1. Young Spock's Take On "Khaaaannnn!" From Star Trek Into Darkness
Paramount PicturesWatch Into Darkness again and look for Wrath of Khan callbacks. It's a fun exercise, especially when you spot the subtler ones, such as Bones and Spock having the beginnings of the Genesis argument on the Bridge, right down to Bones' inflections as he starts to say, "My God, the man's talkin' about logic!" But most of them are completely over-the-top and in-your-face reminders that you're watching a movie that's riding on the coattails of a much, much better movie. If there needed to be any more proof that Star Trek Into Darkness is a straight-up rip-off of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, it's the emotionally exhausting scene in which Young Spock gets down to Engineering just quickly enough to witness Kirk dying of radiation exposure from rebooting (literally) the Enterprise's warp engines. What makes this moment cringeworthy is not the actual cry itself - Zachary Quinto obviously had no desire to become a meme, so his take on this legendary shout is somewhat less crazy than Shatner's. What's cringeworthy about it is that it happens at all.
In fact, as soon as the fans in the audience recognise the scene being played out before them and start mouthing the words, they already know what's coming, and that's really the problem. Wasn't this supposed to be new Trek? And if that's the case, why redo this? We wouldn't be surprised if, at some viewings, the fans probably shouted "Khaaaannnn!" right along with Spock, if only to alleviate the discomfort and boredom. Come to think of it, Star Trek Into Darkness would make one heck of an audience response movie in the vein of Rocky Horror Picture Show, wouldn't it? Just shout "Khaaaannnn!" every time you want to cringe. Bring some throat spray, though, as you'll be doing a lot of shouting...
Are there any cringey moments that we missed? Are there any you disagree with (we're betting the answer is yes)? Let us know your thoughts, and let us know if you'd like to see articles on the cringeworthy moments in each of the Star Trek series!