Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Remembering Wrath Side Story

Back when I was in high school, I was a member of a local Star Trek fan club that met once a month. Besides watching episodes of the show (both original and Next Generation, but none of the other spin-offs existed yet at that point), we also enjoyed the occasional piece created by fans. One such film we watched, which was apparently presented live at a convention somewhere, was called Wrath Side Story.

As the name might suggest, Wrath Side Story was a mash-up of the second Trek movie, The Wrath of Khan, with the musical West Side Story. To this day it remains one of the funniest Trek parodies I can remember, although I grant that one would probably need to know the stories of both Khan and West Side to appreciate it all. Here are some highlights:

Near the beginning of the story, Khan meets Chekov.  Although the original episode of Star Trek in which Khan featured ("Space Seed") was during the first season (before Chekov joined the cast), it is clear that Khan recognizes Chekov. This has been the subject of much speculation among fans. Wrath Side Story captures this oddity with a single line, spoken by Chekov to his commanding officer: "But, sir! I met this maniac fifteen years ago, and I wasn't even there!"

Of course, the real gems of the parody were the musical numbers. For example, shortly after stealing Chekov's ship, the Reliant, Khan breaks out to the tune of "Maria":
Reliant!  I just stole a ship named Reliant!...
Arguably, the most memorable part of The Wrath of Khan is the death of Spock. Wrath Side Story captures this scene, too, but after Spock successfully saves the day at the cost of his own life, its time to sing again, this time to the tune of "America":
I like to be on the Enterprise.
All right by me on the Enterprise.
Even when some of the people die.
I like to be on the Enterprise.
Obviously, it was all pretty silly, which is exactly what made it work. Sadly, even with the ubiquity of information on the Internet, I've never found Wrath Side Story anywhere online. Indeed, I've only quite recently found any other sites that acknowledged that the parody even existed. If anyone has a copy, and feels that it's safe to post, I'd certainly appreciate the chance to see it again.

1 comment:

  1. LOL - I remember you talking about that at that time. I hope someone still has it - I'd love to see it. :)

    "I wasn't even THERE!!!" LOL

    ReplyDelete

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