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Film Review: STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN – Director’s Cut: A Stunning Rendition of a Classic [StarTrekNY 2016]

William Shatner Leonard Nimoy Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan

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

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan – Director’s Cut Review (2016) Film Review from the Star Trek Mission NY, a movie by Nicholas Meyers, and starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, George Takei, and Ricardo Montalban.

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Many fans have been clamoring for a new version of the classic Star Trek film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan as home entertainment systems have changed since then. The 2009 Blu-ray release got a negative response for its unclear pictures, failure to improve the colors, fixing the sound, and other improvements that weren’t done. The film’s original quality was in need of a better scan for it to make it into digital. Even though the 2009 rerelease gave a much clearer version, fans were disappointed with the new look, which saturated a blue-colored screen in most of the movie. However, director Nicholas Meyer is giving what fans asked for by helping create a better version that restores the picture quality of what is considered one of the greatest Star Trek films of all time.

The director’s cut version of The Wrath of Khan offers a lot more material than the standard DVD that was released in 2002. After over-the-top blue-tinted picture that was shown in the last seven years was panned by viewers, the director’s cut has managed to keep that under control. The colors of the ship, walls, and plates have all returned to their natural colors to give the Enterprise it’s original hue. Even the Genesis Cave looks gorgeous in its emerald color restoration thanks to the rendering made in the Blu-ray. The displays and control consoles lose all that blue color and becomes its vibrant regular colors again.

The decrease on the blue color isn’t the only changes that were made on the release. There’s also the original restoration before they were changed in 2009, something that fans have wanted since the first time The Wrath of Khan made it’s first Blu-ray release. Even though the picture has been de-saturated from it’s 2009 version, the new version has found a way to come in the middle with the colors and moved away from the last version. Other than the color correction, the total precision of the director’s cut is definitely a step up from the earlier release. This new 4K edition gives a vast improvement in consistency and better detail. It really shows the difference in quality when you watch scenes like the Kobayashi Maru opening or the classic uniforms.

Some of the training sets in the digital retouching have been restored to its original form, so some of the changes made in the 2009 version doesn’t make it in the cut. Other things that get cut were scenes from the televised version from 1985, including the one where Kirk and the team climb into the Enterprise after returning from Regula and the additional dialogue that came with it. Apparently Meyer wanted to keep the original version intact without the unnecessary dialogues that were shown in alternate versions. This results in a refined version of the original that should please fans.

Arguments over which version is better in terms of color will always be up for debate, but this remains to be Meyer’s most respected version of the film to date. Fans can agree that this is what the director intended and it’s a much better way to show the film. Not everyone will be happy with the changes made in the director’s cut, but it is a vast improvement from what we’ve seen. Some of the positives of this version outweigh any of the slighter criticisms that some may have, but The Wrath of Khan has never looked better. This is the version that every fan and newcomer to the franchise should own. Even if you have the 2009 version, this is practically a much better upgrade.

Rating: 9/10

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Mufsin Mahbub

**Fired from FilmBook for Plagiarism** Mufsin is a freelance writer from New York who has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism at Long Island University. He has written for publications like HollywoodLife, Clubplanet, and Heavy. He is an avid lover for everything related to TV and film. He has gone to dozens of film screenings, press events, and loves to attend New York Comic Con every year. He gives an honest opinion on every TV show or film that people are going to be talking about.
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