We all have certain things from our childhood, that when we see them in stores, brings fond memories from growing up. If we see a favorite toy in a store that we grew up with, we happily remember playing with it. While channel surfing, we come across a show we used to watch, we might stop and watch it because we remember enjoying it. This nostalgia, from toys to TV shows and beyond is used to sell all kinds of items. Nostalgia is also present within movie remakes. Star Trek Into Darkness, directed by J. J. Abrams, is one example.

May of 2013 brought a sequel to J. J. Abrams’s Star Trek (2009). Featuring the same cast, the enterprise crew sets out on a mission filled with throwbacks to the original TV show and 1982’s Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Colors used for the enterprise crew’s costumes as well as the design of the costume, references the original TV show with gold for command, blue for medical and science, and red for engineering and security. The costume design being a long sleeve tunic with black pants and boots also stems from the TV show. John Harrison (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) is revealed to be Khan.

The use of Khan and the general plot of Into Darkness is similar to the story in Wrath of Khan. Harrison commits an act of terrorism against Star Fleet and hides out in enemy territory. Kirk and the enterprise are sent out to find and kill him. When they locate Khan, there is a ship malfunction so Kirk ends up capturing him instead. In capturing him, Kirk learns from Khan that Admiral Marcus (played by Peter Weller) is hiding information from him and is the real enemy. By the end, both Khan and Marcus are the enemy and Kirk is left in a difficult position. Kirk attempts to protect his crew from both, but the Enterprise is almost destroyed. Kirk enters the radiation flooded engine compartment to save the crew and the ship from crashing into earth. Because of the radiation, Kirk dies in a scene borrowed from Wrath of Khan (in Wrath of Khan Spock dies). Spock (played by Zachary Quinto) looks through the door of the engine compartment at Kirk slowly dying from radiation. He can’t open the door to save Kirk without compromising the ship. When Kirk dies, Spock yells out in frustration, “Khaaaaaaaaaaan,” a line from Wrath of Khan.

Dialog from Into Darkness hints at a variety of Star Trek episodes or is a common phrase in the TV show. Scotty looking at the torpedos Kirk wants approved to be loaded on the Enterprise remarks, “I thought we were explorers,” an expression referring to how the creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, proposed the series to TV executives. Sulu (played by John Cho) noted that, “Captain does have a nice ring to it,” a small reference to Sulu as a captain in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. In another moment Kirk referred to the ‘Mudd Incident’ and Nurse Chapel, the first being an episode and the second a character from the series. Bones (the chief medical officer played by Karl Urban) exclaims, “I’m a doctor not a …” (in this case a weapons technician) which is a phrase often used by the Bones in several TV episodes. The most notable reference was Into Darkness ending with the theme from the TV show along with its iconic dialog, “Space the final frontier…”

For fans of the original and for those who have never seen Star Trek, Into Darkness is an action packed film filled with nostalgic references small and large to Star Trek’s past.