There are many, many films, especially genre films which have great reputations but fail to live up to them on repeat viewings or, sometimes, on first viewings. However, as today's viewing marked the twentieth time I have seen "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan", viewings spread over twenty years from childhood to adulthood, I find myself able to say with an unprecedented level of assurance that "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan" is a film I believe to be truly 'great', not only a personal favorite but one which achieves excellence in so many ways that I find it genuinely hard to believe there are so many people out there who don't love this film. The film gave me goosebumps on this viewing, much like it does every single time I see it, without fail.
The film boasts a brilliantly-written genre screenplay by Jack Sowards and director Nicholas Meyer (the original outline was written by executive producer Harve Bennett, developed into a full script by Sowards, then re-written once more by Meyer, who refused to accept a writing credit), perhaps its greatest strength. While there are 'plot holes' which fans have debated endlessly which I don't even want to mention for fear of them coming up again and a couple of contrivances, overall I find the screenplay to be consistently one of the tightest and most poignant pieces ever written for "Star Trek" in any of its incarnations in film or on TV. The Genesis subplot doesn't seem extraneous to me at all as some people feel, in fact I find much of the emotional poignancy of the film comes from Kirk's relationship with Carol Marcus and from the metaphorical significance of the Genesis project. It's also an important plot point, so I really have to say that considering it a flaw seems more like nitpicking to me than anything.
The script covers a great deal of ground in under two hours. The opening stages are not merely a series of lame excuses to get the original crew back on the Enterprise, but actually contain great character development and insights into their behavior. The introduction of Khan and the principal story of the film is very effectively done, and very efficiently as well. This is a sequel to the famous "Space Seed" episode from the original series, but very quickly yet completely explains the origin of Khan's conflict with Kirk without laborious exposition or a slowing down of the film's extraordinary pace. Once the battle of wits gets going the film is pretty much unstoppable, greatly aided by Meyer's vision of the film as a nautical adventure, resulting in some terrific design and atmosphere (especially remarkable considering many of the sets were cannibalized from sets for the aborted "Star Trek: Phase II" series from the 70's.
Yet with all the action and the military nature of the film (which, at this point, Roddenberry opposed, despite his original pitch for Star Trek containing phrases such as 'Wagon Train to the stars' and despite Kirk being based on Horatio Hornblower) it never loses sight of the core of Star Trek: the camaraderie and terrific character interactions. The actors don't betray the script's greatness in that regard either: Shatner gives a phenomenal, understated, dignified performance as Kirk, and is just devastatingly good in some scenes, with a few bits of overacting here and there but generally he's great. Do I even need to comment on Nimoy's Spock or Kelley's McCoy or any of the rest of the original cast? Nimoy's performance here barely manages to eclipse Shatner's as the film's best. It's just so wonderfully understated and beautiful. Oh, and Montalban as Khan is the epitome of a great scenery-chewing villain, but with an almost unexpected level of emotional gravity. The Melville quotes don't hurt either.
"Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan" seems to me a perfect film. It contains everything which made "Star Trek" work in my estimation, except for the sexiness of the original series, but that omission is suitable considering the story and considering the aged crew. The film is just so exceptionally well-written, well-directed, and flawlessly paced. Fanboyish or not I simply have to say it: Spock's sacrifice is among the greatest cinematic moments of all time, and I always find myself tearing up at the end of this movie. It's not just a great adventure film, but one with truly, truly exceptional writing for the characters and an emotional poignancy and sense of melancholy which still surprises me no matter how many times I see it.
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