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Rating:  -
Let me be clear, as far as I am concerned, "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)" is a fun movie; but the film IS NOT GENE RODDENBERRY'S MOVIE!!! Moreover, "Paramount executives, who blamed the relative failure of the first movie on the constant rewrites demanded by Roddenberry," removed Gene Roddenberry from the production and reduced his involvement to an "Executive Consultant" advisory position. Paramount then went out and hired Harve Bennett to "replace" Gene Roddenberry. While Gene Roddenberry was allowed to view and comment upon all scripts and dailies emanating from the production, the creative team was free to disregard Gene Roddenberry's input, which Harve Bennett elected to do. Next, Paramount had Nicholas Meyer, also the director, write the script for the Wrath of Khan. Meyer, who knew nothing about Gene Roddenberry's conceptualization of Star Trek--let alone ever viewing an episode prior to being hired--watched a few of the original television episodes and concluded that Star Trek was little more than Horatio Hornblower in space. So, Meyer wrote his own Horatio Hornblower script, Harve Bennett "bought" into it and convinced Paramount. Just like that, Meyer and Bennett redefined the entire concept of Star Trek, literally taking Star Trek to places Gene Roddenberry never envisioned.
Equally disturbing is the fact that the newly appointed "creators" of Star Trek completely ignored Robert Wise's efforts to transform the vision of the original Star Trek television series into theatrical "big screen" movies that continued the true intent of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek: intelligence; compassion; equality and fairness; symbolism and analogy; social awareness; controversy; and wonderful, fun, thought provoking, imperturbable entertainment. Instead, Bennett and Meyer went for a movie that was: simple minded "naval" action; ruthlessness and bitterness; bigotry and injustice; basic descriptions and cliches; narrow mindedness; uncontroversial (except for the poor actors that were forced to say lines that made them "ill"); and tried and true, blow it up, in your face conflict.
While I was disappointed when I saw "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" at the theater, I remember consoling myself that the movie did revisit an old script's story line and that Ricardo Montalbán was brilliant in his updated performance. In deed, I believe that it is Montalban's performance that kept this movie from being a disaster. Yes, Meyer's "British Navy" and 18th century broadsides appealed to the then current generation of "movie goers," satiating their lust for endless, pointless "action." But, I remain convinced that without a performance equivalent to Montalban's, along with the "killing off" of Leonard Nimoy's character, Captain Spock, the movie would have been a boring movie not even worthy of three stars.
As I stated in my review of "Star Trek - The Motion Picture: The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)," I consider Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek--and his vision of the show--to have been the best television show up to that time (1966-1969). Equally, I consider Harve Bennett's and Nicholas Meyer's "stolen" Star Trek to be an entirely different production. While I was convinced in 1984 by friends to go with them to see "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock," I essentially "gave up" on the whole Star Trek "franchise" after "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan."
It would not be until 2002, when the DVDs came out that I would watch a Star Trek movie ("Star Trek - The Motion Picture: The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition"); and then, only because my oldest boy was trying to reconnect with me by giving me the movie for Christmas. It is only now, 16 years after "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" came out, that I have decided to purchase "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)." While the extra features and time have softened me, and I will most likely watch the movie more than once, I still believe that "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)" is no more than an average movie (i.e., a three star film).
Update--1 July 2008: If this review was not helpful to you, I would appreciate learning the reason(s) so I can improve my reviews. My goal is to provide help to potential buyers, not get into any arguments. So, if you only disagree with my opinion, could you please say so in the comments and not indicate that the review was not helpful. Thanks.
Rating:  -
Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan is the "Stairway To Heaven" of Star Trek films. Nothing in Trek (or Star Wars) even touches it! As far as Trek movies go, the only other one that approaches this is VI. It's too bad that Nick Meyer did not do all the films. This one has it all!
Best Effects
Best Storyline of any Trek film.
Best Acting from Shatner (De Kelly and Nimoy always ruled)
Best Villain! (Khaaaaaan!)
Best Battle Scenes
Best Score (Thank you James Horner)
This movie, along with "City On The Edge Of Forever" from TOS, is the absolute BEST of all Trek. Forget TNG, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise - they are all bland and washed out compared to these ballsy masterpieces.
Rating: -
Despite the fact that the first Star Trek motion picture rekindled an interest in the show, there existed a disconnect between the style/feel of the Original Series TV show and the style/feel of the first movie. In The Wrath of Khan, however, the focus shifts back to what made the show a success in the first place: great acting and character developement, subtle humor, action/adventure scenes, and some thought-provoking concepts.
In this film, a few members of the U.S.S. Enterprise stumble across an old nemesis from the TV show...Khan, a ruthless dictator who will stop at nothing to get his revenge on Captain Kirk, the man who imprisoned him. At the same time, Kirk is struggling with his advancing age, coming to terms with the fact that he will not be a starship captain forever. The final showdown between Kirk and Kahn will have you on the edge of your seating, rooting for the swashbuckling Kirk more than ever before.
This movie also does a great job of showcasing the "auxiliary" characters (Uhura, Chekhov, Sulu, Scotty, etc.), who more often than not got the short end of the spool in the TV show.
For devoted fans of the show, the final scene is likely the most gut-wrenching of any movie or TV episode, as fan-favorite Spock must make a split-second decision that will alter his life forever.
To conclude, if you are just beginning your voyage through the Star Trek universe (and don't have time to watch all the episodes), this is the film you want to start with, as it remains true to the ideals/concepts that made Star Trek such a cultural phenomena. For those of you who watched the first Star Trek film and were disappointed, take heart, as this film will have you running to your local video store to check out the next installment in the series.
Rating: -
I'm not a Trekkie or a Trekker.
My interest in things Star Trek is take it or leave it. There's been tons of schlock in the original series, the spin-offs, and the movies.
Wrath of Khan is the best of the Star trek movies because like the best of the series, it focuses on the relationships between the principals.
The script is really quite moving, dealing with Kirk's aging, encountering a son he hasn't had any relationship with, and that son's mother. And we have Spock's death, one of the best death scenes in cinema.
We're supplied with a credible bad guy, Ricardo Montalban, chewing scenery, quoting Milton (all the while in an unfortunate mullet, I'm afraid).
And we have Kirsty Alley, stealing scenes in a very early role, as Spock's Vulcan protege.
Everyone is chasing after an interesting mcguffin, the Genesis device, which brings dead planets to life.
The backstory was that after the bloated mess of the first Star Trek movie, with its cost overruns and generally middling reviews, this was planned as a TV movie, possibly as a relaunch of the TV series.
By the time they were in post-production, they wisely realized that the movie would probably do okay in theatres. So this movie was made on a TV-movie budget (the tiniest of any Trek film by far), and made tons of bucks.
The special effects are mostly okay; penny-elegant and effective but not over the top. The nebula is very pretty; later Trek series would reuse the shots endlessly.
Quite fun all around.
Rating: -
Here, we have the cast of the original Star Trek Series on yet another adventure into the universe. This is a very focused and tight story with lots of action and a shrewd approach to expanding the story of an older, original Star Trek episode, "Space Seed".
Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 12, Episodes 23 & 24: A Taste of Armageddon/ Space Seed
It's all about a clan of genetically superior super-humans, led by a man with a Bonepartist attitude, (Kahn), who were once placed on a planet by Captain Kirk, to resolve the takeover of the Starship Enterprise by that group. There, they were expected to survive and create a new civilization.
However, no one checked on their progress and things didn't go precisely as planned!
The second plot is that a former lover of Captain Kirk's, (Kirk's illegitimate son is introduced to us!), a brilliant scientist, who has invented a device for "creating life" on barren planets, "The Genesis Project". The problem is, this device can also be used for planentary destruction because it obliterates any existing life where it is utilized.
Kahn seizes upon a chance to escape the torment of his now barren world and seeks to steal the Genesis device and to get even with Kirk in the process. I'll have to stop there to avoid any major spoilers but, for fans of the original series, there is one heckuva MAJOR INCIDENT near the end.
This is a superb family, sci-fi film that will stand the test of time. Don't miss it!
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