Review of STAR TREK - WRATH OF KAHN

STAR TREK - WRATH OF KAHN

The year is 2285. Lieutenant SAAVIK, a Vulcan woman, is trying to rescue traders under attack by Klingons. She fails and everyone is killed, but that's all right; it's just a simulation, one that all Starfleet officer trainees must take. Only one officer has ever passed--James T Kirk. Kirk is now an admiral, and hates it. He wants to go back to flying the Enterprise.

Meanwhile, Starship RELIANT is out searching for a totally lifeless planet on which to test GENESIS, a device to transform lifeless rocks into habitable planets by a process officially known as plausible bullshit. They find a suitable planet, Ceti Alpha VI--actually Ceti Alpha V, but never mind. Chekov and CAPTAIN CLARK beam down, only to be captured by genetically altered supersoldier KAHN (his last name is Singh, but think of his first name as Genghis.) Kahn and his comrades put a monster's larva into Chekov's brain (through his ear).  Kahn now controls Chekov's mind, and uses Chekov to take over the Reliant. 

After Saavik's test, Kirk and Spock, now captain of the Enterprise, take the trainees on a routine test drive. Soon after leaving dock, they get a distress call. Even though they haven't yet engaged the warp drive and must be near Earth and the fleet, no other ship is available to answer the call. So Kirk, Spock, and a group of green trainees must save the day.  With the help of mind-slave Chekov, Kahn ambushes and cripples the Enterprise, but fear not - SPOILER ALERT - Kirk has a few tricks of his own.

Spoiler alerts are meaningless in a movie this old and this popular.  For example - SPOILER ALERT - Spock dies in the end. However - SPOILER ALERT - he's resurrected in the next episode.

I watched this movie after seeing the prequel, INTO DARKNESS, and it was an absolute delight to see the real Kirk, Spock (especially Spock) and the others after those wannabees in the prequel. Kirk expounds, Spock reasons, Scotty sputters, and Kahn (Ricardo Montalban) is magnificent in his unbridled rage and desire for vengeance.

Having seen this film about thirty years ago, I remembered only a few scenes. Most of it was like watching for the first time.  Yes there are plot holes, but who cares? I consider this one of the best, with lots of action, drama (or melodrama) and characters who are as familiar as old friends.  As a workout movie, I give it +++++ - it will get your pulse up to a sprint.

The next sequel, SEARCH FOR SPOCK, shows Spock's resurrection, and also the destruction of the Enterprise. It has more slow scenes and too much melodrama. Why would super-logical creatures like Vulcans have so much ritual?  It's still worth seeing.  As a workout movie, I give it ++++ - it will get your pulse up to a run.

In number VI of the series, the UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY, the Klingons say they want peace but Kirk doesn't trust them. This movie has some initially wonderful lines. "There is an old Vulcan saying; only Nixon could have gone to China," but after a while, attributing Earth quotations to alien cultures gets old. Also, the plot holes are unusually frequent and blatant. Still, it's a fun flick and a good workout movie - I give it ++++ - it will often get your pulse up to a run.

Review of STAR TREK -- INTO DARKNESS

STAR TREK - INTO DARKNESS

This, the second prequel to the Star Trek series, begins with a young Kirk and Spock trying to save a pre-industrial planet from a massive volcanic eruption. Spock gets trapped, so Kirk takes the Enterprise out of the lake where it was hiding, rescues the Vulcan in the volcano and also saves the planet. But--oh no--the natives have seen the space ship, which means Kirk has violated the prime directive not to interfere. Never mind that Kirk's actions have saved an entire planet in addition to rescuing Spock, his actions and his general impulsiveness and disobedience (and maybe his threesomes in bed?) deserve punishment, so he is demoted to first officer under CAPTAIN PIKE.

A series of terrorist attacks follows. The terrorist flees to the planet KRONOS, near enough to the Klingons that the Federation won't follow, so ADMIRAL MARCUS unofficially sends Kirk with 72 torpedoes to kill the terrorist. Klingons attack Kirk, but the terrorist, who later identifies himself as KAHN, is able to kill them all. Surprisingly, after learning of the 72 torpedoes, Kahn the Klingon Killer surrenders without a fight.

It turns out that Kahn is a genetically altered super-soldier who was awakened from hibernation by Marcus to provoke a war against the Klingons. The 72 torpedoes contain people--Kahn's family and comrades. Marcus is furious that Kirk didn't kill Kahn as ordered.

So now Kirk has the Federation, the Klingons, and Kahn all trying to kill him.

Oy vay.

This prequel foreshadows the later episodes reasonable well.  It has as many plot holes as the Tea Party has nut-cases, but who cares. All the Star Trek movies and TV series have plot holes.  The real problem is that William Shatner is the only credible Kirk, Leonard Nimoy the only Spock and the same for the others. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, their corresponding actors in the prequels, just do not cut it. For me, the best part was when young Spock contacts older Spock (remember how split universes formed when Vulcan was destroyed in the first prequel) and we see what a truly logical Vulcan (all right--half-Vulcan) is like.

I sort of enjoyed this, and as a workout movie, it will get your pulse up to a jog.  I give it +++. My main reaction was to watch the second Star Trek movie, WRATH OF KAHN with the real characters.  I'll review that next week.