5 Facts on the making of 1982 Nicholas Meyer film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
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STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982)
Directed by Nicholas Meyer. After years of exile on a barren planet, the genetically enhanced tyrant Khan plots revenge against the man who put him there... Admiral James T. Kirk. Below you will find 5 interesting bits of trivia about one of the most popular Star Trek films. |
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Text Version:
5. CHEST IN SHOW Due to its muscular nature, there is a myth that Ricardo Montalban’s (Khan) chest is a prosthetic. It was in fact his actual chest, as the actor once said himself in an interview, it was achieved by ‘a lot of push-ups’.
4. DEAD END Fans got wind of Spock’s death during production, so the line ‘Aren’t you dead?’ was given to Kirk after a ‘fake’ death scene at the beginning of the film in order to keep the true ending a surprise.
3. NEW CAPTAIN Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had little involvement in the production of the film, or any of the other Star Trek films from this point on, as the studio blamed him for constant re-writes and production delays on the first one. His role as ‘Executive Producer’ was changed to ‘Executive Consultant’ and experienced TV producer Harve Bennett was brought in to take his place.
2. ST NICK’S 12 DAYS The script for Star Trek II, at one point called ‘The Genesis Project’ was but a collection of notes and re-writes when director Nicholas Meyer joined the film. Since it was so late in development he had to re-write the movie into a workable script in only 12 days. Despite his hard work, he was never given a screenwriting credit for his efforts.
1. VENGEANCE OF KHAN Director Nicholas Meyer wanted to subtitle the film ‘The Undiscovered Country’, a Shakespearian line appropriate for the film’s theme of death. The studio preferred ‘The Vengeance of Khan’ as it suggested more action but later changed it to ‘Wrath of Khan’ when they discovered that the upcoming Star Wars film was to be titled ‘Revenge of the Jedi’. The cast and director dislike the name even to this day. Of course the Star Wars film was eventually released with the word ‘Return’ in place of ‘Revenge’, which means they could have gone with the ‘Vengeance’ moniker after all.
5. CHEST IN SHOW Due to its muscular nature, there is a myth that Ricardo Montalban’s (Khan) chest is a prosthetic. It was in fact his actual chest, as the actor once said himself in an interview, it was achieved by ‘a lot of push-ups’.
4. DEAD END Fans got wind of Spock’s death during production, so the line ‘Aren’t you dead?’ was given to Kirk after a ‘fake’ death scene at the beginning of the film in order to keep the true ending a surprise.
3. NEW CAPTAIN Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had little involvement in the production of the film, or any of the other Star Trek films from this point on, as the studio blamed him for constant re-writes and production delays on the first one. His role as ‘Executive Producer’ was changed to ‘Executive Consultant’ and experienced TV producer Harve Bennett was brought in to take his place.
2. ST NICK’S 12 DAYS The script for Star Trek II, at one point called ‘The Genesis Project’ was but a collection of notes and re-writes when director Nicholas Meyer joined the film. Since it was so late in development he had to re-write the movie into a workable script in only 12 days. Despite his hard work, he was never given a screenwriting credit for his efforts.
1. VENGEANCE OF KHAN Director Nicholas Meyer wanted to subtitle the film ‘The Undiscovered Country’, a Shakespearian line appropriate for the film’s theme of death. The studio preferred ‘The Vengeance of Khan’ as it suggested more action but later changed it to ‘Wrath of Khan’ when they discovered that the upcoming Star Wars film was to be titled ‘Revenge of the Jedi’. The cast and director dislike the name even to this day. Of course the Star Wars film was eventually released with the word ‘Return’ in place of ‘Revenge’, which means they could have gone with the ‘Vengeance’ moniker after all.
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