Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

This screenshot actually makes the terrible effects look even better than they are

Director: Nicholas Meyer
Screenplay: Jack B. Sowards and Nicholas Meyer (uncredited)
Cinematographer: Gayne Rescher

by Susan Bartley

This movie’s been on my must watch for awhile. I was always intrigued. It was the second film in a long series, considered one of the best. At this point there are twelve total Star Trek films, divided between the original six taking place from ‘79-’91, graduating to the Next Generation series from ‘94 to ‘02, and then into the reboots from ‘09-’13. I haven’t yet seen Into Darkness, or the other ten films in the series. What I was most impressed with was that none of the Original and Next Generation Star Trek films had above a 3.2 recommended rating for me on Netflix, except for Wrath of Khan which had a 3.8.

Given the competition from other films during the time, Wrath of Khan isn't great. I was bored. The scene with the Maggot going into the ear was the high point of the movie. The low point being when they enter into the black hole and subsequently into one of the cheesiest looking VFX scenes of any movie from the period. With Alien in ‘79 and Star Wars in ‘77, there is no excuse for effects looking this bad. For all I hear about how Star Trek being a much more intellectual series, I was absolutely disappointed with the production value. Sure, Spock has some moments of insight, but given the reputation I was expecting much much more, though I suppose if I was younger I might have been into it.

I suppose the problem is a classic case of expectations being just too high. Upon finishing, I dug through Netflix and considered starting from the beginning of the whole series. I then heard that the first Star Trek: The Motion Picture was, according to the BBC, a critical failure, consisting of too thin a story for too long a movie. Considering The Wrath of Khan was received so well makes me think that, comparably speaking, I’ll take my time getting to the rest of these.

I’m looking up the plot to see if I’m missing anything all that interesting and can’t find a thing. I’ve yet to see a Star Trek film I’ve ever really enjoyed. There’s something about the ships, technology, villains, and costumes that immediately pull me out. It wants to be smarter than it is and I get bored every time, hoping for more substance after being promised a significant dose.

BELOW: The high of the film occurring within the first fifteen minutes