Star Trek Vengeance

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.

A labor of love for the editor, who took painstaking care of using everything at his disposal to transform an uneven and careless picture into a much tighter and interesting action adventure.

I personally was a bit skeptic on how much could be salvaged but was pleasantly surprised to discover the film becomes something else once so much junk and nonsense has been ejected.

I really recommend it as the definitive version of the film (forget the other one) and as a fix for those who felt that the original had something going but never got around to materialize 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.