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

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.

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!

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.

Review by Frantic Canadian — February 22, 2011 @ 1:25 am

*This rating was given before reviews were required*