12 Stupidest Decisions By Star Trek Characters
11. Kirk Turns The Enterprise; The Wrath Of Khan
Fans can recite every line, every nuance that exists in this movie but it's not all genius.
Take the first encounter between the USS Enterprise and the USS Reliant. Kirk fails to follow regulations that Lt Saavik is vehemently keen to quote and protect his command by raising shields but that's not the worst of it.
As the audience will be reminded later, Khan demonstrates two dimensional thinking and Kirk is all about the three dimensions, using the Mutara Nebula to switch advantage. Here however it all goes to pot with Kirk turning the Enterprise away from the Reliant to evade the errant starship.
The problem is that he therefore gives Khan the biggest silhouette to fire at instead of keeping a minimal exposure to the captured Reliant. Remaining face on would have significantly reduced the damage to the Enterprise as well as the body count.
Effectively Kirk signs the death warrant of a load of cadets because, with all his decades of experience, he makes a fundamental tactical error to "avoid" the attack.