After the dud of the first Star Trek movie, a great success was needed to save the franchise, and Star Trek II accomplished that, setting a then world record for its first day box office gross. My Bride to be and I saw it when it was released on June 4, 1982, the only serious break I took that summer while I was studying for the bar exam. We enjoyed it immensely. Like Lucifer in Paradise Lost, Khan, Ricardo Montalban, stole every scene in which he appeared:
This was what the Star Trek fans wanted, a rousing adventure with heroes to cheer and villains to boo. A simple formula that is too little followed.
Shatner’s eulogy of Spock when he chokes on the word. “human” is masterful acting. “Of all the souls I’ve met in all my travels, his was the most….*human*.”
Yes, I agree. And the USS Reliant was a cool looking Starship!
Also, I loved how Kahn quoted Melville as he activated the Genesis device.
“… to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee.”
A movie so good, not even JJ Abrams’ sequel could ruin it. 😀
Speaking as someone who was maybe 10 when he saw this on HBO, the ear creatures were nightmare fuel!!
Maybe it’s because I was a kid, but I think they just did scary better before so much tech. The scenes back then were often more terrifying. I think it has something to do with the use of darkness to cover the imperfections of the “creatures.” Perhaps also because you knew the prop really existed, even if it was not alive. Or at least *probably* not alive…
The only Star Trek movie that can come close to challenging it is GalaxyQuest.