Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Trivia: Kriste Alley turned down the role of Savvik in star trek 3 & 4 for fear of being typecast.

Trivia: In 1983 this movie held the record for all-time best-selling home video release, largely owing to a then-bargain $39 price point. In the early 80s most movies on tape were priced around $70; the belief was that only enthusiasts and high-end customers were interested in owning movies and most people were satisfied renting. The stellar sales of Star Trek II proved there was a mass market for home video sales and the entire industry shifted in response.

TonyPH

Trivia: Early storyline development used essentially the setup for the Star Wars films only the villain was on the side of the rebellion. David was a (villainous, initially) version of Luke and it was a plot twist that Kirk is his father. The Genesis device was a planet-destroying weapon a la the Death Star, Khan lurked in the shadows dressed in a cloak and used psychic powers like the Emperor, and Spock would have died in the middle and at the end speak from beyond the grave like Obi Wan Kenobi.

TonyPH

Trivia: Before the final script, Kirk and Khan were planned to have an extremely elaborate fight scene featuring swords, whips, and fireballs. Producer Robert Sallin has said "We had some characters that had electricity coming out of their fingertips. I was very, very concerned."

TonyPH

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Mistakes

Plot hole: Why doesn't Reliant know that Khan is exiled here? The Federation is so terrified and opposed to genetic engineering that it's still illegal 300 years after Khan. So why is there no warning along with the data on the Ceti Alpha system? Kirk logged what happened with Khan and his solution of marooning him. Starships use nav data to navigate star systems. Ceti Alpha 6 exploded, yet the helmsman or computer never noticed that there is one less planet than there was when Kirk was there? There is no debris from the explosion? Ceti Alpha 5 is the exact same size and was conveniently blown into the exact same orbit as Ceti Alpha 6 used to have? So there is nothing whatsoever to make the crew even suspect that it's not 6? Enterprise would have to have scanned the planets in the system to know that one was habitable for Khan. Did Ceti Alpha 6's destruction somehow magically turn Ceti Alpha 5 into its exact duplicate? If Starfleet ships have been there to map after Ceti Alpha 6 exploded, none of them bothered to check on the exiles? Pretty callous for Starfleet, don't you think? With the technology and amounts of information available to Starfleet vessels, there is NO logical reason for the Reliant to think that this planet is Ceti Alpha 6. Finally, would the Federation be willing to test a device whose exact effects will be unknown on a planet so close to another inhabited one? (00:21:00)

Grumpy Scot

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: The answer is yes: against all known laws of science, the inexplicable explosion of Ceti Alpha VI led to Ceti Alpha V conveniently taking its orbit and making it easy to mistake for its former sister planet. A mistake would've been to give an explanation that can be debunked. By leaving it to "somehow" the movie leaves it open to a million possible rationalizations. You can even make a whole other story about the crazy circumstances that led to this incredible result.

TonyPH

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Quotes

Dr. McCoy: Go... Where are we going?
Captain Kirk: Where they went.
Dr. McCoy: Suppose they went nowhere.
Captain Kirk: Then this will be your big chance to get away from it all.

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Questions

Question: Presumably, the Genesis Planet was formed out of the dust and gas of the Mutara Nebula. But where did its sun come from?

AidanN

Chosen answer: According to the novelisation of the film the Genesis project was initially designed to be capable of creating an entire solar system. While the focus of the project eventually narrowed down to altering an individual planet, the sub-routines necessary to create a star were still in place and were activated when the device detonated within the nebula.

Tailkinker Premium member

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