10 Opening Movie Scenes That Do More Than You Realise
2. A Tale Of Two Cities Tells You The Ending - Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
One of the establishing scenes in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan sees Spock (Leonard Nimoy) give Kirk (William Shatner) an antique copy of Charles Dickens' legendary novel A Tale of Two Cities for his birthday.
Kirk then quotes the famous line from the book, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," before asking Spock if he intended any meaning by gifting him this particular book.
Spock replies, "None that I'm conscious of, except of course happy birthday. Truly, the best of times."
Except, while Spock himself isn't conscious of it, the use of A Tale of Two Cities here basically spells out how the movie will end, given that the novel concludes with Sydney Carton sacrificing himself to save Charles Darnay.
Low and behold, The Wrath of Khan ends with Spock laying down his life to repair the Enterprise's warp drive, in turn saving the lives of everyone onboard, including Kirk.
Those familiar with Dickens' novel might've caught a hint of the significance of its appearance here, yet the majority of viewers likely had no idea.