Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 11, 2016

Paramount has re-released the fan favorite 'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan' to Blu-ray, and for the first time with the director's cut included. The newly added cut runs 1:56:31 while the theatrical edition, also available on the disc, runs at 1:53:03. The video transfer has received a reworking, but audio presentation doesn't appear to have changed from the previous release. One new supplement has been added: a text commentary track with Michael and Denise Okuda. This cut is also scheduled for inclusion in the 30-disc 50th Anniversary set set slated for release in September 2016.

Amazing Grace.

The director's cut largely expands on the character of Peter Preston, a wet-behind-the-ears but disciplined and committed trainee who was stationed in engineering alongside his uncle, Montgomery Scott. The key added scenes further build the character during an exchange with Admiral Kirk during ship's inspection and, later, an extended scene following Preston's death in sickbay.

The movie as a whole is powerful and resonates deeply, even more so over the years and with maturity gained both with the crude passage of time and by the accumulation of finer life experiences. Star Trek II is a classic, and arguably, outside of Star Trek fans, a grossly under appreciated one at that. The film is a carefully structured and lyrically penned masterpiece of deep thematic relevance that comments not simply on the characters and the Star Trek universe but also the greater non-malleable human condition, relevant in any century. The movie is shaped, shot, and presented with incredible clarity and relatable realism in its dramatic structure, all the while constructed around an extraordinarily entertaining movie experience, cemented by the late James Horner's remarkable universe-shaping and theme-defining score.

For more thoughts on the film, please click here

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

This director's cut Blu-ray of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan appears to utilize the same 1080p transfer found on the previous release. Please click here for more.

Note: I'm awaiting personal confirmation on exact remaster details for this disc from Paramount. The review will again be updated with any new relevant information as it arrives in my inbox. Also, this review has been updated significantly to remedy incorrect information.

First, initial impressions. As Star Trek approaches its 50th anniversary and The Wrath of Khan ages gracefully towards 35, Paramount has delivered the long-awaited Director's Cut to Blu-ray with a new "digitally remastered" transfer running at 1080p. The 2.39:1 transfer isn't perfect, but the image holds up nicely. Grain is present, but sometimes inconsistent in density and visibility. Various scenes and surfaces appear a bit smoother than one might expect. Faces -- particularly Spock's -- sometimes suffer from a very clay-ish, sculpted, and smooth appearance (which could be attributed to heavier makeup, though the bloody Khan makeup seen in the third act is very revealing and detailed) while at other points skin intricacies are healthy and intimately detailed under the 1080p microscope, benefitting from a naturally effortless filmic texturing. Surrounding textures don't really leap off the screen, but general definition is solid. Surface details around the ships, whether the worn and battered derelict Botany Bay or the cleaner pre-attack lines and surface areas on the Reliant and Enterprise, almost always satisfy. Little touches on the button clusters on consoles or less immediately obvious, but very much appreciated, details like surface scuffs, dings, and material details on the silver plates outside the turbolift seen at the beginning of a scene in which Kirk and Saavik discuss her regulation hairstyle and the Kobayashi Maru test, are very impressive.

Colors aren't particularly punchy, but there's certainly a broad consistency to them. The primary colors come from the red Starfleet uniforms and the deep blues and purples within the Mutara Nebula. The palette is otherwise rather cold and steely in the Federation ships or barren and earthy on Ceti Alpha V. The red-light red alert Enterprise bridge shots are a little overbearing and the color is understandably more saturating, though it's home a fairly steady diet of background banding. Fortunately, other, more neutrally colored scenes featuring heavy smoke don't suffer the same fate. The blue text of the opening credits is gorgeous, with good defining vibrancy. Light wobble is an issue. For fun, try and find the curvature of the planetarium ceiling onto which the star field was projected and filmed. The Blu-ray's clarity is up to the challenge. That doesn't mean blacks don't hold firm. On the contrary, black levels are excellent, yielding positive depth and shadow detail.

As for the head-to-head comparison with the original 2009 release, this new presentation has its pluses and its questionable qualities, too. Depth of black levels is improved significantly, evident immediately through the opening titles. Clumpy noise is significantly reduced as well, giving way almost exclusively to a more naturally refined grain structure. As noted above, colors are often paler by a wide margin. There's little comparative punch to red Starfleet uniforms, for example. Flesh tones are much less flush and warm, too. An excellent place to compare comes near movie's end when McCoy and Scotty are holding back Kirk from entering the radiation area in engineering. Kirk's uniform top and the three faces are the only objects of significance or color beyond a very cool and light white/gray/blue background. Even in that background, however, blues are much less saturated. And yet that contrast between the two -- the older release appearing more flush, the newer less so -- doesn't hold throughout. Watch the Botany Bay sequence early in the movie, say, Khan's reveal. The newer transfer is more darkly contrasted rather than brighter, giving the character a more menacing appearance. When Chekov contacts Regula 1 on Khan's behalf, the new transfer appears to be the more flush of the two in two areas -- with bolder red uniform coloring and skin tones, opposite other scenes -- but less aggressive on the blue accents along Reliant's bridge support structure. The back-and-forth continues in various places; the scene in which Spock and Saavik discuss Kirk in their native tongue takes on a more dreary and dull red uniform and background grayscale on the newer image and a punchier red and a more decidedly blue background on the older transfer, much like that scene in engineering mentioned earlier. The nebula is darker but more refined, with smoother color transitions between shades of blue, pink, and purple. Certainly the less aggressive color palette dominates the movie; whether fans will prefer it to the older release is the big question.

Details are maybe a hair sharper across the board. Again, those red Starfleet tops are amongst the best example with a finer, though by no means intricate, appearance, improving on a comparatively smoother look on the old image. However, improvements are usually not so significant as to warrant eye-popping jubilation, whether on starship hulls or instrument clusters on the bridge. The color profile is easily the most jarring, and often the only major, difference between the two transfers.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This director's cut Blu-ray of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan appears to utilize the same Dolby TrueHD 7.1 lossless soundtrack found on the previous release. Please click here for more. A lip sync issue suddenly manifested around the 1:20:00 mark when Kirk is discussing the Kobayashi Maru with Saavik, but rewinding and replaying the scene fixed the problem. On the re-watch (see above) another lip sync issue suddenly manifested, this time around the 47:00 mark when Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are discussing Project Genesis. Again, rewinding a few seconds solved the problem. I have more issues with lip syncing on Paramount discs that any other studio, leading me to believe that, perhaps, the manner in which they author the discs doesn't always agree with something in my chain, probably the 1080p Blu-ray player (a Sony BDP-S790), which has been the one constant in my home theater for the longest period of time.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan contains all of the extras previously available on the film's first Blu-ray release. The only addition is a text commentary track, specific to the film's director's cut, courtesy of Michael and Denise Okuda (available in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese). Curiously, and disappointingly, no digital copy is included. For convenience, below is a basic list of the supplements included on the disc. Please click through to the review linked above for more information.

• Audio Commentary: Director Nicholas Meyer.
• Audio Commentary: Director Nicholas Meyer and Manny Coto (Theatrical Version).
• Text Commentary: Michael and Denise Okuda (Director's Cut).
• Library Computer (Theatrical Version)
• The Genesis Effect: Engineering The Wrath of Khan
• Production
• The Star Trek Universe
• Farewell
• Storyboards
• Theatrical Trailer

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a tremendous motion picture, a classic within the Science Fiction genre, the best two hours of Star Trek in either movie or television show format -- of any iteration or era -- and one of this reviewer's top five favorite films of all time. The director's cut release is one of the most welcome to grace Blu-ray. The additions are often subtle but powerful and only serve to make a fantastic movie even better. Paramount's Blu-ray is excellent, though why the rumored UHD disc was not released alongside of it, why it did not contain new supplements beyond a text commentary, and why it did not ship with a digital copy are all anyone's guess. Nevertheless, the release is fantastic on its own merits and comes very highly recommended.