Episode 77: Khaaaaaaan!

 

Arguably the best of the Star Trek film franchise, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan remains an important and highly rewatchable entry in the franchise. It took the films into a more action-oriented direction, giving the audience a movie with both personal stakes and dazzling space battles. Director Nick Meyer got the very best out of actors William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and Ricardo Montalban, creating an intense struggle between our Enterprise crew and the twisted superman, Khan - despite the fact the rivals Kirk and Khan never share a scene physically together. Your Planet 8 crew is delighted to revisit this film on this episode.

We'll start with a quick look back at the classic Trek episode Space Seed. Beginning with the original story (where the Khan character was called Harold Ericson) and the changes to the script, we talk about how this episode developed and how it wound up influencing producer Harve Bennett to use it as the basis for the second film.

Moving to the film itself, we examine how that script evolved, and how it was necessary to keep the budget low. The film is essentially a "bottle show," with the action taking place mainly on the two ships (the Enterprise and the Reliant), which was actually the same set, redressed. Yet because of the excellent pacing and the suspense, it never feels claustrophobic or small.

There are many themes in the film, but foremost is the theme of aging and mortality. All of the cast had obviously grown older, and seeing our Captain having to struggle with middle age was striking, making him more human, and perhaps more sympathetic. Meyer said the secret to getting a great performance out of Shatner was essentially to tire him out; his first takes were always "big", so Meyer would make him do it over and over until he got bored!

But without a doubt, it is Ricardo Montalban's performance that steals the show. After years of doing Fantasy Island, even Montalban wasn't sure if he could carry off the role. But director Meyer worked closely with Montalban and elicited an amazing performance from him. And yes, that's his real chest!

Of course, you can't discuss Star Trek II without talking about Spock's death. At the time, it felt devastating to fans. It was beautifully done, but even now, it's heartbreaking. Does knowing that he returns in ST III diminish his sacrifice when watching the film now?  We also ponder what Trek might have been like if it had moved forward without Spock.

We close out with some thoughts on Star Trek: Into Darkness - it ain't pretty!

For the Sensor Sweep, Karen shares two books, both by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, called The Fifty Year Mission: The First Twenty Five Years, and The Fifty Year Mission: The Next Twenty Five Years: From The Next Generation to J.J. Abrams. These dense tomes are an oral history of the Star Trek franchise, as told by the writers, directors, producers, actors, and everyone else involved! They are highly entertaining and pretty much required reading if you are a Star Trek fan. You can find them on Amazon, or from other fine book sellers.

That's all for this episode. What are your feelings about Wrath of Khan? Have they changed over time? Let us know, either here, or at our other hangouts:

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Khhaaaaaaaannnnnnn!