Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn (1982)

William Shatner breaks bad in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn,” the best entry of the “Star Trek” films. That it followed dullsville “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” is amazing. Here, Admiral Kirk is retired from starship command and slowly collecting dust in his antique-filled home. He is bored and old. But way out in space, the villainous Kahn -– a character in the old TV show -– returns from exile to dish out revenge in heaps. Despite some outlandish coincidences to get Kirk and his crew on the Enterprise and some stilted acting, this “Trek” dishes out too-cool-for-school drama, scores of battleship close calls and a heroic sacrifice. Shatner as Kirk digs into anger and obsessive streak not displayed enough for my taste, and Ricardo Montalban as Kahn effortlessly steals the film. Kahn and his crew are far too buff to be stragglers left marooned on a dessert planet 15 years prior, and their outfits are pure “Road Warrior” crossed with “CATS,” but the man nails the role like he’s doing McBeth or Ahab. This isn’t the stellar 5-star winner I recall from years ago, but for a sci-fi fix, it does quite nicely. A