The Good of the Many...

After the floundering "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (couldn't they have come up with a better title than THAT?), "The Wrath of Khan" is a glorious triumph. Following up on an episode in the show's first season, the movie centers around Khan, a criminal exiled to Seti Alpha 5 by Captain Kirk. With his band of shipmates from Botany Bay, an Australian penal colony, Khan had been wandering through space cryogenically frozen for two centuries before he encountered the Enterprise. Unfortunately, after leaving Khan and crew on the ideal planet, no one ever checks back to see what has happened to them. An astronomical disaster on Seti Alpha 6 lays waste to Seti Alpha 5 shortly afterward, turning it into a desert.

Mr. Chekov and another officer are sent to the planet to scan it for life. If it is uninhabited, it will be the test site of the Genesis Project, which will attempt to create life from scratch. While surveying the planet, they discover a hideout and Chekov sees the words "Botany Bay" printed inside. He realizes too late the dangerous situation they have stepped into.

Khan inserts a parasite into one of each of the officer's ears, thereby rendering them under his control. Using them as the bait, he plans to trap Captain Kirk and get revenge for his abandonment which led to the death of his wife. Kirk's own conflicts with his aging self, his newfound son, and his dull position as admiral take the backseat as he fights for his life, and that of his entire crew.

The most moving of the Star Trek movies, "The Wrath of Khan" tackles such issues as creation, aging, and friendship. There are many great lines, especially among Bones, Kirk and Spock. The death of Scotty's nephew towards the beginning is the first tear-jerker in this movie. The lush beauty of Genesis coupled with the orchestral soundtrack are stunning, but it is the ultimate sacrifice at the end that makes the film so memorable.

A must-see for any Star Trek fan, it is guaranteed to leave you weeping. With its underlying themes of friendship and new life, it can be enjoyed by anyone, Trekkee or not. And it also made "The good of the many outweighs the good of the few or the one" a welcome well-known phrase...and philosophy.