Star Trek 2 “Perdition’s Flames”

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

Review by L8wrtr — October 26, 2010 @ 1:41 am

So I had the privilege of seeing an early cut of this and found it very enjoyable. Bob’s trademark TOS flavor was already in place, and he had gone quite a long way in creating the Kirk only point of view. At the time I quite enjoyed it but still felt that I would return to the theatrical as my go-to DVD.

After having watched the final version, I have reversed this position, this is now my go-to version.

Visual Quality
Like Bob’s previous edit, the V’ger incident this edit suffers from less than ideal video quality. There are compressions in certain reds, and it is as most who follow Bob’s edit’s know, the letterbox aspect. From a purely evaluational standpoint I have to give it a 7/10 for visual quality. Personally, this doesn’t bother me, but I do hope that Bob at some point is able to revisit this edit with improved software capabilities as this is the ONLY aspect that holds this edit back.

Audio Quality
This is one of the shining gems of the edit. Infusion of TOS sound effects and music is seamless and if you had not seen this movie before, or didn’t know what the big deal was, I suspect most wouldn’t be able to identify what was added. I could detect no hard or startling audio cuts or transitions and in particular, the sequence where the Reliant first attacks the Enterprise was handled very well. Audio levels did not seem out of line with the original DVD. I see no reason to give anything other than 10/10.

Editing
On the technical front there were no flaws, no flash-frames and no visual mismatches. Like the audio, I would say that if you were not familiar with the subject matter, or the original story a view would be hard placed to find where the Bob made his edits. His presence is only noticeable because so much has been added, modified and/or removed. 10/10

Story/Film improvement
Surprisingly, and quite contrary to my expectation, the shift to Kirk’s Point of View actually does, at least for me, makes this a better movie and a true example of Less is More. I can certainly be counted among those who absolutely love Ricardo Montalban’s performance as Khan. He has some of the juiciest lines and dramatic performances in the movie. Yet when his scenes are highly redacted, we see a classic Trek story emerge. This is no longer Khan’s Revenge. It’s a Star Trek story, which means it’s a story about Kirk, Spock and Bones, and it highlights the human struggle and issues of mortality that Kirk faces.

**SPOILERS AHEAD!!!**
Of particular joy for me was the Reliant attack on the Enterprise, and the battle of the Nebula right through Spock’s death. The way Bob was able to cut Khan’s prepatory lines from the lead-up were masterful, and the manner in which the attack came off was truly that of a surprise attack and makes it believable that they got the jump on Kirk, but even more impressive was excising Spock’s fixing the Mains – the power of the moment when Kirk looks at Spock’s empty chair is ratcheted up so much more from this angle and makes the emotional payoff of when he first sees Spock hit home even more. And the goodbye montage, much as I was against it in the initial copy I saw, worked very well. 11/10

Extras
The DVD menu is a default template and not terribly exciting (and repetitive if you’re watching more than one of his edits at a time ;) ) but I don’t mark down for menus, I’m here to watch an edit after all.

He does provide a nice little ‘About this movie’ bit that is enlightening and fun.
And as other’s have said, watch all the way through the credits.

Overall
This was a highly enjoyable edit that is a great example of what a Fanedit can be. It is one thing to take a crappy movie that missed the mark and make it better, but to take what is considered the best movie of a franchise and create something new and and enjoyable, that is truly an impressive feet.

The only thing that holds this back from a perfect 10 is the video quality, which drags this down to an 8.5 out of 10 so rounding up I give this a 9/10. This is a fantastic edit and simply a fun movie 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!!

The bad:
DVD is not anamorphic, Image looks funny on widescreen TVs. (I ended up ripping the DVD, cropping the image, and re-encoding a disc of my own.)

The good:
Apparently, everyone loves wrath of Khan. It's supposed to be the film that saved star trek. I was born after the classic Trek era. I grew up with TNG. The first Star Trek movie I remember seeing in theatres was First Contact.

Compared to First Contact, WOK is slow and boring (with a glaring continuity error right in the opening). It's not a bad film, it has a lot of redeeming qualities. There is a lot of dramatic irony, the plot is good, the characters are dynamic. It makes for an excellent study in technically proficient storytelling, but it was never a lot of fun for me. (Also, Ricardo Montalbán is the biggest Ham in the universe, right?)

This edit... well it made the film fun. The story moves more quickly, there is mystery and tension. Shatner seems like a great actor. What little we se of Khan makes him tolerable (even enjoyable). Also, the continuity problems have been amended.


On the whole, a fantastic edit. My go to copy of WOK.