With the success of the new Star Trek film by JJ Abrams, the time has come to look back at the original film series featuring the cast from the first television series. Starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, the cast was featured as the primary players for six films, with Shatner being a main force in the seventh film, which starred the crew of the then popular Next Generation television series. Over the next week, I’ll take a look at the six original Star Trek films,a dicey proposition in theory, but actually revealed more gems than duds. Today we'll look at the best of the original film series Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Please note there is a major spoiler in this article, so if you are one of the few who do not know how this movie ends and wish to remain unspoiled this is not the article for you.

In the opening minutes of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the Enterprise, now under the command of a Vulcan named Saavik (Kirstie Alley in her first film role), is viciously attacked by three Klingon ships, killing all the beloved crew and leaving Saavik to organize the abandonment of the beloved ship. Of course, it turns out to be a simulation, but the bait and switch was enough to announce that this film has far different ambitions than its tepid predecessor. Under the reigns of director Nicholas Meyer (Time After Time), the film series moved away from the bright colors of the first film and the television series, instead replacing the uniforms with solid maroon colors that bear more than a slight resemblance to naval uniforms. The inside of the Enterprise is darker, more claustrophobic, with the idealism that was so present in creator Gene Roddenberry' vision replaced with a middle-aged cynicism. Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) knows that his time as a space captain is long gone, a hint of sadness present as he watches Captain Spock (Leonard Nimoy) prepare the cadets for a training crew. All of this is part of the workings of the Star Trek II, the best of the original series of films and the start of a trilogy that ends with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

For all intents and purposes, this is the start of the Star Trek film series. There are zero references to any of the events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and the look of this film is carried over to its subsequent sequels. If there are any complaints about this, it’s that the rest of the series tries too hard to emulate the look and feel of The Wrath of Khan from the submarine-like space battles to the references to Shakespearian tragedy. Like the original, Star Trek II takes place in the 23rd Century on Admiral Kirk’s birthday, complete with a mid life crisis. He is to watch over the Enterprise on their training mission, quietly keeping his ambition to lead a younger life to himself. Thoughts of being put out to pasture are put to rest as he once again takes command of the Enterprise to combat Khan, the genetically engineered superhuman who he marooned years before.

It’s quite a surprise to see this film 25 years after its release and see that it still holds up. The dynamic between Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) is at its best here, the battle between various egos actually building character background. The introduction of Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch), an ex girlfriend of Kirk’s, and their son David (Merritt Butrick) gives an emotional crutch to Kirk’s life that had been missing in so many of his previous incarnations. Oftentimes Kirk bordered on the one-dimensional, a swaggering hero that was infallible in his exploits. Here, with the introduction of his son, he loss that superhuman dimension but gains a bit of humanity. For the first time, he is vulnerable. Credit must be given to William Shatner, long mocked for his hammy delivery, for giving a solid understated performance, underlining the sadness instead of his usual bravado.

Carol and David are the creators of Genesis Experiment, a missile that can create life out of a dead planet. It has been long established that Starfleet was in the business of discovering planets, but now it no longer needs to do that. The danger of the missile is that, of course, if anything is on the planet it will be destroyed. Such biblical connotations only serve to add to Roddenberry’s philosophical quandaries that were so present in the series. With the move towards a more militant version of Starfleet by Meyer, this type of machine works to both of their respective ideas while giving the Trek universe its space equivalent of an atom bomb.

Of course, films such as this live and die on their villains and with Khan, Star Trek has perhaps its greatest one. By pulling a character from the TV show, the filmmakers bring in someone who already has a back-story and a reason to go after Admiral Kirk. In comparison to the original film’s villain, a giant nameless cloud, Khan is refreshing, not just for his small goals (he only wants to kill Kirk, not take over the universe), but for his reasons (the death of his wife) which are almost relatable. Ricardo Montalban’s performance as Khan hits all of these notes, acting it up to the hilt without going completely over to camp. For a movie that never places the main protagonist and the antagonist in the same room, it is to Montalban’s credit that he keeps up the intensity, constantly seething at the screen in his attempt for revenge.

The biggest event in this film is the death of Spock. Though the event is reversed in the next film, it gives Star Trek II a bit of gravitas that its sequels sorely lacks. Spock’s sacrifice is a perfect underscore to the themes of old age, of death being every corner. Until this point, the Star Trek series skirted death, but never confronted it head on, with all loose ends tied neatly in a bow by the end of its running time. Here, there is no last minute save and it works well in contrast to the Genesis device that creates new life out of dead planets. Of course, it’s also a clever plot device to allow for Spock’s resurrection.

Star Trek II gave the Trek film series it’s footing, going on a winning streak that would last until 1989’s dismal Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. In that time, there would be two more sequels that would develop and expand upon the themes touched on in this film. On television, a new series titled Star Trek: The Next Generation would begin airing in 1987, becoming one of the most successful syndicated shows during that era. Until recently, it’s become easy to dismiss Star Trek as a niche franchise, but in the 80’s, it was arguably as popular as Star Wars and at times, more successful in its aims. All of this success began with this film. Without it, it’s very likely that the current incarnation of Trek would never have been.