Typically if a Star Trek fan is asked what their favorite movie in the franchise is, it's more than likely they will say The Wrath of Khan. Famous for its dark tone, themes of revenge, and that memorable gut-punch of an ending, the second movie has had a major pop-culture impact. In fact, it still resonates to this day.
Even though the movie is nearly 40 years old, people continue to look back to it to relive their cherished memories of Admiral Kirk's battle with his greatest nemesis. However, there are some facts about Wrath of Khan that even major fans probably don't know.
10 Gene Roddenberry's Demotion
A cursory glance at the opening credits of Star Trek II will show that Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry is credited as "Executive Consultant." It seems odd, given that Roddenberry's status would seemingly give him more power than that, but the reason for this is somewhat understandable.
According to many sources, including Rowan J. Coleman's excellent retrospective on the film, Paramount blamed Roddenberry for the failure of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, as he demanded many rewrites and budget extensions. In his place, Paramount hired TV producer Harve Bennett to produce The Wrath of Khan.
9 It Had A Much Smaller Budget Than The First Movie
Compared to Star Trek: The Motion Picture's $44 Million budget, which was astronomical back in 1979, the budget of The Wrath of Khan is far more humble. Producer Harve Bennett was put in the situation of making the movie on a much smaller budget.
The second time around, it clocked in at $12 Million, $32 Million less than The Motion Picture. Thankfully, Bennett was able to consolidate that much smaller budget to make a movie that has lasted in the hearts of Trekkies.
8 Nicholas Meyer Knew Nothing About Star Trek
Director Nicholas Meyer was then known for writing the Sherlock Holmes pastiche The Seven-Per-Cent Solution and directing Time After Time. When he was hired to write and direct Wrath of Khan, he knew nothing about Star Trek, which explains why he chose to take risks with the property.
Meyer said in an interview that while filming the infamous scene where Spock dies, Meyer was caught off guard when everyone on the crew was bawling their eyes out. It wasn't until he was much older that he realized what an impact he had made with that scene.
7 Ricardo Montalbán's Struggle
Feeling that The Motion Picture lacked a decent villain, Harve Bennett selected Khan as the villain of the upcoming sequel. When actor Ricardo Montalbán was brought in to reprise the role, he struggled due to being stuck in his famous role in Fantasy Island.
In an interview, Montalbán admitted that he felt that audience would not believe him as Khan. In the end, he re-watched the Star Trek episode "Space Seed," the episode where Khan debuted, which helped Montalbán figure out how to play the character once more.
6 William Shatner Was Worried About Acting His Age
Born in 1931, William Shatner was 51 when The Wrath of Khan hit the big screen, with the movie forcing the character to come to terms with his age. However, experts have stated that Shatner himself might not have been happy about this.
When they spoke with SyFy Wire, Trek experts Mark A. Altman and Daren Dochterman stated that William Shatner had some concerns about playing a middle-aged Kirk. However, it was a bold idea that ended up paying off swimmingly.
5 Kirk And Khan Never Directly Interact
At the time, both William Shatner and Ricardo Montalbán were taking part in successful television shows, T.J. Hooker and Fantasy Island respectively. Unfortunately, this meant that they couldn't act together at any point.
Kirk and Khan speak via viewscreen and communicator, but that is the limit of the characters' on-screen interaction. Despite this, the hatred between the two men is palpable on the screen, making their rivalry one for the ages.
4 Khan's Epic Pecs Were Real
Khan is a bit of a superhuman, so it makes sense that he would be in really good shape. With that being said, some fans believe that special effects were used to make Ricardo Montalbán's physique look more impressive. However, that isn't the case.
Meyer stated in an interview with USA Today that he had been asked if Khan's pecs were fake 23,472 times, which he stopped answering after the 71st time. According to the director, Montalbán was simply in really good shape.
3 Pixar's Big Break
Long before they brought Woody and Buzz to life, Pixar was a small group of effects artists creating unique visual effects in ILM. For The Wrath of Khan, they were assigned to create the visual effects for the demonstration of what the effects of The Genesis Device could be.
Wrath of Khan boasts an early scene in cinema history that utilizes CGI, with the effect still being extremely impressive to this day. Years later, this same group of effects artists would expand to become the kingpin of 3D animated films.
2 Fans Reacted Negatively To Spock's Demise
When the death of Spock was leaked to fans, they were less than pleased. The enraged fans then began to send angry letters and death threats to the producers, writers, and even Spock actor Leonard Nimoy.
Test audiences reacted very negatively to Spock's sacrifice, which had many crew members concerned. However, these responses proved to not really matter, as the scene where Spock shares his final words with Admiral Kirk is one of the most moving of the franchise.
1 Spock's Resurrection Was Teased
Although Spock's death is iconic and emotional, a jarring element of the moments preceding his death was Spock passing his katra to McCoy. If the moment seems somewhat tacked on to one of the most pivotal scenes of the movie, that's because it very much is.
When the reaction towards the iconic character's death proved concerning, this moment, as well as the scene of Spock's casket on The Genesis Planet were added to The Wrath of Khan to ensure that Spock would return. This plot point would be explored in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.
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