Cast and Crew: James Horner (Score); Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelly, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Paul Winfield, Kristie Alley
What It’s About: When an old opponent returns for vengeance, will the crew of the starship Enterprise be able to defeat him again?
Why Watch It Today?: Star Trek premiered on this date in 1966. Star Trek II is one of the best Star Trek films, bringing back one of the most memorable antagonists from the TV series, Khan (Ricardo Montalban), to give Kirk (William Shatner) a worthy opponent with a thirst for revenge. Director Nicholas Meyer, put on a more limited budget after the failure of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, delivered what he called “Horatio Hornblower in space”, a game of strategy played out by two warships and a duel of two ship captains with strong personalities (with a little of Ahab in Khan’s insane thirst for revenge).
Other Choices: Last year we picked Forbidden Planet, which was a clear inspiration for the series.
The League of Dead Films 