Introduction

Star Trek Into Darkness is a 2013 American science fiction action film directed by J.J. Abrams and written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof.

It is the twelfth instalment in the Star Trek film franchise and the sequel to the 2009 film Star Trek, as the second in a rebooted film series.

The film features Chris Pine reprising his role as Captain James T. Kirk, with Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood, and Leonard Nimoy reprising their roles from the previous film.

Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve and Peter Weller are also credited in the film’s principal cast.

It was the last time Nimoy would portray the character of Spock before his death in 2015.

Set in the 23rd century, Kirk and the crew of USS Enterprise are sent to the Klingon homeworld seeking former Starfleet member-turned terrorist John Harrison.

Outline

In 2259, Captain James T. Kirk is removed from command of the starship USS Enterprise for violating the Prime Directive after exposing the ship to the primitive inhabitants of the planet Nibiru in order to save them, and Spock, from a cataclysmic volcanic eruption.

Admiral Christopher Pike is reinstated as commanding officer with Kirk demoted to first officer. Spock is transferred to another ship.

Shortly after, the Section 31 installation in London is bombed by renegade Starfleet operative John Harrison. Harrison attacks Starfleet Headquarters in a jumpship during an emergency meeting regarding the situation, killing Pike and other senior officers. Kirk disables the jumpship, but Harrison transports to Kronos, homeworld of the hostile Klingons.

Admiral Alexander Marcus reinstates Kirk and Spock to Enterprise with orders to kill Harrison using a new long range stealth photon torpedo. Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott objects to allowing untested torpedoes on board the ship without knowing their specifications; when he is overruled, he resigns.

Kirk assigns Pavel Chekov to replace Scotty. En route to Kronos, Enterprise’s warp capabilities become disabled.

Kirk leads a team with Spock and Uhura onto the planet in a small landing craft, where they are ambushed by Klingon patrols who order them to land. Uhura leaves the landing craft to talk to the Klingons. They decide to kill Uhura, but Harrison appears and kills the Klingons. Harrison demands that Kirk tell him the number of torpedoes on board the Enterprise, surrendering when Spock tells him.

Dr. Leonard McCoy and Marcus’s daughter, Dr. Carol Marcus, open a torpedo at Harrison’s behest, revealing a man in cryogenic stasis. The other experimental torpedoes similarly contain cryogenically frozen humans.

Harrison is taken to the ship’s brig, where he reveals his true identity as Khan, a genetically engineered superhuman awoken by Admiral Marcus from centuries of suspended animation to develop advanced weapons.

Khan reveals that Marcus sabotaged Enterprise’s warp drive, intending for the Klingons to destroy the ship after it fired on Kronos, creating an act of war by the Klingon Empire.

Khan also gives Kirk a set of coordinates. Kirk contacts Scotty on Earth and asks him to investigate. Scotty discovers the coordinates lead to a covert Starfleet facility.

Enterprise is intercepted by a much larger Starfleet warship, USS Vengeance, commanded by Admiral Marcus. Marcus demands that Kirk deliver Khan, but Enterprise flees to Earth to expose him.

After Vengeance disables Enterprise near the Moon, Carol reveals her presence aboard the ship. Marcus forcibly transports Carol to Vengeance before ordering Enterprise’s destruction. Kirk offers Khan and himself for the lives of his crew, but Marcus rejects Kirk’s offer, revealing he never intended to spare them.

Vengeance suddenly loses power after being sabotaged by Scotty, who infiltrated the ship. With transporters down, Kirk and Khan, with the latter’s knowledge of the warship’s design, space-jump to Vengeance.

Spock contacts his older self, who warns that Khan is ruthless and untrustworthy and that Khan’s older self was only defeated at terrible cost. Khan overpowers Kirk, Scott and Carol, kills Marcus, and takes control of Vengeance.

Khan demands that Spock return his crew in exchange for the Enterprise officers. Spock complies but surreptitiously removes Khan’s frozen crew from the torpedoes and arms the warheads. Khan beams Kirk, Scott and Carol aboard Enterprise, but betrays their agreement by attacking Enterprise; however, Vengeance is disabled when the torpedoes detonate. With both starships caught in Earth’s gravity, they plummet toward the surface. Kirk enters the radioactive reactor chamber to realign the warp core, sacrificing himself to save the ship.

Khan crashes the Vengeance into downtown San Francisco in an attempt to destroy Starfleet headquarters. Khan escapes the wreckage so Spock transports down in pursuit. McCoy discovers that Khan’s blood has regenerative properties that may save Kirk.

Spock pursues Khan through the city and the two engage in hand-to-hand combat. Uhura beams down and stuns Khan, Spock then gains the upper hand and is about to kill Khan, but Uhura stops him. Khan’s blood revives Kirk.

One year later, Kirk speaks at Enterprise’s re-dedication ceremony. Khan is sealed in his cryogenic pod and stored with his compatriots. The Enterprise crew embarks on a five-year exploratory mission.

Star Trek Films

You can find a full index of Star Trek films here.

Star Trek TV Series, Films, and Documentaries

You can find a full index of Star Trek TV series, films, documentaries here.

Trivia (Film)

• After the release of Star Trek, Abrams, Burk, Lindelof, Kurtzman, and Orci agreed to produce its sequel.
• Filming began in January 2012.
• Into Darkness’s visual effects were primarily created by Industrial Light & Magic.
• The film was converted to 3D during its post-production stage.
• Star Trek Into Darkness premiered at Event Cinemas in Sydney, Australia, on 23 April 2013, and was released on 09 May in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Peru, with other countries following.
• The film was released on 17 May in the United States and Canada, opening at IMAX cinemas a day earlier.
• Into Darkness was a financial success and received positive reviews from critics.
• Its gross earnings of over $467 million worldwide have made it the highest-grossing entry in the Star Trek franchise.
• At the 86th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Visual Effects.
• It was followed by Star Trek Beyond in 2016.

Trivia (General)

You can read interesting trivia and background details about the Star Trek franchise here.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s): JJ Abrams.
• Producer(s): JJ Abrams, Bryan Burk, Damon Lindelof, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci.
• Writer(s): Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof.
• Music: Michael Giacchino.
• Cinematography: Dan Mindel.
• Editor(s): Mary Jo Markey and Maryann Brandon.
• Production: Bad Robot Productions, Skydance Productions, and K/O Paper Products.
• Distributor(s): Paramount Pictures.
• Release Date: 23 April 2013 (Sydney) and 17 May 2013 (US).
• Running Time: 133 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.