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Why Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Has the Best Space Battle Ever

-Minsc-

Member


I came across this video the other day. Mr. Coleman does a great job expressing why he sees it to be as such. From Hitchcock film making techniques to James Homers musical score.

It's great having guys like Coleman breaking things down for people like me. Even if you are not a fan of Star Trek, I recommend giving the video a watch.
 

-Minsc-

Member
Man, it's been ages since I've seen RotJ. 25-30 years ages. Time slipped somewhere.

I don't particularly remember the space battle I RotJ so I can't weigh in on how it compares. If I'm to hazzard a guess, it's probably of a completely different style (more action oriented?) and enjoyable for different reasons.
 
I came across this video the other day. Mr. Coleman does a great job expressing why he sees it to be as such.
I don't get why I need to watch a video to see a guy's opinion that he uses to get attention. I've seen the movie. It's a very good space fight but, come on, "greatest ever?" The fight is less of a fight and more of a suspenseful chase. I'm not saying it's not exciting as it is but it's more of a cat-and-mouse game between Khan and the crew more than anything.
It's great having guys like Coleman breaking things down for people like me.
Yeah but then people act like this stuff is gospel just because a guy made a video about it. It's not like he's more knowledgeable about anything. He's just as much a fan schmuck as the rest of us.

As for best, I'd nominate a number of various Star Wars fights before this one. Heck, I'd say the one in Star Trek 6 is just as good as Khan's.
 

Mattdaddy

Gold Member
Man, it's been ages since I've seen RotJ. 25-30 years ages. Time slipped somewhere.

I don't particularly remember the space battle I RotJ so I can't weigh in on how it compares. If I'm to hazzard a guess, it's probably of a completely different style (more action oriented?) and enjoyable for different reasons.

Yeah its definitely different style. Large fleets, lots of action, capital ships pounding each other and xwings and tie fighters zipping around everywhere. More akin the space battle in Rogue One if you've seen that.

But its really well done, its the best of any big large scale space battle IMO even being old as it is.


This is more 1v1, intense almost a duel/battle of the wits. Definitely exciting in its own right, but I like the big fleet battles just personal preference.

However I cant deny this scene is sick. Very intense and well done.
 
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AJUMP23

Parody of actual AJUMP23
Wrath of Kahn is a submarine warfare scene. And it is amazing.


Nah, the end of Return of the Jedi still has it. Yet to be beat.
This is amazing but it is basically ww2 destroyers carriers and fighters. A different style of battle.
 
Galactica reboot has the best space battles hands down. They took everything that made Star Wars and Star Trek battles cool and mixed em up nice to make a delicious goulash of destruction.
battlestar-galactica.gif
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
WoK is awesome because you can really see the skills of the captains and how they use their knowledge of the other to scramble for tactical advantage. It's not just "all ahead full, fire everything!!!" like a lot of shows.

Star Wars is the worst. While you get a lot of visual eye candy, the ships themselves are largely nonsensical in how they fight each other and the role of fighters is murky at best.

That said, the big battle in ep3 and the ring fight in R1 were DOPE. Ep6 had a battle that tied in well with the other two fights and you could at least kinda follow it, even though the silly thing like a small bridge getting hit by a fighter causing a FIFTEEN KILOMETER LONG ship to nosedive is just silly.

BSG was frustrating because they had nukes when they wanted them and the whole cyclon regen thing made virtually all battles pointless anyway. That show really got weird the more it went on. S1 was the best.

Expanse has the BEST battles, but due to the visuals and attempt to have scale its hard to really appreciate what just happened and it usually ends in a quick flash of railgun fire, PDCs, or a lucky missile. But it at least tries to have ship classes and whatnot, kudoes for that.

And then there is Babylon 5, probably takes the cake for sheer awesomeness, especially in their big grand fights. Every race had their 'thing', you could easily follow the action, and its only flaw (shared by virtually every show) is the need to align everyone on the same plane.
 

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
Man, it's been ages since I've seen RotJ. 25-30 years ages. Time slipped somewhere.

I don't particularly remember the space battle I RotJ so I can't weigh in on how it compares. If I'm to hazzard a guess, it's probably of a completely different style (more action oriented?) and enjoyable for different reasons.

Come on, man. You're at a nerd enthusiast forum and this isn't seared into your grey matter?

It opens with a bunch of people in office chairs yelling colors and numbers for sixteen minutes. There's an opening volley of pewpew Tie Fights (moar like TIGHT fighters, m I rite? ??) And then there's the terrible realization Lando has where his cadence goes from Soul Train on cocaine to very...slow...and sheepish as he realizes....

IT'S A TRAP!!!!111one

And then like some redshirt good guy pulls a Holdo Manuever on a Star Destroyer and they fly into the Heartless Fortress and destroy the core to get those sick g-blocks, they fly away, the vaguely Asian looking alien copilot of Lando's says YUBYUB or some shit - great acting, because this dude emotes through like six inches of plastic. Good shit. Superb, even.
 

Paltheos

Member
Agree with the points in the video. The smart direction and fantastic score do so much to carry the sequence. I've watched this battle like a dozen times and never get sick of it.
 

sono

Gold Member
stargate , stargate atlantis and star trek voyager have some jaw dropping battles





 
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TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
Honestly though, as far as space/aerial/micro/whatever dog fights in cinema go, I'd give a mountain of credit that it never receives to the Matrix: Revolutions. The entire invasion of Zion with the hundreds of thousands of Sentinels and Calamareye fighting the human guerilla fighters hiding in the piping of the city and APU's dual weilding massive chain guns to guard the city's center. Meanwhile you have Morpheus and Niobe playing the xtreme rules Version of Operation trying to thread through a mechanical line without making a dickload of noise and alerting the hellspawn machine horde. But OHP, the gate to the city is closed and they're gonna ram straight into a solid wall!

It was a very good action scene cradled inside of an undercooked sequel that relied more on hamfisted religious and philosophical metaphors to try and keep in the same vibe of the original. Reloaded and Revolutions should have been one big three+ hour film. As it stands, it's like it's structured as one film but it needed to be two for money. All the setup comes in Reloaded, that's where all the meaningful world building and lore is dropped. It's also why most audiences eyes glaze over because it's like three fight scenes, an hour and a half of narrative with side characters, and then an epic freeway chase, and Revolutions is all action with only enough plot to remind you that it's the same characters and universe. They each hold an element that the other lacks. It's like poetry.

Uh

Star Trek! Live long and prosper and shit.
 
Horner’s score for Khan may be my favorite movie soundtrack ever. The rendition of Amazing Grace that plays when they launch Spock’s coffin still gives me goosebumps when I hear it.
The VFX for the battles hold up incredibly well, considering how ancient the film is. Such a great movie, Shatner and Ricardo chewing the scenery was the cherry on top.
 
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