Star Trek: Generations.

Kirk and Picard team up. Eventually.

THE PLOT

2293:

The legendary Capt. James T. Kirk and his former crewmates, Scotty and Chekov, come aboard the newest USS Enterprise as part of its maiden voyage.. But a simple PR trek turns into something far more serious when the ship receives a distress call. Two El-Aurian ships, filled with refugees from their recently-destroyed homeworld, have been trapped by a ribbon of space/time distortion. The Enterprise has only partial function and a skeleton crew, but it's the only ship in range, as per usual.

The inexperienced Capt. Harriman (Alan Ruck) is in over his head, and turns to Kirk for help. Kirk snaps into action, along with Scotty and Chekov. The two ships are destroyed, but not before Scotty manages to beam half of one ship's complement to safety - almost 50 civilians, including a stunned Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) and an enraged Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell), who begs with his rescuers to "Let me go back! Let me go back!" - Until Chekov finally sedates him.

Mission accomplished - but before the Enterprise can withdraw to safety, it too becomes trapped. The only way to save the ship is to modify the shields to disrupt the ribbon. Kirk runs to Deflector Control, managing the task just in the nick of time - but not before a final blast breaches the hull at his exact position. The ship is saved, but Capt. Kirk is lost...


2371:

The Enterprise D, under the command of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, is called to the Amargosa Observatory, a science station studying a neutron star. The crew arrives to the aftermath of a Romulan attack. Only one survivor is found: Dr. Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell). The Romulans were seeking trilithium, a substance capable of collapsing a star. Soran insists he has no knowledge of this, and asks only that he be allowed to return to his work.

Data and Geordi beam back to the station to search for any sign of trilithium - but Soran is waiting for them. He ambushes them just as his rescue arrives: A Klingon Bird of Prey, helmed by Picard's old enemies, Lursa (Barbara March) and B'Etor (Gwynyth Walsh), of the disgraced House of Duras. The Duras Sisters beam Soran to safety, taking Geordi prisoner and collapsing the Amargosa star as they leave - A demonstration of the trilithium weapon soran has given them.

That's when Guinan informs Picard of her connection to Soran, and of his motivation. When Kirk rescued them, he pulled them from "The Nexus," a place of utter tranquility. Guinan was able to move on with her life, but Soran has spent the last 70 years obsessing over getting back. The trilithium has finally given him what he needs. He can divert the ribbon's path to the planet of his choosing. The only cost is the collapse of another star - this one a sun at the center of a solar system, populated by millions!

"I have to stop it!" Picard realizes. "But I need help..."

The TNG crew - in slightly different uniforms than usual...

CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Patrick Stewart is splendid in his first big-screen Star Trek film, anchoring the movie with a solid presence. This is very much the Picard of the later television series: Contemplative, intelligent, just vulnerable enough for the audience to identify with him but still very much in command. The film pushes him into a fragile emotional state almost immediately, as he receives news that his brother, sister-in-law, and beloved nephew died in a fire. With his nephew's death, and reflecting on his own choice to never have children, he realizes that he is the last Picard. When he dies, his family name will die with him.

Picard shuts himself away in his ready room to mourn. Once Soran's purpose is revealed, however, he snaps back to command. He pushes Data out of his guilt over the role his emotion chip played in Geordi's capture, alternating between a strict tone and a gentle one until the android returns to himself. Trapped on the wrong side of a force field while Soran prepares his missile, Picard tries reasoning with the man - but even as he does so, he stays alert for any hole in the scientist's defenses, and finally finds one.


Capt. Kirk: At the beginning of the movie, when the crisis hits, every nerve in Kirk's body is crying out for him to take charge. He has to force himself not to step in. "Is something wrong with your chair, Captain?" Scotty smirks at him when he keeps standing up and sitting down again. The instant Capt. Harriman turns to him for advice, he is ready to take control, and the crew instinctively responds to the experience and confidence in his voice.

When Picard finds Kirk in the Nexus, he has been completely lulled by his paradise - a representation of his own regrets, of things he wished he had done differently. "I'm going to do it right this time!" he vows, all but ignoring Picard's pleas. Right until he jumps his horse over a creek. He realizes that he felt no fear... Because it wasn't real, which means that nothing he does in the Nexus will make any difference at all. Once he realizes that, he is more than ready to go back for one last fight in the real world.

Capt. James T. Kirk, in his own time.

Riker: While Picard shuts himself away, grieving for his nephew and his family legacy, Riker directs the investigation of the station. He is again thrust into the captain's role when Picard beams down to the planet Soran is using as his base. While Picard attempts first to reason with, then to outmaneuver the crazed scientist, Riker is left to fend off an unexpectedly effective assault by the Duras sisters.

Data: Hewing perhaps a little too closely to the "A" plot/"B" plot structure of the TNG series, we get a subplot centered around Data's decision to insert and activate the emotion chip he obtained from Lore. Data's scenes in the next half-hour of the picture are extremely irritating, as the android makes childlike "Yuck" faces when Guinan gives him a foul-tasting drink, laughs like a hyena at jokes he overheard years ago, and cowers in terror when he experiences fear. Thankfully, this settles down in the second half, and Brent Spiner does some very good acting when he begs Picard to shut him down, angrily announcing: "I no longer want these emotions, sir!" But Data's scenes in the first half are borderline unbearable, and also do much to slow down the pace.

Guinan: Whoopi Goldberg's Guinan was much-missed in TNG's final season on television, so it is very good to see her return in the Enterprise D's first bigscreen outing. The decision to make Soran a member of her species, with a backstory closely linked to hers, means that she knows much of what Picard needs to know in order to defeat him. She largely becomes the voice of exposition, telling both Picard and us about the Nexus and Soran's desperation to return to it. But Goldberg's presence and her continuing strong chemistry with Patrick Stewart, makes her scenes feel more organic than they perhaps should.

Soran: I would have liked more exploration of Soran and less wacky android hijinks, as the potential exists for Soran to be a fine tragic villain. Soran informs Picard that there was a time he would not have harmed anyone. Then the Borg wiped out everything and everyone he held dear. It's unspoken, but we can guess from Picard's and Kirk's experiences that the Nexus gave him a life in which he had home and family back... And that Kirk's intervention ripped that away, making him lose them twice over. Malcolm McDowall, a veteran actor with a career that ranges from the brilliantly mad to the just plain mad, is firmly in scenery-chomping mode, but he still projects an intelligence that makes him a decent foil for Picard. Their two conversations - one on the ship early in the film, one on the planet near the climax - are highlights, and the movie could have used more such moments.

Picard and Data identify Soran's next target.

THOUGHTS

Generations kicked off the TNG films, opening to big box office and extremely mixed reviews. Looking back at it more than 20 years later, I still have much the same opinion I had at the time. This is by no means a bad movie - It's entertaining, with some strong performances, excellent visual effects, and several effective moments. It's not perfect - the pace gets very slack in the middle, and the subplot with Data's emotion chip is largely unwelcome. But judged simply as a movie, it works.

Unfortunately, it's not the movie it should have been. The film's trailers promise a proper "passing of the torch" between one era of Star Trek and another. "Two captains, one destiny." From the advertising, you would think Kirk and Picard were equal leads.

What we get instead is the equivalent of a two-part TNG episode featuring a guest appearance by William Shatner. Which, if you're expecting a team-up between Picard and Kirk anytime before the last half hour, is bound to disappoint.

This problem was entirely fixable, and without even significantly changing the structure. Had the supblot with Data's emotion chip been excised and the pace of the first part of the story generally tightened, the script could easily have gotten Picard into the Nexus not long past the film's midpoint. Kirk would be reintroduced roughly 40 minutes after his exit, which would allow time for the TNG cast to re-establish itself outside his shadow without making the audience restless waiting for his reappearance. Then Picard could have taken Kirk out of the Nexus at an earlier point, on the Enterprise, allowing some opportunity to have Kirk actually interact with the newer cast.

The climax could also have been re-written to be a more fitting end for Kirk. The film offers a double climax: Picard on the planet with Soran, while the Enterprise battles the Klingons. So how about having Kirk on the Enterprise bridge, once again taking charge during a crisis to defeat the Klingons - his nemesis through both his television series and films? Kirk could die in the crash of the Enterprise D, saving the rest of the crew in the process - a more fitting end than having a bridge fall on him! Meanwhile, Picard could deal with Soran on his own - Keeping Picard from feeling like someone who needs Kirk's help to outfight a middle-aged scientist, and leaving Picard to deal with a villain who has been very much defined as a foil for him.

It wouldn't have been substantially different - but it would have allowed both captains their own parts to play in the finale, without diminishing either of them.

Soran prepares to return to the Nexus.

TIME AND THE NEXUS

I should say that, outside of the missed opportunities with Kirk, I actually do mostly like this movie. I even, in contrast to many, enjoy the way the Nexus is portrayed - as a representation of The Road Not Taken.

Picard regrets his choice not to have a family. The Nexus gives him that "road not taken," presenting an idealized family with adoring children. Kirk regrets returning to Starfleet instead of asking the final love of his life to marry him. The Nexus returns him to that point in his history, giving him the chance to marry the woman and enjoy his Road Not Taken. Both men ultimately reject these paths; they aren't real, and as Kirk observes, nothing they do within the Nexus will ever matter at all. Beyond that, it's just not who these men are - There's a reason that road wasn't taken, and the choices they made were very much the right ones for them.

I also enjoy the related theme of "Time" that runs through the film. Soran is obsessed with time, telling Picard that, "Time is the fire in which we burn... It's like a predator, it's stalking you... In the end time is going to hunt you down, and make the kill." Picard feels time running out for his family name. Kirk marvels, not without regret, at how Sulu could have possibly found time for a family, with Scotty replying that if something is important enough you make the time.

Picard finally gets to pick up The Picard Sledgehammer in the end, stitching it all together for us just in case we missed it. Fortunately, Patrick Stewart plays his final homily wonderfully, not coming across too preachy as Picard rejects Soran's identification of time as a predator in favor of a more benign metaphor:

"I rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey, and reminds us to cherish every moment, because they'll never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we lived."


OVERALL

Generations' greatest weakness is also its greatest strength. This really does feel like a TNG episode on the bigscreen. The characters feel right (yes, even Data, as annoying as his subplot was). Picard is very much the contemplative character we followed on television. And while the focus may be on Picard, Riker, Data, and Kirk, every regular gets at least one moment in the spotlight.

It is not an ideal Star Trek movie, and it is certainly not an ideal TOS/TNG crossover... But it does recapture what made The Next Generation so enjoyable when it was good, and it entertains at the same time. Simply put: It's flawed - but I think the good outweighs the bad.


Overall Rating: 6/10.

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Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Kirk and Spock, trying - and failing - to blend in on 1980's Earth.

THE PLOT

Three months have passed since Spock's unlikely resurrection. Scotty has completed repairs and modifications to the Klingon ship, and the crew of the former USS Enterprise has decided to return home to face their inevitable court martial. Spock has elected to return with them, to offer testimony on their behalf.

The trip is interrupted by the arrival of a mysterious probe broadcasting an unrecognizable signal, one which leaves every vessel and Starbase in its wake with only emergency power. Spock identifies the signal as the song of the humpback whale - a species which, by the 23rd century, is extinct. There is only one way to answer. They must use the slingshot maneuver to travel back in time to 20th century Earth.

They find what they're looking for in the San Francisco bay, where an oceanic institute is keeping two humpbacks under the supervision of Dr. Gillian Taylor (Catherine Hicks). But Kirk learns that he has only a day to complete the mission - a single day to win Gillian's confidence, recover the whales, and save all life on his future Earth!

A look at a humpback whale.

CHARACTERS

Admiral Kirk: He explains his (very mildly) profanity-laced mode of speech to Spock by acting as an authority on 20th century culture: "No one pays any attention to you unless you swear every other word." His authorities? Trashy 20th century novels, from the likes of Jacqueline Susann and Harold Robbins, doubtless a part of his antiques collection. Kirk in the 20th century looks at first glance like an eccentric "kook," but he retains the absolute confidence of someone used to command. That makes it impossible for Gillian to fully dismiss him or his offer of help.

Spock: Spock's intellectual capacity is fully intact, but he is struggling to fully rediscover himself. He is a bit "off" for most of the movie, overly literal at several points. Interacting with Kirk seems to reawaken something that his more formal retraining on Vulcan did not, and as the film goes on, he becomes more and more like the Spock we remember. By the movie's end he is fully himself again, but we see through his struggles to interact with others that this is not an effortless process.

Dr. McCoy: Reacts to 20th century medicine much as a modern doctor would likely react to early 18th century medicine: with outrage at the primitive ignorance of our medical techniques. He can't stop being a doctor just because he's in the past. When confronted with a patient he can easily cure, he does so, purity of timelines be damned. His argument with the doctor assigned to Chekov sees DeForest Kelly really throwing himself into it as he pleads with the man: "Put away your butcher knives and let me save this patient!" Oh, and a nice background bit during the chase that follows: When a man in a cast is knocked over, McCoy pauses to help him.

Scotty: Though definitely in a supporting role, and a smaller one than in The Search for Spock, James Doohan remains one of the steadiest of the regulars. He has a way of infusing small scenes and lines with a freshness and enthusiasm that makes them stand out. Unfortunately, he is also aging the most noticeably of the main cast.  His frame betrays more than any of the others that it's been far more than a few months since The Wrath of Khan. But that's an easy enough bit for suspension of disbelief to excuse - particularly when his performance is so good.

Sarek: Mark Lenard returns as Sarek, and again makes an indelible impression in just a few scenes. His interruption of the Klingon ambassador (John Schuck)'s rant is wonderfully done, his rock-like calm causing the Klingon's violent tempers to dash away to nothing. As the crisis with the probe comes to a head, Sarek is a voice of reason. He convinces the Federation president to issue the planet-wide distress call that alerts Kirk to the situation. At the end, he fully renounces his judgment against Spock having joined Starfleet, issuing the highest praise it's likely possible for him to give when he labels Kirk and his crew people of "good character."

Hot 20th Century Earth Babe of the Week: Dr. Gillian Taylor (Catherine Hicks) has bonded with the whales dubbed George and Gracie, and her attachment to them is conveniently the only relationship she appears to have. Hicks is very pretty and an adequate actress, and she manages a decent screen rapport with William Shatner that stops just short of being a romance. I don't for an instant buy that, upon being transported 300 years in the future, she would be assigned to a science vessel. At best, she'd be given a job working with the whales she's helped transport, not being assigned to a ship going offworld when she hasn't even the most rudimentary knowledge of the time period she is now part of.

Kirk and his loyal crew.

THOUGHTS

The Voyage Home finishes up the trilogy begun in The Wrath of Khan.  This film brings Kirk, Spock, and their shipmates home - but by the long route, allowing them a last adventure together on their way to their court martial. It's much lighter fare than the previous Trek films, with the meat of the picture amounting to a fish out of water comedy as the characters try to navigate their way around 20th century San Francisco.  Kirk and his crew retain their focus on the mission throughout - but the ways in which they clash with this strange old world create opportunities for humor, and the film happily indulges as many of these as it can.

The tone is far lighter than its predecessors - but that seems to me an appropriate way to end the trilogy. The Wrath of Khan was about dealing with death. The Search for Spock heavily involved sacrifice, with Kirk giving up everything important to him to save his friend. But after this journey through darkness, it was time for the film series to emerge into the light.  It was time for a Trek film that celebrated life, and a good romp was a fine way to do that.

Besides, a lot of it is quite funny. There are some cute and clever visual gags, such as the moment in which Scotty, Sulu, and McCoy wonder where to find a research lab while standing in front of a wall-length "Yellow Pages" ad. Other comedy bits are more overt, such as Chekov and Uhura trying to get directions to the "nuclear wessels." I could quibble that most of the Chekov scenes make him look like an idiot, to the point that I can't completely fault one boorish naval officer's crude assessment of him.  But even he gets a moment of dignity, sending Uhura to beam out of danger while he stays behind.

Leonard Nimoy's direction is better here than it was in the previous film, particularly in visual terms.  There are more wide shots and fewer scenes that just intercut closeups, making it feel less like something that belongs on a TV screen. The Klingon Bird of Prey is more visually interesting than many of the series' Starfleet ships have been, and the darker lighting lends the potentially dry shipbound scenes some atmosphere. I also love the visual of the Klingon ship decloaking directly above the whaler near the end, looking as hungry and threatening as a true, living Bird of Prey.

Some would-be whalers get a very big surprise.

The plot that justifies the trip through time is not the strongest. The "save the whales" story feels a bit cloying, and the narrative frame feels cribbed from, of all things, the very solemn first Trek film: A probe, threatening the existence of Earth when it can't get a reply to its mysterious signal. Fortunately, these scenes are brushed aside within the first half hour, but it's a bit odd that the movie is at its worst when dealing with its actual "plot."


OVERALL

I'm torn between a "7" and an "8," but I'm going to go with the slightly lower score. That first half hour really isn't very engaging, creating a feeling of having to "get through" the setup before the real movie begins. But a "7" is still a good score, and this is the most purely "fun" Star Trek movie. That element - the fun - remains intact even when many of the trappings have dated, making it easy to see why this movie hit big with mainstream audiences, extending the franchise's appeal far beyond just the series faithful.

Until the next movie, in any case.  But that's another story for another day...


Overall Rating: 7/10.

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Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

The Enterprise, on a routine mission about to go badly wrong...

THE PLOT

The USS Reliant, under the command of Capt. Terrell (Paul Winfield), is scouting planets to find a suitable test subject for the top-secret Genesis Project. They need a world that's absolutely devoid of life and appear to have found it in Ceti Alpha VI. Terrell beams down with Commander Chekov to investigate a minor sensor reading. But they discover that this world is actually Ceti Alpha V - the planet where the genetically engineered renegade Khan (Ricardo Montalban) and his followers were exiled fifteen years ago.

Meanwhile, Admiral James T. Kirk and his old crew are overseeing a training flight aboard the Enterprise. A class of trainees will crew the ship under the guidance of the old hands. A routine flight - until Kirk receives a garbled transmission from the scientists behind Genesis. He takes command and orders the ship to the research station.

What he discovers is Khan, in command of the Reliant, waiting for him. Khan's purpose is as single-minded as it is deadly: Revenge!

CHARACTERS

Admiral Kirk: Has settled into a sort of bureaucratic semi-retirement. Inactivity doesn't suit him, something both Spock and McCoy readily pick up on. Both of his friends tell him in their own ways that it was a mistake for him to accept promotion and that he should get back to command of a starship. Command is his "first, best destiny," Spock says bluntly. "Anything else is a waste of material."

This version of Kirk, old enough to reflect on regrets but still young enough to take charge, suits William Shatner's performance perfectly. Director Nicholas Meyer reportedly did large numbers of retakes to sap the energy from Shatner's performance, enhancing this quality. But he does let Shatner loose at key moments, such as when Kirk takes charge in a crisis or the infamous (but, in context, perfectly judged) cry of "Khaaan!!!" Between the material, the actor, and the director's handling of the actor, the result is Shatner's best bigscreen performance as Kirk (probably his best performance, period).

Capt. Spock: Leonard Nimoy is equally good as Spock, providing a constant, low-key support to Kirk. He pushes the admiral to accept command when the crisis arises. He observes Khan's intelligence but also his lack of experience, and it's his observations which allow Kirk to defeat his opponent. His most significant scene comes at the end, when he takes drastic action to save the ship.  His final scene with Kirk - Spock on one side of the glass, Kirk on the other, unable to touch during an emotional moment - is a great one.

Chekov: Actually gets something to do - rare enough in the television series, let alone the films. Promoted to a higher position on the Reliant, Chekov beams down to Ceti Alpha V with Capt. Terrell. When he sees the Botany Bay decal, he realizes who it is they've stumbled across and tries to get himself and his captain away. After Khan implants his brain worms, Walter Koenig lends a weak, hesitant quality to the influenced Chekov, showing us that something's not quite right without overselling it to make us wonder why the characters can't see the same.

Hot Alien Space Babe of the Week: A young (quite gorgeous) Kirstie Alley is Saavik, Spock's young Academy protege. She is clearly being groomed for command, and she seems suited for it. Her temperament is loose by Vulcan standards. She's composed, but not inaccessibly so. She obviously doesn't take well to failure, as she can't quite let go of the Kobayashi Maru test at the beginning of the film, pushing until Kirk reveals what his solution to the test had been.

Khan, a victim of his own self-destructive rage.

KHAN

It is appropriate that in a film that sees Kirk reflecting on his regrets, the villain is a figure from his past. Ricardo Montalban's Khan was already larger-than-life in his first appearance, the first season episode, Space Seed. There, he was tightly controlled. He was no sadist. He would kill or torture as a means to an end, but not as a goal in itself. Above all, he wore a veneer of civility, as eager to fence with Kirk at the dining table as on the battlefield.

Fifteen years of hell have stripped that civility away. This Khan has kept himself and his people alive through a strength of will driven by rage. He has made Kirk the focus of that rage, blaming him for everything: The horror that befell his people, the loss of his wife, the conditions he and the survivors have had to contend with, his own fall from global ruler to ragged castaway.  Every failing in his life now has one face and one name: Kirk.

It's a self-destructive rage, as his second in command (Judson Scott) sees all too clearly. If Khan could abandon his pointless vengeance, he would have control of a weapon that would make him a galactic force. But that anger has burned so brightly that he cannot let it go. He consciously takes on the role of Capt. Ahab from Moby Dick, quoting or paraphrasing Ahab multiple times, including as he springs his final trap:

"To the last, I grapple with thee... From hell's heart, I stab at thee. For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!"

ZAP THE REDSHIRT!

Redshirt count: Well... many, between the two battle scenes. But there are two worth noting. The first is Peter Preston (Ike Eisenmann), Scotty's eager nephew, serving in Engineering (of course). When Khan attacks Enterprise, the other trainees run for safety. Preston stays at his post, does his duty, and dies on Dr. McCoy's operating table with severe radiation burns as a result.  It's his role to provide the consequences of Khan's violent revenge with an innocent human face.

Preston's death also foreshadows the death of Spock. Once again, Khan has prepared an attack, one which Enterprise cannot escape. The only hope is to restore warp power, but anyone who does so will be exposed to a lethal dose of radiation. Spock seals himself in, gets the engines back on line, and saves the ship. This forces Kirk to deal with death in the most personal way possible. Not through Kirk's own death - he's always been prepared for that - but the death of his closest friend. A loss he can't cheat his way out of.

At least, not until the sequel!

Kirk finally faces death.

BACKGROUND

Though Star Trek: The Motion Picture was a significant financial success, reviews were lukewarm at best. Fans went into a lather convincing themselves that it was the Star Trek movie they really wanted to see... but as the dust settled, many began admitting that while the film had its virtues, it didn't really capture the appeal of the 1960's television series. The spectacle couldn't be denied, and the ideas were sound. But the warm tone and character relationships that had defined the television series had been almost entirely absent from the film, which instead opted for a cold, antiseptic feel ala 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The Wrath of Khan was greenlit because of the first film's financial success. Critics and, ultimately, fans may have been disappointed, but it was clear there was money to be made from the franchise. But the disappointment was noted, and the budget was severely cut. The first film racked up a budget of more than $40 million - astronomical, by late 1970's movie standards. The second was made for a much more modest $11 million.

It does get the advantage of re-using sets, models, and even some footage from The Motion Picture to make it look like a "bigger" film than it is. Despite this, and despite a genuinely exciting space battle at the climax, The Wrath of Khan is no spectacle. The Motion Picture tried to paint on an epic canvas. The Wrath of Khan goes for the other extreme, with a script that's entirely character-centric.

THOUGHTS

The plot may be driven by Khan and his hatred of Kirk, but the focus is squarely on Kirk himself. When we see him at the start, he's become almost as lifeless as his collection of antiques. He seems determined to not only act his age, but to act like someone twenty years older than he actually is! In an odd way, Khan does him a favor. By presenting a crisis, he brings Kirk back to life.

The conflict also demonstrates that age does not have to impair effectiveness. Kirk doesn't defeat Khan by rediscovering his youth; he beats him by making use of the principle advantage of age: Experience.  Khan embodies the strengths and weaknesses of youth.  He is physically stronger, passionately emotional, and quick-thinking.  But Kirk has decades of knowledge.  His familiarity with starship design allows him to escape Khan's first trap. Decades of practice with three-dimensional starship tactics allow him to defeat Khan during the space battle. The middle-aged Kirk has experience that Khan lacks, and he uses that to win out.

The other recurring theme is one of death. Kirk's first exchange with Saavik has him telling her that "how we deal with life as at least as important as how we deal with death." But as the film makes clear, Kirk hasn't really dealt with the concept of death. Sure, people under his command have died, including friends. But he has somehow managed to avoid being touched by this. He has always beaten the odds, generally at minimal cost, and his victories have kept him going:

"I've cheated death. I've tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing."

The Enterprise crew, in a contemplative moment.

OVERALL

There are two versions of The Wrath of Khan that are widely available: The theatrical cut and an extended director's edition that runs about three minutes longer. Unlike The Motion Picture, it makes very little difference which version you choose. Save for an expanded role for the ill-fated Preston, there's no significant difference between the two cuts, and thus no difference in the final score.

The Wrath of Khan is the Star Trek movie fans had been waiting for: A good story, fast-paced and exciting, with the warmth of the character relationships that made the 1960's series what it was.  Star Trek: The Motion Picture has its virtues as a science fiction movie, and in my opinion is severely underrated as such... but it's honestly not a particularly good Star Trek movie.  The Wrath of Khan is not only a great Star Trek movie, it's a great movie full-stop.

Overall Rating: 10/10.

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