Star Trek Vengeance

Belated review of this most excellent edit of Into Darkness!

I thoroughly enjoyed this edit, much more than the original movie! Perhaps CBS / Paramount etc could get some tips or offer TM2YC employment...? ;)

Others have noted the audio issue and that's the only issue I found while I was totally engrossed in the narrative.

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!

Star Trek: Into Darkness is the second entry into the rebooted franchise by J.J. Abrams, released in 2013 with mostly positive responses. As time went on with multiple viewings, myself included, cracks began to appear in the form of forced references, similarities and many dumb character choices. While the majority still see this film as a harmless, fun summer blockbuster, they agree that it is a step down from the '09 predecessor and the recent 2016 'Beyond'. TM2YC is back again with his take on the flawed sequel, looking at it with a mostly positive outlook when in the editing room.

I'll just say, this edit imo is geared towards those on the "liked it" side of the fence more so, and that's how I will review the project. And long story short it is a really good effort put forth, with a few "Wrath of Khan" references and dialogue lines cut, bad characterization and retreaded ideas snipped and the whole film regraded to a more saturated experience. For the most part, the color regrade works very well, I just found a few areas that left too much teal left in say the skin tones. Visually, there are no editing flaws in jump cuts or flash frames, and the quality has little artifacts with some banding but without distraction. Audio wise, it's over all good with a few noticeable problems. Around the 30 minute mark, the audio/video syncing starts to veer off slightly for about the next 3 minutes, then fixes itself seamlessly. It's not terrible nor is it a deal breaker since what was edited does work really well and again had a lot of time put into it. All IMAX footage flows along nicely with the rest, seeing that it's a really nice visual contrast and a nice touch, that reminded me of watching ''The Dark Knight'' all over again, it's a great creative and well executed choice.

Do I recommend this edit? Yes, I wholeheartedly do and I congratulate TM2YC and everyone else involved in the edit one way or another!

Definitely better than the original. Better I'd say even than the first one. It looks better, the pacing is better, there is less filler, the story is tighter. It looks great too. The color here definitely is better than the original's; it pretty much reminded me of the original Trek movies a lot. The influence from the Trek movies definitely helps.

Minor issues affect the edit: namely the very ending. Everything straight from the beginning was top-notch, but the very ending seems a bit flat. The original's choice to keep the fight between Khan and Spock suspenseful by revealing the necessity for Khan's survival a little later was good. This edit bypasses that suspense and because of that, the final fight isn't as cathartic. Leaving that part in would've surely tied the edit together thematically in connection with the title: Vengeance. Actually, I do have an issue with the title because thematically, vengeance isn't a very big aspect of the story. I get that the reference to the USS Vengeance is a bigger reason for the title being that way, but Star Trek has always been neat in titling its movies. The Wrath of Khan is very poetic and spot-on. Generations, Nemesis, etc. Vengeance being the title here isn't very strong. Finally, the edit tried a little too hard to end the film in a more isolated manner, but it ends up being too rushed. It needed the lengthier ending of the original. Kirk's speech in particular at the end is very awkwardly cut, straight into the Final Frontier speech.

Overall, the visuals are great, and the visual editing is too. The audio just kinda suffers a bit with the awkward cutting at the very end. Nitpicky and anal? Perhaps, but that awkwardness right at the very end kind of breaks the spell that the film holds on you, especially after such a masterful experience beforehand. Another auditory badness is the mixing. I wish something could be done for the mixing because it still has that theater-intended mix that sounds terrible on TV. Finally, the narrative is just a little iffy, as in the examples I've stated above. Overall, as the edit is now, I'd give it a solid 6.5/10, while the original was a 4. It'd be a 7 if the ending was fixed.