Star Trek Vengeance

I have seen Into darkness a fair number of times and while I like it quite a lot, I don't love it. I own it for the sake of completion.

There are a number of things wrong with the original film, and some of them are still prevalent in this edit (a guy can only do so much without making the film Jarring.) TM2YC has made the best possible version of the film with there could be - without resorting to reshoots. This missing 15 minutes of Spock & Kirk, Spock & Uhara, and Original Spock are not missed. Neither is the obvious fan service scene. With the necessary cuts this feels a lot closer to 09 than the cluttered mess it originally was. Things only happen when they need to, Friendships are reinstated, Kirk is not reinstated...because he doesn't get demoted in the first place.

A/V: were prefect, crisp quality, no ghosting, audio was clear and precise.
Editing: even though I know where scenes should be I try to imagine how I'd feel if I was watching the film for the first time and I think a fantastic job has been done here. Nothing feels deliberate or out of place, the pacing is much improved.
Story: Though I wouldn't have minded to see a little more (young) spock I didn't miss the omissions. The story feels more purposed with just the right balance of exposition, action and humour, scenes such the demotion just serve to create a fake mcguffin and are not missed at all.

I think this edit is definitely worth a viewing, but for me personally it's replaced the original, even if the ending still leaves something to be desired.

Into Darkness is a mess of a film. Lots of great moments and scenes and characters, but its bogged down by fifty extra sub plots, a main plot that doesn't make much sense, a lack of overall focus, and a really contrived and awful ending (I don't know about you, but its totally in Spock's character to beat a man within an inch of his life). So I haven't seen the original film in maybe a year or more, so I was ready to be blown away by TM2YC as I often am. Star Trek Vengeance fixes and improves upon most of Into Darkness' original problems!

I was surprised at how much I found myself enjoying the edit. I was trying to remember any differences between this and the original movie (beyond obvious omissions like the strip tease scene, the Kirk bedding two cat ladies scene, and the Nimoy scenes). One specific thing I remember in the original film was that Spock and Kirk were always at each other's throats, which made no sense and was clunky and confused. TM2YC has streamlined that friendship and made them so much more believable! I had to look at the cutlist and rewatch parts of the original film to get a full sense of how this relationship was changed. Also, I had forgotten about the terribly awful Spock/Uhura sub plot, and its omission is a blessing. Now they both feel like real people and not a movie-couple! So much effort was put into this edit, and every single cut made payed off. Vengeance is a great follow-up to 2009 Trek.

I think my only criticism is something that might not have been fixable. I absolutely despise the final action scene, Spock chasing down Khan and punching him forever (and my brain is telling me that Spock starts swearing at Khan). I'm curious if there may have been a way to omit this sequence and somehow end the movie differently. That being said, the small but amazing cuts made to this sequence made it much more enjoyable for me, though I still wasn't a fan. That might be personal preference, and it might not be possible to change that ending. But I must reiterate, this edit is great and needs to go into any modern-Trek lover's library.

An excellent effort by TM2YC. I hadn't revisited the theatrical cut of this film since it first came out on video. I liked it okay but never really felt compelled to revisit it. Thanks to this fanedit, it has been improved a lot in my opinion.

A/V Quality - 10/10 - Looked spectacular, just as good my BD to my eye. Using the IMAX version was really smart and added grander scale to some shots.
Visual Editing - 10/10 - No noticeable cuts to me. It wasn't just that stuff was excised, it's that shots were repurposed and used for different effect. The Kirk/Spock argument was a great example of this, as well as the bar scene. Glancing at the cutlist after was pretty impressive; there were so many little touches and tweaks that were invisible.
Audio Editing - 10/10 - Everything sounded great. I'm not sure there was a lot changed but the score felt more continuous than I remember. I think the main theme was used a bit more, I think.
Narrative - This is where the edit shines. Khan is still not a great character but his exposition dumps are as limited as can be. Kirk and Spock's relationship tracks a lot better for me. Kirk isn't fired and then given command back right away for no real reason (and in this Kirk's dressing down works much better). Uhura's not a bundle of emotional nerves for no real reason at a time where it makes no real sense. There's no tacked on Vulcan talk and cameo. Carol is a lot less awful. Spock's raging bloodthirst now makes more sense (it's emotional AND logical now. Perfect for a Vulcan.) All of these benefits are basically at the cost of Uhura's role being reduced (sucks but I'd rather have her reduced and with some dignity) and Carol feeling like a walking plot device (that doesn't pay off). But in the original she was basically a walking plot device that doesn't pay off while also stripping and acting terribly. So, the character's big moment didn't play in the original really, either.
Enjoyment - 9/10 - TM2YC has turned a 6.5 for me into a 9. There are some inherent flaws in the script that really can't be changed, but I think the editor improved just about everything that could be improved.

Oh, and I didn't even mention the color grade. Huge improvement for me. It's fascinating what a little vibrancy can do to the tone of a film. I also have a shit eye for colors so take that with a huge grain of salt. :)

What can I say that hasn't already been said? I enjoyed Star Trek Into Darkness when it first came out, and have watched it since and enjoyed it as much, with only a few quibbles, all of which have been addressed here:
- Alive Eve no longer strips down in front of Kirk for fanservice is gone.
- Spock's cheesy (but rather understandable in the heat of the moment) KHAAAAAN is gone.
- Leonard Nimoy's cameo is gone.

I didn't follow the ITW thread for this edit, so I can't rightfully say where extra FX work was done, but given that it went unnoticed in the first place speaks volumes about TM2YC's work here. The color correction was great, no stray frames or any other errors in video editing. Bionicbob noted a pretty major audio sync issue with Scotty, but I never noticed it (I in no way mean to discount Bob's review - I simply never noticed).

Narratively, the film works very well. Nothing feels over-explained, and while I do think that Spock and Uhura's character arc felt a bit weak because the conflict between them was more or less eliminated, but then again, not every film needs a romantic subplot.

The A/V quality of the Blu-ray was great, pretty damn close to the retail disc. As a note, I really loved that TM2YC used the IMAX version from the Compendium release (which I also own) as a base for the edit. The expanded ratio looks amazing. The stereo audio track was great as well, nothing sounded out of place and levels were good. No complaints there.

Overall, I really enjoyed the edit and this is my go-to version. With 15 minutes cut, I only noticed a few significant things cut, but not due to poor editing. This is a solid edit and I highly recommend it.

Another stellar edit by TM2YC!

I loved his previous Trek project and thus had high hopes for his newest Trek endeavour... and I was not disappointed! :)

Like many, I too enjoyed INTO DARKNESS when originally released, and while I still think it is a very entertaining movie, its flaws become more apparent with each new viewing, particularly in the third act. I would rate ITD my third fave of the new Kelvin movies after Beyond and ST09.

What TM2YC has done here is mostly trims and tweaks, most of which are seamless and serve the narrative well. The two most brilliant edits are the removal of Kirk's demotion and the resequencing of the Khan superblood reveal --- now Spock is motivated to save his friend and not by emotional revenge, which I do not think the original version truly earned. I love these two changes and they immediately elevate this edit above the original cut.

However, the removal of the Uhura/Spock conversation in the shuttle to the Klingon home world does cause some minor narrative weaknesses. The kiss later feels slightly out of place and Spock's emotional journey is slightly softened.

But these are minor quibbles in the over scheme of things, and I found the edit moves at a brisk and engaging pace.

The colour work overall looks very good, though there were a couple of times where things looks a little off, such as the shipboard uniform pants not looking classic black but more teal-ish.

There is also a significant audio sync issue in the edit involving Scotty.

On the flip side, there is some very impressive visual fx work done that I would never even have noticed as not original if I had not been following the original production thread. Bravo TM2YC!!!

All in all, I was thoroughly entertained and would highly recommend this edit.
Thumbs up!