The Star Trek franchise is boldly going where it hasn’t gone before: The Library of Congress’ National Film Registry.
“Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” a 1982 release, was among the 25 films added to this year’s registry, The Library of Congress announced Tuesday. It is now among 900 titles in the registry, which is a list of films selected by by the National Film Preservation Board,
Each year, the board, which was founded in 1988, is tasked with selecting 25 films that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant to American history, according to the National Film Preservation Act. The films selected must be at least 10 years old and are picked by the Librarian of Congress, after they confer with members of the National Film Preservation Board and other film specialists.
Cheech Marin’s “Up in Smoke” became the first Cheech & Chong film on the registry. The film “Spy Kids,” in which Marin plays the unofficial uncle to the main characters, was also added to this year’s list of films.
“Beverly Hills Cop,” a 1984 comedy and action film, also marked star Eddie Murphy’s first feature film to make the list.
“The wealth of American film history is sometimes rather overwhelming, and people often wonder: how do you recommend this film or that film?” Jacqueline Stewart, chair of the National Film Preservation Board, said in a statement. “It’s through a lot of research, conversation and discussion, and it’s through a commitment to showing the true diversity of filmmaking.”
This year’s selections “date back nearly 130 years,” the Library of Congress said in its news release. Other films added to the 2024 list include: John Hughes’ “Pretty in Pink”; the Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey classic, “Dirty Dancing”; horror hit “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”; and the 1895 short, silent film, “Annabelle Serpentine Dance.”
Several other recent tiles made the list, including the Oscar-winning Joel and Ethan Coen 2007 thriller “No Country for Old Men,” and Aaron Sorkin’s “The Social Network,” a film released in 2010 that chronicles the rise of Facebook.
Five of this year’s picks, such as “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” “Spy Kids” and “Up in Smoke,” included “prominent Hispanic artists or themes,” the Library of Congress said.
