Stupidity: As much as I love this movie, this has always bothered me. When discovered on Regula Station, Chekov literally tells Kirk, McCoy and the others that Khan put creatures in their bodies to make them, "Say lies, do things." It doesn't seem to occur to McCoy or Kirk to scan them to see if the creatures are still there.
wizard_of_gore
15th Apr 2023
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
15th Jan 2019
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Question: This always kind of bugged me. Why would David think that Kirk murdered everyone left behind on Regula One? Even though they did not have a father/son relationship, surely the heroic exploits of James T. Kirk are well known? At one point, David even refers to him as an "overgrown Boy Scout." I've seen this movie a hundred times, but could there be something I'm missing?
24th Aug 2012
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Question: Even though it's meant as a comedic moment, I've never really understood why Kirk would be so nervous about Saavik piloting the ship out of space dock. She's not actually flying the ship, so it's not like she's going to crash it into the wall or something. Plus, Sulu is an experienced pilot, so even if she said something stupid like "Warp speed!", he's unlikely to follow the order. Just something odd that I have always wondered about.
Answer: Saavik destroyed a simulated Enterprise during her Kobayashi Maru test, with Admiral Kirk chiding her afterwards. When Spock invites Saavik to take the real Enterprise out of space dock, Kirk is obviously nervous because he thinks Saavik is unready for command, as she destroyed the Enterprise earlier.
To my original point though, she is not actually touching any controls, only giving orders. The Enterprise was destroyed in the simulation during a Klingon attack, which is very different than guiding a ship out of spacedock. Not to mention the fact that the simulation is designed to make the cadet fail.
The whole scene is about Spock taking a dig at Kirk's ego. Being the only cadet in Starfleet history to ever actually beat the Kobayashi Maru test (albeit by trickery), Kirk has an inflated standard for what constitutes "readiness for command," and it shows in his reaction. Knowing full well that it will raise Kirk's hackles, Spock deliberately invites Saavik to handle the simple space dock maneuver. McCoy also knows that Kirk will over-react, which is why he offers Kirk a tranquilizer.
Chosen answer: He's nervous because she's a trainee and had never done this maneuver before. Even if Sulu is there, she could still possibly make one small error that he would be unable to react to in time. As you point out, the scene is meant to be comedic, and it's being a little over-played strictly for that.
Again though, she is not actually piloting the ship, only giving orders.
Even though Sulu is an experienced pilot, taking the ship out of space dock under power is still prohibited for a reason. If something were to go wrong and a quick decision had to be made, Savick would be the one giving orders to correct the problem. That's what makes Kirk nervous, not the piloting skill involved but the decision making required in an emergency.
Answer: Normally a ship is piloted out of spacedock using thrusters (see ST:TMP). Saavik ordered impulse power.
9th Nov 2009
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Revealing mistake: When Chekhov and Terrell see the Ceti Eels moving around in the tank for the first time, it's obvious that it's not sand in the tank. As the creatures move underneath, all the 'grains' move in unison, and not a single grain of sand is disturbed nor do they tumble over one another.
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Answer: Because David is working under the assumption that Kirk ordered Reliant to take Genesis by force. Khan had Chekov send a message that Kirk was ordering Regula 1 to turn over the Genesis project. When Carol Marcus attempted to contact Kirk to confirm the order, he had the communications at Regula 1 jammed so the message couldn't go through. This lead David to believe that Kirk was attempting to steal Genesis. The fact that the group that stayed behind never made it to the cave suggested that they were killed. Since David has no reason to believe otherwise, he assumes Kirk is responsible. He has no idea who Khan is and that he is a mortal enemy of his father. Khan's goal was simply to acquire Genesis and bring his enemy to him, having David distrust Kirk was not part of his plan. It just happened that way.
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