"He tasks me, and I shall have him."
--Khan Noonien Singh, from Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan

Like my new pad, Admiral? I scored it in a poker game. In a recent interview given for an article about the upcoming sequel to Superman Returns, director Bryan Singer had promised that the next movie would be the "Wrath Of Khan" of the Superman series. You know a film has entered the popular lexicon when its very name means that it's a leaner and meaner creature than the film that preceded it. 25 years ago, Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Kahn was released in theaters. It was a sequel to the first Star Trek movie, named Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which was a dull, dry affair, thanks to a storyline that seemed to go out of its way to avoid any excitement whatsoever. Although ST: The Motion Picture was successful--at least financially--it’s budget was $42 million dollars, which, back in the late seventies, was a lot of money to spend on one film. For the Wrath Of Khan, the honchos at Paramount decided not to bust the bank. By handing the production off to the studio’s television unit, it was felt that Khan would be more affordable and easier to control, cost-wise.

Botany Bay? Isn't that a resort in the Florida Keys? Nicholas Meyer, a novelist who directed the time travel film Time After Time (which pitted renown science fiction author H.G. Wells against Jack The Ripper) was chosen to direct. The basic storyline was crafted by producer Harve Bennett, and writers Jack B Sowards and Samuel A. Peeples, and it involved the return of Khan Noonien Singh, a villain from the classic Star Trek episode Space Seed. In Space Seed, Khan was a genetically enhanced warrior from the 20th century who was found by the crew of the Enterprise in suspended animation, along with the rest of his people aboard the Botany Bay, a sleeper ship. Kirk and company revive them, only to have Khan and his people try and seize control of the Enterprise.

I really don't want to hear you guys sing the Starfleet Academy class song, ok? The screenplay was written by Jack B Sowards, who received full credit, and by Nicholas Meyer, who did an unaccredited rewrite. Khan and his people are inadvertently discovered by the crew of the U.S.S. Reliant, which included Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig), the young ensign from the Enterprise who has now risen to the rank of first officer. When he first meets Chekov, Khan immediately recognizes him, snarling, "I never forget a face." Yet, ironically, the Chekov character wasn’t even on the series yet when Space Seed originally aired. Meyer introduced an element from Moby Dick when he made Khan obsessed with tracking down and killing Kirk, reflecting the same obsession that Ahab had towards the whale Moby Dick in Herman Melville’s classic novel.

Sulu, go that way. No, THAT way...towards that big flicking star, see it? Meyer even had Khan quote lines from Moby Dick throughout the film, which lent the film an air of gravitas. Aside from dealing with Khan, Kirk also had more baggage from the past to contend with when Khan steals the Genesis Device, a terra-forming bomb with the potential to be an apocalyptic doomsday machine when used on a planet that already has life. The Genesis Device was created by Carol Marcus and her son David, who were Kirk’s former flame, and his grown son, respectively. This storyline not only increases the stakes in the battle between Kirk and Khan, but also creates several nice introspective moments for Kirk as he reflects on his life, and the decisions he made (and regretted). A major theme in Wrath Of Khan is growing old, from the scene when Kirk chides McCoy about how "gallivanting around the cosmos is a game for the young, doctor," to the moment when Kirk receives a pair of reading glasses, we’re reminded that the Enterprise crew are no longer spring chickens and that change is inevitable.

What does this button do? WHOOPS! Sorry.... In order to help keep the costs down, Paramount decided to give the film a budget of just $8.5 million. The Wrath Of Khan would be a far cheaper film to make; yet this was largely possible thanks to the fact that the spacious sets of the starship Enterprise, as well as the Enterprise filming model--which were all built for the first film--were still around and could be reused for the sequel. The Enterprise crew costumes are redesigned by Robert Fletcher, who created a classic design featuring a burgundy tunic with black pants--it will remain the standard Federation uniform for the next five films, right up to Star Trek: Generations. These uniforms would also be seen on the various TV spin off incarnations of Star Trek, starting with The Next Generation, which also made use of some of TWOK's sets.