'Star Trek II: The Director's Cut' Blu-ray review

On June 7, 2016, Paramount Home Media Distribution released “Star Trek II: The Director’s Cut,” a one-disc Blu-ray (BD) edition of Nicholas Meyer’s 1982 box office hit that pits Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the crew of the Starship Enterprise against their deadliest foe, Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban). Unlike its 2002 DVD predecessor, the BD re-issue not only contains the slightly longer (by three minutes) version of Meyer’s movie; it also includes the 113-minute-long edition as it was seen in theaters back in 1982.

One of the most celebrated and essential chapters in Star Trek lore, “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” is now presented in this spectacular Director’s Cut from legendary filmmaker Nicholas Meyer. On routine training maneuvers, Admiral James T. Kirk seems resigned that this may be the last space mission of his career. But Khan is back, with a vengeance. Aided by his exiled band of genetic supermen, Khan – brilliant renegade of 20^th Century Earth – has raided Space Station Regula One, stolen a top secret device called Project Genesis, wrested control of another Federation starship, and now schemes to set a most deadly trap for his old enemy Kirk…with the threat of a universal Armageddon! – from the package blurb

The Director’s Cut BD

Although “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan – The Director’s Cut” and the theatrical version are nearly identical, the slightly longer Director’s Cut includes footage that was edited from the 1982 film but was added for its network television release in 1985. The additional three minutes were small but revealing bits about the characters. In one scene, for instance, we learn that Midshipman 1^st Class Peter Preston (Ike Eisenmann) is Montgomery Scott’s youngest nephew; this explains why Scotty is so distraught when the young man is killed during Khan’s first attack on the Starship Enterprise.

As I reported last year in 'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - Director's Edition' Blu-ray due out in June, Paramount’s Blu-ray team attempted to give viewers – especially “Star Trek” fans –  a bigger bang for their buck. This is because “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” is the only film of the six Original Series features that received the full remastering treatment to 1080p high definition back in 2009. According to Memory Alpha, director Nicholas Meyer said that the movie’s negatives were “in terrible shape” and required a complete digital rehabilitative effort.

The 2016 Blu-ray of the Director’s Cut was remastered from a new 4K scan under Meyer’s supervision. It presents both versions of “Star Trek II” in seamless branching: the viewer simply chooses which edition to watch on the Play Movie option in the menu and it’s off into the 23^rd Century with Admiral Kirk and the Enterprise. The big difference between the new version and the 2009 one (which was also a 4K scan but was made with first-generation 4K technology) is that the resolution is so good that viewers can see small details (such as the patterns of the starships’ hull plates) in the 2016 Blu-ray that can’t be seen in the 2009 one.

In addition to better video quality and a 7.1 Dolby TrueHD English audio track, “Star Trek II: The Director’s Cut” comes with a starship’s cargo bay’s worth of extras. All of the extras from the 2002 Director’s Cut DVD and the 2009 BD editions are bundled together, including the behind-the-scenes documentary “Captain’s Log,” the shorter “Designing Khan” and “Original Interviews” featurettes, the original theatrical trailer from 1982, and various extras from the 2009 BD (the Library Computer interactive viewing mode is back, as is the audio commentary track by director Meyer with “Star Trek: Enterprise” producer Manny Coto.)

As was previously mentioned, the only new behind-the-scenes documentary is the (nearly) 30-minute long documentary “The Genesis Effect: Engineering The Wrath of Khan.” Written and directed by Roger Lay, Jr., it covers some of the same ground as 2002’s “Captain’s Log” but from a slightly different perspective. Nicholas Meyer is back to explain why he made “Star Trek II” without paying much attention to fans’ wishes, the mythology or Gene Roddenberry’s vision – “I made the Star Trek movie I wanted to see on the assumption that if I liked it, other people would like it.”

Meyer also reveals that not only was William Shatner reluctant to play Kirk as a middle aged admiral, but he didn’t want to play “Kirk depressed, Kirk defeated, Kirk not at the top of his game.” Shatner, it turns out, was not being vain or unprofessional, but rather protective of the Kirk persona.

What makes “The Genesis Effect” worth watching is the presence of new interviewees, including Robert Sallin, Mark Altman, Ralph Winter, Larry Nemecek, John and Bjo Trimble, Leonard Nimoy’s son Adam , Gene Roddenberry’s assistant Susan Sackett, film reviewer Scott Mantz, “Star Trek: Enterprise” writers David A. Goodman and Michael Sussman, Bobak Ferdowski, and TV producer Gabrielle Stanton (“The Flash”). Some of the contributions are, as Spock would say, fascinating. Others are not as riveting, but on the whole, the interviews are informative and also serve as a tribute to the late Harve Bennett and Leonard Nimoy.

Interestingly, although “The Genesis Effect” mentions that other writers were involved and that  the final revised script was done by Bennett and Meyer, no one mentions the late Jack B. Sowards. Sowards wrote the first draft in which Spock dies during the battle with Khan; the death scene in that script is what attracted Leonard Nimoy to sign up for “Star Trek II.” Considering that Sowards (who died in 2007 of Lou Gehrig’s Disease) is the sole credited screenwriter, this is an oversight that should have been avoided.

Though the BD has a lot going for it, there is a good chance that Paramount Home Media Distribution may have to revise “Star Trek II: The Director’s Cut” and offer consumers a replacement disc.

According to The Digital Bits’ Bill Hunt, “During the Kobayashi Maru scene that opens the film, the same shot of Sulu is mistakenly repeated twice.” It’s a small, easy-to-miss goof, but it is there. Paramount, Hunt said, “is aware of the issue and almost certainly is going to correct it,”

UPDATE

Sure enough, Paramount Home Media did fix the problem, and viewers who filled in an online form with proofs of purchase received prepaid FedEx envelopes in which to send the defective Blu-rays back to the company. Consumers then received replacement discs about a week later.