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Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan (Director's Edition)

Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan (Director's Edition)

List Price: $19.99
Your Price: $14.99
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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A minority view: I didn' t enjoy the film
Review: I just bought the Director's Edition DVD and watched this film for the first time in quite a few years--and I'm startled by how much I disliked it. It's never been one of my favorites, way too blood-soaked for my tastes, but it was far more flawed than I remembered. The script is melodramatic and often laughably corny. Khan is a scenery-chewing madman with none of the nobility and nuance of the original "Space Seed" character. The pacing is sluggish, with long gaps between lines of dialogue and spaceships crawling along at a snail's pace (and this is the opinion of a viewer who likes ST:TMP).

And continuity and logic errors abound. Why have so many senior officers in a cadet simulation? Why use live explosives in a simulator? Why can't the Reliant crew tell the Ceti Alpha system is missing a planet? Why didn't Starfleet declare the system off-limits because Khan was there? How did Khan recognize Chekov, who wasn't in "Space Seed?" How did the multi-ethnic supermen of "Space Seed" turn into a bunch of blond Aryans, and if they've been there 15 years how come they all look under 25? How can the refugees' paraphernalia include a Starfleet belt buckle and sickbay console of movie-era design? When Spock told Saavik to pilot the ship out of spacedock, why did she take the command chair instead of the helm? How could Carol's transmission to Kirk be "jammed at the source" when the Reliant was three days away? When the Reliant raised its shields, why did Kirk wait so darn long before raising his? When Spock used the prefix code to drop Reliant's shields, why did Kirk wait even longer before firing? Why did Scotty bring his wounded nephew to the bridge instead of sickbay? (And did we really need to have Peter's horribly corny lines restored for this edition?) Why did the Ceti eel leave Chekov instead of killing him? Why didn't a man of Khan's intellect see through Spock's obvious "hours will seem like days" code? Doesn't Starfleet have any better codes than that? Why do the communicators look bulkier and cruder than they did decades earlier in "The Cage?" How can Saavik talk while she's rematerializing? Why didn't Kirk notice that Spock had left the bridge? How could Genesis work on a nebula when it was programmed to work on a planet? (Never mind how ludicrous the concept is to begin with.) When exactly did David find out Kirk was his father? And how can Kirk say he's "never faced death" after Tarsus IV, the Farragut, Gary Mitchell, Edith Keeler and Miramanee? Honestly, I don't understand why this is considered the best Trek movie ever. Only THE FINAL FRONTIER was lamer than this.

The DVD features I've watched so far are decent, but I don't like the editing on the novelist segment--they should let the material stand on its own without all the clips and intercuts. The animated menus annoy me, but all DVDs have those. Come on, stop wasting my time and just show me my options already! The Commentaries menu should have an option for No Commentary--I started out with the text commentary and found it too distracting, but I couldn't stop it short of turning my DVD player off and on again. Come to think of it, I should've left it on--I might've found it more entertaining than the film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: In the 23rd Century...
Review: Star Trek II, III, IV are the strongest in the series of original cast movies. VI is a finely done ending, but these three "treks" support each other. Since the day of Melville's "Moby Dick", there hasn't been a classic, simple, and enganging story of revenge and hatred. Nick Meyer's directorial takeover from Robert Wise (ST:TMP), was a good choice since Meyer likes to lay back on his classic-story roots. He portrays the characters, for the first time, as human...not forever youthful heroes. The Kirk-Khan rivalry take the vengeance scenario to new heights as past and present come together. ST II is about the acceptance of loss, the past that comes full circle, and the bystanding people who get caught in the middle. The Wrath of Khan remains, by far, the best in the series...and a chilling awakening of a realistic storyline. It may be sci-fi, but you can be assured the tale hits home...

Robert Eldridge (...)

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Manufacturing Problems Crash Wrath of Khan
Review: I was delighted when I received the director's edition, but utterly dismayed when the second straight copy I received was defective.
The movie DVD skipped 10 minutes and the extras DVD would not play at all. This was returned and Amazon quickly (kudos to Amazon) sent a replacement. Unfortunately, this defective in exactly the same way. The problem is not with my DVD player since I've had no similar problems with other DVDs and these problems were in exactly the same place.
Someday I hope to receive this director's edition again so I can write a real review of the DVD edition of what is one of the best Star Trek movies.
P.S. I regard Nemesis, the new one, as one of the worst.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Defective Products Disappoints
Review: I was very disappointed in this because of technical problems.
"Wrath of Khan" is one of the best Star Trek movies. However, the first copy I received of the director's edition and the replacement were defective in the same ways. The movie skipped forward 10 minutes and the bonus features DVD would not play.
These problems were identical on both copies, pointing to a manufacturing problem since I have not experienced this problem on other DVDs I own.
Someday, I'll try to order it again and then maybe I can see and review all of the extras I had hoped to see.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Get the VHS version.
Review: The Director's Edition was, overall, very disappointing. Although the rextras were nice, it would have been great to get more than one trailer. I do, however, take issue with the transfer to DVD of the feature itself.

It's blocky. It's grainy. Watch the VHS release (the one in the box set, where you could see the Enterprise if you lined all 6 tapes up) if you don't believe me. The picture is much smoother and finished looking. The additional scenes were nice though, but I've noticed they changed the timing and pace sometimes. Overall, the VHS beats the widescreen DVD.

The movie itself is the best in the entire series and should be included in film courses at college so it remains part of our collective heritage.

So go...and see if you can track down an older copy. Or wait for paramount to releease yet another version of the movie on DVD. This is for die-hard Trekkers only.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A DVD worthy of the movie
Review: If you're reading this review, you probably know that _Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan_ is one of the best action/adventure movies of the 1980's. Not only is it a lot of fun, it's also filled with powerful themes: revenge, ageing, friendship, and more.

What you're more likely to want to know is whether this new special edition DVD is worth your money, and the answer is yes. The movie looks and sounds great, and there are a few extended scenes (previously seen only in TV versions) that make the story even stronger.

Best of all, though, is the voiceover commentary by director Nicholas Meyer. Meyer shows how much he cared about making this a great movie, and that he really knows how to tell a compelling story.. which makes me wonder why he hasn't been directing more films (Star Trek and otherwise) over the years. You can learn a lot about what goes into making a good movie from Meyer, and from the text commentary.

I haven't checked out all of the features on disc 2--I'm not enough of a trekkie to care about what the authors of Trek novels have to say about anything, or to sit through all of the promotional interviews from the time of the film's theatrical release. What I do know is that _The Wrath of Khan_ has long been one of my favorite movies, and is now one of my favorite DVD's, too.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "KHAAAAN ! ! ! ! ! " - James T. Kirk
Review: This was always my favorite Star Trek movie when I was a kid. It is still among my favorites. The space battles are remarkable; especially for the era in which they were made. Industrial Light and Magic, George Lucas's special effects company, spearheaded the f/x on the film. Always ahead of their time, groundbreakers I.L.M. created some rather amazing battles that scar the newly refitted U.S.S. Enterprise.

Ricardo Montalbon was great. Reprising the role of "Khan" from the original series, Mr. Montalbon was the ultimate arch enemy. The story was pretty good and was a vast improvement over Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

I bought the special edition of this with some of the edited scenes cut back into the movie. Some were interesting, but only one, I thought was needed. I won't get into them because they are a bit of a surprise for those who have seen the movie and would not make sense to those who have never seen the movie. Probably the most dramatic scene in the history of Star Trek takes place at the end of this movie. Again, can't spoil in case some one on earth hasn't seen it.

This is a really good movie. I enjoyed it thoroughly and continue to do so to this day, almost 20 years after the first time I saw it. . .

epc

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Khan!!!
Review: This is a great movie! I love the original series and detest the post-TNG shows, and this movie is a perfect reminder of why the original show rocked. A great film for Trekkies and non-Trekkies, pick it up and enjoy it today. The new cut finally restores the sequences with Scotty's nephew, so it's of particular interest to any fan (casual or not) of the original show.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Khan is better than ever with added and revised scenes
Review: Star Trek 2 has always been one of my favorites of the Trek movies. I was immediately enticed to buy the Director's Edition DVD. Hearing about and seeing what went on behind the scenes of a movie I grew up loving is awesome. The interviews were interesting, and the documentaries showed how this movie brought life back into the franchise and changed things forever.

There are a few new scenes in the movie, which only someone who's seen in a billion times can pick out, but add to the movie I think. We get to see Scotty's emotional reaction to the death of his nephew, and more of Kirk talking with Carol Marcus. Just a few more seconds of footage here and there I felt made the characters more human and getting to know them better makes the whole movie more real.

This is definately worth buying, and I can't wait until Undiscovered Country and the Next Generation movies come out, because I know I'll either be back on Amazon or at my local Best Buy the moment I can order them.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Get the Director's Edition vs Standard Edition
Review: There may be a bit of confusion with regard to this DVD, since there are two versions, "Star Trek 2: The Wrath Of Khan" and "Star Trek 2: The Wrath Of Khan: The Director's Edition (Special Edition)." The later was released in August 2002 and the non-directors edition was released in July 2000. The aspect ratio of both editions are the same, widescreen, 2.35:1, anamorphic 16 x 9. The surround sound is the same also, Dolby Digital 5.1.

It should be a no-brainer to select the Director's Edition. Not only is it a newer release but it is four minutes longer (116 min. vs. 112 min.) - hinting that there is extra material. Amazon.com also is selling the Director's Edition cheaper.

I've owned this film in several formats including laserdisc. I was always disappointed in the transfer to laserdisc of S.T. II. It looked washed out and the reds were oversaturated. Other Star Trek films were excellent. Fortunately, the transfer to DVD was much better executed. Although, I haven't seen the Director's Edition (yet), I suspect it is at least as good. I am still somewhat disappointed that only Dolby Digital 5.1 is provided on the DVD instead of the superior DTS surround sound format.


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