Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan Tagged Articles at Cinematical

This week, it feels like Star Trek is everywhere. I've read more about old characters and new characters and new actors playing old characters, whether the new movie counts as even-numbered or odd-numbered, and various other lists and updates and theories.

But Trek references have been all over the place for a very long time, with parodies perpetrated by everyone from Carol Burnett to Miss Piggy to Beavis and Butthead. The Internet has a wealth of home-grown mash-ups and spoofs and fan fiction. I like the bunnies doing Wrath of Khan in 30 seconds, myself, but I just saw Khan for the first time last month so I'm enjoying all the jokes related to that movie more than usual.

Here's a list of seven of the most memorable Star Trek spoofs and parodies from film and TV over the years. I've even included a few video clips. I'm sure there are more out there that I don't know about, so feel free to share them in the comments.

If you've never dived into the Star Trek universe before, you may wonder why anticipation is running so high for J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, due in theaters on Friday. A kid on a motorcycle, a guy with pointy ears, some Scottish dude, ships swooshing through space: what's the big deal?

Beyond the early raves, the new Star Trek holds the promise of delivering more of what Star Trek fans have come to demand: cool moments, the kind that make you smile or gasp or nod your head or yell "Yes!!" in a crowded theater. (Guilty as charged on the last one.) The original series, created by Gene Roddenberry, featured a distinctive, multi-racial crew that treated each other like family and dared to ask: "Why?" For example, the episode "The Devil in the Dark" asked: Why did that monster attack? What led up to it? What does the monster want?

The best, coolest moments in the movies that eventually followed were the ones that relied on those two essential elements: the characters and the questions. Here are my seven coolest Star Trek moments, with special meanings noted if you aren't familiar with the franchise.

1. "KHAAANNN!!!!" (from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

Captain James Tiberius Kirk (William Shatner) is constantly being hailed for his intelligence. He has a unique ability to think outside the box in order to solve problems, but when he's marooned on a dead planet with the prospect of being buried alive, courtesy of the wrathful Khan (the great, late Ricardo Montalban), all he can do is furiously shout his adversary's name. What makes it cool: We rarely see the calm, collected Kirk lose it entirely. His vulnerability and impotence in the apparent face of death make him all the more human.

It's official: more actors need to die. Debra Winger figuratively kicking the bucket in Terms of Endearment, or Jimmy Durante literally kicking the bucket in It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World ... Harold Sakata reaching for his unfortunately uninsulated derby in Goldfinger, Bugs Bunny grabbing for Oscar gold after being mortally wounded by Elmer Fudd in Tex Avery's short "The Wild Hare" ("It's gettin' dark, Doc ... gasp, choke"). One of my favorites: James Mason making it until daybreak during an entire movie-long death scene in Odd Man Out, or the death by, eh, inspiration in Hot Fuzz.

The list goes on at Gawker.com, where a poll got a lot of people talking. Male posters aired out plenty of excuses for crying in movie theaters like whipped little girls. One correspondent has a likely explanation for shedding his unmanly tears at the end of Armageddon: "a piece of meteorite got in my eye." I know how he felt. Ambient radiation made my eyes run when Spock got broiled at the end of The Wrath of Khan. And all that Middle Earth pollen played hell with my sinuses right when Boromir keeled over, begging apology with his last breath. What's your own favorite demise? Cinematical's Monika Bartyzel lists her 7 best here, from an '07 column, mentioning one time Steven Seagal didn't pull through. Incidentally an outfit called movie deaths.com insists on that the one 100 percent rating is the demise of the pugnacious black knight (above) in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Get out the kleenex and weigh in ...