Feature Films - DVD

Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 378 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Space Opera Supreme 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Take a classic television series with a dedicated fanbase, insert one of its most popular villains and toss a major motion picture budget at it and what do you get: "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan."

Perhaps the closest film in the "Star Trek" catalogue to the original televison series, "Khan" finds Kirk as the admiral in charge of assessing a green crew on routine training maneuvers. They happen to be aboard his old ship, the Enterprise, and the crew includes most of his key past crewmates. In another part of the galaxy, former crewman Chekov and his new captain are investigating a planet that may be used for Project Genesis, a device that could literally give new life to a planet. What Chekov and his captain actually find is a man hungry for revenge: Khan.

Having been exiled years ago and blaming Kirk for the death of his wife, Khan puts a plan into action to bring Kirk back into his clutches in order to get revenge.

Falling for Khan's trickery and with an inexperienced crew in tow, Kirk takes the Enterprise to Regula One, home of Project Genesis. He hopes to find out who used his name in order to get their hands on Genesis. Instead, he finds an ex-wife, an estranged son and one of his greatest enemies waiting to strike. What happens next is, simply put, a wonderful blend of drama, suspense and humor as Kirk and Khan battle each other to the death.

For a film released in 1982, "Khan" has excellent special effects. Granted, there are a few miscues, but the story more than makes up for them. Director Nicholas Meyer paces the film with perfection, utilizing the musical score and the individual performances of the players in order to build tension on the screen. He guides the games between Kirk and Khan with precision. All of the original crew do superb jobs, but I must point out that William Shatner gives his best performance ever. Ricardo Montalban's over-the-top performance as Khan makes this film worthy of five stars. Kirstie Alley makes her first big screen appearance and adds quite a bit of sex appeal to the film as Lt. Saavik. That's a tough job for a person playing an emotionless Vulcan to do.

As for the DVD, this two disc set makes up in quality what it lacks in quantity. The digital transfer of the film is excellent. It's one of the best transfers of a film including the original cast. Only "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" has a crisper looking transfer. The sound is also very good. There aren't as many special features included with this set when compared to the other films in this series, but they are some of the best extras you'll find. Highlights include original interviews with DeForest Kelley, Leonard Nimoy, Shatner and Montalban as well as new interviews with Shatner, Nimoy, Montalban, Meyer and executive producer Harve Bennett. There's also an interesting segment involving "Star Trek" authors Julia Ecklar and Greg Cox.

Fans of "Star Trek" have most likely viewed this film already. For those folks who haven't or for people who aren't fans of science fiction, I highly recommend "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" for its drama, wonderful suspense and overall story. For fans of military films, the calculated tactics of both Kirk and Khan should keep them interested. These are just a few of the reasons that have made this film one of the most popular of the "Star Trek" pictures.

Editorial Review:

Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 07/11/2000 Run time: 112 minutes Rating: Pg

Star Trek - The Motion Pictures DVD Collection

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Do Not Buy This -- Be Patient! 2 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

There is no point in purchasing this set when it only includes a few of the special edition DVDs. Despite the attractiveness of the box itself, it is best to wait until all of special/director's edition movies come out.

Hold out 3 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

The special editions are coming! They're done with the first six already, making this collection out of date. Another blow to the set is Nemesis' DVD release. The two together tell me about how old this set is.

(Eric, Montalban's chest is real. Meyer says so on one of the featurettes. It's his trainer's fault if it looks cheesy.)

Captains Log 6/11/03 Star Trek just got better 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This is the date i wrote my review and got this box set. It is so kool + 9 awesome flicks. I have watched 1,2,3,& 4 so far and let me tell you they are nothing like i imagined. I thought they would be like the star trek TV show. But there not they have the same characters and all but so much more. I would really buy this before it goes out of stock again.

Editorial Review:

Star Trek: the motion picture director's edition, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection.

Star Trek - The Motion Pictures Collection (10 Films)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Spanning two decades and countless light years of interstellar adventure, Star Trek: The Motion Pictures Collection is a testament to the enduring goodwill of Gene Roddenberry's optimistic sci-fi concept. Long before Star Wars sparked an explosion of big-screen science fiction, Roddenberry had planned a second Star Trek TV series; the project fizzled, but its pilot script evolved into the first film in Paramount's most lucrative movie franchise. Despite its sluggish pace and bland "pajama" costuming, Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) offered a welcomed reunion of the "Classic Trek" cast, packed with Douglas Trumbull's still-dazzling special effects. Trekkers were even more ecstatic when The Wrath of Khan (1982) revived the spirit of the original series, even though director Nicholas Meyer was a Trek neophyte. With Leonard Nimoy directing, The Search for Spock (1984) began where Khan left off, with a thrilling (albeit contrived) obligation to resurrect the formerly ill-fated Mr. Spock.

A box-office smash, Nimoy's The Voyage Home (1986) is the franchise's most accessible adventure--a high point offset by William Shatner's comparatively dreadful Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989). Meyer (and his penchant for quoting Shakespeare) returned for The Undiscovered Country (1991), a conspiracy thriller that put the series back on track, inspiring fans to invoke the "even number" rule in rating their franchise favorites. Generations (1994) gracefully passed the torch to TV's The Next Generation, bidding farewell to Captain Kirk with honor and integrity intact. Highlighted by the evolving humanity of Brent Spiner's android Lt. Cmdr. Data, First Contact (1996) explored Star Trek history with a logical (hint) surprise encounter, and Insurrection (1998) provided an adequate expansion of the successful NextGen series. Taken as a whole, these ten films demonstrate the consistent vitality of Roddenberry's original vision, stoking any Trekker's appetite for "ongoing missions" in Nemesis and beyond. --Jeff Shannon

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 219 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Widely considered the best movie in the "classic Trek" series of feature films, Star Trek IV returns to one of the favorite themes of the original TV series--time travel--to bring Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov from the 23rd century to present-day San Francisco. In their own time, the Starfleet heroes encounter an alien probe emitting a mysterious message--a message delivered in the song of the now-extinct Earth species of humpback whales. Failure to respond to the probe will result in Earth's destruction, so Kirk and company time-travel to 20th-century Earth--in their captured Klingon starship--to transport a humpback whale to the future in an effort to peacefully communicate with the alien probe. The plot sounds somewhat absurd in description, but as executed by returning director Leonard Nimoy, this turned out to be a crowd-pleasing adventure, filled with humor and lively interaction among the favorite Star Trek characters. Catherine Hicks (from TV's 7th Heaven) plays the 20th-century whale expert who is finally convinced of Kirk's and Spock's benevolent intentions. With ample comedy taken from the clash of future heroes with 20th-century urban realities, Star Trek IV was a box-office smash, satisfying mainstream audiences and hardcore Trek fans alike. --Jeff Shannon

Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 219 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Widely considered the best movie in the "classic Trek" series of feature films, Star Trek IV returns to one of the favorite themes of the original TV series--time travel--to bring Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov from the 23rd century to present-day San Francisco. In their own time, the Starfleet heroes encounter an alien probe emitting a mysterious message--a message delivered in the song of the now-extinct Earth species of humpback whales. Failure to respond to the probe will result in Earth's destruction, so Kirk and company time-travel to 20th-century Earth--in their captured Klingon starship--to transport a humpback whale to the future in an effort to peacefully communicate with the alien probe. The plot sounds somewhat absurd in description, but as executed by returning director Leonard Nimoy, this turned out to be a crowd-pleasing adventure, filled with humor and lively interaction among the favorite Star Trek characters. Catherine Hicks (from TV's 7th Heaven) plays the 20th-century whale expert who is finally convinced of Kirk's and Spock's benevolent intentions. With ample comedy taken from the clash of future heroes with 20th-century urban realities, Star Trek IV was a box-office smash, satisfying mainstream audiences and hardcore Trek fans alike. --Jeff Shannon

Star Trek: First Contact [Special Collector's Edition]

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 314 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Even-numbered Star Trek movies tend to be better, and First Contact (#8 in the popular movie series) is no exception--an intelligently handled plot involving the galaxy-conquering Borg and their attempt to invade Earth's past, alter history, and "assimilate" the entire human race. Time travel, a dazzling new Enterprise, and capable direction by Next Generation alumnus Jonathan Frakes makes this one rank with the best of the bunch. Capt. Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his able crew travel back in time to Earth in the year 2063, where they hope to ensure that the inventor of warp drive (played by James Cromwell) will successfully carry out his pioneering warp-drive flight and precipitate Earth's "first contact" with an alien race. A seductive Borg queen (Alice Krige) holds Lt. Data (Brent Spiner) hostage in an effort to sabotage the Federation's preservation of history, and the captive android finds himself tempted by the queen's tantalizing sins of the flesh! Sharply conceived to fit snugly into the burgeoning Star Trek chronology, First Contact leads to a surprise revelation that marks an important historical chapter in the ongoing mission "to boldly go where no one has gone before." --Jeff Shannon

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

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Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

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Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 378 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Although Star Trek: The Motion Picture had been a box-office hit, it was by no means a unanimous success with Star Trek fans, who responded much more favorably to the "classic Trek" scenario of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Inspired by the "Space Seed" episode of the original TV series, the film reunites newly promoted Admiral Kirk with his nemesis from the earlier episode--the genetically superior Khan (Ricardo Montalban)--who is now seeking revenge upon Kirk for having been imprisoned on a desolated planet. Their battle ensues over control of the Genesis device, a top-secret Starfleet project enabling entire planets to be transformed into life-supporting worlds, pioneered by the mother (Bibi Besch) of Kirk's estranged and now-adult son. While Mr. Spock mentors the young Vulcan Lt. Saavik (then-newcomer Kirstie Alley), Kirk must battle Khan to the bitter end, through a climactic starship chase and an unexpected crisis that will cost the life of Kirk's closest friend. This was the kind of character-based Trek that fans were waiting for, boosted by spectacular special effects, a great villain (thanks to Montalban's splendidly melodramatic performance), and a deft combination of humor, excitement, and wondrous imagination. Director Nicholas Meyer (who would play a substantial role in the success of future Trek features) handles the film as a combination of Moby Dick, Shakespearean tragedy, World War II submarine thriller, and dazzling science fiction, setting the successful tone for the Trek films that followed. --Jeff Shannon

Star Trek IV-Voyage Home

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