Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan/Trivia


 * Enforced Method Acting: During the scene where Kirk tricks Khan by using the Prefix Code to lower Reliant's shields, William Shatner kept delivering the line "Here it comes" in a sing-songy, mocking manner. Meyer felt that Kirk would NOT do this, as that's pretty blatantly telegraphing your intentions to your enemy. In the end, Meyer hit on a plan -- he had Shatner do several takes of the line. On the last take, Shatner, finally sick of the multiple attempts, thought to just phone it in and delivered a blank, emotionless reading of the line, hoping that Meyer would get the hint and move on. Meyer indeed moved on after that take -- that was the exact reading he wanted for the line, and that take was the one included in the finished cut. In fact, Meyer often used this tactic when dealing with Shatner.
 * Executive Meddling:
 * According to Meyer, lawyers decided who got credited, and paid, for the screenplay. "I just wrote it and they put somebody's name on it."
 * Judson Scott (Joachim) doesn't appear at all in the credits, due to an overzealous agent trying to get him star billing without his knowledge.
 * Fake Nationality:
 * Carrying over from "Space Seed", Mexican Ricardo Montalban as Khan Noonien Singh.
 * If one knows the dialogue when Spock and Saavik speak Vulcan, one can see that they are speaking English and it has been overdubbed.
 * The Other Darrin:
 * The character of Joachim, recast (and slightly renamed) from his appearance in the original "Space Seed". The Expanded Universe attempted to cover this by claiming that the considerably younger looking Joachim seen in the movie is actually the son of the original Joachim, while Word of God suggested the movie version is Khan's son, and was merely named in honor of the original, who was his closest friend and ally during the Eugenics Wars (and is presumably dead by the time of the movie). For what it's worth, the two Joachims' names are pronounced differently too.
 * Lieutenant Saavik is played by Kirstie Alley in this movie and by Robin Curtis in the following two movies.
 * Promoted Fangirl: Kirstie Alley was a big-time fan of the original series who was extremely excited to be able to play a role alongside Leonard Nimoy. Apparently, she was quite apt at the Vulcan characterization which helped to land her the role.
 * Separated At Birth Casting: Actor Merrit Butrick, who played Carol Marcus's and Jim Kirk's love-child David, really does kind of resemble a young William Shatner at times.
 * Throw It In: Harve Bennett accidentally saw the Reliant designs upside down, and the crew made the models to fit that.
 * Unintentional Period Piece: In the director's commentary, Nicholas Meyer paraphrases Orson Scott Card's claim that all works are a product of their time, when it's pointed out how Khan's followers look like the entourage of a hair metal group.
 * What Could Have Been: Heroic Sacrifice was originally placed at the middle of the movie, in an attempt to mimic the Psycho gambit. When they wisely decided to make it the emotional climax of the film instead, Peter Preston's sacrifice was put in its place instead. Similarly, the whole ordeal was practically spoiled before the movie began filming because it was what lured him back to the franchise. The Kobayashi Maru sequence was intended as a way to throw off expectations.