Every year, film fans gather online to see which 25 films will be added to the Library of Congress. National Film Registry – a list that includes titles you’d expect like “The Godfather,” “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope,” “Thelma & Louise” and “Casablanca.” For 2024, the new additions bring the NFR’s total catalog to 900 films and include both classics and modern classics across a range of films spanning decades.
For science fiction fans, the main attraction this year may be “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.” The 1982 film sequel is still considered one of the highlights of the entire Star Trek series and, in the eyes of many fans, its greatest single achievement. Spock’s noble sacrifice in the film has gone down in history along with the revelation of Darth Vader the “tears in the rain” monologue from “Blade Runner” as an iconic science fiction moment of all time. And more than 40 years after the film’s release, it is finally being recognized by the National Film Registry – a recognition that Trekkies say is long overdue.
In addition to The Wrath of Khan, this year’s NFR additions include classics from the comedy, romance and thriller genres, a particularly early entry from 2010 and a film that is nearly 100 years old.
What other films have been added to the National Film Registry for 2024?
The oldest film in the 2024 NFR graduating class is “KoKo’s Earth Control,” a 1928 animated short film by early animation pioneer Max Fleischer. The film follows the eponymous clown and his dog Fitz as they discover a building with controls for rain, day and night, and all other aspects of life on Earth.
At the other end of the spectrum, the David Fincher-directed 2010 Facebook fictionalization “The Social Network” was added to the National Film Registry this year. It’s a testament to the film’s stellar reputation – considered by some to be Fincher’s best work – that it has entered the exclusive club after less than 15 years.
The rest of the 2024 catalog includes Eddie Murphy’s crime comedy classic “Beverly Hills Cop,” the 1974 proto-slasher film “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” Jennifer Gray and Patrick Swayze’s 1987 sensation “Dirty Dancing,” the Coen Brothers’ critically acclaimed film No Country for Old Men and family action-adventure film “Spy Kids” by Robert Rodriguez from 2001.
Decades later, The Wrath of Khan remains iconic
For a franchise that’s breaking new ground, especially in television, getting something listed on the National Film Registry is obviously a big deal. More than 40 years after its theatrical release, “The Wrath of Khan” remains at the top of the list of the best science fiction films of all time, even if “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry wasn’t such a big fan.
Although Roddenberry was the brains behind the franchise and worked closely on the first Star Trek film, he was pushed out of Khan, which adopted a much more action-heavy style than what the series was previously known for. Roddenberry even tried to sabotage Wrath of Khan by leaking story details, but his efforts did nothing to dent the film’s huge success. No one can argue with what Roddenberry would go on to do with Star Trek after creating The Next Generation, but it’s also hard to see Khan as a failure in any respect.
Naturally, critics and fans welcomed the sequel with open arms, despite the heartbreaking twist of Spock’s death at the end. Writer and producer Harve Bennett even called “Wrath of Khan” his favorite Star Trek filmand many science fiction fans would probably agree. Now it is forever immortalized in the National Film Registry as one of the greatest films of all time.
