Geek Movies From The Summer of 1982 - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn

The Summer of 1982 reviews wraps up with my favorite film from that summer.  Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn is a film I generally watch at least once a year possible more.  I can remember waiting in line and finding out it was sold out.  Then my parents decided to go to the next show.

It was a rainy Saturday and with so many good movies out at the same time the cinemas were filled to capacity.  At the time movies very rarely were in more than one theater so the crowds were huge and the lines were long.  Face it that June had a lot of great movies and the fans were out.

The Wrath of Kahn was in essence a sequel to the classic television serial “Space Seed.”  This was the first and last time, so far, that a sequel was spawned from the TV show.    It basically tells the story of one man’s hatred for another and what he will go through to extract his revenge.

In an essence this movie is Moby Dick but in space.  As Admiral Kirk is the whale and Kahn was Ahab. But Wrath of Kahn also dealt with one man’s arrogance and personal lose.  In a sense Kirk was always winning and never lost someone close to him.  This time Kirk loses his best friend in Spock and has never had to deal with something like that before.

I just love The Wrath of Kahn.  Of all of the Star Trek movies this one is clearly the best and has the best story.  Sorry Voyage Home.  It brings back Kahn and you’re engage in a cat and mouse adventure wondering how the good guys will escape it.  The Wrath of Kahn is more than an action film as it does have a good story going on with lot of the Star Trek core values in it.  Like the debate over Genesis.  Should humans be able to create life on dead planets?  Is it morally just and what happens if it is used as a weapon? So the Star Trek message is there just overshadowed by the big showdown with Kahn and Kirk.

Start Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn has a great soundtrack also.  James Horner scores this movie fabulously and it is one of the few soundtracks that I own and will play in my car.  It is really a good mix as it complements the mood and action to a t.

There aren’t many negatives with this movie.  The one glaring one is for some reason unexplainable.  If you are taking your injured nephew out of engineering to sick bay why in god’s name would you stop at the bridge first?  Anyone?  No didn’t think so.  This has puzzled me and friends of mine for years.  Especially the Chief Engineer come on Scotty is not that stupid to do that.

The rumors were rampant that Spock was going to die in this movie.  So after seeing him die in the Kobayashi Maru you got a false sense thinking “oh that’s what they were talking about.”  But when he dies for real what a punch in the gut that was.  For most Trekkies that was a defining moment and really hammered the point home and you knew how Kirk felt at that moment.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn is quite clearly my favorite movie from the summer of 1982.  Maybe because I like Star Trek and was thrilled this movie was coming out after the dismal Motion Picture.  Could possibly it was one of the few times I went to the movies with my parents and brothers.   But I do know this it is a great story and very entertaining movie that I have enjoyed for the past 30 years.