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The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

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Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

The Thrill Is Khan

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan on DVD.

Nicholas Meyer returned to direct the second Star Trek movie, after fans found Robert Wise's first film too slow and cold. It concentrates on the camaraderie between the Enterprise crew and adds a few new characters, most memorably the Vulcan Lieutenant Saavik (Kirstie Alley), who gets to flirt with Captain Kirk (William Shatner). The plot concerns the Genesis device, which can create a new planet out of nothing but also destroy an already life-supporting planet. The evil Khan (Ricardo Montalban) returns from the 1960s TV series, tries to steal the device and chews up a whole bunch of scenery. Many fans consider this the best of the series, and I like it very much, but it can be somewhat static and humorless compared to the warm, graceful The Undiscovered Country, Part 6 in the series. Paramount's wonderful 2-disc set ($29.99) contains a new 116-minute director's cut (adding 3 minutes to the original), a commentary track by Meyer and a whole bunch of featurettes, documentaries and other stuff.

Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Ricardo Montalban, Kirstie Alley, Paul Winfield
Written by: Jack B. Sowards, based on a story by Harve Bennett and Jack B. Sowards
Directed by: Nicholas Meyer
MPAA Rating: PG
Running Time: 116 minutes
Date: October 3, 2002