# Ricardo Montalban miscast in ST2:TWOK **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies, star-trek-paramount\ **Created:** [August 19, 2024, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911 "2024-08-19T18:40:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/21 "2024-08-19T20:14:47Z")
I guess they needed a “Latin lover” so Madlyn Rhue’s character would would get all crushy on him. Still not as bad as Welshman Richard Burton in Rains of Ranchipur [![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i210/rainsofranchipur1955_1024x767_05312013100927.jpg?w=575) ](https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i210/rainsofranchipur1955_1024x767_05312013100927.jpg?w=575) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/22 "2024-08-19T21:01:07Z")
So… Does anyone remember the review in the OP? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/23 "2024-08-19T21:56:37Z")
[Here’s the only review I could find](https://musingsofamiddleagedgeek.blog/2017/06/04/yes-we-khan-star-trek-ii-the-wrath-of-khan-at-35/) that says Montalban was miscast. Here’s the exact quote: > The late Ricardo Montalban (a bit miscast as a North Indian Sikh) really gave the movie his all. Of course, there are two notes to this review. - The author says his favorite Star Trek movie was **The Motion Picture** , so his taste is suspect from the start. - He also says he saw TMP when he was in 8th grade. If he was 14 when he saw TMP, that means he was at best four years old when the original series was cancelled. In the days before home video, that means he never saw (or didn’t remember) “Space Seed” before he saw TWOK. So what does he know! ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/24 "2024-08-19T22:03:19Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > In the days before home video, that means he never saw (or didn’t remember) “Space Seed” before he saw TWOK. Not true. _Star Trek_ was re-run extensively in syndication in the 70s. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/25 "2024-08-19T22:10:06Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Not true. _Star Trek_ was re-run extensively in syndication in the 70s. That’s the ONLY place I ever saw it. We didn’t even get NBC in the 60s. (I had to see The Monkees in syndication, too. 🙂 ) I was 17 when ST: The Motion Sickness came out, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/26 "2024-08-19T22:14:00Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > (I had to see The Monkees in syndication, too. 🙂 ) I got to watch that on Nickelodeon in the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/27 "2024-08-19T22:18:22Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > I got to watch that on Nickelodeon in the 80s. In the early 70s, CBS would show episodes at 12ish local on Saturday’s after the cartoons were done. They rotated between the Children’s Film Festival, and Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp. I was so conditioned by that, that, even now when I hear “For Pete’s Sake”, which was used as the closing credits song for syndication, I know it is time to turn off the TV and go outside, 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/28 "2024-08-19T22:18:44Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Not true. _Star Trek_ was re-run extensively in syndication in the 70s. Not where I lived. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/29 "2024-08-19T22:19:09Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Does anyone remember the review in the OP? I believe it was by Rex Reed, who is a pompous twit, but who was one of the best-known movie reviewers of that era. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/30 "2024-08-19T22:33:28Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > The late Ricardo Montalban (a bit miscast as a North Indian Sikh) really gave the movie his all. Well that’s a pretty mild comment about hiring a Mexican-American as a South Asian character. > [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > The author says his favorite Star Trek movie was **The Motion Picture** , so his taste is suspect from the start. He says TMP was “a personal favorite” which doesn’t mean it was his favorite Star Trek movie, just that he liked it more than a lot of other movies. > [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > He also says he saw TMP when he was in 8th grade. If he was 14 when he saw TMP, that means he was at best four years old when the original series was cancelled. In the days before home video, that means he never saw (or didn’t remember) “Space Seed” before he saw TWOK. He’s about my age, and by the time TWOK was out, I had seen every Trek episode multiple times (like many another good Trekker) in syndication. Even in [“Star Trek Lives”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_Lives!) from 1975 talks about how common syndication was (and how syndicated versions of the episodes trimmed scenes, sometimes badly) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/31 "2024-08-19T22:42:10Z")
Roger Ebert gave it a thumbs up and a nice review, in contrast. This thread is eye opening. I had thought the Trek movies were all badly reviewed and thought unimportant by most reviewers. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/32 "2024-08-19T22:47:16Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > He’s about my age, and by the time TWOK was out, I had seen every Trek episode multiple times (like many another good Trekker) in syndication. Same here, on both counts. When I was a tween, in the mid-to-late '70s, it was still several years before we had cable, so we only had four channels (CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS); all three commercial stations played old syndicated series during fringe time slots, and the local CBS affiliate played Star Trek re-runs every weekday afternoon. Thus, it was something I watched pretty much every afternoon, after arriving home from school. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/33 "2024-08-19T22:47:33Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I believe it was by Rex Reed, who is a pompous twit, but who was one of the best-known movie reviewers of that era. I’m not finding his review. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/34 "2024-08-19T22:50:26Z")
The “even numbered Trek: good; odd-numbered Trek: bad” law covered reviewers’ reactions, too. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/35 "2024-08-19T22:52:22Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I’m not finding his review. I took a look through Google, and I couldn’t find it either. I just remember friends, who were, like me, Trek fans, making fun of Reed for making that comment. (Then again, it’s a 42 year old memory, so I may well have the name wrong.) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/36 "2024-08-19T22:52:24Z")
I had to buy the DVDs to see them. I still have them. Probably 4 or 5 eps per disc. I saw a few on TV late at night and knew I’d love them. My kids grew up watching them. I made made them Trekkies, and Beatlemaniacs (I had my oldest brothers LPs) accidentally. I’m a terrible parent. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/37 "2024-08-19T22:58:51Z")
Google, Roger Ebert had a column or something called “Can a bad review ruin a good movie?” I think he mentions Reeds bad review of Khan. That’s all I could find. I didn’t read the whole column, tho’ ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/38 "2024-08-19T23:04:14Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > This is all very fascinating, but did he speak with a Mexican accent? 🤨 From the Wikipedia article: > _He was born in [Mexico City](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_City); raised in a Catholic family, he finished his studies in a Jesuit University in Mexico, [Universidad Iberoamericana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universidad_Iberoamericana)._ Stranger ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/39 "2024-08-19T23:29:41Z")
I’m sure he spoke _Spanish_ with a Mexican accent, but did it carry over into any other language … like English or Punjab? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/40 "2024-08-19T23:43:09Z")
Or Japanese? [![](https://i0.wp.com/beardedgentlemenmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/sayonara06.jpg?resize=768%2C430&ssl=1) ](https://i0.wp.com/beardedgentlemenmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/sayonara06.jpg?resize=768%2C430&ssl=1) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911.md?page=3)