Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan - Directors Edition (Two Disc Set) [DVD] [1982]

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.

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.