Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn (1982)

It is my understanding that the older generation of Star Trek fans generally consider this to be the best of all the Star Trek films. I was brought into the franchise with Deep Space 9 and First Contact, so I cannot call Wrath of Kahn my favorite, but I do understand while the original faithful would call it number one. Kirk is confronted by his old nemesis with the 'superior intellect', Kahn, who not only has his own evil designs, but is also bent on the destruction of Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise. I could never say anything bad about the cast of this film, I think they are all terrific; anyone different is simply not the original Star Trek. I suppose I could bring up the Kirk versus Picard argument, but I'll save that for my ten page essay rather than for this 300 word review. This movie is great in that it shows off Kirk's intellect, rather than his usual brash desire to fly head long into situations with guns-a-blazin'. This may be a bit of a spoiler, but I imagine that if you have not yet seen The Wrath of Kahn, unless you marry a Trekkie (and pray that you do not), I doubt you will ever watch this film. The end of this movie offers a great moment of compassion and sorrow, when Kirk watches as his friend Spock dies after sacrificing himself for the good of the many. This is the scene that makes Wrath of Kahn great, it makes this movie worth watching. It is rare when a franchise kills off a main character, and while this decision may have been short-lived, I still find it impressive. It did seem mildly forced to me that the conclusion more than a little obviously sets up the premise of the third film, The Search for Spock, but that's ok, 'cause that film's pretty decent too. My wife did not watch this with me, but I cannot even get her to watch all three Star Wars films, so I was not surprised. Admittedly, I have not seen all of the Star Trek movies, but I am making my way through them. At this point, I would have to put number II second, behind only First Contact. I liked this movie a lot, and am glad to have deepened my lexicon. I give Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn 3 stars.