Search - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 12/16/2018...

One of my favorite Star Trek movies!!!

Good news, bad news

ElizabethD | Goshen, IN United States | 12/15/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This review is specific to the 2009 version. The good news here is the movie: still the same great film it has always been. The bad news is, this has the lamest special features I've ever seen on a dvd.

The audio overtrack is commentary by director Nicholas Meyer and Manny Coto (who? I had to look him up on Wikipedia). The main reason I enjoy this type of commentary is to hear how things were done, background detail on the actors, how they approached their parts, and so on. Especially in a movie like this, full of legendary characters and on the cusp of cgi special effects, there is potential for lots of fascinating "backstage" drama and information. Not so here. I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times Nicholas and Manny referred to events in the film as they were happening. Most of their discussion centered around how honored Coto was to be in the presence of the great Meyer, and how awesome Meyer was and how great his work was. This is the sort of fact that only needs to be stated so many times, and after that it just generates vigorous eye-rolling. The rest of their chat dwelt on topics like how illiterate the general public is, how terrible television is, and other vague philosophical meanderings. It had the feel of a couple of guys in a bar well into their fourth beers.

The other special features were just as disappointing. The composer of the Genesis theme music has a brief and uninspiring talk to the camera; and there is a "Tribute to Richardo Montalban" which consists of a guy going on at length on how great an actor Montalban is. No cute pictures of him in his childhood, no background on his family or upbringing, no clips of previous work. Just a guy talking on and on about what a great man he is. The filmmakers tried to make it interesting by varying the camera angle on the narrator, but it didn't work.

There is also a short clip intended to be a training film from Starfleet Academy discussing the disaster to Ceti Alpha VI that had potential for being interesting and informative. Unfortunately it consisted of a young woman saying vague things like "It could have exploded...or perhaps there was an impact..." This could have been a scientifically accurate discussion on the forces that could result in the destruction of a planet or moon, but it had the appearance of a project for 7th grade science class.

The best special feature was a look at the market for Star Trek movie relics, which at least had the benefit of people who were clearly passionate about their achievements in this field. Though it was an interesting look at an unusual topic, the fact that this was the best feature on this dvd should tell you something.

Bottom line is, if all you're looking for is the movie, this disc is as good as any other. But if you're a fan of outstanding special features, look elsewhere."

Finally, it's back!

P. M. Bradshaw | Columbus, OH, USA | 09/24/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'll tell you why this is back. Because the Director's Cut is all that's been available for a very long time. The extra few minutes drag it done and make it boring. This theatrical cut brings back what is probably the best Star Trek movie ever made!"

Good sound, but images blued-over

Count de Monet | Chicago, IL | 10/04/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I was glad to see Paramount re-released this movie on DVD since the original print from 2000 was out of production. After watching this new version against previous releases, I'm somewhat disappointed. The sound quality is excellent, you can again hear the people speaking in Engineering during the first attack. But that's overshadowed by the over-use of the blue color-tint: everything seems to have been made more blue. Check out the white pieces of the uniforms, they look blue. The ship looks more blue. The biggest impact was on Regulus - the brown moon is now blue. I checked this against multiple TVs and DVD players, and got the same result. I'm not sure what they did or whether this is considered "enhanced". Good to have another copy, but disappointed in the color changes."