To say that relationship between Star Trek fans and franchise owner Paramount are a bit strained is a bit of an understatement. The studio’s recent legal issues with Star Trek fan films has angered a vocal contingent, and it may not be the type of publicity that they want in the diminishing weeks before the release of their latest film, Star Trek Beyond.
But that’s one arm of the corporate octopus of Paramount. Another of those arms is attempting to make good to fans for an error discovered on the recently released Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan – Director’s Cut blu-ray. It seems that when the film was being remastered, one shot in the film’s opening “Kobyashi Maru test” scene was used twice, the second time replacing a slightly different shot which was originally in the film.
In the original film, we see Sulu (George Takei) plotting a course to take the Enterprise alongside the Neutral Zone to rescue a freighter in distress. The view screen gives Saavik (Kristie Alley) information about the stranded ship and then there is a cut to a shot of her, ordering Sulu to take the Enterprise directly into the Neutral Zone. What should come next is a shot from over Saavik’s shoulder showing the original information Sulu put on the screen disappearing. However, in the new blu-ray edition, the shot with Sulu’s original, non-Neutral Zone entering course is repeated. (Thanks to the folks over at TrekCore for the screengrabs used in the graphic on the right.)
Naturally, fans, even casual ones like myself, were upset at this mix-up. But as what often happens when errors like this are caught after a disc has been released, Paramount is taking ownership and has announced a replacement program for the faulty product.
It has come to our attention that there is a slight master assembly error on the recent Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Director’s Cut Blu-ray release.
Fans who would like a replacement should contact our customer service department at wrathofkhanreturns@tce.com or toll free at 844-898-4365.
The corrected product will be shipped free of charge. It is always our intention to distribute the highest quality product and we apologize for any inconvenience this error has caused.
When you call or email, Paramount will send you a mailer with which you can return the disc and its case to them. A few weeks later you should have a new, corrected disc mailed back to you.
There has been no announcement yet as to when corrected copies of the blu-ray should be available in stores, but I would imagine that they are waiting for the first pressing to sell out before they can announce that.
