Cast
Kirk: William Shatner
Spock: Leonard Nimoy
McCoy: DeForest Kelley
Scotty: James Doohan
Chekov: Walter Koenig
Sulu: George Takei
Uhura: Nichelle Nichols
Khan: Ricardo Montalban
Carol Marcus: Bibi Besch
David Marcus: Merrit Butrick
Saavik: Kirstie Alley
Terrel: Paul Winfield
Directed by Nicholas Meyer; Story by Harve Bennet & Jack B. Sowards;
Screenplay by: Jack B. Sowards
Released: June 4th, 1982; Domestic Gross: $79 million
My Rating: *****. Position on Top Twenty: #4.
Plot
The movie opens with Saavik commanding the Enterprise in the Kobayashi Maru simulation in Starfleet.
Of course, she fails, destroys the simulator, and 'kills' the senior staff of the Enterprise.
We then find out that the Enterprise is scheduled for a training run, with the old crew and
Admiral Kirk on board. The training mission starts okay, untila distress call comes from
Spacelab Regula One. Carol Marcus, Kirk's old flame is in charge.
Meanwhile, we see Chekov on the USS Reliant on a mission to find a planet for Carol Marcus's
Genesis project. They land on what they think is Ceti Alpha VI, but turns out is Ceti Alpha V.
Kirk left Khan Singh there 15 years earlier.
Khan hijacks the Reliant and uses Captain Terrel and Chekov to exact revenge on Kirk and claim the
Genesis project for his own. They attack Regula and slaughter the staff; except for Marcus, her son,
and another scientist.
On the way to Regula, the Enterprise meets the Reliant. Khan is now in total control, and attacks
the Enterprise. Kirk uses the prefix code to drop the Reliant shields and the Enterprise disables the
Reliant. Now, running only on impulse speed, the Enterprise limps to Regula. Kirk, McCoy, and Saavik
beam to the station, finding that Khan had already been there. They find Chekov and Terrel in a storage
locker and find that the three scientists had beamed to the planet Regula with the Genesis Device.
Inside the Genesis cave, Terrel kills a scientist, then commits suicide. But not before Khan beams the
Genesis torpedo to the Reliant. Using a code, Spock and Kirk arrange for beam-up from the Genesis cave.
After beam-up, Kirk goads Khan into entering the Mutara Nebula, and finishes the Reliant off in a suspensful
final battle. Then, Khan initiates the Genesis device. The Enterprise has no warp drive, so Spock risks
his own life to save the ship. In the heart-wrenching final scene, Kirk and crew bid farewell to the Vulcan,
when they fire his dead body toward the Genesis planet.
My comments.
This movie was the best of the original six. It had action, great interaction between the characters, and Khan.
I loved this movie. The storyline rocked, and the quotes were amazing. And Kirstie Alley....what can I say? This
was quite possibly the best Trek movie ever made.
Nicholas Meyer, the director, made the film seem like a high-seas adventure, adding tense battle sequences and steller acting.
This movie recreates the Trek lore, from the campy series, to the bloated Motion Picture, to this. It quite literally rocks.
It combines pure action and excitement with heart wrenching sadness in the end.
The ending, Spock dying, is what makes this movie so wonderful, at least, that is a major element. This is a tradition carried by
the best of the series; pump up the adrenaline through the middle, then shock us with something like this in the end. I really loved
this movie.
And, in 2002, Paramount answered my prayers and released this movie as part of their two-disk Director's Edition. Extra footage was added, and everything was made so much better. It made this great movie better.
