Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan · reception & legacy

How Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan has been received, argued over, and remembered.

The arc

After the slow, chilly Motion Picture underwhelmed, this leaner, cheaper sequel was greeted in 1982 as the movie that saved Star Trek — and four decades on it's only calcified as the franchise's undisputed high-water mark, the one even Trek sceptics get told to watch.

What's debated

It's the founding evidence for the fan theory that only the even-numbered Star Trek films are good — and the perennial debate over whether anything (First Contact included) has ever topped it.

Its footprint

Shatner's echoing 'KHAAAAN!' scream is one of cinema's most parodied and memed line-readings, and 'the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few' escaped the fandom entirely; Ricardo Montalbán's magnificent (and yes, real) chest has its own pop-culture footnote.

Where it stands

The consensus 'best Star Trek movie' and the standard-issue answer to 'which one should a non-Trekkie actually watch' — a fixture of best-sequel and best-sci-fi lists.

Named by the director

Influences Nicholas Meyer has publicly named — the director's own word, distinct from the inferred lines of influence.

• The Enemy Below (1957) — Meyer cited this submarine duel as the model for staging the starship combat as blind, cat-and-mouse naval warfare.
• Run Silent, Run Deep (1958) — Another submarine picture Meyer named as inspiration for the film's tense, depth-charge rhythm of ship-to-ship battle.