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

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

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Arguably the best Star Trek Movie
Review: True Star Trek fans find all the elements they want here. The plot moves nicely, the characters are rich, and the action is great. And this is before the cast started looking really old like they do in the later movies!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Far and away the best of the lot!
Review: Paramount got it right once, and then never again. The story has what you would want from Star Trek: A simple, understandable plot. A philosophical discourse between McCoy and Spock. Tense, well paced, and it ended well.The special effects and costuming neither overwhelmed the film (as in Star Trek 1) nor were they lacking in any way. The acting was subdued when it needed to be, and over the top (Khan) when it had to be.It even managed to avoid being cutesy or self-conscious the way later Treks seemed to be. If you want to introduce someone to Star Trek, this is the one to do it with.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Most entertaining of the Trek movies
Review: Seinfeld was right! While the first Trek movie, IMNSHO, was underrated for leading the others in sci-fi value, this first sequel tops in sheer entertainment. In "Khan", Kirk must confront his most implacable adversary - the evil Khan Nonnian Singh. A product of late 20th century eugenics, Khan and his followers briefly seized unparalleled power in our times, only to vanish before being defeated. Years later (on the episode "Space Seed") Khan and his followers were found by the crew of the USS Enterprise in a derelict vessel in suspended animation. Rather than kill Khan after he tries to seize the Enterprise, Kirk maroons him and his followers on Ceti Alpha V (big mistake) and forgets about him. Years later, surveying supposedly lifeless worlds as part of a secret Starfleet experiment, Commander Checkov accidentally lands on Khan's world, thinking it to be his neighbor Ceti Alpha VI. (The real Ceti Alpha VI exploded shortly after Khan's arrival on the neighboring world; the cataclysm turned his new home planet into virtually uninhabitable sand-ball; with the planet's only other surviving life-forms being large parasitic insects that eat their way through the brains of Khan's men, Khan himself has become quite ornery in his old age, and no-less bitter at Captain Kirk.) With his brilliance and ambition (and some of those bugs), Khan and company seize Checkov's ship and are free to wreak havoc on the galaxy. Two things hold Khan back - discovery that Checkov's mission involved an invention called "Genesis", a revolutionary device with a potentially dark side; but it is the possibility of revenge against Captain Kirk that keep shim from simply running. Meanwhile, Kirk has no command, merely supervises other cadets while the Enterprise is under command of (now Captain) Spock. On a training run with Kirk merely "observing", the Enterprise is ambushed by Khan and, largely crewed by cadets, nearly devastated. Thus begins a series of interstellar battles between the wounded Enterprise and Khan's renegade starship, partly over Genesis, but mostly over revenge. Complicating things for Kirk are the green crew, but also the presence of Genesis's developers, Carole Marcus and her son David - an old flame and the son they almost shared. Thinking Kirk responsible for an attack by Khan, and not quite big on military types in general, David becomes almost as vindictive towards Kirk as Khan.

This flick will be 20 years old this summer, and it's one more sign that Classic Trek endures over that "Next Generation" stuff. In every way, this entry is a gem in the Trek franchise - the special effects (now handled by ILM) are gorgeous, mixing with a great soundtrack by James Horner, and an underappreciated script that's light years above the newer brands of Trek. The characters lightly parody themselves - they're virtually retirees, too old to gallivant across space (but wisely not letting them come across as too friendly either). The script keeps to a few set themes (you're only as old as you feel; nobody dies if you can remember them; it's better to have hope for the future than harbor a thirst for revenge; an impossible challenge is something everybody must face; "Moby Dick" was a really cool book) frequently adding surprises. This film, more than the others, contributed to Trek's lore - the Kobayashi Maru; Romulan ale; starship prefix codes - with mixed results. (Kirk uses prefix codes on Khan's ship to briefly weaken it; though acknowledging it was a small trick rather than a master strategy he can feel proud of, latter incarnations of Trek have characters patting themselves on the back for relying on that trick). There's also a climactic space battle set within a nebula (a sort of planet-sized lightning cloud in space) that's a nod to a climactic submarine battle in "Run Silent, Run Deep". (That film was directed by Robert Wise who helmned the first Trek movie). Even if you think the effects (circa 1982) are dated, you'll still get a top-notch script full of great lines. Kirk and McCoy, finding Doctor Marcus's space station deserted, opt to use her transporter to beam towards its last used destination, thinking that they are following the Doctor's trail. "What if they went nowehere?" McCoy asks. Kirk answers "Then this will be your chance to get away from it all." This flick is your chance to get away from all that tired "Next Generation" Trek, with its reliance on techno-babble and anglo-accents.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "We have been though death and life together."
Review: I love this Movie! It is perhaps one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever made. I do enjoy Star Trek, but I would not consider myself to be a "Trekkie."

This movie just flat out has it all: character development, action, effects, moments of awe, and scientific intrigue.

As Kirk says to his trainees, "We have been though death and life together." You will go through the range of emotions while viewing this movie. And if you fallow up this film with a healthy dose of "Star Trek III the Search for Spock" the story will come full circle. Space opera at its' very best.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: CAMPY & NOT EVEN CLOSE TO BEING THE BEST IN THE MOVIE SERIES
Review: What a disappointment! I like the first Star Trek series, so I was favorably disposed to like this film. Nonetheless, this movie is too self-conscious and cutesy, exaggerating all of the characters' traits to the point of caricature. (Scotty even plays the bagpipes in one scene -- after all, he's Scottish!) The dialog is stiff and unconvincing when it tries to recreate the magic of the old crew being together by having the predictable fight between Bones and Spock, the predictable medical advice by Bones to Kirk, etc. Even worse, one almost feels sorry for the actors when they have to deliver such lines such as, "There's an old Klingon saying that...." or "Mmmm, is that Romulan wine?" all the while wearing their absurd-looking costumes. (The TV series' costumes look better than the film's late 70s / early 80s "space age" sensibility.)

William Shatner and Ricardo Montalban compete for the "campiest performance of the year" Oscar. The acting of most of the rest of the old Star Trek crew is so bad that you can see why they never could establish acting careers outside of the Star Trek franchise. Checkov's entranced episodes are particularly laughable. About the only crew member who makes it out with his dignity intact is Leonard Nimoy.

Speaking of Spock, the film can't even come by its pathos honestly. After trying to wring emotion out of his "death" in this movie, he ends up returning alive in subsequent films.

The plot is rather unsuspenseful and uninteresting, without any swashbuckling pizzaz. It's no wonder that one person watching the film with me fell asleep.

At a technical level, the film is merely competent, with average special effects for the time and uninspired cinemaphotography. The musical score unsuccessfully reaches for grandeur.

My advice is to skip this film and watch a rerun of the classic original television series.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Pure Kid's Movie
Review: I can't believe 10 years old (or higher) people could enjoy movies like this. I seriously wonder what kind of people "Trekkies" are.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best of All Worlds
Review: STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN.

I remember it well. Despite the predominantly youthful audience, you could still hear a pin drop during Spock's death scene.

The film works so well on so many levels but the single greatest reason STII is revered by so many Trek enthusiasts worldwide is b/c it is, perhaps, the only Trek film to celebrate the passion of life and death so poignantly.

If you haven't seen it, do so ... even if you're not of the Trek variety.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best of the original Six films
Review: I would rate this movie as tied for the best of the original six films, with the other one being #VI. There's lots more nerdy technical stuff--from the simulations to the fighting between ships, and enough booming to get my subwoofer to make some noise too. Of course, Montalban is quite the badguy in the Khan role.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Small budget Star Trek.
Review: ST2 is an enjoyable adventure marred by a miniscule budget.
The budget was so small that they re-used effects from the first film,used a television film crew,re-used the bridge set 3 different times for different ships and didn't have the money to finish the Eden Cave effect which was over-exposed.
The ship's power source(which Spock repairs)looks like a giant salt shaker on a disco dance floor,hardly the large power source that it should have been,due to the tiny budget of 3 and a half million dollars(the real budget reported at the time).
On the plus side,the battle scenes are eccellent,although the nebula looked a little fake at times,and the Kirk/Spock/McCoy interactions are fun the watch.
After the slow STTMP,it was good to see the relationships and humour re-ignited on ST2.
Nicholas Meyer's direction is good and the music by James Horner is a highlight.
So,if you like an entertaining B-grade film then ST2 will entertain you.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: This DVD release is missing footages!
Review: 1. This print really requires a good digital video and audio cleanup.
2. This release has bits of dialog missing which even the television release had for example:

- McCoy asks his "Vulcan friend" in whose hands would the Genisis device would be the "right hands"?
-During an inspection of the ship, Scotty's nephew says that Kirk would be blind as a bat, if he can't see that the ship is in top condition.
- Scotty thanks Doctor McCoy for his efforts to save his nephew...


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