It's bugged me for a while that in the video that we posted for STII TWOK, we didn't mention Kirstie Alley by name at all. This wasn't deliberate, just the result of a last minute edit for boring technical reasons.
Star Trek II is the best 'instance' of Star Trek--that is, of all the films, TV series', spinoffs, books, comics, audiotapes, fanfilms, cartoons, video games--that there ever was, ever shall be.
Nick Meyer is the real star of this movie. It’s no coincidence that the best TOS movies are the ones written and/or directed by Meyer and the weakest TOS movies are the ones where Meyer had no involvement. Meyer wasn’t an experienced director, but what mattered most was that he was a good storyteller. This movie dealt with actual themes such as death, revenge, and aging and made use of literary classics like Moby Dick and Paradise Lost. For someone who was barely familiar with Star Trek, he sure had a good handle on the overall concept and the characters. This was in sharp contrast to the previous movie where Roddenberry seemed to forget what fans liked about the TV series. Meyer’s outsider perspective makes TWOK easily the most accessible Star Trek movie. You don’t have to be a fan or even familiar with Star Trek to understand and appreciate the movie. For good or bad, it set the standard by which all Star Trek movies are judged and as we see later with Nemesis and Into Darkness, you can’t remake a classic with an inferior script and a hack director if you don’t even understand what made the original good in the first place.
I went to see it with my Mum when I was 8. She cried like a baby - as did I, and a pile of middle aged men in front of us too. Star Trek, and Doctor Who were two of the things my Mum and I always bonded over.
I may not be a Star Trek fan, but there’s no denying this a pretty damn good film. A fun sci-fi adventure that can work for anyone regardless of their appreciation of the franchise
22:00 Ok since you brought it up. I still can't believe JJ used 'Khan' in Into Darkness. Nick Meyer was like an uncle to him growing up, his parents were friends of Nicks. So JJ has the audacity to take uncle Nick's most famous film and basically shit all over it. JJ is the worst thing that ever happened to Trek, and it's still happening; all his buddies are still running new Trek.
This movie was awesome and rightfully so everybody raves about it. Its my favourite Star Trek movie by far. But nobody really talks about Space Seed, the TOS episode which introduced Khan. That episode has some great dialogue and Montalban gave an awesome performance.
Although Shatner's acting intrigues me, he is quite honestly inferior. Mentally, physically. In fact, I am surprised how little improvement there has been in Shatnerian evolution. Oh, there has been technical advancement, but, how little the man himself has changed. Yes, it appeared Montalban did well in this series.
Agreed. My only real complaint was that blind revenge was unworthy of Khan. I wish Kirk/The Enterprise would have gone back to Ceti Alpha 5 to discover Khan having taken over and restarted the Chrysalis project (the genetic engineering program).
Just a few years later, James Horner knocked the score so far out of the park, under intense pressure from... Aliens... I mean James Cameron and his wife.
@@jimenycricket8431 How ironic,Jerry Goldsmith loved working on Star Trek but his experience on Alien was terrible. Most of his score was either moved or not used and sometimes replaced by pieces of his own score to¨Freud¨. James Horner loved working on this Flick and even attended rhe scoring sessions to TMP however scoring Aliens was just as Goldsmith prior a dreadfull experience. He had limited time to compose the score(the opening is very similar to Khachaturian´s music from his ballet Gayaneh in particular the Adagio)and even a piece if Goldsmith´s score reappeared(The bit with the Alien queen in the lift in the climax). Both composer´s did not like working on Alien(s)but ironically both worked with their director´s again:Goldsmith on Legend and Horner offcourse Titanic and Avatar. I love the score to TMP but Wrath has an equal brilliant score!!
@@bartrazin That TMP score (like the movie) moves a lot slower than the TWOK ST, but I really like the slow burn quality to it. Love the prolific use of blaster beam throughout.
"I will leave you as you left me. Buried ah-LIVE." "KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!"
Right before the pandemic, a local theater had WOK on 1 night only and I went. I think I was 50 then, and evidently the youngest person in attendance. The audience had great reactions to this old film.
After having seen the 1st movie, I had little hope for this one. Watched it on cable in the early 80's on a Saturday morning. I was completely blown away, and haven't felt that way since.
8:50 Time after Time is pretty crazy, but a fun film. Plus Mary Steenburgen looks like Kate Bush in it and both 'future' Star Trek actors Malcolm McDowell and David Warner star.
..... Underrated movie, I concur Steenburgen pretty hot. Warner brilliant antagonist. McDowell sent him into the future to torture Capt. Pilchard with four lights, (plus studio lights).
I've watched this movie on cable tv in mid 90s. It was in German (SAT1 did reruns of all classic ST on Saturdays each summer hollidays). I had no idea what was said (Polish is my mothertongue) but it hooked me immediately. And the music..OMG the music (especially when Khan is first seen and Chekov with the other guy are interrogated). Then I kinda learned basics of German to understand what they were saying and at some point I finally manged to get my hands on English version with Polish subs. Oh the joy! It is 100% imho the best ST movie ever made (with 1st Contact right after it). I've lost track how many times I've watched it but every time I do it I'm that 10yo that watched it for the 1st time. Oh, and Space Seed where that story truly began. Don't let me started on that one. It's another gem.
Intelligent beautifully written script, soaring wonderful music, top notch performances, easily the best Trek film and one of the best films of the 80s
Director Nicholas Meyer gave an interview to Starlog magazine not long after the movie was released. He related a funny story that happened between him and Ricardo Montalban. Meyer states that they were getting ready to shoot a scene and he announced "ok, we're going to do this next scene from my point of view." According to Meyer, Ricardo said "so this is going to be a short take?" (a reference to Meyer's small stature) Meyer then said to the crew, "somebody get me another Mexican!"
1982 and as 7 yr olds on holiday in a small NZ town, Mum bundled my twin and I off to the movies. Thinking it would be something shit, imagine our surprise.
And I remember being at a Comics Con earlier that year, and seeing fans RUN, not walk, to the screening room as soon as it was announced the trailer for Khan was going to premiere. Everybody exploded in applause both when it started, and when the trailer ended.
Excellent review. Loved it. Imagine if Star Trek II had tanked... Nicholas Meyer is probably the main reason that anyone remembers Star Trek at this point in history. I strongly recommend the DVD of this movie if, for nothing else, the director's commentary by Nicholas Meyer, the director responsible for the best instance, version, example, whatever you want to call it, of Star Trek in existence.
Absolutely Brilliant Movie 🎥 That Still Holds Up Today , Everyone Is Great And The Kirk And Spock Death Scene Had All 11 Of Us In Our Group Weep So Much 🙏💙
Not only is this film my favorite, it's the main reason why "Into Darkness" is the only Trek film that I didn't see in the theatre. Cumberbatch's real character name was leaked and I was furious when I found out about it!
Koenig stares possessed, 10 degrees away from breaking the wall, for a good 45 seconds without blinking. It subliminally communicates that he is still worm controlled. A very difficult, uncomfortable thing for an actor to do.
1) This entry initially was meant to be a "made-for-telly" film, in no small part to drastically reduce costs; 2) The success of this proved that Trek on cinema could be both successful _and profitable_ !
Not just the best Star Trek movie, but a great movie, period. For reasons beyond me, the Star Trek franchise has been marginal (for the most part), but this was great. In my opinion.
KHAAAAAN! .... we all just take a moment to appreciate how great it is to get the Stam Fine Friday review. Eloquent, insightful and extremely funny. First class start to the week end.
Saw it at the cinema aged 9 and it just blew me away. What struck me was the total lack of marketing. For ST:TMP there was a lot of merchandise and I got some rather dull (in)action figures and remember making an Enterprise bridge from a cut out model on a cereal packet. So, Wrath of Khan kind of just kind of came out. It didn’t actually need any merchandise. What a film…. And “KAAAAAHHHHHNNNN”
.... Must have been such a tough job, kissing all those lovely women. Nimoy tells the story of him and DeForest Kelley asking writers if they could have one for every ten Shatner gets.
Excellent. A Grand Review for a Great Movie. The Music is Superb, Kirstie Alley hasn't melted yet and the gang's all here. Probably the Best of the Trek Films.
I met Kirstie alley at the London olympics in 2012. She was with Kevin Spacey. Two things I took away from that. Kirstie alley had melted so much I didn’t realise it was her until someone pointed it out after I’d met them. The second thing was, I shook Spacey’s hand! Thinking back….ewww. God knows where that thing had been!
It is definitely the best Star Trek move. The Motion Picture had so much promise with stunning visuals and great tension between Decker and Picard (old blood and new blood), Spock having his epiphany, and what seemed to be a build up to an epic climax......And then Vger becomes self aware, absorbing Ilia then Decker's self sacrifice to join her. What ban absolute clusterf$&k and disappointment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@@silvervalleystudios2486 Totally agree. I was on leave when I went with my Brother to see Wrath at the Cinema. We had seen TOS in the 1960s when we were kids. We had not yet seen "Star Trek - The Motionless Picture; Where Nomad Has Gone Before", due to word of mouth. Honestly, we were not expecting much from Wrath. The Film was Excellent. I agree, it may well be the Best. I don't see anything on the horizon to better it.
I don't think Khan's people remained young. I think it is supposed to imply that this is the next generation of his clan, with most all the other contemporaries from TOS having died off due to the Ceti-Alpha VI disaster (with Judson Scott's character implied to be Khan's son, named after his friend in TOS). Khan was always the strongest of them all, he was the survivor teaching the young, reflecting what Kirk and his crew were doing with an Enterprise full of cadets and trainees.
I watched the original series on primetime in my childhood,. Saw all the episodes in reruns as a teenager and have been a fan of the franchise ever since. This film gave me an emotional reaction that no other film had before or since. Yes, Spock is a fictional character, but he had been a figure in my imagination for ( at the point Wrath came out) for 15 years. His death affected me like someone real in my life had died. It was astonishing and , I felt because of that unique moment, It was the one time that Star Trek was elevated from popular art to high art. So... Nimoys return to the franchise, (in which Spock sticks around for some 30 more years, dying unceremoniously only when Nimoys himself passed,) was nice and it was good to have him back, but for me it will always be a dramatic cheat. It dilutes and renders irrelevant the emotional power of his death in Wrath of Khan.
12:40 -- RE: The youthful cult of personality surrounding Khan -- I think the answer for this isn't difficult to appreciate. Many cult leaders act in a parental role for the offspring of cult members (in which case, now they're too old). The rest of the parents have died, and now Khan essentially has adopted children for fanatics. This is a fairly well known feature of cult leaders, and Khan's superior genetics didn't get rid of it. Furthermore, Khan's longevity is probably partially due to his followers throwing themselves into harm's way to protect him.... like the fanatics do during the film.
1. BEST of the entire series. Including the new ones. 2. You can hear Chekov's feet hit the wooden deck when he steps off the box when Kahn "lowers" him during his capture scene. 3. Kirstie Alley before she gained 150 lbs. 4. I'm not the biggest fan of Kirk screaming "KHAAAAAN" Eggselent review👌
I just like hearing what others think of one my most favorite films. It’s always good on a rewatch. First viewing was lucky enough a drive in at the Mojave desert area.
Everybody loves Jerry Goldsmith, but I'm sorry as a hardcore track geek who used to stay up on Saturday night to watch Star Trek episodes in the '70s at 11:00 p.m. which is really late for a 6-year-old kid, I feel like James Horner's score is the best of all the Star Trek films. I kind of scoff every time I hear about people talk about Jerry Goldsmith. Not that he's bad. But James Horner's score is absolutely the best In fact it was the first cassette I ever bought meaning my parents bought it. We were in line at a store and there was a rack of tapes and my parents told us we could all pick a tape my sister's bought something dumb, I saw Star Trek 2 the wrath of Khan and bought that and that was the tape I listened to until it was nearly worn out
I would argue with the assertion that Wrath of Khan is the best Star Trek film. That award would go to "The Wrath of The Search for The Voyage Home"...the trilogy that defines cinematic Trek, and which are ALWAYS binged as a set when fans watch The Wrath of Khan.
Great review sir. One of my favourites movies. Man I can't believe how many of Harve Bennett's shows I loved as a kid. Many of which I hope you review. Good on'ya mate.
Stam. I've watched this review about 10 times. Actually all of your Strek reviews. These are my go to when I'm a bit p'd off and you lift me up and make my day better. Of all those who do reviews you are the best. Oh I have a joke for you and for all the Trek fans here. It goes like this: "IT WAS SAID ONE TIME THAT STEVIE NICKS FROM THE BAND FLEETWOOD MAC WAS SUPPOSED TO MARRY WILLIAM BUT SHE TURNED HIM DOWN BECAUSE SHE'D HAVE A DOUBLE BARREL NAME. SHE DIDN'T WANT TO BE KNOWN AS STEVIE SHATNER-NICKS" There you go Stam. Have an awesome day.. thank you.
I think the reason this movie is so good is that it leans into its limitations. Star Trek - The Moooooooooootion Picturrrrrrrrrre was an epic, a big budget spectacular, it made a splash, but this movie is more in line with the TV show: making the best of budgetary limitations, making lemonade out of lemons. If you really break The Wrath of Khan down, it takes place on a couple re-used sets with the chairs moved around, parts of the model shots are stock shots taken wholesale from the previous movie, as are the props. It's surprises me they agreed to change the uniforms, but in some ways it feels like that's all they spent money on. The rest of it is excellent scriptwriting and acting covering over the limitations of the budget. And the thing is so compelling we don't even notice.
Saw the 40th anniversary on the big screen Labor Day weekend. It was so great to watch it with other people in the theater even though I’ve seen it 200 times. I still love that movie
The fact that Roddenberry was against this film after turning out the first film, tells you all you need to know about the value of his creative views by then.
Still amazes me that they have a warp core on a spaceship, yet noone remembered to pack any radiation suits. All those guys with clipboards, and yet that was missed off the inventory. Fun fact... both Khan's #1 and Kirk's son appear together in Next Gen episode Symbiosis about two factions on a planet, the rich who supply an addictive narcotic to a slave caste that are addicted to it.
Best thing the studios did regarding ST was "promote" Gene Roddenberry out of direct control. Certainly as he became increasingly nutty as time went on. Not only got the best ST movie in Khan, but it later saved TNG.
This was the closest time the franchise elevated itself from "pop" art to fine art. The death of Spock affected me like nothing else ever has , before or since, in a movie theater. Having had a "relationship" with this character for 15 years (at the time I saw it) , Spocks demise actually felt like a real death, invoking real feelings of grief. I know that may seem silly, but because the character had a history beyond the 2+ hours of the movie it invoked a real emotional response. I'll go further to say that Spock's resurrection in the next film, while it brought back Nimoy to the franchise for the next 40 years, is a dramatic cheat, and diminishes the impact of that moment. It's like Hamlet walking back on after Fortinbras's speech saying "Nah... I'm ok. everythings fine!" I'm sure many may disagree, but I never felt that deeply about something in any subsequent iteration of Star Trek. So... Nimoy kept his job, but high drama lost.
"Star Trek The Motion Picture" was a slow-moving big screen vehicle for Kirk and his bridge team that never exceeded Warp Factor 1. "Star Trek 2 : The Wrath Of Khan" saved the franchise, thanks to a scenery chewing performance to cherish from Ricardo Montalban as Khan.
Nostalgia moment: buying the TOS Space Seed VHS tape because it had a trailer for TWOK on it. Watched it over and over again. At the time I thought the Reliant was some kind of hobbled together starship that had crashed because all I knew of starships was those that looked like the Enterprise. Still my favorite starship after the Big E. Interesting trivia on Bennett doing the intro to the Six Million Dollar Man. Didn't know! And you spoke of Hornblower. Any chance you can get around to reviewing the Hornblower TV Movie series starring Ioan Gruffudd? It's a "what could have been" for a Starfleet Academy series with Kirk as a young officer. Thanks for another great review!
TWoK has the best soundtrack to all of the movies, with The Undiscovered Country a second for me. But can almost be listened to like one long piece of music.
Ive seen a lot of videos on this film recently. I feel like with much of Star Trek kind of going off the rails the last several years, people are digging back to what made it great in the first place... And if you seek premium Star Trek.... All roads lead to the Wrath of Khan. Easily the best Star Trek film, and sequel to one of the best original episodes. The Wrath of Khan is peak Trek. I don't think anyone should be taking over as creative lead on Star Trek unless they can articulate WHY this film was so good. Genuinely understand it's greatness, and apply those lessons to new shows and movies. Jar Jar Abrams tried to remake this. It was a steaming pile of targ shit. He may have watched Wrath of Khan, but he sure as shit didn't understand it.
Fun fact: the FX people working on Kubricks 2001 worked on the first film. Which makes so much sense, once you know it. It was more of a 2001 spinoff than trek, in my humble opinion.
Riccardos KHAN is arguably the best Sci-Fi villain ever .Even DARTH VADER was played by two actors(One almost unknown to wear the costume and JAMES EARL JONES as the voice) while RICCARDO did it all to create KHAN and the attempt to have anyone else play him failed badly,we should remember just how iconic an actor born in MEXICO City was in television and the big screen!
This movie remains the best of the Star Trek franchise - yes the recent one with Benedict Cumberbatch was good but everyone and I mean everyone knows this war cry “Khannnnnnnnnnnn” 😁
Originally the motion picture was meant to be a tv series, Star Trek phase 2 all the cast was coming back apart Leonard Nimoy, they built sets and wrote scripts and it was set to launch with a new TV station. Eventually it turned into the movie and some of the elements was reused for TNG and some scripts written for phase 2 were used for TNG
It's bugged me for a while that in the video that we posted for STII TWOK, we didn't mention Kirstie Alley by name at all. This wasn't deliberate, just the result of a last minute edit for boring technical reasons.
It has… and always shall be… the best Star Trek film.
General Chang would implore you to watch it in the original Klingon...
😁
Star Trek II is the best 'instance' of Star Trek--that is, of all the films, TV series', spinoffs, books, comics, audiotapes, fanfilms, cartoons, video games--that there ever was, ever shall be.
BRAVO 💯💯💯💯💯💯👍👍👍👍👍👍
Mind you, VI is also epic.
There is consensus 🖖🏼
Nick Meyer is the real star of this movie. It’s no coincidence that the best TOS movies are the ones written and/or directed by Meyer and the weakest TOS movies are the ones where Meyer had no involvement. Meyer wasn’t an experienced director, but what mattered most was that he was a good storyteller. This movie dealt with actual themes such as death, revenge, and aging and made use of literary classics like Moby Dick and Paradise Lost. For someone who was barely familiar with Star Trek, he sure had a good handle on the overall concept and the characters. This was in sharp contrast to the previous movie where Roddenberry seemed to forget what fans liked about the TV series. Meyer’s outsider perspective makes TWOK easily the most accessible Star Trek movie. You don’t have to be a fan or even familiar with Star Trek to understand and appreciate the movie. For good or bad, it set the standard by which all Star Trek movies are judged and as we see later with Nemesis and Into Darkness, you can’t remake a classic with an inferior script and a hack director if you don’t even understand what made the original good in the first place.
This remains the only movie I cried at. I saw it with my dad when it was released. Spock's death and Kirk's eulogy still gets to me to this day.
I went to see it with my Mum when I was 8. She cried like a baby - as did I, and a pile of middle aged men in front of us too. Star Trek, and Doctor Who were two of the things my Mum and I always bonded over.
I may not be a Star Trek fan, but there’s no denying this a pretty damn good film. A fun sci-fi adventure that can work for anyone regardless of their appreciation of the franchise
22:00 Ok since you brought it up. I still can't believe JJ used 'Khan' in Into Darkness. Nick Meyer was like an uncle to him growing up, his parents were friends of Nicks. So JJ has the audacity to take uncle Nick's most famous film and basically shit all over it. JJ is the worst thing that ever happened to Trek, and it's still happening; all his buddies are still running new Trek.
Happy 40th Anniversary. Wrath of Khan joined the list where the sequel is better than the original.
This movie was awesome and rightfully so everybody raves about it. Its my favourite Star Trek movie by far. But nobody really talks about Space Seed, the TOS episode which introduced Khan. That episode has some great dialogue and Montalban gave an awesome performance.
Although Shatner's acting intrigues me, he is quite honestly inferior. Mentally, physically. In fact, I am surprised how little improvement there has been in Shatnerian evolution. Oh, there has been technical advancement, but, how little the man himself has changed. Yes, it appeared Montalban did well in this series.
Right! Love that..loved Ricardo!
Agreed. My only real complaint was that blind revenge was unworthy of Khan. I wish Kirk/The Enterprise would have gone back to Ceti Alpha 5 to discover Khan having taken over and restarted the Chrysalis project (the genetic engineering program).
Great episode and the fight at the end with the stunt doubles was great!
@@PerfectTroy1 +qQQ1AZ121
18:40 James Horner knocked this score so far out of the park it's almost a miracle. It may be the best thing about the best Star Trek film.
Just a few years later, James Horner knocked the score so far out of the park, under intense pressure from... Aliens... I mean James Cameron and his wife.
@@jimenycricket8431 How ironic,Jerry Goldsmith loved working on Star Trek but his experience on Alien was terrible. Most of his score was either moved or not used and sometimes replaced by pieces of his own score to¨Freud¨. James Horner loved working on this Flick and even attended rhe scoring sessions to TMP however scoring Aliens was just as Goldsmith prior a dreadfull experience.
He had limited time to compose the score(the opening is very similar to Khachaturian´s music from his ballet Gayaneh in particular the Adagio)and even a piece if Goldsmith´s score reappeared(The bit with the Alien queen in the lift in the climax).
Both composer´s did not like working on Alien(s)but ironically both worked with their director´s again:Goldsmith on Legend and Horner offcourse Titanic and Avatar.
I love the score to TMP but Wrath has an equal brilliant score!!
@@bartrazin That TMP score (like the movie) moves a lot slower than the TWOK ST, but I really like the slow burn quality to it. Love the prolific use of blaster beam throughout.
How much do I love this movie? My car's personalized license plate is KHAAAAN.
I am not joking.
Too cool 😎
Guess what mine is?😉
Kirk's real mistake was not leaving Khan more books when he marooned him. He read Moby Dick way too many times and it unhinged him
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣💯
Haaa brilliant comment. 👍👍👍👍
He should’ve left him a copy of Dune.
"I will leave you as you left me. Buried ah-LIVE."
"KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!"
Right before the pandemic, a local theater had WOK on 1 night only and I went. I think I was 50 then, and evidently the youngest person in attendance. The audience had great reactions to this old film.
Not only the best star trek movie but one of the best movies of all time. Actually made Shatner look good 👍🏻
After having seen the 1st movie, I had little hope for this one. Watched it on cable in the early 80's on a Saturday morning. I was completely blown away, and haven't felt that way since.
8:50 Time after Time is pretty crazy, but a fun film. Plus Mary Steenburgen looks like Kate Bush in it and both 'future' Star Trek actors Malcolm McDowell and David Warner star.
..... Underrated movie, I concur Steenburgen pretty hot. Warner brilliant antagonist.
McDowell sent him into the future to torture Capt. Pilchard with four lights, (plus studio lights).
You said so many things I like in that one sentence!
One of the best films ever made for me total genius doesn't miss a step. The Score is on another level Shatner is on fire everyone is.
By far my favourite Star Trek film. And fair play to Ricardo for his still awesome chest
I've watched this movie on cable tv in mid 90s. It was in German (SAT1 did reruns of all classic ST on Saturdays each summer hollidays). I had no idea what was said (Polish is my mothertongue) but it hooked me immediately. And the music..OMG the music (especially when Khan is first seen and Chekov with the other guy are interrogated). Then I kinda learned basics of German to understand what they were saying and at some point I finally manged to get my hands on English version with Polish subs. Oh the joy! It is 100% imho the best ST movie ever made (with 1st Contact right after it). I've lost track how many times I've watched it but every time I do it I'm that 10yo that watched it for the 1st time.
Oh, and Space Seed where that story truly began. Don't let me started on that one. It's another gem.
Intelligent beautifully written script, soaring wonderful music, top notch performances, easily the best Trek film and one of the best films of the 80s
Director Nicholas Meyer gave an interview to Starlog magazine not long after the movie was released. He related a funny story that happened between him and Ricardo Montalban. Meyer states that they were getting ready to shoot a scene and he announced "ok, we're going to do this next scene from my point of view." According to Meyer, Ricardo said "so this is going to be a short take?" (a reference to Meyer's small stature) Meyer then said to the crew, "somebody get me another Mexican!"
1982 and as 7 yr olds on holiday in a small NZ town, Mum bundled my twin and I off to the movies. Thinking it would be something shit, imagine our surprise.
yep I was 8 when this came out 😀 although I didn't see it until I was a bit older.
And I remember being at a Comics Con earlier that year, and seeing fans RUN, not walk, to the screening room as soon as it was announced the trailer for Khan was going to premiere. Everybody exploded in applause both when it started, and when the trailer ended.
I was 15 when this was released. I was born 2 weeks before Star Trek debuted in 1966.
JJ Abrams’ quasi remake of _Wrath of Khan_ was like a cover band doing a “tribute“ to a hit song but not really knowing what they’re doing.
It was like hiring an ABBA cover band to do a Led Zeppelin concert!😆
I almost walked out of that movie and the rest of the theater laughed when Benedict said his name was Khan. JJ really did destroy Star Trek
Just like he did with Star Wars (or Disney did with his help…)
Absolutely made me crazy. That wasn’t khan. It should have a completely different villain.
Excellent review. Loved it.
Imagine if Star Trek II had tanked... Nicholas Meyer is probably the main reason that anyone remembers Star Trek at this point in history.
I strongly recommend the DVD of this movie if, for nothing else, the director's commentary by Nicholas Meyer, the director responsible for the best instance, version, example, whatever you want to call it, of Star Trek in existence.
And the hack JJ Abrams did his best to make people forget about it.
Nicholas Meyer and Harve rescued the franchise
Absolutely Brilliant Movie 🎥 That Still Holds Up Today , Everyone Is Great And The Kirk And Spock Death Scene Had All 11 Of Us In Our Group Weep So Much 🙏💙
Not only is this film my favorite, it's the main reason why "Into Darkness" is the only Trek film that I didn't see in the theatre. Cumberbatch's real character name was leaked and I was furious when I found out about it!
A film so good that I actually get excited about it being on the tv as much as a movie I haven't seen before.
Koenig stares possessed, 10 degrees away from breaking the wall, for a good 45 seconds without blinking. It subliminally communicates that he is still worm controlled. A very difficult, uncomfortable thing for an actor to do.
1) This entry initially was meant to be a "made-for-telly" film, in no small part to drastically reduce costs;
2) The success of this proved that Trek on cinema could be both successful _and profitable_ !
Not just the best Star Trek movie, but a great movie, period.
For reasons beyond me, the Star Trek franchise has been marginal (for the most part), but this was great.
In my opinion.
KHAAAAAN! .... we all just take a moment to appreciate how great it is to get the Stam Fine Friday review. Eloquent, insightful and extremely funny. First class start to the week end.
It is very... COLD... in spaaaaaace...
Saw it at the cinema aged 9 and it just blew me away. What struck me was the total lack of marketing.
For ST:TMP there was a lot of merchandise and I got some rather dull (in)action figures and remember making an Enterprise bridge from a cut out model on a cereal packet.
So, Wrath of Khan kind of just kind of came out. It didn’t actually need any merchandise.
What a film…. And
“KAAAAAHHHHHNNNN”
5:10 another popular misconception, Kirk really wasn't that randy in TOS. His only real love is the Enterprise.
.... Must have been such a tough job, kissing all those lovely women.
Nimoy tells the story of him and DeForest Kelley asking writers if they could have one for every ten Shatner gets.
@@robbieaussievic
Excellent. A Grand Review for a Great Movie. The Music is Superb, Kirstie Alley hasn't melted yet and the gang's all here. Probably the Best of the Trek Films.
I met Kirstie alley at the London olympics in 2012. She was with Kevin Spacey. Two things I took away from that. Kirstie alley had melted so much I didn’t realise it was her until someone pointed it out after I’d met them. The second thing was, I shook Spacey’s hand! Thinking back….ewww. God knows where that thing had been!
@@1978rharris Fascinating Story. Thank you for sharing. As for Kirstie, Time is cruel. As for Spacey... I hope doing time is cruel to him.
It is definitely the best Star Trek move. The Motion Picture had so much promise with stunning visuals and great tension between Decker and Picard (old blood and new blood), Spock having his epiphany, and what seemed to be a build up to an epic climax......And then Vger becomes self aware, absorbing Ilia then Decker's self sacrifice to join her. What ban absolute clusterf$&k and disappointment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@@silvervalleystudios2486 Totally agree. I was on leave when I went with my Brother to see Wrath at the Cinema. We had seen TOS in the 1960s when we were kids. We had not yet seen "Star Trek - The Motionless Picture; Where Nomad Has Gone Before", due to word of mouth. Honestly, we were not expecting much from Wrath. The Film was Excellent. I agree, it may well be the Best. I don't see anything on the horizon to better it.
I watched it 6 times in the theaters. It was incredibly impactful, one of my favorite movies of all time, not just the Star Trek series
This is not only the best Star Trek movie, it’s one of the greatest films ever made. 🖖😀
I went to see the Wrath of Khan in 1982, people were crying when Spock died.
I don't think Khan's people remained young. I think it is supposed to imply that this is the next generation of his clan, with most all the other contemporaries from TOS having died off due to the Ceti-Alpha VI disaster (with Judson Scott's character implied to be Khan's son, named after his friend in TOS). Khan was always the strongest of them all, he was the survivor teaching the young, reflecting what Kirk and his crew were doing with an Enterprise full of cadets and trainees.
That would make a great deal of sense. 👍
I watched the original series on primetime in my childhood,. Saw all the episodes in reruns as a teenager and have been a fan of the franchise ever since. This film gave me an emotional reaction that no other film had before or since. Yes, Spock is a fictional character, but he had been a figure in my imagination for ( at the point Wrath came out) for 15 years. His death affected me like someone real in my life had died. It was astonishing and , I felt because of that unique moment, It was the one time that Star Trek was elevated from popular art to high art.
So... Nimoys return to the franchise, (in which Spock sticks around for some 30 more years, dying unceremoniously only when Nimoys himself passed,) was nice and it was good to have him back, but for me it will always be a dramatic cheat. It dilutes and renders irrelevant the emotional power of his death in Wrath of Khan.
12:40 -- RE: The youthful cult of personality surrounding Khan -- I think the answer for this isn't difficult to appreciate. Many cult leaders act in a parental role for the offspring of cult members (in which case, now they're too old). The rest of the parents have died, and now Khan essentially has adopted children for fanatics. This is a fairly well known feature of cult leaders, and Khan's superior genetics didn't get rid of it. Furthermore, Khan's longevity is probably partially due to his followers throwing themselves into harm's way to protect him.... like the fanatics do during the film.
1. BEST of the entire series. Including the new ones.
2. You can hear Chekov's feet hit the wooden deck when he steps off the box
when Kahn "lowers" him during his capture scene.
3. Kirstie Alley before she gained 150 lbs.
4. I'm not the biggest fan of Kirk screaming "KHAAAAAN"
Eggselent review👌
On his birthday Jim Kirk was really hoping for a pair of green twins and a Romulan bong. 😉
Who wouldn't?
I just like hearing what others think of one my most favorite films. It’s always good on a rewatch. First viewing was lucky enough a drive in at the Mojave desert area.
Everybody loves Jerry Goldsmith, but I'm sorry as a hardcore track geek who used to stay up on Saturday night to watch Star Trek episodes in the '70s at 11:00 p.m. which is really late for a 6-year-old kid, I feel like James Horner's score is the best of all the Star Trek films. I kind of scoff every time I hear about people talk about Jerry Goldsmith. Not that he's bad. But James Horner's score is absolutely the best
In fact it was the first cassette I ever bought meaning my parents bought it. We were in line at a store and there was a rack of tapes and my parents told us we could all pick a tape my sister's bought something dumb, I saw Star Trek 2 the wrath of Khan and bought that and that was the tape I listened to until it was nearly worn out
“Spok’s Brain II, No Brainer.” Love it! I’d pay to see it! 🤣
I would argue with the assertion that Wrath of Khan is the best Star Trek film.
That award would go to "The Wrath of The Search for The Voyage Home"...the trilogy that defines cinematic Trek, and which are ALWAYS binged as a set when fans watch The Wrath of Khan.
Great review sir. One of my favourites movies. Man I can't believe how many of Harve Bennett's shows I loved as a kid. Many of which I hope you review. Good on'ya mate.
It's 40 years later, and Shatner is STILL worried about geting old.
Koenig described his role as "Checkov screams again."
Stam. I've watched this review about 10 times. Actually all of your Strek reviews. These are my go to when I'm a bit p'd off and you lift me up and make my day better. Of all those who do reviews you are the best.
Oh I have a joke for you and for all the Trek fans here. It goes like this:
"IT WAS SAID ONE TIME THAT STEVIE NICKS FROM THE BAND FLEETWOOD MAC WAS SUPPOSED TO MARRY WILLIAM BUT SHE TURNED HIM DOWN
BECAUSE SHE'D HAVE A DOUBLE BARREL NAME. SHE DIDN'T WANT TO BE KNOWN AS STEVIE SHATNER-NICKS"
There you go Stam. Have an awesome day.. thank you.
I think the reason this movie is so good is that it leans into its limitations. Star Trek - The Moooooooooootion Picturrrrrrrrrre was an epic, a big budget spectacular, it made a splash, but this movie is more in line with the TV show: making the best of budgetary limitations, making lemonade out of lemons. If you really break The Wrath of Khan down, it takes place on a couple re-used sets with the chairs moved around, parts of the model shots are stock shots taken wholesale from the previous movie, as are the props. It's surprises me they agreed to change the uniforms, but in some ways it feels like that's all they spent money on. The rest of it is excellent scriptwriting and acting covering over the limitations of the budget. And the thing is so compelling we don't even notice.
Saw the 40th anniversary on the big screen Labor Day weekend. It was so great to watch it with other people in the theater even though I’ve seen it 200 times. I still love that movie
The fact that Roddenberry was against this film after turning out the first film, tells you all you need to know about the value of his creative views by then.
Still amazes me that they have a warp core on a spaceship, yet noone remembered to pack any radiation suits.
All those guys with clipboards, and yet that was missed off the inventory.
Fun fact... both Khan's #1 and Kirk's son appear together in Next Gen episode Symbiosis about two factions on a planet, the rich who supply an addictive narcotic to a slave caste that are addicted to it.
Best thing the studios did regarding ST was "promote" Gene Roddenberry out of direct control.
Certainly as he became increasingly nutty as time went on. Not only got the best ST movie in Khan, but it later saved TNG.
Ricardo Montalbán was the man. He was never less than phenomenal in any part, from the bit parts on TV in his early days to his starring roles.
Jerry Goldsmith’s theme song for Trek is iconic and the best
This was the closest time the franchise elevated itself from "pop" art to fine art. The death of Spock affected me like nothing else ever has , before or since, in a movie theater. Having had a "relationship" with this character for 15 years (at the time I saw it) , Spocks demise actually felt like a real death, invoking real feelings of grief. I know that may seem silly, but because the character had a history beyond the 2+ hours of the movie it invoked a real emotional response. I'll go further to say that Spock's resurrection in the next film, while it brought back Nimoy to the franchise for the next 40 years, is a dramatic cheat, and diminishes the impact of that moment. It's like Hamlet walking back on after Fortinbras's speech saying
"Nah... I'm ok. everythings fine!" I'm sure many may disagree, but I never felt that deeply about something in any subsequent iteration of Star Trek. So... Nimoy kept his job, but high drama lost.
Can you dig it ? Yes you Khan !
"Star Trek The Motion Picture" was a slow-moving big screen vehicle for Kirk and his bridge team that never exceeded Warp Factor 1. "Star Trek 2 : The Wrath Of Khan" saved the franchise, thanks to a scenery chewing performance to cherish from Ricardo Montalban as Khan.
Watched again and enjoyed watching it again! Very entertaining. Good job and keep up the good work!
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan is, without doubt, in so many ways... Star Trek's, The Empire Strikes Back
Nostalgia moment: buying the TOS Space Seed VHS tape because it had a trailer for TWOK on it. Watched it over and over again. At the time I thought the Reliant was some kind of hobbled together starship that had crashed because all I knew of starships was those that looked like the Enterprise. Still my favorite starship after the Big E.
Interesting trivia on Bennett doing the intro to the Six Million Dollar Man. Didn't know! And you spoke of Hornblower. Any chance you can get around to reviewing the Hornblower TV Movie series starring Ioan Gruffudd? It's a "what could have been" for a Starfleet Academy series with Kirk as a young officer. Thanks for another great review!
The fact that you used a Genesis album made this perfect!
The animation for the genesis effect was done by a small part of ILM that was later sold and renamed Pixar
A nice touch that Ike Eisenmann is the nephew of "Scotty"
"...a defective cloaking device." Nice.
stam fine punchline there
When I saw this moive as a teen I thought it was STING who played Kirk's son.
One of the best anything trek
TWOK and the next 5 movies had the best uniforms. Wish they would sell them that look authentic.
I saw this at a matinee and I had the whole theater to myself, it was awesome.
Superb Review thank you. I saw it when it came out....... i feel old now ! Khaaaaaaaaaaaaann
I Liked and I Subscribed!
Directors cut is fantastic 👌
It’s my favorite Star Trek movie !!!
One of the best Star Trek sequels
TWoK has the best soundtrack to all of the movies, with The Undiscovered Country a second for me. But can almost be listened to like one long piece of music.
Ive seen a lot of videos on this film recently. I feel like with much of Star Trek kind of going off the rails the last several years, people are digging back to what made it great in the first place... And if you seek premium Star Trek.... All roads lead to the Wrath of Khan.
Easily the best Star Trek film, and sequel to one of the best original episodes. The Wrath of Khan is peak Trek.
I don't think anyone should be taking over as creative lead on Star Trek unless they can articulate WHY this film was so good. Genuinely understand it's greatness, and apply those lessons to new shows and movies.
Jar Jar Abrams tried to remake this. It was a steaming pile of targ shit. He may have watched Wrath of Khan, but he sure as shit didn't understand it.
The no1 movie from my childhood. Had it on vhs, wore that tape out watching it. Great film.
Red Dwarf did the Kennedy Assasination time plot quite well.
I like it when Shatner yells "KHAN!!!... KHAN!!!"
01:20
that monster truck
is from
KNIGHT RIDER season 3
episode
THE ROTTEN APPLES
The Subtitle to the Next episode should be Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (He's where you left him)
Released 40 years today here in the UK.
One of the bests Star Trek Movie.
wasn't Kim Cattrall originally considered for Saavik? (she would later be cast on ST6, the only other Trek movie that comes close to 2.)
.... Her 'meld' scene with Nimoy was brilliant,
Humanity spends most of it's current life STARING at a screen...
My opinion:
One of the top three sci-fi movies ever.
No Star Trek movie installment even comes close, The Wrath of Khan has the best of all categories and no villain comes close to Montalban's Khan.
I had semi interest in Star Tek, I was about 13 years old. This film blew me away at the theater!
Fun fact: the FX people working on Kubricks 2001 worked on the first film. Which makes so much sense, once you know it. It was more of a 2001 spinoff than trek, in my humble opinion.
"Ahhh, Arabicas! Maxwell House. . . gooooood to the last drop!"
"Made with real Coorinthian leatherrr !"
@@stevekitt52 HE was made of real Corinthian leather. A real man (even with a blonde mullet).
@@ferociousgumby
RICH Corinthian leather!
@@fazole Yeah, he was rich, too!😄
Great film at a fun point in my life!
should have been the tribbles the wrath of the tribbles
Riccardos KHAN is arguably the best Sci-Fi villain ever .Even DARTH VADER was played by two actors(One almost unknown to wear the costume and JAMES EARL JONES as the voice) while RICCARDO did it all to create KHAN and the attempt to have anyone else play him failed badly,we should remember just how iconic an actor born in MEXICO City was in television and the big screen!
This movie remains the best of the Star Trek franchise - yes the recent one with Benedict Cumberbatch was good but everyone and I mean everyone knows this war cry “Khannnnnnnnnnnn” 😁
Actor Ricardo Montalban was an incredible fit guy.
Originally the motion picture was meant to be a tv series, Star Trek phase 2 all the cast was coming back apart Leonard Nimoy, they built sets and wrote scripts and it was set to launch with a new TV station. Eventually it turned into the movie and some of the elements was reused for TNG and some scripts written for phase 2 were used for TNG
A defective cloaking device! Nicely played Sir!
14:20 It's one of the best movie villain performances of all time.