Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)
by Nicholas Meyer
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Leonard Nimoy, Walter Koenig, William ShatnerDirector: Nicholas Meyer
Brand: SHATNER,WILLIAM
Writer: Nicholas Meyer
Producer: Harve Bennett
Writer: Harve Bennett
Producer: Robert Sallin
Writer: Gene Roddenberry
Writer: Jack B. Sowards
Writer: Samuel A. Peeples
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Director's Cut, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 113 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-08-06
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Paramount
Product features:
- Test item DO NOT BUY!
Movie Reviews of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)
Movie Review: Still the best
Summary: 5 Stars
The Wrath of Khan has the reputation of being not just the best Star Trek movie, but also one of the best SF movies of its age. Unfortunately, in recent years it has perhaps become better known for the numerous parodies of a certain seminal William Shatner moment roughly halfway through the film, although in-context it works a lot better.
There are several factors which combine to make The Wrath of Khan such a good movie. First off, it has an extremely well-drawn villain played by a good actor. Khan having previously appeared in the classic Star Trek series (in the first season episode Space Seed) gave him a decent backstory and rationale for wanting vengeance against Kirk without getting bogged down in continuity. It was many years after I first saw the movie as a kid before I saw the episode, and really all you need to know is that Kirk dumped Khan on a planet as a gesture of supposed mercy which ended up killing Khan's wife and several of his shipmates. RicardoMontalban plays Khan with a certain theatrical malevolence which treads a razor's edge between high camp and genuine evil. He also gets some ripe lines which he manages to dignify through totally believing in them. Seriously, who else could pull off, "Revenge is a dish best served cold, and it is very cold...in space"?
The second factor is that the script plays to the strengths of the individual actors and gives most of the Enterprise crew their own stories to follow (although Nichelle Nichols' Uhura and George Takei's Sulu are not as well-served as others) . Chekov, notably under-used in the actual series, turns up as the first officer of the Reliant who is captured by Khan early on and eventually ends up back on the Enterprise. There is a tragic subplot for Scotty, who gets his nephew a job as a trainee in the Enterprise's engineering department, whilst McCoy spends most of the movie trying to pull Kirk out of his brooding depression at turning 49. There's also the new character ofSaavik, Spock's protege who is angling for her own command. Effectively played by Kirstie Alley, Saavik serves as a viewpoint character for those viewers unfamiliar with the series. Oddly, a line referencing the fact that Saavik is actually half-Romulan , half-Vulcan was cut from the movie, whilst a later joke by McCoy referring to this fact is left in, somewhat confusingly. Spock only seems to have a minor subplot at the start referring to Kirk's guilt when he takes command of the ship from him, only to disappear in the middle third of the movie whilst Kirk,Saavik and McCoy travel to Regula. Of course, this was only to set up the unexpected ending.
The movie was also made on a crushingly small budget less than one-quarter of that assigned to its forebear, The Motion Picture. The crew had to work with their backs to the wall with only a limited number of sets, miniatures and effects shot available. Some shots from the preceding movie were re-used, whilst two-thirds of the movie took place on the same set, the Enterprise bridge which was redressed to serve as as the bridge of the Reliant. This saved enough money so that the final, iconic battle sequence - the Enterprise and Reliant playing cat-and-mouse in the Mutara Nebula - could be rendered as impressively as possible. The battle scenes in the movie are superb, with the ships acting less likeoversized fighters (a common complaint levelled against later movies and episodes) and more like the lumbering battleships they're supposed to be, dishing out and taking enormous amounts of punishment. The battle is also tremendously visceral, with decks collapsing and crewmen getting crushed, burned or subjected to lethal radiation in a manner that hadn't been seen previously on Trek (and led to the movie getting a hitherto unthinkable '15' certificate in the UK). Additionally, there's a small piece of history in the movie in the Genesis Device training movie, which is the first-ever 100% computer-generated sequence in the history of film.
Particularly worthy of mention is James Horner's score, which re-uses a few elements from his earlier movies (particularly Battle for the Planets) but mostly consists of new material. His new overture, used for flybys of the Enterprise and the main title theme, is instantly classic.
Of course, what really got people talking when the movie was released was the jaw-dropping ending, which in the pre-Internet age had successfully been kept secret in a manner unlikely to be replicated today. It's still an emotionally powerful moment played by the actors in a convincing and almost poetic manner (the oft-mockedShatner is on top form throughout this movie and its sequel). In fact, despite the sometimes hokey dialogue as related above, the movie has a number of iconic lines and quotes (mostly from A Tale of Two Cities and Moby Dick) which help give the movie a thematically satisfying through-line. This is a movie about not just revenge, but age, finding your right place in the world and the fact that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few (or indeed, the one). There's also satisfying attention paid to not copping out on the story. The writers couldn't conceive of a way that Khan and Kirk could meet without Kirk being killed, so they simply don't meet. And whilst victory is eventually won, it is only at a hard cost.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (*****) is a great film because it doesn't go overboard on the gimmicks or macguffins (the Genesis Device - which doesn't really do much - aside) and simply has two enemies on two equally-matched ships slugging it out and one winning through the use of his wits. With strong thematic underpinnings, endlessly quotable dialogue, a score to die for, great effects and some solid acting, the movie overcomes a few cheesy lines, a couple of continuity gaffes and some 80s hairstyles to retain its place as not just the best Star Trek movie, but an entertaining and breathlessly exciting SF movie in its own right.
More Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition) reviews:
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Summary of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)
Admiral kirks midlife crisis is interrupted by the return of an old enemy looking for revenge and a potentially destructive device Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 05/01/2007 Starring: William Shatner Nichelle Nichols Run time: 116 minutes Rating: Pg Director: Nicholas MeyerAlthough Star Trek: The Motion Picture had been a box-office hit, it was by no means a unanimous success with Star Trek fans, who responded much more favorably to the "classic Trek" scenario of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Inspired by the "Space Seed" episode of the original TV series, the film reunites newly promoted Admiral Kirk with his nemesis from the earlier episode--the genetically superior Khan (Ricardo Montalban)--who is now seeking revenge upon Kirk for having been imprisoned on a desolated planet. Their battle ensues over control of the Genesis device, a top-secret Starfleet project enabling entire planets to be transformed into life-supporting worlds, pioneered by the mother (Bibi Besch) of Kirk's estranged and now-adult son. While Mr. Spock mentors the young Vulcan Lt. Saavik (then-newcomer Kirstie Alley), Kirk must battle Khan to the bitter end, through a climactic starship chase and an unexpected crisis that will cost the life of Kirk's closest friend. This was the kind of character-based Trek that fans were waiting for, boosted by spectacular special effects, a great villain (thanks to Montalban's splendidly melodramatic performance), and a deft combination of humor, excitement, and wondrous imagination. Director Nicholas Meyer (who would play a substantial role in the success of future Trek features) handles the film as a combination of Moby Dick, Shakespearean tragedy, World War II submarine thriller, and dazzling science fiction, setting the successful tone for the Trek films that followed. --Jeff Shannon
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