7 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Mistakes You’ll Never Be Able to Unsee

Even a sci-fi masterpiece isn’t immune to a few glitches in the space-time continuum!

A fan favourite amongst Trekkies, the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is widely regarded as one of the better Star Trek movies and proved a hit after the somewhat lackluster response to The Motion Picture. A tense, emotional, and deeply human story, it helped revitalize the franchise, proving Star Trek was just as relevant as ever nearly 20 years after Gene Roddenbury’s Original Series began in 1966 and paving the way for The Next Generation and many more spin-offs in the years that followed. From Ricardo Montalbán’s return as the legendary antagonist Khan, to Spock’s heartbreaking sacrifice to save the crew, the movie ticks all the boxes and hits hard on both the action and emotion front.

But even the best Sci-fi blockbusters can’t escape a few filming hiccups and continuity errors. Whether it’s a background prop behaving strangely, a uniform that won’t stay put, or a line that got changed after filming, The Wrath of Khan certainly has its fair share of mistakes. We’re not sure how these gaffs slipped through into the final cut, but once you notice them, they’re impossible to unsee!

1) Creepy Corpse

A key part of the appeal of The Wrath of Khan for die-hard Star Trek fans was the return of iconic villain, the genetically engineered superhuman Khan Noonien Singh, first seen in The Original Series episode “Space Seed,” with actor Ricardo Montalbán returning to reprise his role in the film. At one point in the movie, Khan cradles his dying first officer, who then dies suitably dramatically with his eyes left wide open. Khan embraces the body, then looks up at the viewscreen to vow his vengeance on Kirk. It’s a chilling scene, however eagle eyes viewers may have noticed something rather odd about the body Khan is holding—if you watch closely, the “corpse” blinks.

It’s a split-second error and obviously simply down to a very human reflex from the actor, but unfortunately once spotted, it does somewhat shatter the illusion that we’re looking at a lifeless corpse! For a death scene meant to cement Khan’s rage, it’s hard not to focus on the blinking body below him and it does rather detract from the poignancy of the scene.

2) Where’s the Funeral?

While repairing the Enterprise’s warp Core, Spock takes a lethal dose of radiation poisoning, sacrificing himself to save the crew. The death of the Enterprise’s usually seemingly unflappable and indestructible first officer came as a true shock to fans. Spock’s funeral is one of the most emotional scenes in the film, and indeed Star Trek history, but its location is… somewhat confusing. The script and exterior shots establish the funeral is happening in Torpedo Bay 1, cool, gotcha… But the interior footage shows the ceremony is clearly taking place in Torpedo Bay 2—you can even see the “2” label and the airlock from earlier in the movie. The arm lowering Spock’s torpedo coffin as the crew prepare to send him in to space, is also marked with a “2.”

Now this doesn’t sound like so much of an issue. Maybe it could be chalked up to an extremely last-minute change in location by the Enterprise crew—except Torpedo Bay 2 was destroyed in the battle with the Reliant earlier in the film, meaning there shouldn’t even be a Torpedo Bay 2 left in which to hold the service! Apparently, Starfleet regulations don’t cover continuity at funerals…

3) Magic Mirror

One of the key appeals of The Original Series which continued throughout the subsequent films and has kept fans enthralled by the franchise time and time again is the bromance between Kirk and Spock. It’s a friendship that defined the ages, and some of the best Star Trek scenes are those where we get to take a break from the action and see Kirk and Spock talk it out—there’s nothing better than a heart to heart amongst friends!  However, in the Director’s Cut of Wrath of Khan during one such moment in Spock’s, there’s an odd quirk that rather detracts from this sweet moment.

During a front-facing shot, we can clearly see that in the background on the wall, right behind Spock’s head, is a mirror. But when the camera then cuts to a slightly different side angle, the mirror has vanished and Spock is suddenly sat farther away from the wall. The change in perspective doesn’t explain the disappearance of the mirror, as it should definitely still be in shot and visible from the new angle, making it a simple set slip presumably when setting up in-between shots that’s hard to unsee once spotted!

4) Tighten the Tunic!

During Spock’s emotional death scene, some viewers may have had a hard time paying attention to his moving final words as something else far more riveting is happening in the shot. Kirk’s red uniform tunic seemingly has a mind of its own!

When Kirk races to engineering to see Spock as he meets his untimely demise in the radiation chamber, his tunic is open as Scotty and McCoy desperately hold him back to stop him entering the chamber and meeting the same fate as his friend. Then, as Kirk first begins to talk to Spock through the radiation chamber glass, the tunic is suddenly partially closed with only the top button undone. Moments later, it’s fully fastened. The constant changes suggest the scene was filmed over multiple takes with little regard for button continuity. Given the emotional weight of the moment, it’s likely the heart wrenching dialogue covered a multitude of sins for many fans—until now!

5) The McCoy Head Shuffle

During the Kobayashi Maru training simulation at the beginning of the film, Doctor McCoy gets “knocked out” and “collapses” onto the deck. In one shot, his head is resting on the floor, another shot it’s high on Sulu’s hip. Cut to the next, and it’s lying much further down on Sulu’s leg…

No, shifting the head position of an unconscious patient isn’t some lesser-known Starfleet medical technique—it’s just continuity editing that forgot to keep the good doctor in one place. However, there is an in-universe argument to be made that perhaps all this flailing around was simply McCoy’s attempt to get comfortable during the scene. As Kirk later remarks when asked to comment on the Doctor’s acting skills, ‘I’m not a drama critic.’

6) Glasses, I Can’t Find My Glasses!

After Kirk and his former flame, Doctor Carol Marcus, along with their son David, are marooned on a planetoid by Khan, Carol asks David to show them the cave where the Genesis Device, a new terraforming technology designed to transform unlivable planets into habitable worlds is being hidden. Kirk puts on his glasses to check his watch. In the very next shot, the glasses are gone—without him taking them off.

The sequence is jarring because there’s no movement or cutaway to explain the disappearance; it’s as if the glasses were simply beamed off his face between shots. Perhaps, as hinted at earlier in the movie, Kirk simply dislikes the reminder of his age and wanted to do away with the glasses as soon as possible!

7) Slip of the Tongue

Early on in the film, when Kirk orders “Stop energizers,” take a closer look at William Shatner’s mouth—he’s actually clearly saying, “Stop engines.” According to Mike Okuda, (a graphic designer who has worked on multiple Star Trek projects), who pointed out the gaff in the text commentary on the Director’s Edition DVD, the line was apparently dubbed in post-production after someone pointed out that stopping the engines instantly wouldn’t really be possible or make sense in the context of the scene.

The fix makes sense in-universe, but once you’ve seen the mismatch between Shatner’s lips and the audio, it’s impossible to miss on future rewatches.

Notice any more continuity quirks in The Wrath of Khan? Drop them in the comments!

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is streaming now on Paramount+