Blu-ray Review Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Director's Cut Blu-Ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Neil Middlemiss]

neil-middlemiss has published a new article.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Director's Cut Blu-Ray Review

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan arrives for the second time on Blu-ray, this time with a presentation of the Director’s cut, featuring a few new...
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[Ronald Epstein]

Excellent review, Neil. Nicely detailed. Enjoyed reading it and look forward to watching my copy this upcoming week.

 

[Tony J Case]

Does it have a reversible cover to get rid of that butt ugly artwork?

 

[bujaki]

Methinks you have convinced me to get this release, Neil!

 

[Stan]

Toss up between II and IV as my favorites in the series, but looking forward to this.

Star Trek TMP is next? That one should just be dropped from the list and forgotten. Major disappointment. I saw it opening night in a theater with about 1,000 other people. The sound of the groans as the film ended was better than the movie.

 

[Osato]

Outstanding! Can't wait to receive my copy!!

 

[Joseph Bolus]

Thanks for the excellent review.

I particularly liked the part where you quoted a line from the film to describe the video!

The new 4K scan and the restoration of the Okuda Trivia Text Track combine to make this new DC release of the movie essential for any Star Trek fan!

 

[AshJW]

Is this really Region-A locked?

I'm region-free, but I try to avoid it where I can.

 

[trevanian]

Pretty sure the final budget was around 13 mil, not under 10. Mike MInor mentioned a couple years after it came out that it was supposed to come in around 12mil, but that the studio didn't allocate enough stages, so they ate a mil just in overtime and nightshifts and weekends to keep switching out the different sets on the same stages. Plus ILM cost them more than they had planned (which makes sense given the Genesis demo was originally something much more simplistic.)

CFQ and AFI mags reported that Trumbull bid the show at 1.5 mil but that ILM 'won' the bid with 2.8 mil. There are different stories as to why that played out in this fashion, but I don't recall the numbers themselves ever being disputed.

 

[Tony J Case]

Star Trek TMP is next? That one should just be dropped from the list and forgotten. Major disappointment. I saw it opening night in a theater with about 1,000 other people. The sound of the groans as the film ended was better than the movie.

A textbook example on how editing can make or break a movie. The Motion Picture would have been a perfectly serviceable television episode if all the slow, lingering shots (everywhere, and not just the half an hour flyby on the Enterprise) had been trimmed back.

 

[trevanian]

Star Trek TMP is next? That one should just be dropped from the list and forgotten. Major disappointment. I saw it opening night in a theater with about 1,000 other people. The sound of the groans as the film ended was better than the movie.

A textbook example on how editing can make or break a movie. The Motion Picture would have been a perfectly serviceable television episode if all the slow, lingering shots (everywhere, and not just the half an hour flyby on the Enterprise) had been trimmed back.

It was already a perfectly serviceable TV episode, back when it was called THE CHANGELING.

While I initially (read: the first 10 or 12 years after it came out) detested the stately style of TMP, only loving the Goldsmith score and most of the Trumbull vfx, ever since seeing the widescreen laserdisc I find myself returning to it again & again, more than any of the other films (though this doesn't apply to the director's cut -- I think most of the 'improvements' are anything but.)

A lot of the 'slow-motion train wreck' feel (and yeah, some would put more emphasis on the 'slow motion' that the 'train wreck' part) owes to script, but just as much screams out on the production side 'bad call' -- as much as 'bad execution of good concept,' plus a few extraordinarily good executions of so-so concepts.

 

[trevanian]

Star Trek TMP is next? That one should just be dropped from the list and forgotten. Major disappointment. I saw it opening night in a theater with about 1,000 other people. The sound of the groans as the film ended was better than the movie.

A textbook example on how editing can make or break a movie. The Motion Picture would have been a perfectly serviceable television episode if all the slow, lingering shots (everywhere, and not just the half an hour flyby on the Enterprise) had been trimmed back.

Weird, I don't know why it crammed Tony's response down into the top of my reply to him. Can't seem to edit it either.

 

[Dave H]

Nice review. Looking forward to this - I really hope maybe Paramount is using this disc as a test to see how much demand there is which might lead them into making new 4K scans for the rest of the original movies.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

Pretty sure the final budget was around 13 mil, not under 10. Mike MInor mentioned a couple years after it came out that it was supposed to come in around 12mil, but that the studio didn't allocate enough stages, so they ate a mil just in overtime and nightshifts and weekends to keep switching out the different sets on the same stages. Plus ILM cost them more than they had planned (which makes sense given the Genesis demo was originally something much more simplistic.)

CFQ and AFI mags reported that Trumbull bid the show at 1.5 mil but that ILM 'won' the bid with 2.8 mil. There are different stories as to why that played out in this fashion, but I don't recall the numbers themselves ever being disputed.

I mention the budget was over the $10MM planned in the next sentence of my review (but don't quote an exact figure as it is hard to nail down the true number).

 

[Joel Fontenot]

Toss up between II and IV as my favorites in the series, but looking forward to this.

Star Trek TMP is next? That one should just be dropped from the list and forgotten. Major disappointment. I saw it opening night in a theater with about 1,000 other people. The sound of the groans as the film ended was better than the movie.

Your opinion.

There are plenty of us here who love The Motion Picture.

Oh, and no such groans when I saw it in the theaters - methinks such anecdotes is so much bullshit from haters.

 

[Jonathan Perregaux]

When I saw The Motion Picture in 1979, uproarious clapping at the end of a movie was a thing. In a fairly packed auditorium I attended, TMP got a few scattered golf claps. But mostly I sensed... puzzlement? We have been contacted. Why have we not responded?

The Wrath of Khan did receive an ovation at the same venue in 1982. And my Dad said, "Now that's more like it!"

By The Search for Spock, however, we were back to golf claps. And my Dad proclaiming, "Well, that stunk!"

 

[Stan]

Your opinion.

There are plenty of us here who love The Motion Picture.

Oh, and no such groans when I saw it in the theaters - methinks such anecdotes is so much bullshit from haters.

Yes, my opinion. But no need for snarky responses. Let's all play nice and behave.

 

[Worth]

For all its faults, I admire the ambition of the first film, but a crowdpleaser it it's not and never was.

 

[Joel Fontenot]

Yes, my opinion. But no need for snarky responses. Let's all play nice and behave.

True, I was quite snarky. I apologize. But to me, your comment about TMP was snarky. I understand it's not for everyone. There are plenty of films I don't like, but I don't wish they would be "dropped from the list and forgotten". Any film with its fans deserves proper home video treatment.

Besides, if TMP didn't do as well as it did, there wouldn't have even been a Wrath of Khan,

(to bring my mini-rant back on topic).

 

[RJ992]

True, I was quite snarky. I apologize. But to me, your comment about TMP was snarky. I understand it's not for everyone. There are plenty of films I don't like, but I don't wish they would be "dropped from the list and forgotten". Any film with its fans deserves proper home video treatment.

Besides, if TMP didn't do as well as it did, there wouldn't have even been a Wrath of Khan,

(to bring my mini-rant back on topic).

I appreciate TMP as going for a 2001 vibe...and naturally, it's subject to the same criticisms as the Kubrick film. It is the only movie that tried for that feel (the 2001 sequel certainly didn't!) and for that, it stands alone. It also boasts the best visuals of any of the original TREK films. Once the new STAR TREK BEYOND is released (with Kirk motorcycle-riding in space), I think some Trek fans may look at TMP with a more appreciative eye. If they do remaster the Director's Cut of TMP, they will certainly have my money.