star trek 2 4k review

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 4K UHD Review

• September 6, 2021

Star Trek’s first film lavished praise on and swooned over what humanity built with Starfleet. It was a progressive, endearing “what if” that assumed civilization could one day build a centralized force for good. Star Trek II shreds those ideals.

Inevitably, Starfleet will make controversial decisions. People will separate from this galactic monolith for the usual pitfalls, whether politics or bureaucracy. Kirk (William Shatner) isn’t only dealing with the direct assault of a space-faring threat in this sequel, but an attempt to bury and suppress past mistakes.

Star Trek II’s stellar tug-of-war on values and purpose is effectively flawless

There’s additional nuance too, as Kahn (Ricardo Montalban) sees himself as a religious deity, whose purpose is to eradicate Kirk. Where most universes war over weapons that destroy life, Star Trek II considers a technology which can create entire ecosystems; Kahn is its human-esque manifestation.

Often Star Trek populates its adventures with obvious villains, as in the visually evil, if not cultural. The Genesis project, which can bring life to dead planets, isn’t a cruel entity. Like Starfleet, the purpose is sound; its potential use is not. Science fiction often explored similar concepts, such as weather machines that can allow plant life to grow in deserts to end starvation. Those ideas lead to corruption, sometimes equivalent to nuclear bombs, even if the core idea promises to do right.

Star Trek II then surrounds itself with a looming moral catastrophe, one of logic and the greater good, centered on Kirk and Spock’s (Leonard Nimoy) bond. It’s not as if Star Trek II delivers on the sci-fi elements, rather than it so intelligently embeds them among the key characters. Kirk’s steady command and willing heroism is always in consideration of his crew – by the book. Spock’s choices rely on the same, minus the needs of his own self.

It’s a perfect antithesis to Kahn, who cares little for others, and will use a life-creating machine to simultaneously end others. Spock reprimands Saavik (Kirstie Alley) as she can’t comprehend the human ego. That line defines much of Star Trek II’s action as Kahn believes he’s superior, and Kirk never thinks of a plan that puts himself amid a deadly radiation leak. Only Spock can, because Vulcans don’t suffer from ego or see themselves as important to the wider universe. Star Trek II’s stellar tug-of-war on values and purpose is effectively flawless because as the Starfleet test suggests, there is no solution.

A new 4K master raises suspicions. Worries surround the grain structure, which looks curiously artificial. Or, possibly filtered. It’s easy to see smearing as characters move, and minor glossiness on close-ups indicate a mild noise reduction. It’s faint, but apparent.

Those qualms aside, Star Trek II shows substantial gains from the Blu-ray. Fidelity boosts pick up texture on uniforms. Close-ups deliver fine detail. Encoding suffers a touch when trying to resolve haze or the sandstorm on an alien planet, but it’s otherwise capable in allowing definition through. The resolution boost can’t be denied.

Dolby Vision adds its own spark, black levels awesome, and stars piercing space’s void. It’s not an overly vibrant or unnatural, careful to preserve the film stock’s organic quality. A slight crush in spots barely matters, a small trade off for the exquisite dimensionality gained elsewhere. Color density gives Starfleet uniforms a brilliant, deep red. Primaries glow alongside the natural flesh tones.

While not the most intense in range, Star Trek II’s TrueHD 7.1 mix finds some bass worth celebrating. Explosions rumble a bit, as do ship engines. In that regard, the mix doesn’t sound like something from the 1980s. Only the dialog gives it away, since the score’s masterful treble doesn’t strain itself at all.

Extra rears drive heavy ambient winds around the soundstage. Ships pass by smoothly and naturally. Small touches like a crowd of trainees leaving a meeting and shuffling their feet into the stereos give the track small touches that bring it life.

Director Nicholas Meyer and Manny Cotto provide the commentary, on both the theatrical and director’s cuts. The Blu-ray and 4K offer the same tracks, while the Blu-ray carries the additional extras, beginning with a pop-up feature on the theatrical cut. A making-of lasts 28-minutes. A five-part menu includes interviews, effects featurettes, and a piece on James Horner’s score, among others. Bits on Star Trek II’s legacy, including one that details props, are excellent. Ricardo Montalban earns a deserving tribute that lasts nearly five minutes. Storyboards and a trailer finish things.

Full disclosure : This Blu-ray was provided to us for review. This has not affected the editorial process. For information on how we handle review material, please visit our about us page to learn more.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

A powerful and morally complex sequel, Star Trek II is the epitome of the franchise as it delves into religious and life-affirming challenges.

User Review

The following six screen shots serve as samples for our subscription-exclusive set of 57 full resolution uncompressed 4K screen shots grabbed directly from the UHD:

Matt Paprocki

Matt Paprocki has critiqued home media and video games for 20 years across outlets like Washington Post, Variety, Rolling Stone, Forbes, IGN, Playboy, Polygon, Ars, and others. His current passion project is the technically minded DoBlu.com . You can read Matt's body of work via his personal WordPress blog, and follow him on Twitter @Matt_Paprocki .

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Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 4K Blu-ray Review

The lauded star trek sequel the wrath of khan makes its 4k debut in a wonderfully authentic remaster. here's our look at it..

The Bottom Line

Despite a raft of production issues associated with bringing the series to the big screen, 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture proved that there was still life and a loyal fanbase in the franchise, which gave Paramount the confidence to progress with a sequel.

But to be successful, they knew they had to do two things - first, cut series creator Gene Roddenberry out of the scenario, and secondly, produce it for a budget almost three-quarters less than that of its predecessor. Could a sequel navigate these land mines and produce a film that resonated with fans and casuals alike?

When a Federation vessel is hijacked by the genetically enhanced super-villain Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) and set on a course to take on the U.S.S. Enterprise, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) must reunite his crew to thwart his plans. But Kirk finds himself compromised and facing a threat that might lead to his undoing.

Universally acknowledged as the strongest entry in the Star Trek film franchise, series newcomer Nicholas Meyer grabs the franchise by the horns, offering an efficient and economical story with a brilliant villain, more action, and heightened emotional pull that makes the story relatable and believable. If Wrath of Khan wasn't the rollicking critical and financial success that it became, I doubt that Star Trek franchise would exist in any meaningful way today.

Video transfer

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with H.265 compression and graded for HDR-10 and Dolby Vision.

Having undergone a full 4K restoration in 2016, which has previously been released as a downscaled 1080p Blu-ray and as a digital 4K product, Paramount has now issued The Wrath of Khan to 4K disc for the very first time, with a new Dolby Vision pass to boot.

While not as visually grand as its predecessor, The Wrath of Khan enjoys an excellent 4K restoration that presents the film in all its gritty glory. The image is clear and as detailed as the grainy film stock allows, free of the film artifacts that have littered almost every frame in previous laserdisc or DVD versions.

This isn't a film you're going to use to demonstrate your shiny new OLED, but fans who are more intimately familiar with how the film has looked over the last four decades have every reason to be pleased.

Audio transfer

The main audio track here is a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mix, at 24 bits.

Originally released theatrically in Dolby stereo The Wrath of Khan was remixed in 5.1 for the 2001 DVD release in 2001, which was finessed into a 7.1 mix for the 2009 Blu-ray. This 4K presentation repurposes the latter, which, while it shows its age, is still perfectly acceptable today.

Similar to The Motion Picture demonstrated consistently strained sonic fidelity throughout its run time, which is partially due to being nearly 40 years old, but also quite likely due to the low budget origins. That caveat aside, The Wrath of Khan is a decent and engaging track that won't tax your system but does everything that it should and needs to do.

While remaining quite front-heavy, there are reasonable attempts to engage the rear surrounds, and the LFE track frequently offers some decent feedback, even if it remains rather general in nature. Paramount has likely done the best they can with the elements here, but it might be wise to set expectations too low.

Bonus materials

Unfortunately, unlike the U.S. release, Paramount has not included a copy of the standard Blu-ray in the Australian release, which means all the video-based features are completely missing in action. This is a super disappointing trend that shows no sign of abating.

However, the 4K disc does include two previously released audio commentaries , the first featuring Director Nicholas Meyer solo and a second featuring Director Nicholas Meyer alongside Star Trek: Enterprise Producer Manny Coto.

An iconic film in its own right, and a standout in the Star Trek franchise, The Wrath of Khan is certainly felt in a stunning 4K debut.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan [Director's Cut] [Blu-ray]

Ben Gourlay

Ben joined the TweakTown team in 2008 and has since reviewed 100s of movies. Ben is based in Australia and has covered entertainment news and reviews since 2002. A student of film, Ben brings a wide understanding of the medium to the latest happenings in entertainment circles and the latest blockbuster theatrical reviews.

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Related Tags

• high definition
• The Motion Picture
• Gene Roddenberry
• William Shatner
• Leonard Nimoy
• Nicholas Meyer
• James Horner