After talking with a friend about drafts of The Wrath of Khan, I decided to watch it along side the one shooting script I have for it.
Still lots to mine in here, even if it's not an early draft. I'd forgotten Saavik was originally half Romulan, which is why she has flashes of emotion in the movie:
I forgot there was also a cut involving Chekov and Terrell finding a child on Khan's ship before they're ambushed. If you listen carefully in the movie, you can hear Terrell say "but the child..."
Glad they cut this. A little on the nose. And he mentions watching her die several more times after this to bring the point home.
Ah, the infamous cut of Sulu getting his own command because "Shatner somehow couldn't get the words out." I am surprised, though, to see the Excelsior mentioned in ST:2. I knew he was getting his own command, but didn't realize they were setting up the Excelsior so soon.
There's more to Spock and Saavik's talk in Vulcan, which comes across more as a lesson. Cutting it off at "Nobody's Perfect" though makes it a nice little humour beat.
Man, if Roddenberry hated how military Nick Meyer portrayed Starfleet on screen, he must have really hated how military he made them in the script:
There's a bit more in the elevator with Kirk and Saavik. She thanks Kirk for her grade on the Kobayashi Maru test, but doesn't feel she deserves it. Kirk suggests she take it again.
The scripts sequence of events is a little scrambled here, but lost in the shuffle is a scene where Khan learns about Genesis. Afterwards we have the Regula 1/Chekov scene, followed by the Regula team talking about escaping, followed by Carol attempting to contact Kirk, then oddly Kirk taking command of the Enterprise THEN asking Spock for command.
