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SALT LAKE CITY— “From hell's heart I stab at thee.”
With “Star Trek Into Darkness” being released on Friday, we wanted to dedicate this week’s throwback article to the Trekkies. Not knowing a Klingon Bird of Prey from a Federation Ambassador, I searched the Internet for the quintessential “Star Trek” film and found that Cracked, IGN, and TechRepublic all agreed the best Trek film ever made is “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.”
I’ve actually seen “Khan” before, though to give you an idea of how long it’s been, I was surprised to see Kirstie Alley in the film. So, while I can’t say I’m giving you a first-time-viewer’s experience here, I can say with a straight face, it’s pretty close. And, as a kid who chose “Star Wars” over “Star Trek” while growing up, as though each franchise was its own political party, I can also say I’ve only a basic knowledge, at best, of the “Star Trek” universe.
The Review
Revenge is a pretty fascinating topic, and when plotted out correctly, as it was in “Wrath of Kahn,” makes for really satisfying entertainment.
But unlike a traditional revenge story, where the wronged character is your protagonist, like in say, “The Count of Monte Cristo,” “Wrath of Kahn” makes the character seeking revenge the story’s antagonist — or in other words, James Kirk (William Shatner) did something a long time ago that really irked Kahn (Ricardo Montalban), but we’re still pulling for Kirk here … not Kahn.
So, what did Kirk do to make Kahn so upset? Having absolutely no idea who Kahn is or where he came from, I can only give you some vague details, but I can’t imagine knowing said details making this movie any more fun.
In most ways, “Wrath of Kahn” has a very simple premise. In one corner of the galaxy, an aging James Kirk is feeling melancholy after accepting a promotion to admiral. While on a routine inspection of Captain Spock’s (Leonard Nimoy) Starship Enterprise, the crew is called out to do a seemingly simple task, which ends up being anything but.
In corner two, Khan Noonien Singh has been exiled to a planet with especially bad weather and carnivorous ear bugs, presumably at the hands of a younger Captain Kirk. When an unknowing, exploratory star fleet crew shows up to investigate the planet, Kahn and his people make their move to finally escape their prison and exact revenge on the man responsible for their misery.
From that point on, “Wrath of Kahn” plays out like a space themed chess match between two grandmasters. And while watching Kahn and Kirk continually try to one-up each other in the 116-minute battle of wits, perhaps the most interesting device used in this film is the groupies chosen to surround both players.
Spock’s crew is made up almost entirely of young Star Fleeters who’ve heard the legends of Captain Kirk. They idolize him, and so his every mistake is humiliating and often comes at serious cost to the young crew that believes in him.
Kahn’s team is hardly so idealistic, so once the taste of freedom tips their tongue, many of them lose their zeal to humiliate Kirk. In that way, Kahn’s experience quickly takes a page out of “Moby Dick,” down to the famous Ahab quote, “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.”
To attempt such a quote is risky, and it’s a testament to just how entertaining “Wrath of Kahn” is that I was very content to believe Kahn was saying it for the first time. Either that, or he had really old books on his planet. Either way, it’s a pretty cool scene. And while obviously, Kirk lives on to battle another day, Kahn definitely leaves his mark on the character for at least another movie to come.
So, with a pretty dull week for Blu-ray releases and “Into Darkness” only a few days away, this is definitely a great Red Box substitute or possible pastime in the near future. And the best part, if you’re a NetFlix subscriber, is it’s available to stream right now.
Where to See It
As mentioned, “Wrath of Kahn” is streaming on Netflix and can be rented almost anywhere, including Google Play, YouTube and Vudu — though strangely it doesn’t appear available on iTunes. It is also available for purchase on Vudu.
Travis Poppleton has been writing tech and film reviews for the Deseret News and KSL.com since 2010 and continues to contribute coverage for the Sundance Film Festival and other live events in Utah. You can contact him at TSPoppleton@gmail.com.
