Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan Redux - Fan VFX Replacement Showcase

Star Trek II Wrath of Khan is considered by most critics and fans the best of the original movie franchise (though my personal preference is Trek III ). It has a top notch story, solid performances and some incredible VFX Model Work by ILM. Yes, it is a medium budget movie, that re-used footage from TMP, but for me, that was never a distraction, as it all fell within the realm of acceptable visual continuity. For at the end of day, the original Wrath of Khan is a great looking movie.

So the concept of swapping out as many of the original VFX shots (with some audio work too) as possible with CGI, I found both surprising and exciting.

And having just finished watching Wraith's KHAN REDUX, I can say, as a Great Experiment, it was, as a certain Vulcan might describe it, a "FACSINATING" viewing experience.

Conceptually, I found it very interesting to see certain "what if" shots (Reliant launching from Space Dock) or classic shots from different angles or hearing previously cut lines of dialogue.

Unfortunately, the use of a myriad of fan VFX to create these changes significantly impacted my experience both narratively and entertainment-wise. The lack of a Consistent Visual Continuity continually broke my suspension of disbelief. As some VFX is borderline Studio Professional Grade, while others are far less polished. Some shots of the Enterprise are highly detailed, others are under rendered. In other instances, new CGI shots like Regula One poorly resemble their model counterparts. Additionally, the cutting back and forth from a CGI shot to practical model one in a single scene only reinforced for me how good the ILM work is, and how it has a texture and weight that is lacking in many of the new fan created shots. Also, the Frame Rate issue of many of the new shots I found to be very jarring and distracting at times.

This is not meant to be a negative review. As a technical experiment, an alternative viewing experience, this is very cool and creative. The amount of time and hard work that went into assembling and polishing it is very apparent throughout. Wraith is to be commended for his vision, passion and skill.

But as an actual movie experience, it does not entirely succeed for me, and only makes me appreciate the ILM mastery of the original even more.

Still, well worth checking out.
Good stuff. :)

"The Wrath of Khan" was the first Star Trek I ever saw and it remains one of my favourite films, but I still thought that certain bits and pieces in both official versions could be improved on. What Wraith has done far exceeds anything I had imagined, the near perfect film (to borrow a phrase) is now that bit more polished, the new CGI scenes (amazing what length these fans go to) blended in seamlessly with the existing aesthetic, unlike the official "enhancements" featured in a certain sci-fi franchise of a similar era!

The mere replacement of the recycled footage from The Motion Picture would have been sufficient reason for me to consider this my go-to version, with all the other tweaks (some little and others large) making it so that I think going back to the original would feel like a retrograde step. Thanks again Wraith, both for having the idea to make the edit and for letting me help out in some small way.