After sending David and the others into the other room, Kirk has a nice and private talk with Carol. They should have been even more discreet. Chekov is still right there and is quite awake because he is holding a bandage of some sort to his ear the whole time. Just a short time earlier, in fact, you can hear McCoy saying "He's coming around," and then he hands Chekov the bandage. And even if Kirk had forgotten that Chekhov was there, he would have said something. They are friends and Chekhov would not want to embarrass his friend by listening in on a private conversation. [Yes, but they still had the conversation. They might have assumed Chekhov is loopy on painkillers. Chekhov is several feet behind them and has damage to one of his ears as well, he might not have heard a thing. It might be a socially awkward situation, but couldn't really be called a mistake.]

Maybe not a mistake per se, but certainly odd: A sign posted at the rear of the bridge says "No Smoking On The Bridge At Any Time." A good idea to be sure, but at no time in any incarnation of "Star Trek", whether the TV versions or the theatrical releases has any character ever been shown to smoke anything. Gene Roddenberry' Utopian vision of the future didn't include any of our contemporary vices, so it is odd that a sign like this would ever be posted. However, it's possible that this was simply a warning to the cast and crew on set, and had no impact on the fictional characters and their universe. [This was actually a deliberate act on the part of the director, Nick Meyers. He likes putting elements that give a common, real-world sense to them. He's also the one that gave the crew bunk beds in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.] [There are vices shown in "Roddenberry's Utopian vision of the future". Alcohol and synthehol is consumed on several occasions, and people still get drunk and rowdy. And people can be seen smoking on holodecks (Data when portraying Sherlock Holmes, in Picards Dixon Hill programs, Riker's jazz club, etc.)]

The simulation of the "Genesis Effect" is shown on a relatively small planetoid, and other than the initial fireball, there is not much 'drama' about the explosive aspects of the effect. However, when the Genesis Device explodes aboard the Reliant at the end of the film, the resultant explosion looks to be violent enough to dwarf and completely destroy even a small sized solar system. At full warp speed, the Enterprise barely escapes, and even that is at great distance from 'ground zero'('space zero'?). This sure does not resemble the gentle, 'friendly' effect shown on the demonstration tape! If Kahn hadn't interfered with the plans, how is it reasonably possible that the crew of the Reliant was going to detonate the device and get away safely? [The Genesis Device takes existing matter and restructures it according to its matrix. The device was intended to be released on a planetoid or small moon where there would be plenty of available matter. Instead, it was detonated within a nebula where the matter was not concentrated, so the effects were much more widespread. In any case, there is nothing to indicate Reliant would have been the ship to activate the Genesis device, its mission was only to find a suitable planet to use. The scientists might have used a probe or some other remote testing device. Finally, the Enterprise makes a slim escape only because it only went to warp moments before detonation. Had it been able to use the full four minutes the Genesis device allots, it would have gotten away in more than sufficient time.]

When Joachim is telling Kahn why they can't return fire on the Enterprise, it's because "They've damaged the photon control and the warp drive. We must withdraw." Notice how his eyes aren't looking at Khan until he says "We must withdraw." indicating that he's reading his lines from an off-screen cue card. [Alternatively, he is looking at the damage readouts to give the correct information. Once he has read the displayed information, he turns to his captain and gives his advice/opinion.]

When Spock dies, the left side of his body and the left side of his head rest against the transparent shield. In the next scene, the back of his body and the back of his head rest on the shield. The position of Captain Kirk relative to the position of Spock also changes between these scenes. [Look more closely, before the scene changes to outside the enclosure, Spock's body shifts and it is his shoulderblade and not his back that rests against the transparency. It is the same position of both his head and his back that we see outside of the transparency.]

When the Enterprise leaves spacedock, Saavik orders 'half impulse'. However, in the exterior shots the impulse engines are not lit. The reason is that ST II uses stock footage from ST I for the spacedock scene. In that movie, the ship leaves the dock using thrusters. [Star Trek 6 establishes that the regulations allow only for thrusters while in Spacedock. The Enterprise would have left Spacedock on thrusters and accellerated to half impulse after clearing Spacedock. Even though Saavik gave the order, Sulu's the one flying, and he's not going to break regulations.]

When Chekov calls Dr Carol Marcus about coming to take the Genesis device (after being subdued by Kahn) there is a science tech in the background, he is African American. Watch him, and his reaction to Chekov's statement about coming over to Regula One. At that point Chekov has mentioned just coming over. The techs reaction is one of questioning annoyance, he then darts his eyes realizing that he's reacting to the right thing at the wrong time. [His eyes don't quite 'dart' - he simply looks at Dr. Marcus after making that 'annoyed' face in reaction to Chekov's line 'We will be there in 3 days'. There's any number of perfectly normal reasons why this visit alone would annoy him. This would only be a 'mistake' if he'd also shouted 'You can't take Genesis.' (Though even that could just be the reaction of a paranoid conspiracy theorist. proving him correct in the process.)]

Kahn explains that Ceti Alpha VI exploded and altered the orbit of the Ceti Alpha V, laying everything waste on the planet. Okay, fine. How then did they mistake Ceti Alpha V for Ceti Alpha VI? Star Trek has established that their method for numbering planets is based on orbit position numbering outward from the star at the center of the system (Earth would be Sol III if it didn't already have other names). For Ceti Alpha V to be mistaken for Ceti Alpha VI, there would have to be another planet inserted between Ceti Alpha V and the star (Ceti Alpha). There is no way for an explosion at Ceti Alpha VI to send a new planet in past Ceti Alpha V and the only way for the explosion to push Ceti Alpha V away from the star would be if the planet had exploded while on the other side of its orbit from Ceti Alpha V. If that had happened, the shockwave would not have been nearly enough to sent Ceti Alpha V up two orbits (because Ceti Alpha VI is gone so Ceti Alpha V would have to go up past Ceti Alpha VII). [The explanation here is pretty simple. Ceti Alpha V must have been where Ceti Alpha VI was supposed to be. With that said, the captain and crew could have easily assumed that Ceti Alpha V was Ceti Alpha VI and that Ceti Alpha V must be on the other side of the system, hiding behind the star. Obviously, the system isn't visited often. Otherwise, Kirk wouldn't have picked the Ceti system for Khan 15 years earlier. So, it's easy for the captain and crew of the Reliant not to be aware of the explosion of Ceti Alpha VI and the shifting of the orbit of Ceti Alpha V. With minimal information about the system (other than the fact that Khan was on Ceti Alpha V), they could have easily mistook one planet for another, especially if they have similar characteristics. The fact that Chekov thinks they're on Ceti Alpha VI when they beam down confirms this. Also, the fact that Khan says that Kirk (and no one else) bothered to check on their progress in 15 years confirms that the system is not visited often. So, what seems like a plot hole can be easily explained.]

Khan claims to have remembered Chekov from "Space Seed", which ran during the series first season, but the character of Chekov wasn't created until the second season of the series. [Chekov only appeared in the show starting with the second season, true, but that doesn't mean that the character wasn't already working on the ship during season one. His sudden appearance was merely the result of him getting a promotion to the primary bridge crew - Khan simply met Chekov elsewhere on the ship at some unseen point during his time on the Enterprise.]

Doesn't it strain credulity that the Enterprise is (once again) "the only ship in the quadrant"? In Star Trek terminology (all series), a quadrant covers one fourth of the galaxy (smaller regions are "sectors" and the boundary runs just about right down the middle of the Federation, right by Earth to be exact. Are we to believe that there is no other starship in that entire half of the Federation? [Before ST:TNG, "quadrant" was a term used somewhat loosely. In the Wrath of Khan, quadrant does not refer to one quarter of the galaxy.]

The scene where Checkov first goes to Khan's cabin on the planet, he notices a belt with "Botany Bay" and realizes it is Khan's cabin. This film is based on TOS-"Space Seed," however Checkov was not in "Star Trek" when this episode was made. How would Checkov know about the ship "Botany Bay"? [Maybe Checkov was assigned to another section of the ship at the time of Space Seed, then later he was promoted to bridge officer.]

After the Enterprise first attacks Reliant and they have moved away, Kirk says "Let's see how bad we were hurt". Then Scottie is seen coming out of the lift with a wounded crewman. Wouldn't it be better to take him to sick bay? Sickbay is in the upper (circular) hull, but is on a lower deck than the bridge. There's no sane reason why Scotty would bypass the deck where Sickbay is to go all the way up to the bridge in order to get help in carrying the wounded crewman back down again. ["no sane reason"-exactly. Scotty thinks the crewman, who happens to be his nephew as I recall, is dead. He's overwhelmed with grief and so is not thinking rationally.]

When they discover that the Genesis device has been activated, Kirk volunteers to beam over to stop it. Even though he is told it can't be stopped, that would indicate the transporters are still working. Why does nobody suggest beaming the device itself off of the Reliant and out into space with the widest possible dispersion, like they did in "Wolf in the Fold" to Redjac? [The Genesis wave forming was interfering with transporter lock, making this solution impossible.]

In the end, Kirk's log entry starts as "Captain's Log" when he is still an Admiral. He doesn't get demoted to Captain until Star Trek 4 for so many violations. ["Captain's Log" refers to his position, not his rank. Notice that in some episodes, Spock records in "First Officer's Log", not "Commander's Log". You are called Captain when you are in command, whether your rank is Lieutenant j.g. through Commodore.]

Khan wears a damaged 'Starfleet' emblem on a chain around his neck during this movie, obviously a souvenir from the last contact he had with any Starfleet personnel, which was Kirk and company back during the original TV episode 'Space Seed'. However, the emblem that Khan wears was not in use by Starfleet (either on the Enterprise or fleet-wide) at the time of his 'release' on Ceti Alpha V, as it came into use much later, during the 'Star Trek-The Movie' era. (Reportedly about 11 years after the ending of Kirk's original '5 year mission'). So where did Khan get the emblem? [The emblem was originally Enterprises sign (throughout the original series each ship had its own sign). In the episode "Space seed" one of Kirks crew left with Khan to be his girlfriend. She died on the planet (killed by one of the Ceti eels), so the emblem is for her. Now if Khan is genetically engineered & can conquer part of Earth, making the symbol shouldn't be much work for him.]

After beaming down to Ceti Alpha V (thinking it is C.A VI) and entering the cargo hold, Chekov notices the words "Bottany Bay" on one of the straps. This means that they are actually in part of the ship that Kahn and his followers were found in. How? That ship was ditched in the episode Space Seed well before they decided to drop Kahn and his followers off at the planet. [Khan and his followers would need resources to build their new life on Ceti Alpha V - what remained of the Botany Bay would be an obvious candidate, with the added advantage of not providing Khan with any up-to-date technology. Kirk could have taken the Enterprise back to retrieve the ship for this reason.]

In every battle that results in major ship damage getting warp drive back on-line is always a priority. If it was so easy for Spock (in the sense that he did not need any tools and not easy in the sense that he died) to get warp drive back on-line why didn't somebody else (with full protective gear) do exactly what he did a lot earlier? Also, what did he do? [Spock is faster and more intelligent that anyone else on the ship - what he does to the warp drive is a very quick and dirty fix to get them moving. Had anyone else tried it, they would undoubtedly have got it wrong, resulting in the destruction of the ship - remember that the Enterprise is largely crewed by trainees at this point. The only other person who might have pulled it off, namely Scotty, is out of commission, leaving Spock as the only one left to do the job.]

In the original pre-screening of the film, the audience was furious over the death of Spock. This left the creators with the thought of "what have we done?" Their solution: shoot an extra scene in which Spock hits McCoy with a nerve pinch, transfers his 'living spirit' into the comatose doctor, and then insert it into the movie prior to the point in which he puts on Scotty's gloves and steps into the reactor room. [On the DVD Leonard Nimoy states that this change actually arose from a conversation between himself and a producer where they realised during filming that there might be a possibility for another sequel so they inserted the mind-meld as a vague hint that Spock could return.]

At the very end of the movie, as the Enterprise finally jumps into warp, and away from the Genesis explosion, we see a huge explosion, and then we see the Enterprise, racing at warp speed. If the Enterprise were traveling at warp speed, which remember is Faster-Than-Light, then we would have seen the Enterprise first, THEN the explosion. [Warp Drive isn't a faster than Light Propulsion - it warp the space around it and enters sub-space which allows you to get to places quicker - if flying faster than light you would age slower than the rest of the galaxy around you.]

Khan is able to capture the starship Reliant because Chekov and Terrell beam down to Ceti Alpha V, mistakenly thinking it's Ceti Alpha VI, where Khan takes them prisoner. Khan explains that Ceti Alpha VI exploded. Ceti Alpha is obviously a known solar system. Nobody aboard Reliant, not the helmsman, navigator, nor science officer, noticed that there was a whole planet missing from the system? [This is easily explained by considering the slow rotation of planets; it is likely that the ship approached the system from a particular direction and assumed that the other planet was hiding behind the star. It is further suggested that the explosion of Ceti Alpha VI threw Ceti Alpha V out of orbit, apparently into the previous orbit of Ceti Alpha VI.]