# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2024, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/61 "2024-08-20T15:15:01Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Star Trek: The Motionless Picture > Star Trek II: Spock Dies > Star Trek III: Spock Gets Laid > Star Trek IV: Save the Whales, Man > Star Trek V: Shatner Happens > Star Trek VI: The Apology I prefer Star Trek II : Not tonight, Checkov. I have an earache Star Trek IV: So long, and Thanks for all the Fish ---
**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 20, 2024, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/62 "2024-08-20T15:24:12Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > At least he has a good sense of humor about it. I read one of his books, don’t remember which, about making the film, and he thinks he made a great film, and just doesn’t understand why it isn’t well liked. He was fairly honestly in his criticism and comments of the others, but he had a big ego blind spot over V. (for the record, V is so bad even the ST PTB say it isn’t canon. I wish they’d burn all copes and renumber the films. But that’s just me.) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2024, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/63 "2024-08-20T15:28:28Z")
Spielberg got the odds, Roddenberry got the evens. ---
**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 20, 2024, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/64 "2024-08-20T16:18:10Z")
I laughed out loud every time he called _ **Ghandi** _ “Gandy.” 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2024, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/65 "2024-08-20T16:41:07Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > If he was 14 when he saw TMP I was 13 - I well remember all of the TOS episodes having watched them thru out the 70s. ---
**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 20, 2024, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/66 "2024-08-20T17:24:07Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Channel 2 Green Bay? Yup! > [@](#): > > School didn’t let out until 3:35 and I was lucky if I got home before 4:15-4:20\*, so I missed the beginning of every episode for quite a number of years. They made a lot more sense once I saw the whole episode! The school which I attended through 8th grade let out at 3pm, and it was only 3 blocks from home, so I was home, and parked in front of the TV, by 3:10. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2024, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/67 "2024-08-20T19:00:16Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Hey, one guy says Montalbahns pecks were real. I had always thought it fake. I always thought they were hilariously fake, until recently when I was reading about RB’s relation (by marriage) to the late David Lindley — Turns out Montalban in fact gave DL his very first guitar. The article went on to talk about RB having been in _really_ good physical condition and very proud of showing off his physique. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2024, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/68 "2024-08-20T19:11:18Z")
> [@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. 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) I saw every episode when it first ran, which paralleled my time in high school. I even dated an early Trekker after I recorded (tape recorded) Trouble with Tribbles for her. Trek came to Champaign Urbana in 1974, first running on the local PBS station (uncut, no commercials) but then moved to a standard UHF station. I had an online Star Trek Preview column in the online newspaper, where I summarized the episodes for the week. I discovered years later that some students scheduled their classes around Trek, the times for which they got from my column. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2024, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/69 "2024-08-20T22:45:30Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > (for the record, V is so bad even the ST PTB say it isn’t canon.) Except, they’ve brought Sybok back on the prequal series _Strange New Worlds._ ---
**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 20, 2024, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/70 "2024-08-20T23:23:25Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Except, they’ve brought Sybok back on the prequal series _Strange New Worlds._ Did they? They shouldn’ta oughta done that! Spock had no brother in the now-canonical TAS Yesteryear. (Of course, I think the canon would have been vastly improved if they’d let Spock stay dead in TWOK, but no one asked me) ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/71 "2024-08-21T03:36:41Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Spock had no brother in the now-canonical TAS Yesteryear. Did he have an adopted sister named Michael? ---
**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 21, 2024, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/72 "2024-08-21T03:57:36Z")
When Dorothy Fontana was writing “Journey to Babel,” she arbitrarily decreed that Spock had no siblings, full or otherwise. She didn’t want a horde of them turning up in future stories, and it strengthened the conflict in that episode between him and his father. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/73 "2024-08-21T04:24:56Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Can anyone find that review? Very possibly lodged firmly up the reviewer ass? ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/74 "2024-08-21T04:35:47Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > When Dorothy Fontana was writing “Journey to Babel,” she arbitrarily decreed that Spock had no siblings, full or otherwise. She didn’t want a horde of them turning up in future stories, and it strengthened the conflict in that episode between him and his father. Then that doesn’t sound arbitrary, does it? ---
**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 21, 2024, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/75 "2024-08-21T10:39:19Z")
I think her quote was something like “I don’t want half a horde of half-Spockian half-brothers and sisters turning up half the time” but I can’t find the cite at the moment. ---
**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 21, 2024, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/76 "2024-08-21T10:43:31Z")
It’s in one of Gerrold’s books, I think. ---
**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 21, 2024, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/77 "2024-08-21T10:53:51Z")
I’ll check when I’m home ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/78 "2024-08-21T13:12:17Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > I don’t know if Reed was the critic in the OP, but I lost all respect for him when he declared _River’s Edge_ one of the worst movies of the year because it was just so depressing that he didn’t want anything to do with it. Shallow moron. To be fair, it WAS pretty much a total downer: > **Summary** > > (a female school acquaintance is found dead on the titular shore thanks to her psychotic b.f., rest of cast has to figure out what to do, make all the wrong choices). ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/79 "2024-08-21T13:21:13Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > To be fair, it WAS pretty much a total downer: Actually, it had a fair amount of dark humor. That’s not the point though. It was an excellent movie with an unsettling premise, based on a true incident. A boyfriend did kill his girlfriend and showed off the body to his friends. No one called the police for days because the friends didn’t want to be snitches. Like, that’s not cool man. The movie had an important message. And it delivered that message without being preachy and heavy handed. NOT easy to do. And certainly NOT among the worst movies of 1986. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911/80 "2024-08-21T15:16:03Z")
Getting back to ST2:TWOK, it was an excellent movie and of course Ricardo Montalban had to be Khan. The reviewer who said otherwise is an idiot. Space Seed was one of the better ST:TOS episodes. And Montalban was very good there too. He was 47 when that episode was filmed, and he was 62 for TWOK. He was 88 when he died in 2009. He delivered some great lines in the movie. _Ah, Kirk, my old friend. Do you know the Klingon proverb that tells us revenge is a dish that is best served cold? It is very cold in space._ _Surely I have made my meaning plain. I mean to avenge myself upon you, Admiral. I deprived your ship of power and when I swing around, I mean to deprive you of your life. But I wanted you to know first who it was who had beaten you._ _From Hell’s heart, I stab at thee. For hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee._ And my favorite — _He tasks me. He tasks me, and I shall have him. I’ll chase him round the moons of Nibia and round the Antares maelstrom and round Perdition’s flames before I give him up!_ [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/C02fDxOZkPY/maxresdefault.jpg "Quotes from a Classic "He tasks me..."") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C02fDxOZkPY&t=43s) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ricardo-montalban-miscast-in-st2-twok/1005911.md?page=5)