Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
It's Kirk's birthday, but before he can mope for too long, Khan returns to test the captain's mettle. At the center of their fight is Genesis, a terraforming project with as much potential for harm as good. To win Kirk must sacrifice the most important thing in his life.
This was widely seen as a return to real Star Trek after the space oddity that was The Motion Picture. But much as it reestablishes all we love about the TV series, it's also a continuation of that format, and whatever potential the film series had beyond extended episodes ends.
Though hardly science fiction, this is an excellent old-fashioned swashbuckling yarn. It also provides real development for Kirk, though the implication that he's missed out on real life experiences when gallivanting around the galaxy seems a bit inaccurate. Surely he's faced death before, and pain, but always overcome them. Here at last is a death he can't accept (see the next film) and an alternate life of parenthood glimpsed. Kirk is rejuvenated in the end but essentially unchanged. He'll win at any cost, as his Kobayashi Maru solution reveals. In Khan, Montalban provides a villain not only as obsessive as Kirk but one who can out-ham Shatner. (Though the captain wins this one with the immortal "Khaaaaannn!" line.) He's even more dangerous than we left him in Space Seed, having apparently been widowed, gone mad, and read Moby Dick too many times. The only notable new character is Saavik, who proves Spock isn't the only Vulcan with personality. Carol and David are bland, and seeing that Kirk's son is a whiny, wimpy scientist is disappointing. Apart from Chekov's Ceti eel and Scotty's loss of his nephew, the supporting cast gets little screen time. Genesis is a better symbolic device than scientific: it means renewal or certain doom depending on its use. Spock's sacrifice more than makes up for all the so-so character moments: poignant and appropriate, probably the most memorable scene in all the films. The torpedo disappearing 'round Genesis as the sun appears is the perfect concluding visual.
Themes: Death, rebirth, aging, obsession, the futility of revenge, and the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few, or the one.
Production: Love those uniforms! They look straight out of 18th century naval adventure, an appropriate reference. And like the uniforms of TOS, the pants puff out at the bottom. The effects are serviceable but in such scenes as the pod circling the Enterprise, it's clear the budget wasn't what it was for The Motion Picture. The camera work is done in a flat TV style, more intimate than the preceding film but less impressive overall. The music remains good, though Horner's score doesn't have the prominence Goldsmith's does. Overall production values are probably the best they could be.
Spock: Having found the value of emotions and resolved his inner conflict in The Motion Picture, Nimoy saw only one logical continuation for his character. Here has become a teacher, a friend, a Vulcan master, a captain. What more can there be to do, to give, to explore? Kirk's remark on Spock's "human soul" is more foreshadowing than memorializing, since Spock is only really human after his rebirth. He dies making a logical decision, accomplishing his task thanks to his alien physique. He dies Vulcan.