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10 Dumbest Things In Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
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00:00Not too many people would argue with me when I say that The Wrath of Khan is the best Star
00:05Trek movie ever, but it's imperfect in the way that most human endeavors are.
00:10This is unsurprising, given that when director Nicholas Meyer was offered the film, there
00:15was shades of the motion picture, but no workable script.
00:19In fact, three different scripts had been developed, the Omega System, the Genesis
00:24Project, and the new Star Trek.
00:27So Meyer and the producer identified all the bits they liked from the scripts, and Meyer
00:31wrote his first draft of a new script in just under two weeks, titled The Undiscovered Country.
00:37Well, actually, they retitled it to The Vengeance of Khan, but then they retitled it again to
00:43The Wrath of Khan before release, so they really couldn't make up their minds.
00:47Many, many revisions followed, but time was wasting and money was tight.
00:51The script and the resulting film were of astounding quality for such a time crunch project, but
00:57in that hurry, a fair amount of dumb things did slip through the cracks.
01:01So with all that history in mind, and with our love of this film firmly established, let's
01:07have a bit of fun while we look at the 10 dumbest things that happened in Star Trek Wrath of
01:12Khan.
01:12Number 10 Reliance Weak Password The prefix code is a good idea for thwarting
01:18a hostile takeover of a starship, but a code of only five numbers is in the range of your
01:24upper-end bicycle combination lock, 90,000 possible combinations.
01:28Have you ever looked at that bank of switches Spock flips to input the code?
01:32There are only 10 switches, one per number from 1 to 9 and 0, and each switch stays flipped
01:38after he uses it, thus each number can only be used once per code.
01:43This means no prefix numbers like 1-6-3-0-3 or 0-1-7-0-1, let alone 6
01:51-6-6-6-6.
01:53This cuts down on the possible combinations by two thirds to just 27,216.
02:00Most wifi passwords are harder to crack.
02:02Also, after Khan has been prefix coded and handed his ass, it's surprising that Mr. Superior
02:08Intellect doesn't figure out that this is what happens and try to locate the Enterprise's
02:13own prefix code in order to turn the tables on his old friend Kirk.
02:18But that would've meant showing Khan is actually intelligent, not just telling us.
02:23Number 9 Cadet Dead Meat To The Bridge With the Enterprise's bridge at the very tippy
02:28top of the ship's saucer, and with engineering in the cigar-shaped engineering secondary hall,
02:33there is no way that the bridge is en route to sickbay.
02:37So why then does the turbolift bring Scotty carrying the mortally wounded cadet Peter Preston
02:42to the bridge?
02:43Ever since the movie opened, fans have either been crying in outrage over this, or offering
02:48rationalizations and justifications for it.
02:51The damage caused the turbolifts to malfunction.
02:53Uh, Scotty was so grief-stricken that he...blah blah blah.
02:58Logically, they could've had Kirk step out of the turbolift on his way to sickbay and find
03:03Scotty with Preston in a line of wounded trying to get into sickbay.
03:07But then the audience might have been anticipating such a sight en route to McCoy, whereas the doors
03:13opening to this horror was indeed a shock.
03:15So that's the reality.
03:18It's only there for a punch in the gut dramatic effect, even though it makes zero sense.
03:22Shocking?
03:24Yeah.
03:24Absolutely.
03:25Dumb?
03:26Definitely.
03:27Number 8.
03:28Kirk and Bones Both Blow It
03:29The film's story forces Kirk to catch the idiot ball in order to show him as old and worn
03:34out and in desperate need to get his mojo back.
03:37Which we can accept to a point, but it does go overboard in this regard, and does Bones dirty
03:43in the process.
03:44Upon discovering Tyrell and Chekov on the regular one's space station, Chekov emotes Chekov
03:49Oh, sir.
03:50It was Khan.
03:51We found him on Setia 5.
03:53He put creatures in our bodies to control our minds.
03:57McCoy.
03:57It's all right.
03:58You're safe now.
03:59Chekov.
04:00They made us say lies.
04:02Do things.
04:03But we beat him.
04:04We thought he controlled us, but he did not.
04:06The captain was strong.
04:08Wait a Vulcan minute Lieutenant Commander Bad accent.
04:10And yeah, I'm also talking about me because what fun would this be if we didn't do some
04:15light teasing.
04:16But anyway, Chekov just explicitly told them.
04:20The titular space genius had put creatures in their bodies to control their minds, and
04:24what is the first reaction to this bombshell?
04:27Bones effectively says, it's all good.
04:29What?
04:30The instant Chekov admits this, both Kirk and Bones ought to have suspected Khan was behind
04:34every word coming out of the Reliant boys' mouths.
04:38Sure, Kirk is focused on the Genesis material and finding Dr. Marcus, but he's beyond thick
04:44here.
04:44And Bones?
04:45What excuse does he have?
04:47What sort of doctor hears two potential patients say they had foreign creatures placed
04:51inside their bodies to control them, and doesn't immediately ask how and where, and
04:57examine the living crap out of them?
05:00Kirk's not the one caught with his britches down.
05:02McCoy is tripping over the metaphorical pants around his ankles.
05:07Number 7.
05:08The Inferior Superior Intellect
05:11Khan
05:12Admiral Kirk never bothered to check on our progress.
05:16It is only the fact of my genetically engineered intellect that allowed us to survive.
05:21Much is made of Khan's intellect in the film, but he's dumb as a box of rocks throughout,
05:26let's be honest.
05:27Consider the following.
05:28Khan wants Genesis, yet tortures and kills the uncooperative Genesis team instead of sticking
05:34eels in them, or instead of taking any of the team with him when he has to leave regular
05:39one in order to blow Kirk to bits.
05:41I mean, yeah, I get he's mad, but come on, he's a super genius.
05:45Next, Mr. Superior Intellect can't spot the most in plain sight code ever.
05:51Spock says hours would seem like days, and then explains the ship's status using days.
05:58Twelve year olds in the audience could decode that on the fly, so why can't Khan or his
06:03crew of fellow superhuman, or Savik for that matter?
06:07Yes, Khan has activated his Ahab obsession power-up, and he's phaser-focused on harpooning his white
06:13whale, Kirk.
06:14And granted, his monumental ego and sense of innate superiority cloud his judgment to the
06:20point where he's easily duped and goaded into chasing Kirk into a nebula where he loses
06:24most of his advantage.
06:26But, like Kirk and Bones, he gets tossed the idiot ball and never once demonstrates any real
06:32smarts.
06:33This was not always the case.
06:35In one of the scripts from which the final film's screenplay was built, and before his
06:39beloved wife was fridged, there was a dialogue that indicated Khan was indeed an extra special
06:45super genius.
06:46Khan.
06:46How are system controls working?
06:49MacGyvers.
06:50Very well.
06:50Command and remote functions are all tied through computer stations.
06:53How could you have designed it so quickly?
06:56Khan.
06:57This is a sister ship of the Enterprise.
06:58The Enterprise's manuals I absorbed 14 years ago are still fresh in my mind.
07:04Not only would such a dialogue have demonstrated that Khan's an actual smarty pants, ergo a
07:10real threat, it would have made clear how 14 supermen could have run an entire spaceship,
07:15especially with 10 of them on the bridge.
07:17Number 6.
07:19Wily Chekov.
07:20In old cartoons, characters would frequently run the same path of a steamroller about to
07:25flatten them, or stand by dumbly before getting clobbered by a car or flattened by a boulder.
07:31Chekov effectively does this on SETI Alpha 5 upon seeing the belt buckle.
07:35Chekov.
07:37Botany Bay.
07:38Botany Bay?
07:39Oh no.
07:40We've got to get out of here now.
07:41Damn!
07:42He knows what this means, but instead of doing the logical thing, putting his helmet on and
07:47calling for extraction, assuming he even needs a helmet to do this, he and Terrell put on
07:52their helmets, step outside, and at the sight of the 14 survivors, freeze like a bug-eyed
07:57wily coyote watching as a train bears down on him.
08:00By rights, Chekov should have tried calling the ship before stepping outside.
08:04You don't stop to explain when you realize you're standing over a live grenade.
08:08You run, duck, or throw yourself on it.
08:11And even if, for some plot convenient reason, the comm didn't work inside the cargo containers,
08:16Chekov should have been screaming for a beam-out throughout their exit from the hatch and even
08:20as Khan's people move towards them.
08:22But from the lack of alarm exhibited by Beach and Kyle on the Reliant, it's obvious no communication
08:27of any sort was received.
08:29One can excuse Chekov's behavior after he gets an eel in the ear, but not his costly
08:34ineptitude at this stage in the story.
08:37It's no wonder he never made Captain.
08:40Number five, Universal Armageddon.
08:42But no rush.
08:44As David Marcus frets, as the Genesis proposal demonstrates, and as Spock and Bone's argument
08:49makes clear, the Genesis device has the potential to be a dreadful weapon if used where life already exists.
08:56We're talking about Universal Armageddon!
08:59Bones exclaims.
09:00In short, Genesis is a Manhattan Project, and Kirk clearly knows what it is before revealing
09:06it to his confidants.
09:08So why is it then that everyone's so damn blasé about Carol's cry for help?
09:13Consider this.
09:15Carol calls Kirk to ask if he gave the order, and states that someone is going to take Genesis
09:19without proper authorization.
09:21Mid-conversation, her transmission is jammed at the source.
09:24This isn't garbled communications.
09:27It's deliberate.
09:28Kirk calls Starfleet Command to try and get to the bottom of things, and when he clearly
09:33doesn't get an answer to what's going on, instead of, you know, immediately calling to the bridge
09:38and ordering maximum warp to regular one, he meanders to Spock's quarters for a friendly
09:43chat, and then finally goes up to the bridge to order Sulu to go to warp five.
09:48Warp f***ing five!
09:50Yes, it's a minor continuity point, but in the previous film, the Enterprise zipped along
09:55to meet V'ger at warp seven without even breaking a sweat.
09:58Warp five is like a police car driving below the speed limit while rushing to an active
10:03crime scene.
10:04Kirk ought to have been court-martialed for that.
10:06I mean, come on.
10:07Take things seriously, Admiral.
10:09As scripted, this would have been a better scene, as Kirk would have gone to the bridge
10:14prior to him going to see Spock.
10:16This was, however, swapped around in editing for dramatic effect, but at the cost of making
10:21Kirk appear to be not taking this whole thing as seriously as he really should.
10:25Number four.
10:26Exit the eel
10:28The influence of the baby eels is pretty shaky.
10:31How is it that Tyrell and Chekov can sit by as their shipmates, Reliance crew, are marooned
10:37on Khan's barren sand heap?
10:39Yet, later in the movie, Tyrell manages to resist when Khan instructs him to shoot Kirk,
10:44a man he says he'd never met.
10:47Is Kirk really just that awesome?
10:50Eh, rank does have its privileges, I guess.
10:52Or, is actively murdering someone just too much for even ill influence?
10:57Mm, no, not really, as he vaporizes an innocent civilian just moments earlier.
11:03And, after Tyrell phasers himself out of the narrative rather than Kirk, why is it that the
11:08eel and Chekov's noggin chooses that precise moment to get the heck out of there?
11:12You could maybe argue semantics about what happened to its friend, but it's a little convenient,
11:20isn't it?
11:21However, for the past 40 years, fans have joked that there's another reason the beast fled.
11:26It was starving to death as Chekov is brainless.
11:29Number three.
11:30Kirk's unfair tactical advantage.
11:33Show don't tell is a truism in film and video.
11:36And while it's not always necessary to cross every T or dot every I, sometimes a film really ought
11:42to just make a tiny bit of effort to make clear how something improbable happens to happen.
11:47Case in point, when the Enterprise first arrives at Regula I.
11:51Spock.
11:52Regula is a Class D.
11:54It consists of various unremarkable ores.
11:57Essentially, a great rock in space.
12:00Kirk.
12:00Reliant could be hiding behind that rock.
12:03Spock.
12:03A distinct possibility.
12:06Then, in a classic case of technology doing whatever the plot requires at any given moment,
12:11when Kirk returns to the ship from the Genesis cave, he orders tactical and immediately a
12:16computer graphic shows him exactly where the Reliant is, orbiting opposite them, presumably
12:21having just left the Regula I station where we saw her seconds earlier.
12:26Now, how come they couldn't do that before?
12:28And how can they track her through an entire planetoid now?
12:31And why does it only work one way?
12:34Why isn't Khan all, there she is, at the same instant Kirk spots where the Reliant is?
12:41And just how long has the Enterprise crew known where Reliant is?
12:45Is this how she's managed to stay out of sight?
12:48If you can't tell, I have a lot of questions.
12:50One can speculate or manufacture all sorts of rationalizations for this, like how the Enterprise
12:56was receiving telemetry from Regula I that Khan didn't know how to access.
13:00But then it gives Kirk an easy advantage instead of showing him using his smarts or his experience
13:05as a starship captain.
13:07Taking obstacles away from the protagonist diminishes his efforts.
13:11It could easily have been addressed by simply mentioning sensor damage earlier in the damage report
13:16or by having Regula I telemetry appear on the tactical display.
13:21But alas, they didn't.
13:23Number 2.
13:24Damn Peculiar
13:25Starfleet surely knows that the Reliant is assigned to Project Genesis.
13:29So when Kirk calls them concerning Carol's cry for help, the very first order of business
13:35should have been to call the Reliant and ask what's going on or if they know anything about it.
13:40Nothing in the film suggests that a call like this happened, or if it did, that Starfleet
13:44ever got back to Kirk about whether they could or couldn't get through.
13:48And furthermore, despite being told they are, as usual, the only ship in the Quadrant,
13:54they spot the Reliant assigned to Genesis not only in their Quadrant but closing fast.
14:00As soon as Kirk comms the bridge, he's ordering to try the emergency channels.
14:04So something is already odd.
14:06The moment Spock deduces there's something weird about Reliant's excuse about their
14:10Chambers coil is overloading their comm systems, that oughta been the last straw.
14:16But it wasn't.
14:17Now, from Carol's message earlier, Kirk knows that
14:21A. Someone is trying to take Genesis.
14:23B. That Carol believes it's someone from Starfleet as she said, did you give that order?
14:29And C. Her transmission gets jammed at the source.
14:32So when the Reliant shows up acting damn peculiar, even too long out of pasture, Kirk
14:37should have been able to put two and two together and acted with due caution.
14:41Yeah, I know the point of Wrath of Khan is that Kirk is rusty, but given everything leading up to
14:47the moment of the ambush,
14:48his hesitation and inaction serves to not merely portray Kirk as out of practice, but as an incompetent fool responsible
14:56for the loss of Genesis and the enterprise damage and casualties.
15:00That's almost dumb enough to warrant being drummed out of the service.
15:04Number one, the Genesis defect.
15:08Even taking the movie on its own terms, that the Genesis planet even exists at the end is beyond absurd.
15:14The narrative makes it abundantly clear that the Genesis device is intended to be employed on an existing solid body.
15:20Why else would the Reliant be scouring space for suitable sites?
15:24Carol, stage three will involve the process on a planetary scale.
15:28It is our intention to induce the Genesis device into the preselected area of a lifeless space body, a moon
15:34or other dead form.
15:36Yet, as the story climaxes, the Genesis device goes off inside the Reliant, which is itself within the Matara Nebula.
15:42And somehow, the Genesis wave not only turns the entire nebulous gas and dust into some different kind of matter,
15:49complete with all sorts of plant DNA, but all of this conveniently falls together into a sphere in a matter
15:55of minutes.
15:56The icing on the cake, though, is that this preposterous planet just so happened to have formed within the Goldilocks
16:02zone of a star.
16:03Star, wait, where did that star come from?
16:07Was it the one regular orbits, or did Genesis manufacture a star too?
16:12And how does that miracle planet just happen to have exactly the right angular momentum to go into orbit around
16:18that wherever it's from star?
16:20Ugh, and some fans complain that the red matter in Star Trek 2009 was dumb.
16:25But play by your own rules, movie.
16:27And those were the ten dumbest things in Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan.
16:32Do you think we missed something?
16:33Well, check out the article on our website, because there's four additional dumb things listed there.
16:38Oh, and before I get any pitchforks in the comments, this is genuinely my favorite Star Trek movie, and I've
16:44watched it way more times than I can count.
16:47But there's just something fun about taking a look at the media that we love, and just tearing it apart.
16:53If you liked this video, go ahead and give it a thumbs up.
16:55And if you didn't, make sure you let me know in the comment section below how much you dislike it.
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17:11But, most importantly, don't forget to live long and prosper.
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