Of the 13 surviving Star Trek feature films, there is widespread agreement on this Nicholas Meyer’s 1982 sequel Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is the best. Many Trekkies like the larger-than-life character of Khan and Ricardo Montalbán’s equally larger-than-life portrayal, as well as the film’s exciting, climactic battle sequence. As a reminder, “Khan” reaches its climax when the eponymous character hijacks a Starfleet ship called the USS Reliant and uses it to fight against Admiral Kirk (William Shatner), who is aboard the USS Enterprise. Kirk had left Khan behind on the planet Ceti Alpha V in the original series episode “Space Seed”, unaware that an environmental catastrophe had turned the entire planet into a desert wasteland. Khan barely survived and when he finally escaped Ceti Alpha V, all he thought about was revenge.
“The Wrath of Khan,” whose story is credited to Harve Bennett and Jack B. Sowards (who is also credited with the screenplay), is thematically concerned with confronting consequences. Kirk was previously a direct but ruthless captain who rarely faced the consequences of his actions. In “The Wrath of Khan,” not only does he face a forgotten enemy, but he also learns that he has an adult son (Merritt Butrick) he has never met. It’s about growing up and re-evaluating your own life. Then, at the end, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) dies, showing that there will always be consequences. Youth won’t last forever, and you can never escape your past.
In addition to writing The Wrath of Khan, Bennett was also a Star Trek producer who joined the franchise in 1980 after the financial disappointment of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. He then produced several more films in the series.
In 2010, Bennett was interviewed by StarTrek.com when, of course, he was asked which of his Star Trek films he liked best. Perhaps it was natural that he said it was The Wrath of Khan.
Harve Bennett liked The Wrath of Khan best
It’s worth noting that Leonard Nimoy’s 1986 film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was by far the most financially successful Star Trek film, at least until the release of JJ Abrams’ Star Trek in 2009 .Bennett, a producer, was immediately tempted to call “Voyage Home” his favorite for that reason alone. But then, after a moment’s thought, he had to admit that, like most Trekkies in the world, he preferred Wrath of Khan. In his own words:
“My instinct says, ‘Bet IV is my favorite,’ but then I have to stop and say that I love ‘IV,’ but ‘II’ will always have a special place in my heart for the reasons discussed,” and more .”
Bennett was not a Trekkie when he was hired to work on The Wrath of Khan and had to watch every episode of the original series in preparation. The episode “Space Seed” he explained in the StarTrek.com interview, talking to him and wondering what Khan would look like 25 years after these events. Interestingly, it took a non-Trekkie to create the story for one of the most popular Star Trek films of all time.
But Bennett had more to say about “The Voyage Home,” as it too had a novel concept. This is the film in which the crew of the Enterprise, after hijacking a Klingon ship, which they renamed “Bounty” in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, travel back in time to 1986 to… Recover pair of humpback whales. It appears that a mysterious, all-powerful space probe in the future is emptying Earth’s oceans in search of a few humpback whales, and the planet has been in trouble since humanity hunted whales to extinction centuries earlier. Bennett liked this film, as did most moviegoers.
However, Bennett still enjoyed “The Journey Home.”
As mentioned above, Star Trek: The Motion Picture was a commercial disappointment, so a new creative team (minus Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry) was hired for the sequels. Bennett, a newbie, was spot on with his Wrath of Khan idea, but at the time it was a bit of a risk. If “Wrath of Khan” had been a flop, it could have been the last “Star Trek” film. Fortunately, both that film and The Search for Spock did well, and in Bennett’s words, “By the time we got to ‘IV,’ we were confident.” Bennett felt the film’s time travel plot was a great way to to appeal to a wider audience beyond Trekkies.
It worked. Bennett loved the film and thought it was great that everyone saw it. “Wrath of Khan” may have been his favorite, but “Voyage Home” was made wordier by the producer. As he put it:
“Returning to the present did something that nothing else could have done, which was to bring Star Trek to a non-Trek audience. All you have to do is remember the scenes on the streets of San Francisco. The people did it.” I don’t consider the characters to be “Star Trek” stars, but I kind of adore the lady who responds to Chekov’s question, “Where can I find the nuclear ships?” “That whole scene showcased ‘Star Trek’ .” at the same time to people who had never heard of it. That’s why it was the biggest hit and in many ways the most popular of the ones I did.
The reference to “nuclear ships” comes from Chekov (Walter Koenig), who is looking for nuclear energy for his spaceship but has no idea where to get it. He knows that nuclear-powered sea vessels have what he needs, but he doesn’t know where they are. So he just starts asking passersby (including an extra who only got the role because film production towed her car), with a Russian accent, where he might find “nuclear ships.” This was particularly funny in 1986, during the Cold War.
