10 Most Shockingly Improved Movie Sequels
4. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Star Trek: The Motion Picture is quite the odd duck of a movie. On one hand, it's full of beautiful imagery and Jerry Goldsmith's score is to die for, but it's also a painfully slow-paced, even boring affair that failed to translate the iconic TV series to the big screen in thrilling and thoughtful fashion.
Thankfully, it still performed well enough at the box office for Paramount to produce a sequel, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which categorically left its uneven predecessor in the dust.
What even needs to be said about The Wrath of Khan at this point in time? It's basically the perfect Trek movie - a high-stakes, ultra-dramatic space opera filled with sharp dialogue, killer performances, and an unforgettable ending.
Over 40 years later, it remains the consensus favourite Trek film, even if it also inadvertently kickstarted the "Star Trek Movie Curse," where every odd-numbered Trek movie was so-so, while the even-numbered ones were vastly superior - a trend which continued for eight straight films.