10 Things You Didn’t Know About Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan beamed into theaters on June 4, 1982.

Now I have always been a more casual Star Trek viewer, I do not deserve Trekkie status… but I was a huge fan of The Wrath of Khan and watched it countless times growing up. I have seen other Star Trek films over the years, but none compare to my love of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

With the 40th Anniversary approaching, I started getting nostalgic for the film so I recently picked up a copy on Blu-ray that included both the theatrical and director’s cuts of the film and a commentary track with Director Nicholas Meyer. It was that commentary track that served as the source material for this post, 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan…

1. There were multiple scripts that were pulled from for Star Trek II, with five ideas that Director Nicholas Meyer and Executive Producer Harve Bennett agreed needed to be a part of the film… Kirk meeting his son David, the Genesis Planet, the return of Khan, the introduction of Saavik and the Death of Spock.

2. Meyer’s inspiration for the look and feel of the film came from the Horatio Hornblower books he read in his youth. This is why the uniforms that the crew of the Starship Enterprise wear have a naval look to them and the battles between Shatner and Khan in their respective vessels was akin to submarine battles.

3. Meyer’s nautical mindset continued when Meyer told Composer James Horner to listen to Claude Debussy’s Le Mer for inspiration for what would turn out to be an absolutely majestic score by the musical prodigy… Le Mer in French means the sea.

4. The aforementioned Saavik was played by Kirstie Alley in one of her earliest roles. Alley was a big fan of Star Trek growing up and was so infatuated with her character’s Vulcan ears she would wear them home and even sleep with them on. Live long and prosper Kirstie!

5. The scene where Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and McCoy (DeForest Kelley) watch the computer simulation demonstrating the capabilities of the Genesis project it marks the first time a CGI sequence was used in a feature film… boldly going where no movie had gone before, but many have since.

6. Ricardo Montalban, reprising his role of Khan from the “Space Seed” episode of the original series, was the one actor who did not get any rehearsal time with Meyer in before shooting began due to his Fantasy Island commitments. Montalban’s first day on set was the day they shot Khan’s first scene. Meyer also dispelled the long standing rumor that Khan’s chest was a prosthetic and it was in fact Montalban’s actual chest.

7. The exterior shots on Ceti Alpha V were done on a sound stage. They used actual jet engines to create the sandstorm that Terrell (Paul Winfield) and Chekov (Walter Koenig) must endure before they encounter Khan!

8. William Shatner wanted there to be a fist fight between Kirk and Khan at some point in the film, but Meyer could find no logical way to work that into the story… so the two main characters never come in physical contact with one another.

9. The shot where Spock, just prior to sacrificing himself, does the old Vulcan mind meld trick on McCoy and tells him to “remember” was an insert shot that was done later when Paramount and Harve Bennett wanted to keep the door open for a sequel. Meyer was totally against this and even refused to shoot the scene of Spock’s casket on the Genesis planet at the end. It is also the reason that Meyer did not return for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock despite being asked to come back… however Meyer would eventually return to the Star Trek director’s chair.

10. The original title of the movie was Star Trek II: The Undiscovered Country and that was the title up until the point where Meyer was editing the film. When Meyer made the eventual return I just spoke of, so did the title. Meyer helmed 1991’s Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.