Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8798 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-11-18
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL, Subtitled
• Original language: English, German
• Dubbed in: German
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 108 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Director Nicholas Meyer's concept for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was to make it "Captain Horatio Hornblower in space". Equipped with a budget a fraction the size of that accorded the first movie, and bolstered by James Horner's swashbuckling score, Meyer accordingly delivered the most exciting of all the Trek big-screen outings, referencing both CS Forester's Hornblower and classic submarine dramas, as well as adding some literary flourishes and ground-breaking CGI work for good measure (the Genesis device sequence is a computer-animation landmark).

Resurrected from the "Space Seed" episode of the TV series, Ricardo Montalban's Khan is the hammiest, most passionately alive Trek villain, infused with Captain Ahab's self-destructive single-mindedness and quoting Moby Dick and Shakespeare in his furious pursuit of Kirk. Given permission to be melodramatic, William Shatner has never been stronger, or made Kirk seem more vulnerable. And even after seeing all the later movies, no self-respecting Trekker can sit through Spock's ultimate illogical sacrifice with a dry eye.

Unlike the major revisions made to The Motion Picture, this new Director's Edition of Wrath of Khan is only a very slightly extended version of the original, with some fairly minor additions--most notably scenes that establish Midshipman Peter Preston as Scotty's nephew, thereby explaining Scotty's grief at the young man's death. Some other scenes--such as Kirk and Spock discussing the Genesis Device--have also been expanded.

On the DVD: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is now presented in a lovely 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen print with Dolby 5.1 sound. The first disc has an audio commentary from Nicholas Meyer, plus another fascinating all-you-ever-needed-to-know text commentary from Trek expert Michael Okuda (he did the same for The Motion Picture's DVD release). The second disc has a series of informative documentaries, the most substantial being a lengthy retrospective "Captain's Log", featuring contributions from Producer Harve Bennett, Meyer, Shatner, Nimoy and Montalban. Other featurettes focus on the production design ("Designing Khan"), "Visual Effects", and the writers of Star Trek novel spin-offs about Khan and the Kobayashi Maru ("The Star Trek Universe"). It's a shame that James Horner's major contribution goes unnoticed though. To round things off there are some promotional interviews from 1982, storyboards and the original trailer. --Mark Walker

Video Description
DVD Special Features:

Extended Director's Edition

Over five hours of new, exclusive features

Disc 1:

Widescreen enhanced for 16:9 TVs

Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Commentary by Director Nicholas Meyer

Text commentary by Michael Okuda, co-author of The Star Trek Encyclopedia

Disc 2:

The Captain's Log -- cast & crew interviews with Nicholas Meyer, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Ricardo Montalban, Harvey Bennett

Designing Khan featurette

The Visual Effects of Star Trek II featurette

The Star Trek Universe

Theatrical trailer

Storyboard archives

Synopsis
While out on routine training maneuvers, a starship encounters a powerful and supposedly exiled foe from the distant past--Khan (Ricardo Montalban). Only Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) and his crew can stop the MOBY DICK-quoting, vengeance-crazed genius from bringing about universal destruction in this warp-speed thrill ride. This second STAR TREK film is a continuation of the plotline begun in episode 27 of the original series--"The Space Seed"--and also expertly sets the stage for the next installment with the forboding presence of the Genesis device.

Customer Reviews

Not quite what we were expecting?
The Wrath of Khan is the favorite Trek film of many fans (myself included) and after the wonderful job that was done on the directors edition of The Motion Picture, I was looking forward to the ultimate Trek Directors Edition. Well........

It's not quite there. The DVD is packaged in the same way and The Motion Picture and has the same kind of layout. Thought and attention has gone into the animated menus, with diferent animation being offered on each of the two disks.

The fist disk contains the feature and as before offers an audio commentary by Nick Meyer (Director) and text commentary again provided by Michael Okuda. As it is just Nick Meyer on the audio, there is something lacking from the commentary. On the Motion Picture we had input from four angles (Director, Actor, Special Effects...), but here we have a single point of view from someone who is not the most exciting of speakers.

On the second disk there are some great documentarys with new content shot just for this release in addition to the original interviews from 1982 when the film was first shown. Also here are the storyboard archives we have come to expect, but missing is one of the features that was so good about the Directors Edition of The Motion Picture. There are no comparisons between the original release and this edition. There are not even any deleted scenes.

And this is where the problem lies. The Motion Picture was always seen as a flawed masterpiece, and the Directors Edition gave Bob Wise the chance to go back and do what he didn't have time to complete before. With Wrath of Khan, it was already a fine movie. There have been no special effects touch ups, no added CGI just the insertion of a few additional lines of dialogue here and there. In all, the movie is about 8 mins longer than the original that was released on DVD last year.

Make no mistake, the film is still a fine movie, but you cant help but feel that it is a missed opportunity. There are a number of scenes that have been added that help explain a few things (such as Scottys emotional response to a particular engineer that is killed, we now discover it was a family member), yet there are scenes that are conspicuous by their abscence. The main one is the scene where Spock reveals that Saavik (Kirsty Alley) is Half Vulcan/Half Romulan explaining some of her emotional outbursts. The scene exists (and is even available on the internet) yet it was not included here.

The Wrath of Khan is a fine film, and the added features (5 hours in total) make it an essential purchase, but if you are expecting the kind of makeover that The Motion Picture received you will be disapointed. Think of this as an extended version and you will be quite happy with a slighly more rounded movie that is still the best trek film to date.

With the death of Spock, "Star Trek" reaches its apex
"The Wrath of Khan" remains the best of the Star Trek movies. Yes, "The Voyage Home" was more fun, but the franchise is never going to be able to top the emotional impact of Spock's death. "The Wrath of Khan" is what we would have called a first-rate "B" movie in the old days. This is William Shatner's finest performance, helped by the fact that there is a telling subplot about Kirk worrying that he is growing old. Consequently, the character is given some significant depth whether he is dealing with having to put his spectacles on in front of the bridge crew or trying to come to terms with suddenly confronting a son who wants nothing to do with him. I also think Shatner's performance is helped by the fact that Kirk has to solve problems by thinking rather than by slugging anyone. In fact, Shatner won the Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA for his performance (director Nicholas Meyer won as well).

The emotional impact of the death of Spock is something that was set up from early on in the Star Trek television series where it became clear that despite their vast differences the Captain and his First Officer had become friends. This is a theme that has been touched upon by various television episodes as well as in some of the better Star Trek novels that have dealt with the formation of that friendship. The symbolism of the plastic shielding that separates them at the end, a physical manifestation of the psychological barriers required by the Vulcan part of Spock, is certainly not lost on us. With all the "Buddy" movies Hollywood has produced, I cannot think of a more emotional declaration that "I have been and always shall be your friend." Yes, it was something that was so well understood that it never needed to be said, but it was still worth hearing.

Both the direction and the score are first rate and I am especially fond of the sequences where the bridge crew is waiting helplessly for Genesis to detonate. The camera moves in on each character as they discuss their impending deaths and the music matches the pace only to turn ominously when the scene cuts back to the dying Khan. However, I must note that director Nicholas Meyer used the same series of jump cuts to pull away from the Reliant before Genesis detonates that he did with Kansas City when the nuclear missiles hit in "The Day After." I also think composer James Horner deserves credit for setting the tone with the marvelous opening fanfare and heroic theme. Even before we get to the Kobayashi Maru sequence, you know this is going to be a good flick.

The only thing that really bugs me about this movie is that Khan keeps quoting Ahab. Obviously his obsession is reminiscent of "Moby Dick," but if you were a super genius would you really want to have Ahab as your role model? I understand how the allusion fits from the perspective of the director/writer/audience, but not from the perspective of Khan's character. Then again, besides "Moby Dick" one of the other books that Khan had on Ceti Alpha VI was "King Lear," which also features a main character with mental problems. Remember, this is a guy who quoted Milton at the end of "Space Seed," so I do not think he should suddenly be going off the deep end with his literary references. Ricardo Montalban's flamboyant performance as Khan not only works as he chews up the scenery with such delight, but because I think it is another significant reason that Shatner toned down his performance, thereby creating a nice contrast between the two characters.

At long last there are appropriate "Star Trek" bonus features with the DVD of this movie. Director Meyer does the audio commentary with Michael Okuda providing an expert commentary text to go along with it. The second disc has several featurettes, including the "Captain's Log," which has all of the major participants and is the best of the bunch. I especially liked having the author of the "Star Trek" novel "The Kobayashi Maru" show up, because that was one of my favorites. After the barren initial DVD version of "The Wrath of Khan," this one is a joy.

Best Trek Movie Ever
I like many of the Star Trek movies but this will remain the best ever. It's good enough to be ranked alongside even non-Trek films because it is so exceptionally written and directed. The characters are full and three-dimensional. The acting is excellent and it is extremely well plotted. Thematically, it deals not only with revenge but also age, family and friendships. Opting for a more mature, adult style than the Saturday morning serial roots of Star Wars, Star Trek has always been about big ideas and ideals but they've always been rightfully couched in human terms. "Star Trek 2: The Wrath Of Khan" offers exciting thrills and good drama. Khan is no pantomime villain - he has his reasons, which thus adds depth to his villaninous deeds.