[versions] Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan (1982)

[Bigrob]

finally found confirmation that the 70mm did not include the II on the title which is weird since the UK 70mm print did include it

Two vintage and faded US 35mm prints that showed up on eBay were missing the II also. So it’s not just a 70mm thing as previously thought.

Learn something new everyday on this forum haha! I did read that the II wasn't included because they were trying to distance it from The Motion Picture due to it's lacklustre performance

I also found out that there was a discreet digital fix to the film. Nothing major and just to adjust some cosmetic set design

 http://trekcore.com/blog/2016/06/review-...ut-bluray/

[PDB]

finally found confirmation that the 70mm did not include the II on the title which is weird since the UK 70mm print did include it

Two vintage and faded US 35mm prints that showed up on eBay were missing the II also. So it’s not just a 70mm thing as previously thought.

Learn something new everyday on this forum haha! I did read that the II wasn't included because they were trying to distance it from The Motion Picture due to it's lacklustre performance

I also found out that there was a discreet digital fix to the film. Nothing major and just to adjust some cosmetic set design

 http://trekcore.com/blog/2016/06/review-...ut-bluray/

Found the pics of the 35 from the auction:



I know Tservo saw a (probably) LPP reprint of ST2 and he said the II was on there. So it's a mystery when the II came into being. Did it appear in Europe first (like the UK 70) or in later runs in the US?

The strange thing about all of it, is that TMP did well in the block office. It was never the bomb that people think. In fact it made more in the US than ST2 (although ST2 was much, much cheaper).

Anyone old enough to see TMP vintage, were the fans reactions bad at the time? I know the critics were not inclined to it.

[Bigrob]

thinking about it now. the film's original title was Star Trek : The Vengeance of Khan. The title concept didn't include the II either so i'm guessing they were earlier struck prints before Search for Spock was greenlit (total guess so please correct me if i'm wrong)


   

[Chewtobacca]

^  It sounds as if you're on the right lines, Bigrob.  It's known that Khan underwent a rewrite late in its production, so it makes sense to date the composition of the title-sequence without the II to a stage after the name-change but before the plan to bring back Spock in a subsequent film, after which the addition of the II makes narrative sense.  The hasty rewrite makes for a plausible context in which some examples of the pre-II sequence might have slipped through unnoticed, but that doesn't explain why some 35mm prints have it and some don't.  The old idea that the 35mm prints had the II but 70mm ones lacked it at least made sense in production terms.  Were 70mm prints ever converted back to 35mm? It doesn't sound likely that there would be a need to do this, but perhaps it's possible.

PDB might be right that about there being a regional aspect to this. Perhaps prints lacking the II never made it out of the US. I wonder if there are any differences in the star-field...

[Bigrob]

FYI, anyone in the UK with Sky Q with the Ultra HD package can view the 4K remaster of this in UHD now

check it out at my mates last night. looks amazing!

[dvdmike]

FYI, anyone in the UK with Sky Q with the Ultra HD package can view the 4K remaster of this in UHD now

check it out at my mates last night. looks amazing!

Wish I still had it hopefully someone rips it

[TheLoon]

Anyone know any info on the various sound mixes of this film, from 1982 to 2000?

I'm trying to figure out what the original mix actually is. I think the analogue track on the 1983 LD is the most accurate, but not sure:
https://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/23192/LV-...th-of-Khan

It's quite thin and with various slight differences in dialogue, FX and music levels as compared to the digital track on the '91 LD, which is fuller and more polished/balanced:
https://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/11218/LV1...th-of-Khan

Probably the most obvious difference is at 50min 27sec when Kirk speaks to Scotty over the intercom ("Can you give me phaser power?" "A few shots, sir!"). The explosions in the background are quieter on the '83 LD.

Interestingly, the hi-fi stereo track on the 1988 UK VHS release is identical to the '91 LD track, so if a new mix was indeed created, it must have been sometime between '83 and '88. Great colours on this VHS incidentally, from a release print source, cue marks and all - though the audio may still be newer.

This 1984 PAL LD is no use, as the audio is compressed to hell:
https://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/34688/LVG...th-of-Khan

The Dolby 2.0 surround track on the 2000 DVD is similar to the '88 VHS/'91 LD, but it too has some mix changes. A notable one is at 1h 22min 27sec - the whoosh in the nebula is centred on the VHS/LD, but is panned right on the DVD.