Trekkies will not be disappointed with this second feature film from the famous TV series, even though it seems to deprive them of one of their favourite characters.

Kirk (William Shatner) once again says 'Don't mince words, Bones, what do you really mean? ' and the whole legend is cleverly camped up by the actors (and director Nicholas Meyer) with many an arched eyebrow and amused twitch of the corner of the mouth.

Kirk's adversary is Khan (played by Ricardo Montalban as the Demon King of Space, so much so that you almost expect him to appear in a puff of smoke): a renegade out for revenge for his casting away on a desert planet these 15 years before.

But the plot concentrates on character rather than action, although there's enough of that too.

Effects are limited but well done and James Horner's Tchaikowsky-style music captures the spirit of the thing with tongue-in-cheek panache.

One of the best in the series.