It's funny to see that on most Trek-related movie lists "Khan" ranks #1. Even at the time of it's release I thought this film, while better than the first one, was over-rated and boring with only 4 notable scenes; the rest of the time you can fast-forward. 1) I wish the producers could have stuck with the "facts." Why couldn't they have picked an actual character from the series to have been the mother of Kirk's son? Even Yeoman Rand could have changed careers and she would have been recognizable enough but the arbitrary creation of Carol and David Marcus was an unnecesary distraction. David comes across as pouty and I couldn't have cared less about this character even at the end. Also, everyone knows about the Chekhov mistake as Khan regonizes him when he wasn't even in the original episode. It would've been more interesting if it were Spock who had the animal implanted in him to see how he would've fought the power of suggestion and to see what Kirk would've done.
2) Too much time is spent dwelling on the Kobyashi Maru. Who cares? I understand it sets up Kirk's desire not to lose but couldn't this have been done in a more interesting way? That way you don't need Lt. Saavik as much, a mistake nearly repeated in "VI" with the introduction of Lt. Valeris but at least she is put to much better use. 3) For all Spock's talk about Khan's intelligence, where is the evidence? Anybody could've captured the Reliant but the fact that he doesn't change the Reliant's access code, can't steer in the Nebula and can't fire a torpedo straight during the big fight scene doesn't support this. After the attack on the Enterprise when Kirk manages to lower Reliant's shields, who cares? Khan must surely know where the bridge of the Enterprise is from his study of the engineering charts (from "Space Seed")so why waste time looking for the override? Just fire. He comes off as one-dimensional. What a waste of a good performance by Montalban. Maybe having Chippendale dancers as Khan's crew wasn't a bright idea after all. A note on Captain Terrell. A wasted performance by the late great Paul Winfield. He is nothing to Kirk so why does all of a sudden, he "doesn't want to" shoot Kirk? I understand Chekhov's reluctance since he served with him but who's Kirk to Terrell? Just another officer. Waste him and everyone gets bumped up in rank. Given what Khan does with the Genesis device, how is a whole planet (rocks, trees, lava and all) formed out of the Reliant? If life is destoyed in favor it's new matrix, shouldn't the Reliant just essentially be a tree-covered ship floating in space? Another thing that made me go "hmmm", even at a young age. The 4 scenes worth watching: The introduction of Khan, his attack on the Enterprise and how Kirk wiggles out of it, the great CGI presentation of the Genesis device and Spock's touching death scene/funeral. Maybe you can tack on the scences when Kirk discovers Regula-1's crew's fate and Khan's final Cpt. Ahab-esque speech. The latter is well worth it. This is not a bad film. I strongly believe it's overrated and it was disappointing to see the story not being tight and downright dull in spots. The action scenes and special effects are worth it. I just wish there was more "wrath" in this movie and less talk.
2) Too much time is spent dwelling on the Kobyashi Maru. Who cares? I understand it sets up Kirk's desire not to lose but couldn't this have been done in a more interesting way? That way you don't need Lt. Saavik as much, a mistake nearly repeated in "VI" with the introduction of Lt. Valeris but at least she is put to much better use. 3) For all Spock's talk about Khan's intelligence, where is the evidence? Anybody could've captured the Reliant but the fact that he doesn't change the Reliant's access code, can't steer in the Nebula and can't fire a torpedo straight during the big fight scene doesn't support this. After the attack on the Enterprise when Kirk manages to lower Reliant's shields, who cares? Khan must surely know where the bridge of the Enterprise is from his study of the engineering charts (from "Space Seed")so why waste time looking for the override? Just fire. He comes off as one-dimensional. What a waste of a good performance by Montalban. Maybe having Chippendale dancers as Khan's crew wasn't a bright idea after all. A note on Captain Terrell. A wasted performance by the late great Paul Winfield. He is nothing to Kirk so why does all of a sudden, he "doesn't want to" shoot Kirk? I understand Chekhov's reluctance since he served with him but who's Kirk to Terrell? Just another officer. Waste him and everyone gets bumped up in rank. Given what Khan does with the Genesis device, how is a whole planet (rocks, trees, lava and all) formed out of the Reliant? If life is destoyed in favor it's new matrix, shouldn't the Reliant just essentially be a tree-covered ship floating in space? Another thing that made me go "hmmm", even at a young age. The 4 scenes worth watching: The introduction of Khan, his attack on the Enterprise and how Kirk wiggles out of it, the great CGI presentation of the Genesis device and Spock's touching death scene/funeral. Maybe you can tack on the scences when Kirk discovers Regula-1's crew's fate and Khan's final Cpt. Ahab-esque speech. The latter is well worth it. This is not a bad film. I strongly believe it's overrated and it was disappointing to see the story not being tight and downright dull in spots. The action scenes and special effects are worth it. I just wish there was more "wrath" in this movie and less talk.