It’s AG Monday!
Khaaaaaaan!
Back in 1982, both Steven and Tom worried that Star Trek: The Motion Picture was the nail in the coffin of Star Trek. Much to our delight, which has endured for decades, Star Trek: The Wrath Of Khan was everything that the first movie wasn’t. Exciting scenes! Snappy dialogue! Surprisingly moving moments about aging and loss! Even more surprising acting (of the good kind) from William Shatner! And, of course, one of the best Star Trek villains, if not the best, Khaaaaaaannn!!!
Journey back with us to the multiplex for the premiere of Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, and learn why this film not only revived the Star Trek franchise, but also has stood the test of time as a great movie!
Ancient Geeks is a podcast about two geeks of a certain age re-visiting their youth. We were there when things like science fiction, fantasy, Tolkien, Star Trek, Star Wars, D&D, Marvel and DC comics, Doctor Who, and many, many other threads of modern geek culture were still on the fringes of culture. We were geeks before it was chic!
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Definitely my favorite of all the Trek films.
I just got it. I’m curious how it ran 1:39 hours…
I’ll get this out of the way first:
When Khan came out, I still knew little of Trek and still had trouble keeping the characters straight. I had no memory of Khan in the series at all. And the timeline confused me. I think to this day Trek writers, and Trek fans, vastly underestimate how slow sublight travel is.
I also had trouble taking Ricardo Montalban seriously as the villain. His acting eventually overcame this.
@James Joyner: It’s great!
@Kathy: Funnily, the TMP episode was only a minute-ish shorter.
For some reason, this ep got me thinking about The Empire Strikes Back. I found this link showing some similarities.
More likely, as the stories are completely different, it’s the fact that 1) both put the good guys on the defensive most of the movie, 2) both lose a major character by the end*, 3) both are widely regarded as the best movie in the franchise.
*Yes, temporarily. but for all we know, Han might have remained preserved in carbonite until the Big Rip, Big Crunch, or Big Heat Death**, and Spock might have really died for real.
** Or maybe Big End Simulation.
I’m looking forward to catching up on this podcast, now that RL things are slowing down, somewhat.
@Kathy: An interesting set of comparisons.
@Andy: We appreciate you listening!