An untried director, budget cuts, a star killed in the first scene.

Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan didn’t have the makings of a classic.

Despite its success, there was some doubt as to whether a sequel would follow.

If you call making three times the budget losses.

In his place came Harve Bennett, showrunner ofThe Six Million Dollar ManandThe Bionic Woman.

The box should carry the disclaimer film consists of up to 83% new footage.

Other cuts were made too most notably in Bennett not actually paying anyone to write a script.

The writers strike of 1981 didnt help either.

However, no one managed to crack incorporating increasingly disparate story elements into one cohesive whole.

Less than two weeks before Industrial Light and Magic were due to start storyboarding there was no finished script.

At this point, Nicholas Meyer had one of those wonderful careers that sounded entirely made up.

Naturally, he was nominated for an Oscar.

Amongst all of this, the man had never seen an episode ofStar Trek.

Roddenberry was told to shut up, essentially ending his involvement in the film franchise for good.

Thematically its rich, but on the character level rather than the highbrow philosophy of its immediate predecessor.

To alleviate this, the effects were outsourced to Industrial Light and Magic, the hottest effects company going.

Ironically, the opening credits would be the most expensive ever made.

James Horner had caught the eye (well, ear) of Paramount with a demo tape.

The final sticking point was the cast.

However, Nimoy signed on for the sequel on one condition (which we shall discuss later).

The rest of the cast returned, along with the late Ricardo Montalban reprising his role as Khan.

The film itself had no right to be as good as it turned out.

Yet even from the start its a remarkably confident movie.

It begins with everyone dying, no less.

Considering Spocks death being widely publicized before the film, this was a masterstroke.

Middle aged, and lacking a purpose.

It was a theme touched upon inThe Motion Picture, but here it is again, with gusto.

Although Kirk and Khan are enemies, they never actually meet.

Kirk is experienced, but rusty.

And importantly, he has never experienced defeat.

On the other hand, Khan is sharp and ready, but inexperienced.

Through all this, character comes to the fore.

Usually inStar Trekthe plot happens and characters react to it.

Here, everything that happens flows naturally from the characters.

Which makes the ending all the more devastating.

Spocks death was unavoidable.

Had he not been granted his wish, Spock would simply not have appeared.

All this served to fuel a desire for moreTrek.

No Khan noNext Generation.

It also set the pace for nearly every subsequent film an action adventure plot and a charismatic villain.

In some ways that has been a blessing and a curse.