This is topic Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Mike Schindler (Member # 1309) on 08-06-2002, 03:48 AM:
I just got finished watching the new director's cut of this film. It's still cool as hell. Structurally, this picture reminds me a lot of a Billy Wilder movie. It has a great script which is logical and easy to follow. It also deals with a lot of issues which are not plot-driven. The movie is shot and cut in a very classical style. There are no unnecessarily fancy camera movements or anything like that. It just has a very straight-forward approach to telling the story. There is also a certain amount of theatricality to the picture which is not found in most modern films. Realism does not seem to be a great concern of the filmmakers. This can be seen more in the performances than anything else. And speaking of the performances, William Shatner is awesome, of course, giving one of his best performances ever, but good god damn! Ricardo Montalban is fantastic in this movie. He steals the show by far, and makes Khan one of the best villains ever in movie history. As for the added footage, none of it is absolutely necessary, but all of it helps the film. For the most part, character development is added. But there are some scenes which help to clarify other events in the film which used to be somewhat confusing. On the whole, this is a great picture.
Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 08-06-2002, 11:49 AM:
As a fan of this film, I am very much in anticipation of this product.CANT WAIT..
HOWEVER....
If you want to see an interesting film.. try an old b/w classic "Run Silent, Run Deep". If you watch this film, you will swear you are watching star trek 2.
Dave
Posted by Mike Schindler (Member # 1309) on 08-06-2002, 12:28 PM:
Dave, it comes out today. Why are you reading this? Go! Run! Now! 
Posted by John Daily (Member # 1362) on 08-06-2002, 01:05 PM:
I remember reading an interview with Nic Meyer where he said that "Run Silent, Run Deep" was a direct influence on this film. The whole scene in the nebula is filmed as if the ships are submarines, and the soundtrack has a definite nautical feel.
My favorite of the original cast films.
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 08-06-2002, 02:56 PM:
Shatner & Ricardo Montalban were great in this movie. Clearly the best of the films with the original cast.
Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 08-06-2002, 03:13 PM:
Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 09-01-2002, 06:33 PM:
I watched the "Director's Cut" DVD last night. Director Nicholas Meyer's commentary is occasionally interesting, such as his observations about Montalban and Shatner as actors, and trivia about how they had to stretch the budget to the max on this film. Meyer talks candidly about scenes he now thinks he botched, or at least could have been done better. There's also a text commentary by Michael Okuda, which I found even more interesting. He points out a lot of stuff like interesting props, how sets were recycled all the time, stuff like that. For example he points out a working Commodore 64 computer in the background of Capt. Kirk's apartment, speculating that it could be there as part of Kirk's collection of antiques. He also points out all the added footage for the director's cut. Unlike some director's cuts, where the added footage was originally cut out for good reasons, most all of the stuff they added back to ST-II really does improve the story. Disc 2 has a bunch of extras such as original promotional interviews with the main stars -- Leonard Nimoy's attire is hysterically funny, even though the interview is serious. A nicely done DVD, although the video quality isn't the greatest.
Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 09-04-2002, 02:36 PM:
Just wait until the blue laser dvd's hit, and we have to buy them all over again. I WILL WAIT...Saw the directors cut. Very good. Loved it. It was much better than cats. I am going to see it again and again.
Dave