Khaan! The Greatest Syllable Ever Told

LA Weekly reviews the screening of a Daniel Martinico's 15-minute movie, Khaan!, which is a loop of James Kirk winding up to scream the name of his nemesis in The Wrath of Khan. The two-minute clip above, according to reviewer Mark Mauer, "doesn't begin to do justice to the size, sound and hypnotic power of the real thing."

Last week Machine Project in Echo Park showed Martinco's 15-minute meticulously re-spliced creation in a never-ending loop that transforms the moment from one of anguish (or snickering for the the audience) into a meditation, maybe even a mantra.
You'll notice the crowd gets quiet after the first few seconds. It draws you in, forces you to pay attention, even if it's just staring at the back and forth eye tics on Shatner's face for a minute at a time.
"In that moment everyone responds to it," Martinico says. There's laughing at first, but then people get into the rhythm of it and study the various little muscles as they pull and twitch on Kirk's face. "It's a phenomenal range in just a few seconds."

Khaan! The Greatest Syllable Ever Told (Via Joshuah Bearman)

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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Anonymous

to #1,

here’s a clip of Wrath of Khan/ mashed-up with Chaka Khan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twe0fwtfVUc
InsertFingerHere

I wonder what the real aliens are thinking right now as this is broadcast into deep space. Probably think Shatner is some God-like deity we worship and pay homage to. Would make for a good Noir Galaxy Quest.
nemryn

Any guesses on how long until Paramount whines about copyright violations?
Anonymous

Does anyone know if the music was created for this video? Who the artist is?
Machineintheghost

@#20

YOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUU-TUUUUUUUUBE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Machineintheghost

Wait, meant @21.
Anonymous

Saw a license plate this weekend: KHAAAN!
So awesome, my NC neighbor…
Xenu

Reminds me of this:
http://eeuauaughhhuauaahh.ytmnd.com/
Maneki Nico

Tim @ #18,

I think you mean Khaannes!
Takuan

mash-up plz?
http://aftm.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/k-naan-troubador.jpg
brianary

http://khaaan.com/
Anonymous

Now updated for 2009:
http://spooock.com

(Only applicable to those who have seen the new Star Trek movie)
Anonymous

If you like this, then you’ll like MARTIN ARNOLD, who has been making found footage films like this for decades:
his site:
http://www.r12.at/arnold/

some of his films:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI3gGbAfLp8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9JJc7TEsZI&feature=related
Anonymous

Behold, “Nonplusultra” by Brooklyn’s IN FLAGRANTI:
http://codek.com/codek_mp3/nonplusultra.mov
Egypt Urnash

http://www.yooouuutuuube.com/v/?rows=36&cols=36&id=K3dD2oj898s&startZoom=1
technogeek

Video minimalism. Works for me, but I grew up listening to musicians like Steve Reich.
jimh

WRATH I HAS IT
Jay Acker

My memory seems to be of the actual “Khan” yelling to be much bigger and louder and longer.
nanuq

You do have to admire the lung power involved. If Shatner had never made it as an actor, he might have been a good sponge diver.
GregLondon

man, we went from evil mastermind, Khaan, to wtf mindless angry dude, Nero?

How the mighty have fallen.
Dr Benway

Reminds me of Martin Arnold‘s films. Or at least the one I saw so long ago: “passage Ã¡ l’acte”. Involved stretching out a simple scene from “To Kill a Mockingbird” a few seconds long into a 12 minute film.

Here are a couple of clips I found:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drDPbKquQVw
http://www.greyfade.com/blog/?p=40

Watching these clips on the computer fails to invoke the effect the film had when I saw in the theater. The effect then was strong enough to still be with me 14 years later.
Brainspore

@ Greglondon #7:

Hey, Nero still beats a whiney young Patrick Stewart clone prone to telepathic gang-rape.
rob1000

That’s the only part I remember of that movie.
jimh

I remember the brain worm that Mr. Rourke put in Chekov’s ear. I… think.
Anonymous

I think Shatner needs a retroactive oscar. I’m delightfully surprised at the resonance this scene has had.
Anonymous

Hellllooo, MARTIN ARNOLD. Google it.
dculberson

Nero was pretty lame.. his motivation was so lacking. Sure, your planet’s been destroyed, you want revenge. Fine. But destroying just one other planet seems plenty cathartic to me.
Gutierrez

Because he tasks me! He *tasks* me! Around the moons of Vega, I chuckle at thee. Around the suns of Andromeda, I chuckle more at thee. Revenge is a dish best served with pinto beans and muffins! Kirk, oh, friend, I… Oh!

I’m sorry.
zuzu

Apparently, genetically-engineered genius supermen can only manage to quote Melville.
Tim

Belongs at Cannes?
frijole

I had a chance to go see Khan a few months back at the fantastic Carolina Theater in Durham, NC.

The scream was nothing like I have ever heard it before. It was AMAZING.
grikdog

It’s always fun to compare reel good overacting like that to Marlon Brando’s mincy little Twyla Tharp-footed Scum Sucking Pig moment. I never knew they made K’Boi Buttes that small.