ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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Gentlemen, you've posed several interesting and disturbing question in the posts above. For example . . .

~ Why did Kirk and the Federation simply abandon Kahn's people?

~ What did Kahn do with the crew of the Reliant?

~ Why were there no children among the survivors on Ceti Alpha 6, despite the fact that Kahn was surrounded by young and verial men and women?

Guys, in spite of how enjoyable this movie is . . . it's plot is deeply flawed.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

So, whenever movies or TV shows have plot flaws, I assume it's due to different reasons.

(1.) The people in charge miss it. Yep, they may well be intelligent men & women, but they erred. Don't we all from time to time?

(2.) Perhaps the plot flaw was addressed but it was edited out for some reason. Maybe due to time constraints?

(3.) Lack of respect for the audience. In an interview, the late Harlan Ellison once discussed a television project he had worked on writing the script for. In a meeting with an executive, Harlan was telling him about a section of the script that explained an important facet of the story to the audience.

The exec felt it was not needed. When Harlan explained that it was absolutely needed, the exec responded that the audience are like monkeys and won't even pick up on it.

[Bud Brewster]

[Pow]

The Nitpicker's Guide For Classic Trekkers by Phil Farrand.

Moments after entering the cargo containers, Chekov discovers a strap from the S.S. Botany bay. He quickly realizes Khan will soon arrive and hurries his captain outside. Wouldn't it be simpler just to call for an emergency beam-out from within the cargo container? Of course, if Chekov did this, it would be a very short movie!

Khan claims that one year after Kirk left them on the planet (actually it's six months, I just watched the opening of the movie), Ceti Alpha VI exploded and hurled Ceti Alpha V into a wider orbit. What are the chances that Ceti Alpha V's new orbit would look just like Ceti Alpha VI's old orbit?

Wouldn't Ceti Alpha V have some sort of eccentric orbit because of what it has endured? Wouldn't this orbit tip off the crew that something has happened?

And even if Ceti Alpha V doesn't have an eccentric orbit, what happened to the charts for this system?

Was the crew of the Reliant in such a hurry to find a lifeless planet that they didn't even bother to do a full sensor scan of the system and count those big blips on the screen? It's a planet, for crying out loud! How could they not realize that ceti Alpha VI was missing?

And why didn't Spock tell Kirk that the planet was unstable during "Space Seed"?

A deep cave is where stage two of the Genesis Project has been created. Subsequent shots show the cave filled with luxurious foliage and steep precipices. They also show a very strong light source. Where is this light coming from? Did the Genesis device burrow out to the surface?

Using the same gimmick employed in the first movie, the Enterprise is, once again, the "only ship in the quadrant" that can investigate the problems at Regula I.

My 2 cents: How come the Defiant's scanners never detected either the cargo container's of the Botany Bay, nor Khan and his people? When Captain Tyrell & Checkov did not report in to the Defiant, who are now attempting to contact them, why didn't the crew know precisely where they were on the planet? Would it not be standard operating procedure to track crew members on the surface?

[Pow]

While this film remains one of my fave of the Trek feature films, I have read other folks criticisms of it that appear noteworthy.

Chekov tells Captain Kirk & Dr. McCoy about the alien slug creatures inside he and Captain Tyrell. He informs them that they somehow take control of them and make them do things against their will. Dr. McCoy tells them it'll be okay. And then proceeds to do . . . nothing.

Shouldn't Bones be using his medical tools to examine the hoo-ha out of Chekov & his captain in order to determine what these creatures are and how they're possessing Chekov & Tyrell, and how to rid them of these parasites? Nope. One of the finest medical physicians in Starfleet takes no action whatsoever.

Khan wants to possess the Genesis device. He comes to the Regula space station in the Reliant, but the device is hidden, he proceeds to torture and kill the scientists who created the immensely powerful contraption. Uh, Khan, why not place those slug creatures inside the captured scientists? They'll tell you where it is soon enough.

How did Khan and his people so rapidly learn how to operate the starship Reliant? Never made sense, even with their high genetic intellects.

In the original screenplay there is dialogue that was excised where Khan explains that the Reliant starship is a sister ship to the Enterprise. He tells how he studied the technical manuals from 14 years ago when he was brought on board the Enterprise. Due to his superior intellect he remembers it all.

That still doesn't ring right with me. Isn't a sister ship the same class as its other sister? The Reliant was a different class ship from the Enterprise. I know that they could share certain systems, but they aren't identical.

And even if Khan recalled in minute detail the technical manual he read during "Space Seed," it has been 14 freakin' years! You mean to tell me that in 14 years in a time when technical evolution must be phenomenal each hour, that what Khan learned years ago isn't outdated at all? Heck, even Kirk had problems grasping the technical improvements on the new Enterprise in ST: TMP.

I realize that the writer was offering some kind of solution for how a small band of folks could run a starship they've never seen before. But it's a weak one.

Dr. Carol Marcus alerts Kirk that someone is coming to obtain the Genesis device. Kirk knows no one is authorized to do so. He also knows how incredibly powerful the Genesis device is. He then orders warp 5 to the space station. Warp 5? He ordered warp 7 to meet V'Ger in ST: TMP. Wouldn't this situation with Genesis be considered alarming and that the Enterprise should get to the station posthaste? Warp 5 seems to leisurely by comparison.

The Genesis device explodes on board the Reliant. The Genesis planet then appears. Where the heck did it come from? Was that Regula itself?

Dr. Marcus said that the device would be introduced in Stage 3 to a moon or dead world in order to terraform it.

The Reliant was inside the Mutara Nebula when the device detonated. How did this mysterious planet suddenly appear? Did all the gas and dust that comprised the nebula become cohesive and form a planet? That quickly?

Was the planet located nearby and it received the blast from the Genesis device? Still, it transformed a dead world in seconds! And where did that sun that this newly alive world was orbiting come from? We never saw it during the chase and the battle between the Enterprise & Reliant.

Neil deGrasse Tyson's got to be doing serious eyerolls over the deplorable science on this movie.

But I still enjoy it.

[Maurice]

[Bud Brewster]

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A magnificent articular, Maurice! Thanks for sharing it with the members of All Sci-Fi!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)