Star Trek II: Wrath of Kahn 4K UHD Screenshots (Patreon)

Video

A new 4K master raises some suspicions. Worries surround the grain structure, which looks suspiciously artificial. Or, possibly filtered. It's easy to see smearing as characters move, and minor glossiness on close-ups that 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.

Audio

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 some 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.

Extras 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 mix small touches that bring it life.