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.

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.

Count me firmly in the "liked it" camp. In fact, when I first saw Into Darkness, I thought it might even be better than its predecessor (and this is coming from someone who LOVED ST09 - it's my favorite Trek film). Since then, watching it again, is it perfect? No. Some plot contrivances become more obvious upon repeat viewings, and character regressions become more eyeball worthy. Still, is STID a fun and completely watchable flick? Definitely. So while many have clamored for an edit for awhile, I have not. But I'm more than welcoming to Vengeance, which brings the film damn near close to the best it can be.

First of all, all the nips and tucks done, whether to remove weird lines or fix reactions or pacing - perfect and completely seamless. In many cases they do what they set out to do like a trick, keeping things going. In most cases you won't even notice. Most of the edit is comprised of these types of tweaks, to the point where, even though 15 minutes have been removed, if you didn't know better you'd probably never notice. Which is of course the true sign of a great fan edit.

The opening scene works this way, and is in many ways faster and more fun than the original. Not in all ways because unfortunately, the resequenced reveal of the Enterprise emerging from the water to save Spock is sort of ruined, pacing-wise, in comparison to the original. Still, I love the reinsertion of the deleted scene (even if the musical scoring isn't quite what I would have done), and the new title is very well done.

Moving on, removing Kirk's demotion is handled quite well and does a good deal to improve the film in regards to Kirk and Spock's character. Kirk doesn't need to be sent to his room for him to learn his lesson, so the change is nice, in addition to removing the redundancy of getting his rank back later. Unfortunately there's a slight oddity because of this when Kirk says that only he can go get Harrison, but I suppose its not all that different from the original. More odd is the bar scene. The intention of the editing is clear, but you can't remove Pine's smile to make Kirk reaction go from feeling comforted to feeling guilty. The real winner of the demotion change though is the scene in which Kirk asks Spock why he saved him which is expertly done and really frames their relationship in this film very well.

Spock's handling of his emotions is a big through line in the original and here, with a key scene being his discussion with Uhura on the ship en route to Kronos. That scene is cut here, mostly because of what it does to Uhura's character. Going it to this edit, I was okay with that. Watching, the edit is, of course, seamless, and helps keep the film going at a breakneck pace. Problem is, though, once the film has come full circle and Spock is watching Kirk die, the emotional through line kind of falls apart. The scene on the ship is crucial not just to establish and deepen Spock's handling of his feelings post-Vulcan, but also to have a pause in the action for some depth, and to remind us where the characters are coming from emotionally. Ultimately, I think removing the scene is a mistake, regardless of how it treats Uhura. The Spock/Kirk dynamic is simply more important to this film and isn't quite there without this crucial element. (As well, Uhura kissing Spock after they get back on the Enterprise just seems contextless and random.)

Still, Kirk's death works fine here and in many ways much better than in the theatrical cut due to the relequencing of Bones's super-blood discovery. I mean, this is it, guys, this is the reason you need to see this edit. I'm not one who ever cared much about the Wrath of Khan rip-off critique because, frankly, I think it's not really there. Still, I can't deny the original's Kirk death and resurrection is a bit misguided. Well, it can't be removed, but it can be improved. It's so simple, really, and the changes are actually quite subtle, but what's done here is the final bit of the climax has been given a much needed boost of excitement and tension and plain heroism. It just works.

So yeah, overall, this is a great edit. On the technical side, yes the scene where Scotty resigns is out of sync. As well, for the most part I like the regrade (and appreciate that the vibrancy is still there), though I think it could have gone a bit farther. Shadows are still far too blue, and a couple deleted scene shots don't look quite right (Kirk's shirt almost green in the first scene, Scotty's face a little too desaturated in the one where he finds the Vengeance). Otherwise, though, the technical proficiency of this edit is top shelf. And it's just damn fun too. Recommended.

TM2YC has done an excellent job fixing the major problems with "Into Darkness," including some I hadn't thought were fixable (such as Kirk's demotion and Uhura's characterization). The FX work he's done to get some of these changes to work is nothing short of flawless, and I noticed no audio issues on my 2.1 soundbar setup.

Narratively, I still have my issues with the film, specifically Khan's magical healing blood and the "Wrath of Khan" remake B.S. with Kirk that makes the magical healing blood necessary to the plot, but the way it's been edited here makes it all much more palatable. And I have to say, bold (but very smart!) choice in cutting Nimoy from the film - I wouldn't have thought a fan editor would have the guts to do that now that he's sadly gone, but it is absolutely the right choice for this film.

"Star Trek: Vengeance" now it sits comfortably alongside the theatrical ST09 and Beyond discs on my shelf, forever replacing the theatrical cut with no reservations whatsoever.

A necessary edit of one of the weirdest Star Trek films. TM2YC clears up a lot of the oddities in the script, particularly the bizarre conflict between Kirk and Spock. Reducing Khan's fan service elements makes the whole experience move much more smoothly. Unfortunately, I will always have issues with core elements of this film, but TM2YC has done a great job at making this movie significantly more watchable and in line with the tone of the other Kelvin universe films.