Gene Roddenberry was, I understand, ardently opposed to character development and story arcs. Hence why, among other changes, Saavik was re-written into Valeris for Star Trek VI. We can't have an established character do something new, unexpected and disturbing now, can we?

That said, Star Trek II is awesome. Nicholas Meyer's direction was a perfect fit, and the story is solid despite relying on a one-episode guest villain from the original series. The themes of aging, death and new life tie together nicely, and have remained resonant with me, especially as I get older.

While some people whine about it, I personally like that Kirk and Khan never confront each other face-to-face in this film. It's a nice break from the usual. After all, how many action films have we seen where the script might as well say "then the hero and the villain HIT EACH OTHER WITH THEIR HANDS until the villian dies!"

Speaking of whining, let's briefly address Star Trek Into Darkness. I understand the popular criticisms of it, but despite them I still find it a blast of an action/adventure movie. I tend to treat it as as series of balls-to-the-wall action set-pieces, based firmly in the modern re-imagining of the Star Trek universe. Benedict Cumberbatch's Khan is equal parts calculating, passionate and ferocious, and the role suits him oddly well. So, he's not ethnic Indian? Neither was Ricardo Montalban. Besides, there are plenty of white people in India, and on top of that Khan was genetically engineered, so he's likely got traits from all over the world. Into Darkness, I find, is one of those films where the True FansTM will go out of their way to find things to be angry about on the internet, rather than accepting it for what it is. Certainly, the movie's not without it flaws, but claiming it's the "worst Trek movie ever!" or that it "literally raped my childhood!" is petty, juvenile hyperbole.

Back to Wrath of Khan again: damned good film - both thematically and visually, it has stood the test of time well over the last three decades. A worthy DVD or blu-ray purchase, especially if you can get the director's cut which is only fractionally longer, but adds some surprising twists, turns and extra depth.

:Edit: plus, there's Nicholas Meyer's commentary track, which is cool. Dude pulls no punches, espcially when it comes to William Shatner