Star Trek 2 “Perdition’s Flames”

Firstly, I want to both apologise for my tardiness at watching and reviewing this edit, both as a fellow huge TOS fan, and also to make clear that because I am watching over a decade on from when this was made, I will take the time factor into consideration. These are just my thoughts...

I love the TOS structure of pre-titles through to commercial breaks etc. How did you create that gorgeous title sequence?

All the breaks were fitting and made me want to keep watching if this was on TV.

I am also impressed and overjoyed at the placement of TOS music! If one were to re-do this now, with the TOS soundtrack collection out there, we have a wealth of material to now choose from, some probably more appropriate in places than what Bob had at the time.

This leads me to my next point: I adore TOS music but found The Doomsday Machine score repetitive. At that point in time, other episodes' cues were available, and Where No Man Has Gone Before music may have been fitting in places. I found the Doomsday Machine music when Kirk and Carol talk about David alone, unnecessary and a little messy. I think the silence, or more pensive music would have been better. But that's just me.

I also think the TNG Inner Light music, while beautifully realised, completely inappropriate to the TOS feel that Bob was going for. Lovely, but not necessary.

I loved the flashback moments. I think b/w works fine, and the choice of clips was suitable, but if this was to be done today, I would pull the original effects version from the blu ray, as the TOS-R footage is jarring.

I *loved* the trailer, but am puzzled at its placement just before the main feature.

The epilogue was perfect.

The end titles were great, but I wonder if all the film credits were included in such a short space of time?

Also, I'm not sure what aspect ratio we were going for here?

To be clear: I enjoyed this alternate take, and whilst just a little more Khan would have been good, the tension of not seeing Khan in that final battle is nail-biting,and I think we can all agree that communication from Khan, literally spitting at Kirk, replacing his original miniature monologue, was simply masterful.

An edit that, despite its age,must be watched by any Trekkie (or -er!)

KHAN!!!!!!!!!!!! I will say upfront i do prefer the Wrath of Khan movie but i do like the episodic type feel of this edit. i loved the flashbacks when shooting Spock's Torpedo down to Genesis. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of BionicBob's edits that i have watched so far and if the person reading this likes Star Trek definitely give these edits of the movies a watch. they may not replace the originals but are definitely a fun way to watch

Cards on the table: I feel the original W.o.K. is one of the best sci-fi films of all time. (More details here: https://letterboxd.com/nottheacademy/film/star-trek-ii-the-wrath-of-khan/) So, as BionicBob himself says, this really can't replace it. Virtually any change you make to the film would make it a lesser film, so the real question is if this edit is a good alternative way to view it. I'd give it a qualified 'yes'.

Compared to the first in Bob's series (ST: TMP), I think the TV treatment comes off better here. The trailer before the "episode", the commercial break fade-outs at climactic story moments...they work pretty well. The giveaway is that-
A. the time the film takes to give weight to scenes (like the launching of the Enterprise) is waaaay longer and grander than fits in a TV series. It busts the whole feel he's going for. And,
B. the music that accompanies much of this movie is grand, and epic, and has the triumphant feeling of an exciting military mission... again, the scale is way off for a TV series.
So these two aspects prevent the presentation of the edit from really taking hold for me, but it doesn't ruin the edit or anything.

The other main point of this edit is to present things purely from Kirk's point of view, and it's a pretty interesting way to view. I think it validates giving this a watch, even though I missed much of the cut material. Some of my favorite scenes/shots are not in this version, such as the earworm torture, part of Spock's big decision, and generally anything with Ricardo Montalban. Perhaps I would've liked it more if Khan's side were included later in the film as flashbacks when Kirk finds out what happened.

There are a lot of nice touches here in terms of added/altered music, effects, and flashbacks that help get the feel of the story right for the edit. That said, the song that accompanied the funeral scene was jarring and really didn't fit the rest of the music in this film. It also seemed a bit OTT for me.

All in all, I think BionicBob executed his plan well and came up with an edit people may really enjoy. The original is still my preferred version, but I can say this is definitely a fun way to rewatch.

OK, like so many others, WOK is my favorite Star Trek movie. So I was curious and eager to see how this film could be edited differently but still be the great enjoyment that it is. And boy I was pleasantly surprised by the concept! Spoilers follow...

Let me start by the only thing I had a small issue with, the music. I did not think the blend between the original series music and the movie music works as well as the V'Ger incident. The Jerry Goldsmith score mix much better with TOS than James Horner, who crafted an incredible score. But still, it was not bad, only more apparent.

One thing that could have been nice to do is when the Enterprise meets the Reliant for the first time, a ominous music starts right away. Since it's Kirk POV and he has no idea that this is a threat, the music could have started when Kirk says "This is damn peculiar...". This is just an idea.

That being said, I LOVED this edit! I miss seeing Khan in a couple of scenes but the movie works nevertheless! You sense the presence of the enemy, even if you rarely see him. The Kirk POV really add to the intensity, in part because we cannot see or hear what Khan is saying or planning next. So we are experiencing what Kirk do, and that's the point!

When Kirk finally meet his nemesis, the flashbacks to the Space Seed episode were absolutely genius and the choice of music was perfect!!! I really liked the timing of the flashback scenes during Kirk slowly getting up from his chair, totally surprised by Khan's appearance.

The intent of this edit result in a even better pacing of the movie. I really love the original release but the judicious cuts help to remove some unnecessary fat, like Khan right hand man for example. Even if I didn't knew the story by heart, I felt that all necessary information were there to understand everything. I cannot express how much I was pleasantly surprised by the edit and my enjoyment seeing it!!

There were two particular surprises for me at the end of the Mutara Nebula battle. First, I thought I was going to see Khan on the Reliant when he starts the Genesis device and deliver his final speech. Rather, Bob decided to keep the focus on the Enterprise crew, with a voiceover of Khan's speech, which is brilliant! Second, I was shocked to hear McCoy say "Jim, I think you better get down here...". I was so sure to see Spock sacrifice that it surprised me, as Kirk was surprised by McCoy.

Finally, the Spock funeral was revised for a really emotional scene! The Inner Light track from TNG is one of my all time favorite and it's used here with great effect! The emotion cranks even higher with the inclusion of a couple of flashbacks of the original series.

WOK is a great movie without a shadow of a doubt, but I can assure you that Perdition's Flame has now a place in my movie library, right beside the original release!

GREAT FAN EDIT BIONIC BOB!!

Wow. I quite loved this! Like a lot of other reviewers are saying of themselves, I am also not really a Trekkie, but I eventually watched all of the original series (no other ones--Pickard Who?) and I saw the original cast movies at home on VHS. So it has been a long time since I have watched this movie.
No matter how great something is, it always seems easier to point out the things I had problems with, so I will start there:

Really didn't not like the opening "teaser". The movie actually starts 1 minute and 25 seconds later. It really just felt like a jumble of scenes/spoilers. This was the one and only thing I actually did not like about the edit, and it is easy to disregard it since it's at the beginning.

I did have a couple of issues regarding the story though. There is some weirdness when Kirk beams down and sees his son and the scientist lady. It's clear there is some backstory that is missing. (Frankly, though not the intent of this edit, I wish that goofy dude was not Kirk's son. TMBTM managed to fix Indy 4's similar "cool guy/crappy son" issue. But I know that is not what you were going for here).
I felt one or two more interior shots of the Reliant with Kahn would have been useful during the final battle scene, especially for more closure on the big villain's death. I know we'd be out of Kirk's POV, but just barely as we'd be seeing damage Kirk was inflicting. I think all the other removing of Kahn worked perfectly.
The other issue I had was with Spock's death. There was no explanation at all for what really happened there. I mean, we can piece together what it was. Unfortunately being in Kirk's POV still doesn't give us Kirk's knowledge of the ship, etc, so I really would have loved to have gotten at least Scotty trying to stop Spock or something by way of explaining what killed Spock.
All we know is he saved the ship, somehow, by doing something and now he's gonna die.

I liked the montage at the funeral, I would have preferred washed out color instead of black and white, but that's just me. I think in the V'ger movie there were fewer fades to commercial, and I felt fewer was better, but that's no big deal.

Overall, I am really REALLY enjoying these Star Trek edits! I am watching them in order, though this is the 1st one I have reviewed. Can't wait to watch the rest of them!