Rating: 
Summary: Star Trek II; overated, but one of the best!
Review: The crew of the Enterprise is back, and they seem much more lively this time around, even though they are growing old. This is part of the story, though, Kirk realizes he's getting old, especially when he receives a pair of eyeglasses as a birthday gift from Bones. Story: Chekov has been reassigned to the U.S.S. Reliant which is searching for a barren planet to test out the Genesis device, a device which can create a planet out of a lifeless mass, or any mass for that matter. Chekov and Captain Terrel, the captain of the Reliant, venture down to Ceti Alpha VI to inverstigate the planet to make sure that it could be used as a host for the Genesis device. While there, they discover Khan and his cohorts, genetically enhanced humans from the twentieth century. Khan takes over the Reliant and is bent on killing Kirk for abondoning him on Ceti Alpha, as displayed in the TOS episode "Space Seed." Khan and Kirk then begin a game of cat and mouse that lasts until the end of the film, to which Khan acquires the Genesis device, which he intends to use to destroy Kirk and crew. Spock sacrifices himself, in the end, to repair the war drive so that the Enterprise can escape from the Genesis explosion. While I do think this is a great film, I feel it is ofter severely overated by fans, hailing it as superior to all other Trek films.The ups: great direction by Nicholas Meyer, superb special effects by George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic, great acting (especially Ricardo Montalban as Khan), a great score by composer James Horner (who would later do such great scores as that of "Braveheart"). The downs: Rehashed images: the Kobayashi Maru sequence uses the same images of Klingon cruisers from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and the Enterprise approach in the pod is also recycled from ST: TMP. Also, it seems sill that the Enterprise is sent on a mission with a training crew aboard and that it is the only ship in range to respond to a potentially dangerous situation (wasn't the Enterprise the only ship in range in ST: TMP? Is the Enterprise like the only ship in Starfleet at this point????). Also it seems silly to me that Starfleet's stellar cartographers had no idea that Ceti Alpha VI was actually Ceti Alpha V; the Federation would have quarantined the world too if Kirk had perhaps told somebody that someone dangerous was on the planet.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining!
Review: So, round two of my quest to watch all of the Star Trek movies in order from the beginning: The Wrath of Khan. Often touted as the best of the ST movies, Star Trek II involves the villainous Khan (ruthlessly portrayed by Ricardo Montalban), a criminal, genetically-advanced human, exiled to a barren planet forever...until now. By chance, Federation ship Reliant unknowingly explores the planet on which he is held captive, and Khan's visitors soon find themselves trapped...coerced to serve his evil deeds under the influence of an indigenous brain parasite. Of course, Khan's plan is to find his original captor (Captain turned Admiral James T. Kirk, played by William Shatner) and avenge the death of his wife as well as his exile to a dead planet. The movie follows Khan's pursuit of Kirk and escalates to a battle of proportions only Star Trek could deliver. Montalban gives an excellent performance of Khan, although his psychotic vengeance too often seems to override his allegedly "superior intellect." Making her movie debut, Kirstie Alley (aka Rebecca Howe from tv's "Cheers") portrays the stoic "by the book" cadet Saavic....oddly enough, she makes a great Vulcan. Although I hardly understand how her long flowing mane of brown hair could possibly pass Federation regulations (just watch the movie, you'll see what I mean). As the ultimate blow to the film, Spock comes to his ultimate demise in this movie. However, those familiar with the entire series of movies will know that this is indeed not the end (vis a vis ST III: The Search for Spock), and that the dramatic send-off of his character in Wrath of Khan is one of the most poignant (and controversial) in ST history. To sum it up, ST II is great fun! Even if you're a Star Trek peon like me, you'll find it quite entertaining! :)
Rating:
Summary: Second Best of the Classic Trek Movies
Review: Of the original "Classic Star Trek" movies made, Star Trek II has got to be number two on my all-time favorites (with "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" being number 1). Originally slated as a two hour movie of the week, ST II is a fast paced, action oriented adventure that will hold your attention completely. Montalban reprises his role from the original series as the genetically enhanced Khan. In his original encounter with Kirk, he was a formidable advisary; by the time the events of ST II take place, his brilliance is tinged with the madness of a man bent on revenge. Montalban brings his full talent as an actor to bear in his portrayal of Khan, making you draw back each time he appears on screen. The original cast members reprise their various roles and each contribute to the progression of the story. Shatner, Kelly and Nimoy garner the majority of the screen time; interestingly, this is Kirstie Alley's first break out role. Holding true to the new "director's edition" DVD moniker, director Meyer has included several special features with this updated release. Most notable among the features is the addition of the extra footage he added when ST II was rebroadcast on ABC's Movie of the Week during the mid 1980s. While not showstopper sequences, they do add a more rounded perspective to an already finely detailed movie. There are additional period interviews with Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley, as well as an in-depth look at how Industrial Light & Magic created some of the key special effects sequences for the film. The ILM footage is remarkable in many aspects, most particularly as there has never been a comprehensive "behind the scenes" look at how the Star Trek universe is created.
Rating:
Summary: A GREAT TREK FLICK MADE GREATER
Review: STAR TREK 2 IS ONE OF THE TOP TREK FILMS EVER MADE. NOW, WE HAVE THE DIRECTOR'S CUT OF THIS FILM AND CAN APPRECIATE IT EVEN MORE. SOME OF THE SCENES INCLUDED ON THE ORIGINAL DVD AS DELETED SCENES ARE NOW INCLUDED IN THE FILM IN THEIR CORRECT PLACE. THEN THERE ARE SURPRISE SHOTS NEVER SEEN BEFORE. SO WHAT IF YOU BOUGHT THE ORIGINAL DVD. THIS IS WORTH THE MONEY! OH YEA, THERE IS A SECOND DVD OF GOODIES INCLUDED IN THIS SET! YOU DON'T NEED TO UNDERGO FAL-TOR-PAN TO KNOW THIS IS THE REAL THING. BUY IT NOW.
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST of the Trek films
Review: [THIS CAN BE DEBATED, SO PLEASE VOTE POSITIVELY.]
After Gene Roddenberry's removal from the producer position because of the debacle regarding TMP, Paramount turned to television producer Harve Bennett, famed producer of nostalgia shows like "The Sixth Million Dollar Man" and "The Bionic Woman." Bennett obviously did his homework on what Star Trek was all about and even original writers Samuel A. Peeples and Judy Burns contributed to the script's execution. But the man that would make this the best Star Trek film would ultimately play the role of unaccredited screenwriter and director: Nicholas Meyer. For those of you who hated Shatner, I find his acting much better here. In fact, there are no slackers in this cast at all. But the actor to be most commended here is Ricardo Montalban (reprising his role as Khan from the TV episode "Space Seed"), who acts with angst and malevolence as he relentlessly pursues Admiral Kirk in pure Captain Ahab style. The special effects are also good (some were lifted from TMP because of time constraints) and James Horner provides one of his best scores in his career. Spock's death is also handled in an emotional fashion, as he Kirk must deal with his death even though the two cannot embrace because of the glass containment room keep them from doing so. Nicholas Meyer told a story that is phenomenal in essence that it is several things at once: Shakesperian, Sci-Fi (obviously), a strong relation to the story Moby Dick, and submarine thriller (as the two ships battle each other in the Mutara Nebula). All in all, a GREAT story. Don't like Star Trek? Watch this film. It has many qualities that makes it seem different and yet a part of Roddenberry's legacy. Get past the Trekkies and the hype of today's shows... WATCH this masterpiece. It's a cinematic marvel.
Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: This movie will go down in history as the all time best Trek movie ever made. Khan is the all time greatest villan ever, his onscreen presence is magnificant. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: I have been, and always shall be... a great movie.
Review: Wrath of Khan is still a great movie, no matter what. Chances are you already own this if you like Star Trek. If not, you might as well click the Buy Now button. Trust me. It's that good. THE STORY: The story is top notch, with Kirk facing off against his Arch-Enemy Khan who he defeated and marooned back in the Original Episode 'Space Seed.' Well, Khan is back, and that's good for us. I won't do into too much deatil, on the off chance you haven't seen it before, but trust me, it's a great story, and the movie is still very visually appealing, despite the fact that it's now over 20 years old. Even if you aren't a fan of Star Trek, you'll find yourself enjoying this movie. It's one of the best Sci-Fi movies, ranking up there with Bladerunner, Star Wars, etc. THE DVD: This DVD cleans up the footage, which is great because the previous non DE cut looked... well, not bad, but not all that great either. This one shows a remarkable improvement. It's not the greatest transfer you've ever seen, and you'll notice a bit of graininess on 52" HDTV's and the like, but the color and clarity is a much welcome improvement overall. The colors in particular look much better. Khan boasts a lot of 'Red Alert' scenes, and sometimes you'd wish someone had told the director to tone down the use of that color, but it's too late now, I guess. The added scenes are nice, but one doesn't really work. In the scene where Kirk is showing Spock and Bones the Genesis Project video, they added a small scene. Listen closely. It's pretty noticable where they added in the new stuff. The rest of the new scenes work well, though there aren't as many as in ST:TMP DE. Speaking of the sound: It's great. They did a amazing job on WoK, and it shows... well, you know what I mean... The commentary by Director Nicholas Meyer is insightful, and Micheal Okula once again provides a text commentary, also insightful if you don't have the entire history of Star Trek commited to memory. (Beleive it or not, some of us DON'T.) THE EXTRAS: The bonus disk has a nice amount of interviews with the director, the stars and the crew. Mostly new stuff, but also some promo interviews from when the movie was released with Shatner, Deforest, Nimoy and Montalban. When you finish those, you'll find two behind the scenes features designing Khan and the visual effects and there is a feature on two of the writers of the Star Trek novels that tie in with the film. And, of course, the film trailer and a storyboard archive. So anyway, like I said before, Buy it now if you don't already own it. It's the logical thing to do.
Rating:
Summary: Hold On For A Wild Ride
Review: The Story: Recently promoted Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) is on a routine survey mission, which might his last before getting stuck behind a desk somewhere. But, that wouldn't make a good story, would it? Khan (Ricardo Montalban), the leader of a group of genetically superior humans, produced through eugenics, has run into a problem. After Kirk exiled him to an isolated planet years ago, a meteor struck the planet and made it almost uninhabitable. Khan blames Kirk and wants revenge. Kirk's ex-girlfriend, played by Bibi Besch, is a scientist working on a secret Star Fleet device that would turn an uninhabitable planet into a Garden of Eden. Khan wants to steal it and use it as a weapon, by launching it at an already-inhabited planet, like Earth. This story is a sequel to an episode of the original Star Trek series, "Space Seed". Shatner and Montalban hate each other and bring out the best/worst in each other, as characters and as actors, in an obsessive battle for superiority. They are both over-the-top in their determination to come out on top, and the result is a delicious melodrama that seems almost Shakespearean at times.
Rating: 
Summary: Ricardo Montalban star vehicle mildly pleases
Review: This second in the Star Trek movie franchise is a lost classic. Ricardo Montalban (famous for Fantasy Island and driving a Volare) does a great job reprising his role from the television series as Khan. I wish the producers would have found a way to work in his sidekick and real-life comrade Tattoo into the movie as some kind of miniature henchman. It would have been fun to see him match wits with Spock. Montalban really shows off his acting chops here, chewing up the scenery like it was bubble-gum. Hopefully Shatner took notes on being a ham with class. Also, it is an unexpected treat to look back and see the young Kirstie Alley (as Lt. Saavik, Spocks mentee) before the ravages of fame and Ted Danson reduced her to peddling wicker for Crate and Barrel. My sources tell me that Montalban is interested in playing Khan one last time. Check him out in Spy Kids II, he hasn't lost a step! All in all, too much violence and no Wookies make this a three star film.
Rating:
Summary: The One Trek that Rules Them All
Review: "The Wrath of Kahn" is considered to be the best of the now 10-entry "Star Trek" film series, and for good reason. The film successfully takes the most important and lasting aspects of the 1960's TV series and lovingly and carefully adepts them to the big screen. Although a critical flow, "ST: The Motion Picture" made boffo box office bucks, and it's open-ended finale left room for a whole franchise. But what has become clear after more than two decades is that if the second film flopped, "Star Trek" would have died. Thankfully, it didn't, as the films gave birth to the superior "ST: The Next Generation". Gene Roddenberry was moved to consultant status for the second film, and a new producer, Harve Bennett, took over. Bennett and Co. crafted a script that was a sequel to the 1967 TV Episode "Space Seed", about the 20th-century, genetically engineered warlord Kahn. The script has all the flourishes of what made the series so compelling: Sci-fi action that was really a human story at heart. A story about revenge, aging, loss, and hope in the face of unrelenting evil. To direct and help polish the script, Producer Bennett hired Nicolas Meyer, a virtually unknown director who was known more for writing one of the better non-Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes Stories(The Sever-Per-cent-Solution), than anything else. Meyer had never seen Star Trek before, but he quickly took to it, and the movie went into production. The budget was not as lavish as "TMP", but the way this is handled is brilliant, as Meyer took the space opera of Trek and turned it into a naval excersize set in space. The plot is well known-Admiral Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise are taking the ship on a training voyage filled with cadets. Kirk is feeling old and lost as a Starfleet Adminstrator, and while he longs to return to the adventure of space, he seems resigned to the fact that his time in the Final Frontier is at an end. Meanwhile, a survey mission sent to find a suitable planet on which to test the Genesis Device(A science experiement that can rebuild a desolate, lifeless world into a lush Eden)stumbles accross Kahn, still stranded 15 years after Kirk left him to forage for himself on the previously healthy world of Ceti Alpha V. However, ecological disaster turned teh planet into a wasteland, killing many of Kahn's crew and his wife, all of which he holds Kirk responsible for. Learning of Genesis and it's potential as a weapon, Kahn hijacks the starship Reliant and sets out to avenge himself on Kirk. What follows is perhaps one of the greatest Sci-Fi Genre films ever made. Kahn is played with remarkable ferocity by Ricardo Montalban, driven to madness by his desire for revenge. Shatner gives his greatest performance ever as Kirk, tortured by his age and his growing sense of helplessness. Nimoy is also excellent here, coming back to the better portrait of the Half Human/Half Vulcan Spock than he showed in his stiff performance in "TMP". DeForrest Kelley and Kristy Alley also have great moments in this film, as Dr. McCoy and Vulcan Lt. Savvick, a protege of Spocks, respectively. We all know what happens at the end, and it it powerful stuff. Well-written and performed, the ending packs an emotional punch you rarely get in a Sci-Fi film. Real feelings are on display, and the final scenes are touching and hopeful. Regarding Meyer's decision to turn the film into Horatio Hornblower in space, this can only be regarded as genius. The space battle scenes have a definite naval quality to them, and a claustrophobic, submarine-like quality is found in the final showdown. The effects wizards at ILM did a superb job on their budget, and showed real care for the subject, and that comes through in one of the excellent special features on this DVD. Also impressive is the story of how the film was made, from pre-script to post-production. A final note on the score: It's by James Horner, and it is fantastic. Horner is of course best known for Titanic, but here he creates a very martial score, echoing Meyer's change in tone from exploration to Naval. Jerry Goldsmith's score in "TMP" is an excellent exploration score, and he found the right themes for that film. Here, Horner finds the right grove for this movie. It is a terrific accompaniment to what is happening onscreen, and Horner deserves praise for his efforts. Overall, this DVD is a must-own for any serious Sci-Fi fan. It is accessible to those unfamiliar with the series but interested in the genre, and it is of course welcome in any Star Trek fan's collection. No other film in the series comes as close to capturing the ideals of the TV series than this one. It is a fine achievement, and I give it a full recommendation.
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