch - Dr. Carol Marcus
Merritt Butrick - David Marcus

Paul Winfield - Terrell

Judson Scott - Joachim (Uncredited)

Ike Eisenmann - Preston

John Vargas - Jedda

John Winston - Kyle

Paul Kent - Beach

Nicholas Guest - Cadet

Russell Takaki - Madison

Kevin Sullivan - March

Joel Marston - Crew Chief

Teresa E. Victor - Bridge Voice

Dianne Harper - Radio Voice

David Ruprecht - Radio Voice

Marcy Vosburgh - Computer Voice

Crew

Screenplay (Uncredited)/
Director - Nicholas Meyer

Based on "Star Trek"/Executive Consultant -

Gene Roddenberry 

Story/Executive Producer - Harve Bennett

Story/Screenplay - Jack B. Sowards

Story - Samuel A. Peeples (Uncredited)

Producer - Robert Sallin
Vulcan Translator - Marc Okrand 
Production Designer - Joseph R. Jennings

Art Director - Michael Minor

Set Decorator - Charles Graffeo

Property Master - Joe Longo
Costume Designer - Robert Fletcher

Makeup Artists - Werner Keppler

and James Lee McCoy
Director of Photography - Gayne Rescher

First Camera Assistant - Catherine E. Coulson

Stunt Coordinator/Stunts - Bill Couch
Special Effects Supervisor - Bob Dawson 

Additional Special Lighting Effects - Sam Nicholson

Special Visual Effects Supervisors: ILM -
Ken Ralston and Jim Veilieux

Effects Cameramen: ILM - Don Dow

and Scott Farrar

Camera Operator: ILM - Stewart Barbee

Assistant Camera Operators: ILM - Selwyn Eddy,

David R. Hardberger, Robert Hill,

Michael Owens and Michael Santy
Optical Photography Supervisor: ILM - Bruce Nicholson

General Manager: ILM - Tom Smith

Production Supervisor: ILM - Patricia Rose Duignan

Matte Photography: ILM - Neil Krepela

Matte Photography Assistant: ILM - Craig Barron

Supervising Model Maker: ILM - Steve Gawley

Model Electronics: ILM - Marty Brenneis

Computer Graphics: ILM - Loren Carpenter,

Ed Catmull, Pat Cole, Rob Cook,

Tom Duff, Robert D. Poor, Thomas Porter,

William Reeves and Alvy Ray Smith

Supervising Stage Technician: ILM - Ted Moehnke

Stage Technicians: ILM - Dave Childers,

Harold Cole, Dick Dova, Bob Finley III,

Pat Fitzsimmons, Edward Hirsh, John McCleod

and Peter Stolz

Pyrotechnics: ILM - Thaine Morris

Editor - William Paul Dornisch

Assistant Editors - John Haggar,

Christopher Koeford and Vicky Witt

Supervising Sound Editors - Cecelia Hall

and George Watters II

Sound Effects Editors - Teresa Eckton,

Michael Hilkene, John Kline, Curt Schulkey

and Jim Siracusa

Special Sound Effects - Alan Howarth

Re-Recording Mixers - David J. Hudson,

Mel Metcalfe, Ray West and Noyan Cosarer (Uncredited)

Composer: Theme "Star Trek" - Alexander Courage

Music - James Horner

Music Editor - Bob Badami

Review

After watching and reviewing Star Trek Into Darkness, I decided to critique one of the famous classic Trek films, THE WRATH OF KHAN, which many consider the best of the series. In its historic 1982 release, the sequel restored the franchise to its former glory and brought back the excitement for fans after its predecessor failed to live up to their high expectations. The Trekkies welcomed the space battles, an original story, a compelling archfoe and a change of pace, something the first movie didn't have. The film begins the story arc that ends with the fourth instalment. The writers are still in the process of creating new stuff in the eye of the storm. It happened during that time of its pre-production. These elements were unshown in the original program and did not belong to the creator's vision. One idea is borrowed similarly in the animated non-Trek movie Titan A.E. There are many allusions to literary classics such as Moby Dick, as one critic has analysed.

Several moments of the original second instalment are memorable. These few iconic scenes include Kirk shouting Khan's name for the unexpected and Spock's death. Most of the original Enterprise crew, including William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and others, are present in the main cast of this sequel. Their performances got better since we last saw them in its predecessor. For instance, Shatner didn't act as cheesy as he was in the original television series or the previous movie. Ricardo Montalbán was fantastic as Khan (a role he reprised from the episode Space Seed), though his interpretation is less savage and campy and has no British accent. While his performance is fun to watch, I still prefer the new one as it is more brutal and vengeful and played terrifically by Benedict Cumberbatch.

The Starfleet uniforms look much better than the pyjamas worn in its predecessor. The effects were decent but nowhere near as good as Star Wars five years earlier. It's hard to believe that James Horner composed the film of its score as Jerry Goldsmith was busy scoring other movies. His arrangement was good but took most of its cues from Goldsmith's original theme.

I always knew Into Darkness was just a near repeat of KHAN, let alone director J.J. Abrams rehashed a few of its elements into the plot line. THE WRATH OF KHAN is a great Star Trek film, but I prefer something else. It's enjoyable for everyone, including Trekkies and non-Trekkies alike. So I recommend you watch it in your time.

Star rating: (8/10) Very Good Movie

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