History Film / StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan

[[caption-width-right:320:Yes, [[RealityIsUnrealistic that is his chest]].]]

-->'''Khan''': [[FateWorseThanDeath I've done far worse than kill you]]. I've hurt you. And I wish to ''go on'' hurting you. I shall leave you as you left me, as you left her... [[AndIMustScream marooned for all eternity in the center of a dead planet]]. Buried alive... ''buried alive''...\\
'''Kirk''': [[BigWordShout KHAAAAAAN!!]] [[SayMyName KHAAAAAAN!!]]

* FatalFlaw: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The wrath of Khan]]. [[ShoutOut Like]] [[MobyDick Ahab]] [[[ShoutOut before him]], his all-consuming desire for revenge on Kirk ultimately gets in the way of his better judgement and ends up destroying him.

* FatalFlaw: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The wrath of Khan]]. [[ShoutOut Like]] [[MobyDick Ahab]] [[[ShoutOut before him]], his all-consuming desire for revenge on Kirk ultimately gets in the way and ends up destroying him.

* FatalFlaw: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The wrath of Khan]]. He could have achieved everything he'd set out to do and more, but his all-consuming desire for revenge on Kirk ultimately gets in the way and ends up destroying him.

* {{Deconstruction}}: The subtitle of this movie could just have easily been ''The Deconstruction Of [[TheKirk Kirk]]''. Most of the core traits associated with Kirk and what their consequences in RealLife would probably be are examined and pulled apart. The adventurer who faces a problem on a weekly basis, solves it and promptly [[ResetButton forgets it ever happens]] is suddenly brought face to face with one of those problems he faced a decade and a half before, and no doubt never gave another thought, and discovers the consequences of his thoughtlessness can be [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge measured by the body count]]. The suave lady killer with a girl in every port discovers that one of his conquests (and it's implied that it's the only one he ever truly loved) has resulted in him having [[LukeYouAreMyFather a son he's never known]] and who hates him. His tendency to place fast and loose with the rules leads to his ship being crippled and a score of dead cadets, all of which could and should have been avoided by simply raising the shields, [[spoiler: and his trait of [[TakeAThirdOption finding novel solutions to intractable problems]] ends the life of his best friend and trusted right hand]].

* PoorCommunicationKills: The "needs of the many..." speech is really beautiful and all, but had Spock instead said, "Captain, I put my katra in Doctor McCoy. Ask my father about it. I'll be fine.", a lot of conflict in the next movie could have been avoided.[[hottip:*:The reason that they didn't is that the ''katra'' sequence was actually written and shot slightly later than the rest of the death sequence, to give a sequel hook to a potential ''Star Trek III'' should TWOK actually prove successful enough for Paramount to demand one (Everyone thought that TWOK would be the last of the ''Star Trek'' films, and this, not any rumored loathing of the character was why Leonard Nimoy was so interested in Spock's death -- hoping to close the book on ''Trek'' by giving an emotional death scene to Spock.)]]

-->'''McCoy:''' Jim, you'd better get down here.... Better hurry.'''
--> And then Kirk looks over to see [Spock's empty chair].

* [[spoiler:BittersweetEnding]]: [[spoiler: Kirk escapes [[TheChessmaster Khan]], but Spock dies repairing the Enterprise to make it happen]]. In a way this means Khan succeeds in revenging himself upon [[TheKirk Kirk]], [[spoiler:as Spock's death is [[FateWorseThanDeath by far the worst injury he could have inflicted]] upon Kirk.]]

* BusCrash: The actress who played [=Marla McGyvers=], Khan's lover from Space Seed, was not able to appear in the film, so she was killed offscreen by the [[BrainSlug Ceti Eels]] to explain her absence.

* TheChessmaster: Khan. Unfortunately, in the 23rd century, they play ''3D'' chess.
** Um, so doesn't that mean that Kirk and Spock are the true Chessmasters. "He's intelligent, but, inexperienced. His pattern indicates ''two''-dimensional thinking.

* CreatingLife: The science team at Regula seem very excited about the Genesis Device, one can only assume they [[GenreBlind never read]] [[{{Frankenstein}} Frankenstein: A Modern Prometheus]].

* TheGlassesComeOff: Right before [[spoiler:the ''Enterprise'' takes out the ''Reliant'''s shields]]. [[TheKirk Kirk]] also tells [[TheChessmaster Khan]] "I [[{{Pun}} see]] your point" as he does it.

* HauntedHouse: The Regula space station after [[TheChessmaster Khan]] has paid it a visit.

* ILoveTheExties: Featured in VH-1's ''I Love The Eighties Stikes Back! - 1982'' ... along with Shatner's ''TJHooker''.

* LampshadeHanging: The story borrows themes and ideas from from KingLear, ParadiseLost and MobyDick. Guess what books are on Khan's shelf.

** It also borrows from ATaleOfTwoCities. Guess which book Spock gives to Kirk as a birthday present.

** At least, face-to-face in any Merritt Butrick related form. Kirk may just not have seen David as an adult.

* {{Deconstruction}}: The subtitle of this movie could just have easily been ''''The Deconstruction Of [[TheKirk Kirk]]''''. Most of the core traits associated with Kirk and what their consequences in RealLife would probably be. The adventurer who faces a problem on a weekly basis, solves it and promptly forgets it ever happens is suddenly brought face to face with one of those problems he faced, and no doubt never gave another thought, and discovers the consequences of his thoughtlessness can be measured by the body count. The suave lady killer with a girl in every port discovers that one of his conquests (and it's implied that it's the only one he ever truly loved) has resulted in him having a son he's never known and who hates him. His tendency to place fast and loose with the rules leads to his ship being crippled and a score of dead cadets, all of which could and should have been avoided by simply raising the shields, [[spoiler: and his trait of [[TakeAThirdOption finding novel solutions to intractable problems]] ends the life of his best friend and trusted right hand]].

* [[Deconstruction]]: The subtitle of this movie could just have easily been ''''The Deconstruction Of [[TheKirk Kirk]]''''. Most of the core traits associated with Kirk and what their consequences in RealLife would probably be. The adventurer who faces a problem on a weekly basis, solves it and promptly forgets it ever happens is suddenly brought face to face with one of those problems he faced, and no doubt never gave another thought, and discovers the consequences of his thoughtlessness can be measured by the body count. The suave lady killer with a girl in every port discovers that one of his conquests (and it's implied that it's the only one he ever truly loved) has resulted in him having a son he's never known and who hates him. His tendency to place fast and loose with the rules leads to his ship being crippled and a score of dead cadets, all of which could and should have been avoided by simply raising the shields, [[spoiler: and his trait of [[TakeAThirdOption finding novel solutions to intractable problems]] ends the life of his best friend and trusted right hand]].

** A non-literal RedShirt is the member of Kirk's landing party who gets shot by a mind-controlled Terrell.

* ColdbloodedTorture: What Kahn does to the scientists on Regula I in the {{Novelization}}. We only see the aftermath in the movie.

* HeroicBuild: Kahn, and Ricardo Montalban in RealLife.

* KickedUpStairs: A major reason why Kirk feels so old

Outside the world of ''Star Trek'', ''Wrath Of Khan'' is notable for containing two big breaks. Kirstie Alley made her acting debut in this film playing the young Vulcan [[NaiveNewcomer Saavik]], even getting the onscreen credit "[[AndStarring and introducing Kirstie Alley]]". This was also the first major motion picture to be scored by James Horner, who would go on to do ''TheLandBeforeTime'', ''TheRocketeer'', ''{{Titanic}}'', and ''{{Film/Avatar}}''. As Nicholas Meyer once put it, they hired James Horner to do ''Star Trek II'' because they couldn't afford Jerry Goldsmith, but by the time Meyer returned for ''StarTrekVI'' they hired Cliff Eidelman because they couldn't afford James Horner.

'''Kirk''': [[BigWordShout KHAAAAAAN!! KHAAAAAAN!!]]

* {{Übermensch}}: Khan would like to think he's one. In reality, he's irrational and half-mad.

-->'''Khan''': I've done far worse than kill you... I've hurt you. And I wish to go on... ''hurting'' you. I shall leave you as you left me, as you left her... marooned for all eternity in the center of a dead planet... buried alive... ''buried alive''...\\

* AnyoneCanDie: Which makes for a good sequel hook of course.

* BadassBoast: "I don't like to lose."
-->'''Khan:''' I've done far worse than kill you - I've ''hurt'' you, and I mean to go on ''hurting'' you. I shall leave you as you left me, as you left ''her'': marooned for all eternity in the center of a dead planet. Buried alive. ''Buried alive.''

'''Kirk''': [[spoiler:Young. I feel young.]]

** FridgeBrilliance sets in when you realize that Khan's quoting of Moby Dick is because he realizes where his obsession will lead, and doesn't care. [[spoiler: It takes Jaoquim's death to make him remember the consequences would extend beyond himself -- like Queequeg's death, and paralleling Spock's.]]

* DeadSidekick (Joachim, at the end)

* DyingMomentOfAwesome: Khan and Spock get one each, activating the Genesis device and saving the ''Enterprise'' respectively.

* EvilGloating: Put the freaking VillainBall down and just blow him to bits Khan!
** Though to be fair he was also attempting to extort materials relating to Genesis out of Kirk as well

* HauntedHouse: ... [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!]]: The Regula space station after [[TheChessmaster Khan]] has paid it a visit

-->'''Carol''': David, why don't you show Dr McCoy and the Lieutenant our idea of food? ...\\

* IdiotBall: Raise the damned shields, those Starfleet regulations were written for a reason,Kirk! So much for one big happy fleet? U.S. warships go to combat readiness when they come across a fleetmate with radio problems, especially a fleetmate with radio problems, who also refuses to respond to visual and audio communication such as a signal lamp, signal flags, or loudspeakers, and continues to bear down on you.

** The [[InTheOriginalKlingon Klingons did]].
* InsufferableGenius: To which Kirk responds with...

* JustThinkOfThePotential: The idiotically idealistic science team see Genesis simply as instant terraforming just add water, and consider it to be the ultimate salvation to problems of overpopulation and food supply. Plenty of other people see an [[WeaponOfMassDestruction entirely different potential]]... one that doesn't even have the nasty side effects of other superweapons as it leaves verdant worlds behind in its wake.

* KillEmAll: In the opening ''Kobayashi Maru'' sequence, the TOS crew dies, except for Kirk, who is absent and unmentioned. Then a door opens, Kirk walks out of a cloud of light and smoke, everybody picks themselves up, and the viewers realize they've been had by...

* TheNounOfAdjective

** "We need warp power in 3 minutes or we're all dead."

** [[TheSimpsons Be yourself?]]

* NeckLift (Khan does this to Chekov to show how badass he is, but he's really lifting him by a handle on the front of his spacesuit, not his neck.)

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Khan: An East Indian (sure) with a Mexican accent.

* OhCrap: Done three times:

* RedRightHand: Khan never takes off his right glove, nor is it commented upon, but his removal of his left is a key part of his establishing character slot.

** When asked about this at conventions, Walter Koenig likes to tell a [[{{Fanon}} humorous]] story about how Chekov, then a lowly RedShirt, met Khan by using a restroom [[PottyEmergency Khan had much need of]]. Upon discovering that Chekov had [[ThisIsUnforgivable also depleted the toilet paper]], Khan cursed the poor ensign and declared he would [[CallForward never forget his face]].

* SkywardScream: A sort of BeamMeUpScotty, parodies always turn Kirk's "KHHHAAAANNNN!" into this. In the film itself it shows a level view of Kirk screaming and then cuts to an image on the planets surface.

* SpaceMines: In UnwinnableTrainingSimulation that starts off the movie, the ship the Enterprise needs to rescue was disabled by a gravitic mine.
* TheSpock: Naturally. Quite notable here, however, [[spoiler: in what Spock's sacrifice said about how this archetype should be written. Yes, Virginia, that "cold Vulcan logic" that [=McCoy=] is always harping on Spock about applies to ''his'' '''''own''''' ''life'' as much as anyone else's... and he doesn't hesitate even for a moment when applying it. *sniffle*]]

--> '''Spock''': "He's intelligent, but inexperienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking"
* UnwinnableTrainingSimulation: Kobayashi Maru test.

* DeskJockey / KickedUpstairs / RetiredBadass ([[YourMilageMayVary take your pick]]): Kirk is far from happy in the role of admiral; boredom and feelings of being old and useless lead him to take the joyride on Enterprise that eventually leads him running into Khan.

* GettingTooOldForThis: Kirk, [[HesBack or so he thinks.]]

* PoorCommunicationKills: The "needs of the many..." speech is really beautiful and all, but had Spock instead said, "Captain, I put my katra in Doctor McCoy. Ask my father about it. I'll be fine.", a lot of conflict in the next movie could have been avoided.