"Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan" is everyone's favourite Trek film, even if they're not big fans of the show. Nicholas Meyer, the writer/director, is competent in an efficient, workmanlike way, and the movie zips along at a fine pace but with barely an original bone in its body.
Khan, from the original series episode "Space Seed", hijacks a starship with a plan to kill Captain Kirk. Kirk's having a midlife crisis, and has just met the son he never knew he had, who happens to be a scientist who's created a MacGuffin with limitless destructive potential. Kirk is full of angst, and talks a lot with Spock and McCoy, so some of the feel of the classic series is preserved. Everyone quotes liberally from Shakespeare and "Moby Dick", with a little Dickens thrown in, to the point that they might have written the entire script by perusing Cliff's Notes and skimming Horatio Hornblower novels.
The redesigned Starfleet uniforms signal a change in the way our heroes will be portrayed in future films. They are no longer exploring representatives of an idealistic utopia, but servants of a futuristic military. The space battles that make up the bulk of the film's action are dazzling, in a modest way, but the main characters spend most of their time on the bridges of their respective ships, pressing buttons and talking. You can plainly see that the budget was not very impressive.
This movie might be noteworthy in that it's the only Star Trek film to have no aliens in it, besides Spock. It's got action and excitement, and those timeless themes of loyalty and honor or something equally wishy-washy, but there's nothing in here to really make you think, which is what the TV show always tried to do, even when it was being silly.
EDIT: I recently watched "The Wrath of Khan" again, and found that I was wrong on a couple points. First, the pacing is leaden. Only James Horner's music creates any sense of excitement while the story slogs along. Second, there is hardly any chemistry among the three leads. In fact, Kirk and Spock only share two or three important scenes, and are separated for the rest of the film. Spock's famous final sacrifice is rendered nearly meaningless. Most of the actors appear lifeless; Shatner's performance in particular is shockingly wooden, and he mumbles his dialog. Was anyone really asking for a subdued, realistic performance from William Shatner?
Khan, from the original series episode "Space Seed", hijacks a starship with a plan to kill Captain Kirk. Kirk's having a midlife crisis, and has just met the son he never knew he had, who happens to be a scientist who's created a MacGuffin with limitless destructive potential. Kirk is full of angst, and talks a lot with Spock and McCoy, so some of the feel of the classic series is preserved. Everyone quotes liberally from Shakespeare and "Moby Dick", with a little Dickens thrown in, to the point that they might have written the entire script by perusing Cliff's Notes and skimming Horatio Hornblower novels.
The redesigned Starfleet uniforms signal a change in the way our heroes will be portrayed in future films. They are no longer exploring representatives of an idealistic utopia, but servants of a futuristic military. The space battles that make up the bulk of the film's action are dazzling, in a modest way, but the main characters spend most of their time on the bridges of their respective ships, pressing buttons and talking. You can plainly see that the budget was not very impressive.
This movie might be noteworthy in that it's the only Star Trek film to have no aliens in it, besides Spock. It's got action and excitement, and those timeless themes of loyalty and honor or something equally wishy-washy, but there's nothing in here to really make you think, which is what the TV show always tried to do, even when it was being silly.
EDIT: I recently watched "The Wrath of Khan" again, and found that I was wrong on a couple points. First, the pacing is leaden. Only James Horner's music creates any sense of excitement while the story slogs along. Second, there is hardly any chemistry among the three leads. In fact, Kirk and Spock only share two or three important scenes, and are separated for the rest of the film. Spock's famous final sacrifice is rendered nearly meaningless. Most of the actors appear lifeless; Shatner's performance in particular is shockingly wooden, and he mumbles his dialog. Was anyone really asking for a subdued, realistic performance from William Shatner?