Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan

Rating:
Summary: What a huge disappointment.
Review: The so-called "directors cut" of Star Trek:The Wrath Of Khan is just the same film with an extra 3 minutes added on.And worse still,they didn't fix up the sub-standard Eden Cave waterfall effect which is badly over-exposed.At the time,an ILM effects man stated that they simply "didn't have the time to get it right".Well,now they had the time,but nothing was done.I still remember my Daily News review in 1982 stating "but with the Eden Cave effect,they(ILM)fail dismally"....right now it's basically the same as the previous DVD with an extra disc with interviews.Save your money if you have the first one.
This film could be so much better if Paramount did what they did with the first film and release it with better special effects,or at the very least correct the bad ones.

Rating:
Summary: Kahn Rules - Or Tries Too...
Review: After the disappointing release of Star Trek:The Motion Picture, "The Wrath Of Kahn" was a great delight to see.

Filled with action, adventure and darma. All perfomances, even William Statner's were incredible. Spock and McCoy were finally Spock and McCoy. The Enterprise finally had color and lights and the unforms were more space fairing then the pajamas in the first one.

Nicholas Meyer, who I met shortly after this production in the 80's, described this as an adventure will characters moving the story and drama not the special effects. There's energy, humor, drama and even death.

The Genesis Device proves to be an icon for the whole underling story. And, as far as special effects go, in 1982 - they were the best. Visual candy for the eye.

Cudos to the supporting cast (espeically Deforest "McCoy" Kelly and James "Scotty" Doohan) and of corse Ricardo "Kahn" Mauntalban - there's an actors, actor. Even the Goodbye scene for Shatner and Nimoy (Spock) was heartfelt and real.

This is my second favorite of the Star Trek features. (USed to be the first until Star Trek IV:The Voyage Home!) Warp speed this one into your collection! (The original trailers are fun to watch too!)

Rating:
Summary: What is Paramount trying to get away with.
Review: It happens. You see George Lucas and Steven Spielberg re-doing some of the visual effects and adding a few new scenes in their movies for DVD, next we have Star Trek; The Motion Picture, The Director's Edition, and okay it was very good and it improves the over-all quality of the movie but now are they going to do "Director's Editions on all six Star Trek Motion Pictures that starred the original crew? I don't know. But if they are...I don;t know if it is such a good idea. The finished films in their original versions seem to be fine as is. But the reported new footage to be done with Wrath of Khan, I saw all those years ago on ABC and it looked pretty badly filmed and edited. I think it would destroy the movie, not improve it. But they are welcome to change the music score, I was never a fan of James Horner. They should do a new music score for the movie and have Danny Elfman do it.

Rating:
Summary: The Human Adventure continues....
Review: Coming on the heels of last year's release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Director's Edition) (TMP:DE), Paramount Studios along with director Nicholas Meyer is issuing Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in an all new Director's Edition.

This new version will feature an all new 116-minute cut of the film featuring additional footage shown in the original ABC showing of the film back in the early 80's. Also, although not confirmed, expect some redone Special Effects shots much the same way some shots were redone in TMP:DE.

This 2-disc set will include several featurettes including: the CAPTAIN'S LOG featurette (includes new interviews with Meyer, stars William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Ricardo Montalban and writer/executive producer Harve Bennett), the DESIGNING KHAN featurette (includes interviews with Meyer, Bennett, graphic designer Lee Cole, costume designer Robert Fletcher, production designer Joe Jennings and more), The VISUAL EFFECTS OF STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN featurette, original interviews from 1982 with the cast and crew (including the late DeForest Kelley) and THE STAR TREK UNIVERSE - A Novel Approach by Authors Julia Ecklar and Greg Cox featurette (interviews with Trek novelists).

Star Trek II has been considered by Star Trek fans to be one of the best Star Trek films ever. However, I'm impartial to Star Trek VI myself. But that being said, Star Trek II had some very memorable scenes and plot lines. The basic plot is a genetically enhanced superhuman from the late 20th Century has been found after exile from the original Star Trek episode "Space Seed" by the name of Khan. He has commondeered the Federation Miranda-class starship Reliant and steals a new Federation experiment known as the Genesis Torpedo. The Genesis Torpedo is a device that can terraform a dead planet into a living and breathing planet. However his ultimate mission is to exact revenge against Cpt. (now Admiral) James T. Kirk for abandoning him on the planet Ceti Alpha V. Khan pursues Kirk and the Enterprise around the system in some very exciting ship to ship combat akin to 18th Century naval warfare. The battle ends in a climatic battle in the Mutara Nebula. However when the battle ends, the Genesis Torpedo ignites and creates a planet out of the nebula. Something that it wasn't supposed to be able to do. And then we see the result of that in Star Trek III.

Nicholas Meyer was given the reigns of Star Trek II, and he wanted to transform the look of the Star Trek franchise. Instead of the pajama style uniforms from TMP, he gave them Red Jackets with an open-fly type collar and Black Trousers and Boots. This style of uniform remained with the series all the way through Star Trek The Next Generation in the episode "Cause and Effect" where the Enterprise D encounters an old Miranda class ship from Kirk's time.

But as for future Star Trek films in Director's Editions, Star Trek III is supposedly soon to follow. Possibily before the end of the year, however I wouldn't hold my breath, being that it's taken almost a year to get this one out after TMP:DE.

Rating:
Summary: Okay, who hasn't rated this flick 5 stars??
Review: First, The Wrath Of Khan. Need I really say anything more?
Second, the DVD does bring out the best in this movie. With a remastered James Horner score, more space battles with the beautiful Enterprise refit, and Khan, the supreme emeny (sorry, Alice Krige), there is absolutely nothing to dislike about this DVD.

So, why four stars, and not five?? Because it is not the director's edition of Star Trek The Motion Picture. It only has one trailer!! Surely, if they committed themselves to a better budgeted, blockbuster smash, they would've done more in the advertising section!! And no bonus features??!!

Sigh, at least there is August 6th...

Rating:
Summary: One of the best to become even better.
Review: Star Trek II: The Wrath of the Khan is considered to be one of the best Star Trek films. First of all it gives rebirth to a classic TOS episode called "The Space Seed" in which a genetically engineer "super-human" is found in a tranport ship called the Botany Bay. In Star Trek II, the remains of Botany Bay are found on a desolate planet, Ceti Alpha V, along with its contents....Khan and his fellow comrades. Khan takes control of a Miranda-class cruiser called the USS Reliant. He uses this cruiser to exact revenge upon Admiral Kirk who had left the Botany Bay abandoned on Ceti Alpha V. He pursues the Enterprise to a Science Station called Regula One of which them a battle ensues. Later the battle carries into a nebula, the Mutaris Nebula, in which sensors and weapons locks are useless.

However, coming later this summer, Paramount is working to put out a Director's Edition of this film, similar to The Motion Picture Director's Edition that came out last November. Expect to see additional footage that was shown during an ABC TV showing and possibly some new enhanced visual effects.

Star Trek III will also be getting a Director's Edition later as well. Eventually all Trek films will be getting a Special treatment.

Rating:
Summary: They did not want to repeat what happened.....
Review: They did not want to repeat what happened with Star Trek the Motion Picture, which was an interesting film in my opinion, but it was not the most well-received. So they pulled out the stops for the second movie, and completely committed to a "Star Trek" film, not just a science fiction movie, which ultimately was all the first movie was.
The result was a masterpiece. An all-star cast, a great script... his greatest enemy, a great fight... The science in this fiction was great, but it was not all there was to the movie: the creatures that were inflicted on Chekov and Terrell, Ricardo Montalban reprising his role as Khan Ooneyan Singh but now with a pathological obsessive hatred with Kirk that so consumes him that he can only express his hatred of Kirk through classical literature, the Kobiyashi Maru sub-plot that ties in at the end, the Genesis Device....
This was the greatest Star Trek movie made. From one standpoint, they should have stopped here because there is no way that they could top it, but as a Trekkie(Reformed)and as a science fiction/fantasy fanatic in general, I am glad for the (most of them) movies after this, but this was their finest hour.

Rating:
Summary: The Best of Trek
Review: Star Trek II has always been my favorite Trek film, but has also become one of my all-time favorite movies. It is a very well-done film from good acting, to great action and special effects, to the whole idea of bringing back one of Trek's greatest villains, Khan Noonian Singh. There is always something occuring in this movie that will keep you on your toes, from Kirk dealing with the unexpected return of his old nemesis, Khan, the battle scenes between the Enterprise and the Reliant, the quarreling over a new experiment- the genesis device (which can turn a desloate moon into a pradise), to the surprising death of Spock that left fans in awe at the theaters. There are no gaps in the plot, everything flows nicely from beginning to the end. I just wish we could have seen Khan's attack on the Space Station Regula 1 :) If you love, or even like Trek, or even thinking of watching some Trek - 1. Buy the Original Series episode "Space Seed" and then buy "The Wrath of Khan."

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: Hailed by many as one of the best Star Trek movies, if not THE best one, "Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan" contains all the elements that made the series so successful. While most Star Trek feature films, especially the latest ones, appear like over-length episodes of the series, "The Wrath Of Khan" has qualities that put it in a league of its own in the overall universe of the series. With high production values, a stunning look and a great script, this movie contains everything a fan's heart could ask for.

Some time has passed since we last visited the Federation starship U.S.S. Enterprise and the familiar assembly of faces. James T. Kirk( William Shatner) has been promoted to Admiral and is facing a serious midlife crisis. He is no longer serving active duty, while Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is coaching trainees in simulations and small missions on the Enterprise. One day Kirk is coming on board the U.S.S. Enterprise for an inspection where he meets most of the original crew members, as well as an array of new faces.
In the meanwhile Checkov (Walter Koenig) is working on another mission, supporting a scientific project called "Genesis." On the outlook for a perfect planet to test Genesis, he and his ship end up on Ceti Alpha V by mistake, a prison planet, and before they realize their mistake, Kirk's nemesis Khan and his exiled band of genetic supermen take over the crew and ship. After all these years on the desolate planet, Khan has only one burning desire - to kill Kirk and to destroy the Enterprise. He forges a plan and then lures Kirk and his crew of trainees into a deadly trap.

"Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan" is an energetic movie that contains a number of great twists along the way and a surprise ending. With high production values and a scope that feels larger than the stories told in the TV episodes, this is one of the few feature film installments in the franchise that actually had to be realized as a feature film in order to be adequately told.

While we find our usual suspects in the film in their well-known parts, it is noticeable that especially William Shatner blooms under the direction of Nicholas Meyer. Much less over-acting than in the TV series or the first Star Trek motion picture, for the first time we see his character Kirk as a real human being. With subtle nuances and facets, Shatner manages to finally bring to life Kirk in a manner that is realistic and down-to-earth. But in the face of such a formidable adversary as Khan, he'd better be. Played by Ricardo Montalban, Khan is evil to the bone and his stature commands respect in every single shot that we see him in. His voice, his mannerisms steal the show and like the bad guys in the Bond movies, Khan is the catalyst for this movie that ultimately makes it such a memorable film.

Paramount Home Video's release of "Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan" is a beautiful version of the movie. Presented in a 16x9 enhanced widescreen transfer that is highly detailed, the film is clean and mostly without blemishes, which is a significant improvement over the other, spotty video versions that have been released in the past. Boldly colorful the transfer conjures up images of galaxies far beyond that are both beautiful and lethal. Color delineation is very good, reproducing even the most subtle hues without distortion or over-saturation. Scenes like the showdown in the Nebula are gorgeous to look at with its vibrant tinges and fine hues. The transfer also has a very good black level, producing deep shadows that never lose their definition. Always pronounced, yet naturally rendered, the highlights in the image create a distinctive look for the film that is very different from the look of the series, yet entirely authentic and true to the series' original intentions. Together with the highly detailed production design that is perfectly reproduced in this anamorphic transfer, the video presentation on this DVD leaves a good impression.

The DVD also contains a 5.1 channel Dolby Digital audio track that has been created from the original 6-channel elements of the film. However, the mix is not very aggressive and makes only infrequently real use of the surround channels. There are a number of scenes during which sound effects are integrated to make use of the spatial possibilities of the discrete surround channels, but for the most part, surround usage is limited to low-level ambient effects and early reflections of the score, to give the music more depth. The low end is unexaggerated and the LFE channel is engaged only on occasion.

Dialogues are generally understandable, carefully balanced with the overall sound field, but the original dialogue recordings are sometimes a bit muddy and overly ambient. A lot of ADR produced dialogue has been edited into the film and the differences in quality are extremely noticeable in this film, as the ADR elements are much clearer and virtually free of the ambient reverberations and resonance that plague the live recorded dialogues. Hover, the age of the elements is audible, especially in the dialogues, as the frequency response is narrow, giving the dialogues a rather harsh quality that sounds unnatural at times.

This is a beautiful presentation of the movie on this DVD, although it also shows clearly the weaknesses and limitations of the movie's original production - which have nothing to do with the DVD presentation. Fortunately the film itself is so engrossing and captivating that for the most part you won't even notice them, as you are absorbed in the fantastic story, the dramatic development and the action packed battles. To me, "Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan" is one of the best feature films from the Star Trek series, and it was great to re-experience it after all these years on this great DVD.

Jon Reid

Rating:
Summary: Lousy DVD and Lousy Film.
Review: This is one Star Trek film that has not aged well. The DVD has a rather poor picture quality with the color off and the sound is not very clear. The theater trailer is the only added bonus of this DVD. It really could use a "special edition" treatment here, mostly with the visual effects, the film is rather well edited and no new scenes are really required but the James Horner music has got to go. It does not fit in with Star Trek at all. They should do a new music score for this movie and get someone new to score it, like say Danny Elfman.