Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Film and Plot Synopsis

When the USS Enterprise crew is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization that threatens the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving the Federation in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one-man weapon of mass destruction. As our space heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.

‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ Movie Summary

In the year 2259, Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is demoted and removed from command of the starship U.S.S. Enterprise after he violates the Federation’s Prime Directive in order save his first officer, Spock (Zachary Quinto), and a planet full of primitive inhabitants from volcanic destruction. Spock is reassigned to a new ship while Kirk becomes first officer to Admiral Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood), who has once again been given command of the Enterprise.

However, before Spock and Kirk can assume their new assignments, a Starfleet operative known as John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) bombs a Section 31 installation in London. Starfleet Command calls an emergency meeting to discuss Harrison’s action which Pike, Kirk, Spock, and Admiral Alexander Marcus, the commander of Starfleet, all attend. Harrison attacks the meeting, and kills many of the attendees, including Pike. Kirk stops the terrorist, but Harrison beams away to parts unknown.

Chief Engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (Simon Pegg) analyzes the wreckage of Harrison’s ship and determines that the terrorist used an experimental transporter to transport himself across the galaxy to the Klingon home world of Kronos. Kirk uses the situation to request he be reinstated to command of the Enterprise, with Spock as his first officer, in order to pursue Harrison. Marcus grants the request, but gives Kirk orders to kill Harrison, not capture. Marcus provides Kirk with a new long range stealth torpedo to accomplish his objective. Scotty does not feel comfortable with the new torpedoes and refuses to continue as chief engineer. Kirk accepts his resignation and places Ensign Pavel Chekov (Anton Yelchin) in the position of Chief Engineer.

While in route to Kronos, the Enterprise’s warp engines are disabled. The analysis points to sabotage. Kirk decides to proceed to Kronos via a captured shuttle craft. Spock and Lieutenant Nyota Uhura (Zoe Saldana) accompany Kirk to the Klingon planet, disguised as pirates. They are intercepted by several Klingon craft who force them to land. The Klingons take them prisoner, but before they can be executed, Harrison arrives and kills the Klingons. Harrison surrenders when he learns the precise number of torpedoes on the Enterprise.

Kirk becomes suspicious of the torpedoes and has his new science officer, Dr. Carol Marcus (Alice Eve), and Dr. Leonard McCoy (Karl Urban) open a torpedo on an uninhabited planet. They discover that each of the specialized torpedoes contains a cryogenically frozen human inside. Kirk confronts Harrison with the information. Harrison reveals his true identity as Khan Noonien Singh, a genetically engineered superhuman from the early 21st Century.

Khan informs Kirk that the people inside the torpedoes are his crew, and that he placed them inside the torpedoes in order to protect them. Khan reveals that Admiral Marcus has been using his advanced intelligence to create powerful weapons. Khan reveals that is was Marcus who had the Enterprise sabotaged, hoping that the Klingons would destroy the stranded ship and allow Marcus to initiate a war with the Klingons. Kahn also reveals a set of coordinates, which Kirk asks Scotty to investigate. Scotty discovers a secret Starfleet weapons lab with powerful ships set for launch.

Shortly thereafter, Marcus shows up with one of the advanced, and much larger, warships, the U.S.S. Vengeance. Marcus demands Kirk turn Kahn over to him, but the Enterprise warps away with its repaired warp drive. Kirk intends to expose Marcus’ illegal actions. However, the Vengeance is a faster ship and catches the Enterprise near Earth’s Moon. The Vengeance pummels the smaller Enterprise until Carol reveals to her father, the Admiral, that she is on the Enterprise. Marcus beams his daughter from the bridge of the Enterprise and prepares to destroy Kirk’s ship. Fortunately, Scotty has snuck on board the Vengeance and resets the warships’ systems, temporarily shutting down the weapons.

With little time, Kirk and Kahn conduct a dangerous space jump from the Enterprise to the Vengeance. Scotty opens a hatch on the Vengeance to allow the two men on to the larger ship. Kirk, Kahn, and Scotty take control of the Vengeance. However, Kirk betrays Kahn and has Scotty stun him after things are under control. Unfortunately, the stun setting is not enough to stop Kahn, and he overpowers Scotty and Kirk, breaks Carol’s leg, and kills Admiral Marcus. Kahn then demands that Spock turn over the torpedoes with Kahn’s people or he will kill Kirk, Carol, and Scotty. Spock complies, but unbeknownst to Kahn, he removes all the frozen crew from the torpedoes. Once Kahn beams the torpedoes onto the Vengeance, Spock detonates the torpedoes, which cripples the warship.

Both starships are caught in the Earth’s gravitational pull and begin to plummet toward the surface. The Enterprise’s engines are offline, and Kirk enters the ship’s radioactive reactor chamber to realign the warp core, exposing himself to a lethal dose of radiation. Kirk is successful and the Enterprise restarts its engines before crashing. However, Kirk dies in the process.

The Vengeance is not as fortunate, and Kahn crashes the warship into downtown San Francisco in an attempt to destroy Starfleet headquarters. Kahn survives the crash and tries to escape through the streets of the city. Spock beams down to stop him. Meanwhile, McCoy realizes that Kahn’s blood has healing properties and believes he can bring Kirk back if he has a sufficient sample. Uhura beams down to stop Spock from killing Kahn. Kahn and Spock engage in a physical fight which Spock wins.

Kahn’s blood brings Kirk back to life. Kahn is placed back into cryogenic hibernation. Kirk retains his post as Captain of the Enterprise. One year later, Kirk speaks at the Enterprise’s re-dedication ceremony. The Enterprise crew then embarks on a five-year exploratory mission into the unknown regions of space.

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