STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN Director’s Edition debuts on Blu-ray June 7th

As we reported a few weeks back, the Director’s Edition of The Wrath of Khan is finally making its way to Blu-ray. So far it is the first and only Director’s Edition to be released on Blu-ray. Word around the web is that this edition is based on a new 4k scan of the film. It includes both the Theatrical and Director’s editions on one disc, plus a new documentary on the making of TWOK. The rest of the special features are ported over from the 2009 theatrical-only Blu-ray release or the DVD release of the DE.

The cover art for this release breaks with all previous DVD and Blu-ray releases by using what is technically a fan art movie poster for TWOK done by Mondo artist Tyler Stout.

 

Full press release is below:.

STAR TREK II

The Wrath of Khan

Debuting June 7, 2016, Blu-ray Includes Digitally Remastered Film, Plus a Brand New Documentary on the Making of the Fan-Favorite Movie 

              HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise will boldly go where they have never gone before when STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN Director’s Edition arrives for the first time ever on Blu-ray June 7, 2016 from Paramount Home Media Distribution.  As part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Star Trek franchise, this classic film has been digitally remastered in high definition with brilliant picture quality and will be presented in both Nicholas Meyer’s Director’s Edition and the original theatrical version.  The Blu-ray also includes a brand-new, nearly 30-minute documentary entitled “The Genesis Effect: Engineering The Wrath of Khan,” which details the development and production of this fan-favorite film through archival footage, photos and new interviews.

              In addition to the new documentary, the STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN Director’s Edition Blu-ray is bursting with more than two hours of previously released special features including multiple commentaries, original interviews with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Ricardo Montalban and DeForest Kelley, explorations of the visual effects and musical score, a tribute to Ricardo Montalban, storyboards and much more.

              Captain Kirk’s Starfleet career enters a new chapter as a result of his most vengeful nemesis: Khan Noonien Singh, the genetically enhanced conqueror from late 20th century Earth.  Escaping his forgotten prison, Khan sets his sights on both capturing Project Genesis, a device of god-like power, and the utter destruction of Kirk.

ST_WOK_BD-ORNG_3D

STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN Director’s Edition Blu-ray

              The Blu-ray is presented in 1080p high definition with English 7.1 Dolby TrueHD, French 2.0 Dolby Digital, Spanish Mono Dolby Digital and Portuguese Mono Dolby Digital with English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.  The disc includes the following:

Blu-ray

–       Director’s Edition in high definition

–       Theatrical Version in high definition

–       Commentary by director Nicholas Meyer (Director’s Edition & Theatrical Version)

–       Commentary by director Nicholas Meyer and Manny Coto (Theatrical Version)

–       Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda (Director’s Edition)

–       Library Computer (Theatrical Version)

–       The Genesis Effect: Engineering The Wrath of Khan—NEW!

–       Production:

o   Captain’s Log

o   Designing Khan

o   Original interviews with DeForest Kelley, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and Ricardo Montalban

o   Where No Man Has Gone Before: The Visual Effects of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

o   James Horner: Composing Genesis

–      The Star Trek Universe

o   Collecting Star Trek’s Movie Relics

o   A Novel Approach

o   Starfleet Academy: The Mystery Behind Ceti Alpha VI

–       Farewell

o   A Tribute to Ricardo Montalban

–       Storyboards

–       Theatrical Trailer

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But if you have the previously released bluray of the film…
It would’ve been nice for a slew of new extras or better yet for the 50th, release all of the original series films -including the director’s cut of The Motion Picture and a director’s cut of The Final Frontier (remastered with vfx) with new content. But hey, what do I know.

Quit your nagging

The TMP Director’s Cut issue has been brought up a lot and hopefully Foundation’s work could be redone by someone like Muse FX, but I don’t know what you can do for TFF. Swapping shots out with CGI maybe is an option but the rockman climax surely isn’t salvageable.

“Swapping shots out with CGI maybe is an option but the rockman climax surely isn’t salvageable.” — Ian

It was thought the original Jabba the Hut footage shot for the first STAR WARS film [aka A NEW HOPE] was likewise unsalvageable but that didn’t stop Lucas.

Well, like the Jabba scene, I do wonder if it’s worth the expense. But I’m morbidly curious.

Uhura is nowhere to be found on the cover of the new Blu-Ray cover art. Hmmm….

Kirstie Alley is the bigger star and she filled their “woman” quota, I guess.

TUP,

In reply to your comment:

https://trekmovie.com/2016/04/15/star-trek-ii-the-wrath-of-khan-directors-edition-debuts-on-blu-ray-june-7th/#comment-5301018

If I understand the provenance of the artwork correctly, it most likely was done to promote a showing of THE WRATH OF KHAN at THE ALAMO DRAUGHTHOUSE.

I get the Alley thing but Judson Scott, who didn’t even get a screen credit in the film, a more recognizable/marketable face than Nichelle Nichols??!!

Good catch, and what were they thinking?

Racism. So obvious. No other reason at all. Damn racists. Like, OMG!!!

Smegger56,

Unlikely as Paul Winfield appears, twice. But Nichols’ absence most definitely exhibits concerns for feminists in regards to sexual objectification and ageism in regards to female actresses as opposed to male actors of the same age as Nichols or older that weren’t omitted from this cover..

Wouldn’t be surprised if it was Racism. How could they make that sort of mistake? Maybe she was wearing a hooddie.

In reply to:

https://trekmovie.com/2016/04/15/star-trek-ii-the-wrath-of-khan-directors-edition-debuts-on-blu-ray-june-7th/#comment-5301710

Trekboi,

Paul Winfield, who is black, appears twice. So how could it possibly BE racism? More likely sexism and ageism towards an older woman.

misogynistic racists

Exciting… sure I’ve bought this movie 15 times, but what’s 16? :)

Are you addicted to buying it?

Let’s see, I bought it five times thus far: the VHS in ’83, the widescreen laserdisc in the early 90s, the 2-disk DVD around the turn of the century, a single disk version (used) that seemed to have a better picture quality (had a spanish language cover but was english on the soundtrack) several years back and the the blu most recently. So I think I’m still under a hundred bucks on it, not counting in-theater viewings. Or CDs and vinyl. Or books.

I have the 1983 VHS, 1990’s VHS. Widescreen VHS Box sets x2. U.S. DVD, Australien Part Works Collection DVD, 2 Disc DVD, 2009 DVD, Directors Edition DVD. Bluray Edition & will eventually have the Bluray Box Set edition & This Bluray as well.

Given that back in the day before VHS, 16mm bootleg copies of reels for one episode went for $203.50 a set. I think we’re still under that budget ceiling?

It’s nice how this set looks to have had more care done to it than the original BluRay release. Meyer’s solo commentary for his cut is back while the new with Manny Coto is on the theatrical version. And the text commentary is back! If you wanted to know how lazily put together the Star Trek BluRays were, they couldn’t even copy and paste text on a subtitle track.

Now all that remains is how the new restoration is going to look. The original BluRay looked good on a detailed level, but the color timing was horrendous. So much blue and so much dull. Here’s hoping that this transfer rectifies that.

While this is great news and I will likely buy this wonderful film yet again :), I have to say that I do not care for the artwork on the case (assuming that this will be the final version).

Sorry, but it looks like not-particularly-well-done fan-produced drawings and otherwise very amateurish…not very professional, IMHO.

I hope that this is changed for the actual release…

Jon

I don’t like it either, but it’s better than the DVD artwork featuring a Khan that looks disturbingly like Bea Arthur…

They should just use the main movie poster as the cover again, like the VHS tapes of old.

I can understand it not being everyone’s cup of tea stylistically, but that cover art is a far cry from amateurish. It’s by Tyler Stout, an extremely talented artist that created it for Mondo. Those posters go for $300 – $400.

sean,

Then perhaps, you are the one that can answer my question: “Is the Stout TWOK poster properly licensed from Paramount and CBS? One assumes as much, if it is drawing in $300-$400..

Well, the $3-400 is in resale on places like Ebay. Mondo sells them for $50, but they do limited runs (usually around 200 or so) so there’s always this huge resale market for them. They recently released a double-LP of the expanded soundtrack for TWOK that they sold for $35, but I’ve already seen them pop up on Ebay for $100.

But to answer your original question, yes, Mondo has a licensing deal with Paramount/CBS, which is probably one of the reasons they chose that poster for the cover of the Bluray.

As Spock would say, “Fascinating.”

I guess it all comes down to taste. I still find the artwork amateurish even if it is done by someone who is considered to be a good/professional artist. Again, just my opinion of course.

Kind of like those Ortiz prints that were making the rounds not too long ago. They were posted everywhere and I guess sold well enough, but I never cared for them much either.

It’s all in the eye of the beholder, eh? :)

Hey, fair enough. I actually liked the Ortiz prints quite a bit – enough to buy the book that collected them all!

But as I said, I can understand it not being everyone’s cup of tea. I only wanted to point out the artist is far from an amateur.

And they Didn’t realise He excluded Uhura? On of The MAIN Cast?

For what it’s worth, the TNG movie Blu rays are pretty solid, with great extras.

Something a lot of folks don’t seem to realize or remember is that the movie looked pretty rough/poor in the theater, too. I mean, at its best, the live-action in TWOK is never going to have good skin tones. I think the use of camera angles is more than decent a lot of the time, but the quite honestly inferior filmstock hurts it immensely, plus the DP is no great shakes.

kmart wrote:

> …the movie looked pretty rough/poor in the theater…

I saw a 70mm version of the movie at Directors’ Guild of America theatre (where Leonard Nimoy presented it), and the picture was glorious!

70mm prints of 35mm films never look glorious, just four times as grainy.

They should have tweaked the film a little by fixing some of the obvious things such as the sound fx. The Enterprise whoosh after they’ve warped, it sounds like a low speed paper tear. Also, the Genesis mattes; the cave, the fake waterfall, could be more lush and beautiful befitting a growing planet. And Scotty playing the bagpipes..the opening notes should have been in tune as opposed to sounding like he’s trying to find the right notes. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen the movie in theaters when people laugh at the out of tune bagpipes that ruins the theatrical experience of that dramatic moment.

The bagpipe notes aren’t out of tune. The first “out of tune” sounds are just the air beginning to be forced through the pipes as the piper compresses the bag with his arm. The first actual notes of “Amazing Grace” are in tune. (Side note: I’ve never heard a single fan comment on this or laugh about it, so I had to go back and rewatch the scene to figure out what you were referring to.)

I cannot even begin to fathom your warp drive sound-effect comment. Again, nothing wrong with the sound in the movie. Maybe it’s not to your taste, but there’s nothing wrong or in need of fixing there.

As for your other ideas, how well did that kind of tweaking work for the Star Wars trilogy? For E.T.? Yeah, no thanks on the tweaking of SFX. They’re fine just the way they are.

I find it difficult to believe anyone laughed during that scene, especially the playing of Amazing Grace.

Oh, I’ve heard laughs. The moment brings a manly tear to my eyes, but I’ve watched the movie with friends who aren’t as invested in the series and characters, and Scotty on the bagpipes has been a little much for them.

I saw the film opening night, then again two days later and then a week after that, and the bagpipes got laughs in San Jose every single time. Not just one person, either. My problem with them besides the actual noise is that they were used very effectively in the BODY SNATCHERS remake Kaufman made after his TREK movie project aborte, and made with Nimoy, so hearing the amazing grace bagpipes in a SECOND Nimoy movie in less than 5 years is just awkward as all get out.

kmart,

I’ve never noticed laughs there. However, outside of that I’ve noticed that as a matter of of lack of cultural experience those hearing bagpipes for the first time at a solemn ceremony are often initially startled by the sound and then as they notice it actually playing a tune, laugh.

Where I’ve heard a lot of laughs in the theater, is when Spock, blind and sick from radiation exposure, somehow “knows” his tunic is akilter and manages to straighten it after rising to address the Admiral.

Yeah, that first sound of the pipes just seems odd and inappropriate, like a loud fart, which is probably what triggered the laughter

Paul, read below..re: Amazing Grace. I rest my case.

As far as the sound fx, have you seen the movie when it first came out in ’82? I’ve seen it 12x in 70mm during its run and countless times in 35mm. Its one of those things that irk you like running your fingernails over a chalkboard. If you’re used to seeing it on tv or iPad or similar device, you’re missing it. Add that to the multiple viewings and you will think it is ‘normal.’ Even in 70mm, there was a lot of grain for a new release, which was very disappointing. Perhaps they’ve corrected it in the BluRay, but again, its one of those annoyances that one has had to put up for 34 years.

As far as ET and Star Wars, its a mixed bag for me. I’m more of a Star Trek fan and always have been. :)

@JoeTrekFan – I’m glad you’ve rested your case since you don’t have one. LL&P!

I disagree. The SFX do need some redo’s here and there. Mainly the STTMP re used effects shots of yhr space docks scenes NEED to replaced with that of the actual space dock from maybe STIII and that was used on that film and after. It is the only part of the movie that throws me out of tune for what is a great scene with Spock and Savik. I know Nick Meyer and co., had a lower budget at the time and had to re-use that scene to save money on effect, but now it really seems a shame no one else has said anything about it with is being a fan favorite, and would be a good reason to buy the film again. I am sure it will never be redone, but how about a Kick starter campaign to have a some online version made with those STTMP shots removed and replaced with some new CGI and model recomposing shots? Also JoeTrekFan, is correct about those Genesis cave matte shots, they are way out of sync. I think this can be done, without those George Lucas over the top SW special edition type extravaganza.

What a load of crap. Saw this movie 10 times in the theater an NO ONE EVER LAUGHED like you claim.

Just because people don’t share your opinion does not mean your view is the ONLY valid one.

PaulB, what are you 10 years old? Do you see the other posts besides mine that share what I experienced?

Prodigal Son, the same with you. Just because someone disagrees with what you say does not make it crap. Grow up.

@JoeTrekFan – You initially lost credibility when you said the opening bagpipe notes were out of tune, which they factually are not–you’re simple ignorant of bagpipes–so the rest of your claims are equally unlikely to be based in reality.

Also, *I* didn’t say you never heard laughter during that scene. I said you’re wrong about the “out of tune notes” and I dismissed your opinions on the warp-drive sound and FX tweaking, but I didn’t say you didn’t hear laughter. (I seriously doubt it, but so what?)

And yes, I saw the film in theaters in ’82 and hundreds of times since then, in every video format and with other fans, with non-fans, and all by my lonesome, and you’re the ONLY person I’ve ever heard comment on the warp sound or the bagpipes.

Bottom line: you’re factually wrong about the bagpipes starting out of tune, and your other opinions are no more valid or invalid than mine. You’re wrong about the one thing, and we disagree about the others. Relax, cupcake.

For someone who claims to have seen the film ‘hundreds of times,’ many in theaters, since it came out in ’82 and to not have heard negative comments about the bagpipe playing, until now 2016, indicates to me either you ignored any such reporting/comments of the scene, or you weren’t even alive when it came out.

I’m thinking both and you know why? Before the internet and the 24 hour news cycle we now have, there were fanzines such as Starlog, Cinefantastique and in different issues there were forum comments about just what I described. Surely, you must have a few issues from back then you can fact check me on? I believe there is a response by Meyer about that scene in a later interview. I have no issue with the character playing bagpipes, its just the fact that it ‘sounds’ out of tune starting out, which triggered the laughter I have heard in different (not all) of my theater viewings.

Besides myself, you’ve got a poster above who experienced the movie on the west coast, who also states the exact same experience. So, no, I’m not factually wrong. Take note of this the next time someone has something to say about the bagpipe scene.

Re: the sound fx..Enterprise whoosh. The scene just before Uhura has the line about ‘no nothing’ in response to communications chatter. Bad sound effect in comparison to the others. While the scene was TMP stock footage, they should’ve used the same developed whooooosh and not the whoooriiiipppp thats there now. That has annoyed me for 34 years. FIX it.

What of the fake Genesis cave mattes? Surely they could spend a few thousand on proper CGI improvements. IF not the the Genesis cave, the waterfall.

The scene where Kirk almost sobs out how Spock was the most human of all, which was followed by Scotty’s bagpipe playing of Amazing Grace had me balling my eyes out. I had managed to get through watching all that went before without getting tearful or anything, but that scene did it for me. I cannot recall any laughs but I do remember many red-eyed patrons leaving the cinema.

If Scotty had been tentative and got the first couple of notes wrong, it would be understandable, given the circumstances.

I hope that’s not the official cover…looks like a halway finished comic book page. Of course, I’ll buy it anyway… but it sure is ugly!

I agree. Why not use one of the original movie posters? This one features a large Khan, rather then the crew. Ugly.

hate the cover….the original movie poster was so nice the way they did it on the dvd

The cover isnt new. It was a Mondo design from a few years ago

Maybe that’s why the article points out that it’s a Mondo poster. Hmm…?

looks like the Criterion version of REPO MAN.
Khan looks like a chick, though.

Yeah, not loving this cover either. I mean come on! Joachim, two Khans, two Chekovs, two Terrells and NO Uhura love?!? I’ll probably get this blu-ray sooner or later but I’m not sure how long it’ll be before that cover art grows on me…if ever.

They missed it again.

After over 15 years, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier are still the only DVDs/Blu-Rays of the series to include full archives of the films’ advertising, as opposed to just the trailer.

Too late now.

As others have noted, here’s hoping they at least re-corrected the color correction of the last remaster. Otherwise upresing the Director’s Cut to HD and producing a new 30-minute documentary will be the only new elements this release has to offer.

Good grief, what a terrible, p-poor cover.

ughhh the cover art looks AWFULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!
#dumbParamountmarketingexecs

This will hopefully be a case where you can’t judge a Bluray by its’ cover.

There’s always the possibility of “reversible” cover art with something more aesthetically pleasing (like the original poster art!) on the flip side, but I don’t think Par is that willing to foot the slight expense.

Matt Wright,

What is “technically” in “technically a fan art movie poster for TWOK” meant to convey? Is it that unlike the fan art used in THE STAR TREK CONCORDANCE, some deal was made that allowed Tyler Stout to license it properly and Paramount remunerated him for its use?

Matt Wright,

Thank you for your reply.

I’m still a little unclear as to whether the Mondo connection means this movie poster art has a connection to the Alamo Drafthouse movie posters which I assume are properly licensed, or whether it was something just done for the fannish fun of it?

I’d like to think this will herald proper 4K transfers of the subsequent 8 films and potential Director’s Edition options for any of the films where that’s possible (I question if it truly is with The Final Frontier), but Paramount hasn’t shown any interest thus far in doing more for Star Treks III-X than than they did for their second DVD pressings ages ago.

Yes, bring on the 4K movies!

I’m really not keen on the cover art.

of all the trek films i have encountered this would not be the film i would choice to 4k first

image quality wise it is the worst of the features, that much is true, even if it is one of the better films. You can’t get much more good out of that original neg, though I don’t think you can say the same for TMP and SFS and TFF. There are probably limits to what you can get from TUC given the S35, and the smoke levels in TVH are horrifying to look at.

Not understanding what you mean about smoke levels, unless perhaps you refer to the BOP interior. Are they a technical term in chemical film processing, or did they actually smoke up the set?

I also don’t see why Super 35 would be a problem. Isn’t it higher resolution because there’s a larger frame to work from? I would think you also gain more horizontal resolution because it’s not anamorphically stretched.

I think you could get a lot more out of those negatives compared to the overprocessing they applied to all the existing HD transfers.

Sam, Super 35 gave you more options in terms of lenses, but it wasn’t anamorphic, so you lose a certain quality often associated positively with widescreen filmmaking. What was the real problem however is that you had to go an extra generation to get a release print, so everything got a lot grainier unless you took huge careful steps (in other words, T2 looked and will always look great because Cameron knew what he was doing, TUC looked abyssmal in many venues because quality control wasn’t maintained.)

When you had a 70mm print situation on TUC, you’re essentially double-duping your print, so it is yet ANOTHER generation removed from the camera original. When the theater I went to erroneously mixed up their prints opening day (TUC opened up on two adjoining screens in the same Century theater), I got stuck watching a 70mm print that was so dark and grainy that there was no information on screen at all during the Kirk McCoy prison bed scene – it was like being at a drive-in. I talked to associate producer Brooke Breton about this that same week, and she was horrified to hear about it (she has been involved in a lot of VFX-heavy shows and was very helpful on a TUC article I did), but did acknowledge there was only so much you could save image-wise when going the S35 route, which was Meyer’s call.

What really slayed me is that the S35 determination is often made so you didn’t have to pan&scan the image, you just open up the bottom and top of the frame for TV 4:3 ratio back then, so you see MORE of the scene … but when TUC turned up on whatever we called on-demand back then, they had pan&scanned the smaller widescreen image instead of opening up the matte to show the full-frame, so we were getting an even more trashed composition! Madness!

Regarding the TVH smoke levels, they are absurd almost all the way through the film, not just on the BoP. Look at the scene on the aircraft carrier (probably the worst offender in the whole movie), where Chekov is at the far end of a hall. It looks like he runs through an onboard CLOUD BANK, the smoke is so thick.

When used with a light touch or in proper circumstances, smoke is beautiful and valid as a choice to embellish a scene. But in the 80s, use of smoked sets was nearly as obnoxious as the Abrams lens flare misuse at times. If you ever saw ACTION JACKSON, there is a night scene in a rich bad guy’s house, and when the camera goes inside, there is a huge powerful light coming down through the skylight (apparently the moon has descended to 50 ft above the house) … this is a night scene, but this plume of smoke they illuminate is just nuts. Plus they’re pretty much hiding their leading ladies behind it, and there was no need to do that when you had Vanity and Sharon Stone in the film.

I know Shatner didn’t want to work on smoked sets for TVH but he got talked into it, I guess after somebody showed him how it looked in FLASHDANCE or something. Again, context — if you hadn’t used the smoke in FLASHDANCE, the dancer subbing for Ms. Beals would have been revealed and the whole thing would have not worked.

Another TVH scenes where the smoke seemed off the charts was the computer room (Of all places to have the smoke levels up high!)

The smoke and haze in TVH is so dense it’s ridiculous.

Would be my first BluRay of the movies – but not with that ugly poster. Might be nice artwork and well done, it sould suit a comic or maybe a book, but no movie.

How does this differ from the version that’s already available in HD on iTunes?

We will know June 7th.

Looking forward to seeing the director’s cut in HD; not liking that cover at all, Mondo has made some nice posters but that one looks like something some second rate would be artist made in their spare time.

So no digital HD release with it?

I wish Paramount would have added an iso- music score track. I know there is a complete soundtrack on CD but oh well… :)

And vinyl!

This was a good movie, but had many editing goofs and the use of one camera for several movement shots were bad as well.

I always thought a split screen would have worked well during Khan’s first attack on the Enterprise.

Glad the Directors Edition is getting a Quality Bluray release (always wish he had ire-edited the line about Savik being half romulan) with a new docco but more features would make it more worthwhile to people who already have the theatrical edition on Bluray & it’s so wrong that they are singling out Wrath of Khan & not giving the film that deserves it the most, The Motion Picture the Directors Edition treatment.

I have no idea who that guy is in the middle of the picture on the blu-ray cover but he looks nothing like Benedict Cumberbun

Very disappointed in Kirstie Alley. She was a big ST fan in her childhood and wore Spock ears to bed she says. Then comes ST:III and she states that she didn’t want to be typecast as Savvick. Bull. She wanted to be paid more money and wanted more than DeForrest Kelly’s salary from what I hear.

Other than he Directors cut, I see no real reason to buy this Blue Ray. I will wait for the 4k version, even though, I have not bought a 4K TV set yet. There is not enough media out yet to do so. I know for Paramount/CBS to invest money in restoration/SFX Upgrade and/or Directors Final Cut of any of the films can be risky thing. There is not enough turn in their investment, but there should be a way, like Kick starter or something to that effect online, that Paramount/CBS could see a good profit from fan, and company investment for the other films and TV series not already out there to be upgraded. I am do not know how the recent TNG blue rays performed out there at the moment(anyone know?), I will wait a while until my somewhat new 46in Sony 3D 2K HD starts to go phewy, and then if I have money I will get the 4K version of STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN Director’s and a super duper 4K blue ray set. Wait the 8K TV and Blue Ray version is coming out my future radar says. Lol