MovieChat Forums > Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) Discussion > Let's go over the numerous plotholes for...

Let's go over the numerous plotholes for a moment

posted 5 years ago by TMC-4 (20491)
10 replies | jump to latest

The Genesis Project is a super-secretive affair that is highly dangerous, and yet they only send one ship, The Reliant, out to do the test trials on it.

There are thousands of uninhabited asteroids and planetoids to test Genesis on, yet they need to find a planet hundreds of light years from Earth to do so.

Ceti Alpha V is mistaken for another planet in its solar system that exploded, despite the Reliant having sensors and a computer database which could have revealed that.

A nearby planet exploded close enough to damage its neighboring world, but doesn't end most or all life on that planet?

The Genesis device can be beamed up using a transpoter, but that concept is ignored as a solution in the film's climax.

The Genesis is going to blow up in five minutes, yet somehow the explosion is going to travel at the speed of light or an exceptional fraction of that, because they actually should have had hours or even days for the explosion to have reached them if they were fleeing it at maximum impulse.

The Genesis device can be set to “overload” without any ability to prevent that from happening. Worse, despite the inherent dangers of the device being well-known, Admiral Kirk doesn't seem to have a plan to deal with it.

Everybody seems to have forgotten that both The Enterprise and The Reliant had warp capable shuttlecraft on them which could have carried the Genesis device away from the scene, thus negating the entire premise of the denouement.

[–] Costumer (1834) 5 years ago

I'm not going to go over all your points at the moment. However, you mention the ship should be able to stay ahead of the genesis web at full impulse. (at least, that is how I'm interpreting your statement. If I am in error in my understanding, I apologize. )

You mention that the genesis wave propagates at the speed of light, or a high fraction of it.

However, after checking various sources, it is generally acknowledged that full impulse power is about 25%c, that is 25% of the speed of light.

From what I can find, Phasers have a range of about 300,000 kilometers, one light second away from Reliant. (I'm making this assumption as the maximum distance Enterprise can be from Reliant for the final shot.) They retreat, say at full impulse (questionable because of battle damage.) over five minutes. At 75,000 kilometers per second the Enterprise is ninety million kilometers from Reliant when the Genesis device detonates. .

Going through the algebra, with Enterprise continuing to retreat at full impulse, the Genesis wave overtakes Enterprise in 6.689 minutes.

So, no, not hours or days.

[–] kwestmo (4385) 5 years ago

I made post about this but it fits here.

We are told Genesis terraforms a planet. We see an overview and a simulation.

In test environment it appears Genesis can provide sunlight. That was not mentioned in the overview and the simulation.

When Genesis is activated it creates a sun and a planet. Once again, not mentioned in the overview and the simulation.

[–] jekporkins (1985) 5 years ago

Genesis doesn't make a sun. That's why they chose that planet. Remember it was once inhabitable and Khan lived there? Once Genesis took over that planet the neighboring sun would take over. Don't forget the Reliant spent months looking for a perfect planet, which includes no life and proximity to a star for warmth and replenishment.

If you're referring to the light in the caves, I always assumed that was not natural light, but some tech the Federation had that simulated sunlight. Kind of like growing plants indoors today.

[–] kwestmo (4385) 5 years ago

Genesis was executed into the nebula, not in the star system Khan lived in.

[–] jekporkins (1985) 5 years ago

Damn, that's right! Definitely a mistake then.

[–] Alerra (244) 5 years ago

They're in a nebula at the time Genesis is activated. Nebulae are...proto-baby stars, for lack of a better term. All the hydrogen and helium and matter required for the formation of a star are already there, just all spread out and disorganized. Under ordinary circumstances, when a nebula collapses, there is a massive increase in temperature and pressure, eventually (over millions of years) resulting in sustained nuclear fusion. Thus, a star is born. The surviving debris from the nebula that didn't become a star eventually (again, after millions of years) forms planets and asteroids and other satellites for the star.

Genesis didn't actually create the sun or planet. They would have eventually formed on their own. Genesis just really sped up the process.

[–] kwestmo (4385) 5 years ago

That is the capability that Genesis is described as having. It terra forms planets.

[–] Ace_Spade (9658) 5 years ago

1 - If it's super-secretive, that's why you send one ship. More mouths, more blabbin'.
2 - Who knows why the science team picked where they picked? Might've been dozens of criteria they needed filled. It also might be some Federation political gerrymandering. You never know when a politician is making you pick a different piece of rock to make his opponent look bad.
3 - Probably.
4 - Didn't it? Isn't the point of the planet exploding that it made the world Khan was on almost uninhabitable? Or am I remembering that wrong?
5 - Yup.
6 - Somebody else crunched the numbers on that one.
7 - Admiral Kirk didn't have a lot of time to make a lot of plans. That's how the Enterprise winds up near-crippled to begin with.
8 - This bugs me a lot in the shows, too. They forget they have shuttles a lot.

[–] ebhaynz (3761) 5 years ago

1. Not a plot hole
2. Not a plot hole
3. Ok, plot hole
4. Not a plot hole..the planet was a mess and only a few desperate souls survived. Believable.
5. Yes this is a plot hole
6. Possible plot hole..this has always been tough for me to figure out.
7. Not a plot hole. Kirk got thrown into this mess and, while still great and still at the top of his game, is only human and can't know every single detail.
8. Possible plot hole. How quickly can you get the Genesis onto the shuttle and out of dodge?

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I'm pretty sure 5 isn't a plot hole either, actually. Transporters had limited range in the timeline that ST II takes place in. It's not like in ST Into Darkness, which came later, where they figured out a way to transport something to the other end of the galaxy.