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Director Nicholas Meyer Talks About The Wrath of Khan

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By GustavoLeao / 13:41, 5 November 2009 / Star Trek: Nemesis

The latest issue of Star Trek Magazine features a new interview with Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country director Nicholas Meyer and here are few excerpts, courtesy of the publishers.

Wrath of Khan director Nicholas Meyer talks about this issue's greatest Star Trek Villain, Khan Noonien Singh...

  

Did you ever regret that there wasn't a physical confrontation between Khan and Kirk in Star Trek II?


No. I never gave it a thought. I know that Bill Shatner did. I thought it was cheesy. I can point to a number of films, and a number of real life events, in which the protagonist and the antagonist never meet. It did not concern me over much. I guess I thought that that kind of confrontation with these two people, being gladiators, would be cheesy, stereotyped and familiar.


If there's a regret that I have - which I didn't have for the first 20 years and then somebody pointed it out to me, and I thought, "There's an interesting missed moment" - it's that Khan never sees Kirk get away. He goes to his death believing that he has succeeded. I wonder, if I'd thought of it, would I have?


I have some ambivalence about taking it away from him, but it's very interesting that we didn't even think of it. You play that moment earlier when he realizes that there is no override, and they can't do anything about raising the shields. That look of consternation - how different would that have been from his look at the end? Other than the man who goes to his death believing that he's avenged his wife.

 

Khan has become the gold standard for Star Trek movie villains. Did you have any idea that he would resonate for so long?


Truthfully I can't say that I predicted anything like his preeminence, or anything like the stature which has been accorded this movie as a total construct. Never.

I did know as I was watching Montalban in his first scenes in the cargo bays that I was watching a very great actor, and I had  had no idea. I remember thinking, as I watched him and he was breaking my heart, that he should play Lear. He made some self-deprecating comment about his accent, which

I remember thinking was completely irrelevant.

Notwithstanding any Hispanic inflection, his enunciation, his articulation was perfect. That's as close as I came to realizing that Khan had a kind of Lear-like grandeur when played by this guy. The arrogance and the pain walked hand in hand.

Montalban was not typically an angry guy, not, as some actors, a "squawky bird." He was a gentleman of a rather old-school cut. Humorous, generous, very smart in a kind of intuitive way.


The full interview can be found on the latest issue of Star Trek Magazine, now on sale.



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Nicholas Meyer did so much for Trek... | Report this post to moderator
By: Muldfeld (Odo's file, contact) @ 00:58:28 on Nov 08, 2009

Although Ira Steven Behr took things much further in terms of realism and political insight and subtlety, quality Trek owes a real debt to Meyer for transforming the franchise with all kinds of innovations in terms of military protocol and how battles looked and were waged as well as some of the themes. Brilliant work!


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Ricardo Montalban _made_ this movie | Report this post to moderator
By: The Magrathean (Odo's file, contact) @ 22:12:35 on Nov 05, 2009

Think about it. This movie depends so heavily on the villain, and I don't think we'd regard it as a classic today if Montalban wasn't as good as Meyer has pointed out in this interview.

Imagine someone else playing the role. Take some of the other actors who have portrayed Trek villains. Like Bana. As much as I appreciated his performance as Nero, I doubt he could play Kahn with that nobility and arrogance - Bana pretty much relied on hate and rage, always on the surface.

Tom Hardy, who played Shinzon? A very good actor in his own right. Maybe in a few decades he could approach playing the role, but right now he's still too young to play Kahn with the right amount of arrogance and nobility.

Yes, Star Trek II also has a great story and probably some of the best acting by TOS actors in any of their movies. But first and last, it's Kahn himself that makes this movie stand out even amongst non-Trekkies.


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Why am I not surprised... | Report this post to moderator
By: prometheus 59650 (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 14:02:05 on Nov 05, 2009

...that Shatner's ego would want a fistfight.



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"We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of our culture." ---Pastor Ray Mummert speaking of those who favor Darwinian Evolution over Intelligent Design.

"If this is your God, he's not very impressive. He has so many psychological problems; he's so insecure. He demands worship every seven days. He goes out and creates faulty Humans and then blames them for his own mistakes. He's a pretty poor excuse for a Supreme Being." ---Gene Roddenberry


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  • RE: Why am I not surprised... | Report this post to moderator
    By: katefan (Odo's file, contact) @ 23:36:23 on Nov 05, 2009

    Considering how well the movie turned out it says much for Meyer's judgment to go with his instincts rather than bowing to the lead actor's wants/needs.

    I will concede, however, that I liked Kirk's fight with Kruge in ST III because the klingon commander was portrayed as a scary tough dude, tossing Kirk around so easily. I am not opposed to a fist fight if it fits in with the narrative; in Star Trek III it works, for Star Trek II it would not have.

    --------

    "Oh, I'll wake up
    To any sound of engines,
    Ev'ry gull a seeking craft..."

    Kate Bush, And Dream of Sheep


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