Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Director's Cut

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Director’s Cut is easily the best of the first six Star Trek movies.

The first one, I saw properly recently (correct widescreen ratio, Director’s Edition, etc), No.4 was tedious environmentally-friendly nonsense that garnered a ton of press at the time and a huge audience, but by the time No.5 came round, no-one cared anymore, no-one went to see it, and I only later saw it on DVD. It wasn’t great.

As for No.6 (from the same director as No.2, Nicholas Meyer), they went back to more humourous roots, and it had some decent press. It wasn’t brilliant, but was watchable.

But as for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock? Erm… I still haven’t seen that one, so it would be nice if cinemas were also to show this as well. However, it seems they’re stopping at No.2.

Although I’ve seen this film before, it’s been a long time, and while the Director’s Cut version has been around since 2002, this was brought to the screen for the 40th Anniversary… so, yes, to make a few quid more. And for such an old film, it had a reasonable turnout.

As it begins, Kirstie the Vulcan, aka Saavik (Kirstie Alley) – albeit known as “Mr Saavik”?? – is training for a situation where the Vulcans are attacking, but she messes it up. However, it’s Kirk’s (William Shatner) birthday, leading to McCoy (DeForest Kelley) sneaking him in a bottle of Romulan wine – a potent 2283 vintage no less!

BTW, thanks to Nicola Mallinson in the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Home Cinema Group for confirming “Spock calls Savvik “Mr” because its an old naval tradition, irrespective of gender.”

Family Guy | Brian Sells Rupert – TheMiddleFan

Meanwhile, Chekov (Walter Koenig) and Terrell (Paul Winfield) are on the lookout for a desolate planet on which to test the new Genesis project, to revitalise such places, and to see if they can attempt to improve upon Stockport Council’s piss-awful attempt to replace one simple over-railway bridge with another and taking three-and-a-half years to do it. Alas, they go one worse, get the wrong planet and are captured by Khan (Ricardo Montalban) who Kirk left for dead, there, 15 years earlier. Ooh, bad luck, guys.

For revenge, Khan puts nasty bugs in their ears, as a form of mind control with the power of persuasion, and nicks their ship with a view to stealing the Genesis project for himself, with which it only took Dr Carol (Bibi Besch) et al a single day to create a whole crater underground.

So, can Khan defeat Kirk and crew, and win the day? Don’t be daft. However, it does lead to a particular scene which was later spoofed by Family Guy, and so when I was watching this filmi in the cinema, I kept cracking up because I could only think of Stewie Griffin.

As for what’s added to this, it’s only three minutes longer, but Blu-ray High Def Digest can take up the reins on this one:

Spoiler Inside	Select Show
The Director’s Edition has since been relabelled a “Director’s Cut.” I find that a little misleading. This longer version of the movie originated in 1985 as an excuse to pad the length of the ABC television broadcast, and Nicholas Meyer stated that the theatrical cut was in fact his director’s cut. The creation of the alternate version was more a marketing decision than an artistic decision. Regardless, Meyer had a hand in both the DVD and Blu-ray releases and has given his approval that he accepts the longer cut as legitimate. The extended version runs three minutes longer than the theatrical release. Most of the changes are minor and insignificant – an extra line of dialogue here or an alternate take there. The most noticeable addition is a brief scene in which the young midshipman named Preston is identified to be Scotty’s nephew, which clarifies Scotty’s behaviour later in the film. In all, the extended version neither improves nor harms the movie by any great measure. It’s merely a slight bit different. The new Blu-ray re-release contains both versions of the movie, seamlessly branched. Your decision of which to watch is made at the “Play” option in the disc’s main menu. The disc comes packaged in a standard keep-case with a slipcover, both of which sport new artwork by artist Tyler Stout of the Mondo collective which is, to my eye, really hideous. Personally, I’ve never liked any of the art I’ve seen from Mondo, but the group has a rabid fan base that may appreciate this more than I do. The Director’s Cut Blu-ray has a couple of differences from the Director’s Edition DVD. Two lines of superfluous overdubbed dialogue (heard while the characters face away from camera) late in the film were removed per Meyer’s instruction. You’d never notice this unless you knew to listen for it ahead of time. More bizarre is an editing error during the opening scene where a shot of Sulu is mistakenly repeated. This has led to a great deal of fan outrage on the internet demanding an immediate recall and replacement of the disc. Most of that reaction is overblown. Frankly, I didn’t see the problem when I watched the movie and only found out about it afterwards. On the other hand, it’s the sort of thing that, once it comes to your attention, will likely bother you every time from then on. Whether Paramount will go to the trouble of correcting this gaffe remains to be seen.

Spoiler Inside

Select Show

The extended version runs three minutes longer than the theatrical release. Most of the changes are minor and insignificant – an extra line of dialogue here or an alternate take there. The most noticeable addition is a brief scene in which the young midshipman named Preston is identified to be Scotty’s nephew, which clarifies Scotty’s behaviour later in the film. In all, the extended version neither improves nor harms the movie by any great measure. It’s merely a slight bit different.

The new Blu-ray re-release contains both versions of the movie, seamlessly branched. Your decision of which to watch is made at the “Play” option in the disc’s main menu. The disc comes packaged in a standard keep-case with a slipcover, both of which sport new artwork by artist Tyler Stout of the Mondo collective which is, to my eye, really hideous. Personally, I’ve never liked any of the art I’ve seen from Mondo, but the group has a rabid fan base that may appreciate this more than I do.

The Director’s Cut Blu-ray has a couple of differences from the Director’s Edition DVD. Two lines of superfluous overdubbed dialogue (heard while the characters face away from camera) late in the film were removed per Meyer’s instruction. You’d never notice this unless you knew to listen for it ahead of time. More bizarre is an editing error during the opening scene where a shot of Sulu is mistakenly repeated. This has led to a great deal of fan outrage on the internet demanding an immediate recall and replacement of the disc. Most of that reaction is overblown. Frankly, I didn’t see the problem when I watched the movie and only found out about it afterwards. On the other hand, it’s the sort of thing that, once it comes to your attention, will likely bother you every time from then on. Whether Paramount will go to the trouble of correcting this gaffe remains to be seen.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Director’s Cut is in selected cinemas now, and is available to buy on 4K Blu-ray, 4K Blu-ray Movie 1-6 Boxset, Blu-ray, and DVD.

Star Trek II – The Wrath of Khan – Theatrical vs. Director’s cut – TrekkieChannel

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Director’s Cut – Official Trailer

Detailed specs:

Cert:
Running time: 116 minutes
Release date: September 2nd 2022
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Format: 2.39:1 (Dolby Vision, VistaVision (visual effects), Anamorphic Panavision)
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 7.5/10

Director: Nicholas Meyer
Producers: Robert Sallin
Story: Harve Bennett, Jack B Sowards
Screenplay: Jack B Sowards, Nicholas Meyer, Samuel A Peeples
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Music: James Horner

Cast:
Capt. James T. Kirk: William Shatner
Spock: Leonard Nimoy
Dr. McCoy: DeForest Kelley
Scotty: James Doohan
Sulu: George Takei
Dr. Chapel: Majel Barrett
Chekov: Walter Koenig
Uhura: Nichelle Nichols
Carol: Bibi Besch
David: Merritt Butrick
Terrell: Paul Winfield
Saavik: Kirstie Alley
Preston: Ike Eisenmann
Jedda: John Vargas
Kyle: John Winston
Beach: Paul Kent
Cadet: Nicholas Guest
Madison: Russell Takaki
March: Kevin Sullivan

Dom Robinson

Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.

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Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Director’s Cut – The DVDfever Cinema Review

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