Star Trek Into Darkness Blu-ray + DVD Review

By: Lynn Barker

Hope to one day have an amazing adventure that will test your friendships and help you better understand who you really are…. all while fighting the bad guy and kicking major butt? This is that adventure for the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise!

Story Goes

When Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) breaks the “Prime Directive” by exposing the Enterprise to the primitive, humanoid citizens of planet Nibiru, he is demoted to first officer status and his mentor and friend Admiral Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) is again given command of the ship. After Starfleet agent John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) bombs “Section 31”, a secret installation studying battle strategies and new weaponry, Kirk and all the Starfleet big brass meet and are attacked by Harrison in a small gunship. Pike is killed and Kirk swears revenge.

Spock and Kirk discuss Khan

Admiral Alexander Marcus (Peter Weller) sends Kirk to secretly hunt down and kill Harrison, who has “beamed” himself to the Klingon homeworld Kronos. The Enterprise is armed with 72 “special” photon torpedoes to destroy Harrison and whatever Klingons get in the way. Unhappy about having all the dangerous torpedoes onboard, Montgomery Scott (Simon Pegg) resigns making young Chekov (Anton Yelchin) Chief Engineer. Meanwhile Admiral’s daughter Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) joins the crew under a false identity.

The Enterprise attacked by Marcus' ship

Kirk, Spock and Uhura travel to Kronos in a smaller ship to “get” Harrison but are captured and attacked by Klingons. Harrison rescues them and surrenders, presumably feeling overwhelmed by all those torpedoes about to be launched at him. Harrison reveals his true identity, why he has superhuman strength and abilities and that the torpedoes house more than explosives. Admiral Marcus wakened him from cryo-sleep to help fight the Klingons in the war that Marcus is engineering. Kirk and his crew were never supposed to return from Kronos.  

Kirk, Uhura and Spock on Kronos

With the help of a returning Scotty, and after many exciting challenges to friendship and survival, the good guys are able to eventually defeat a giant warship built by Marcus. The ship crashes on earth and Harrison escapes only to be re-captured by Spock and Uhura. Harrison is put back into cryo-sleep and Kirk is again made Captain of the Enterprise which is restored and ready to depart on a 5-year mission to explore new worlds.

Scotty (Simon Pegg) tries to help

Special Features

(only on the Blu-Ray disc)

Creating the Red Planet – We are taken behind the scenes and watch Bones and Kirk run from angry warriors in the movie’s opening scenes. We learn that much of the set was not computer-generated but real with everything from red leaves to spray-painted shag carpet used.

The white-painted alien designs and costumes are discussed and we see that the top of the giant volcano Spock is stuck on was a practical set. Zach Quinto and the Pyro guy talk about how it works. Zach says “I feel like I’m inside a fireworks show!”

Spock in the volcano

Attack on Starfleet – This time, we are on set in the conference room where Starfleet officers are attacked.  It’s made as real for the actors as possible with exploding squibs and lights. Bruce Greenwood who plays Pike tells us how much fun he had.

The Klingon Home World – Filmmakers talk of creative decisions on the “look” of the Klingons; making them familiar to fans, yet new. On this huge set, Zoe Saldana practices speaking Klingon, checks out the line-up of buff but weird Klingon actors and says “These guys are so handsome. It’s like the Sports Illustrated for Klingons!”

The Enemy of My Enemy – Director J.J. Abrams talks about bringing Khan back and why he picked Benedict Cumberbatch to play him. Cumberbatch reveals that even he had no idea who he was playing for a long time. Chris Pine and Simon Pegg talk about working with him. We see him cutting up on set. Very fun extra.

Ship to Ship – The scene in which Khan and Kirk, in suits, shoot through space from the Enterprise to Marcus’ giant ship is taken apart. We see that, on set it was just the two actors hanging on wires. Ah, movie magic! Inside the enemy ship was shot in the giant hangar where Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose airplane was built. Very few SPFX were used. Simon Pegg had a blast and Cumberbatch says it was a “thrill ride”.

Brawl by the Bay – The ending scenes are explored as the giant ship crashes into San Francisco. Fight action sequences between Khan and Spock are shown in detail. Cumberbatch watches Zach run and says “I’m supposed to be faster but Zach’s faster!” The actors work together to make the difficult fight look real. A fun watch!

Continuing the Mission – The final ceremony scene in which Star Fleet officers and cadets gather is shown and we learn that a real public service group helping returning veterans to continue to serve doing public service at home is used. Some of them play Star Fleet officers in the film. Cool!

Wrapping Up

Star Trek Into Darkness is a very exciting and enjoyable movie that mixes amazing action and effects with character development as Spock and Kirk grow closer and learn lessons that will make them the team we know and love in future. Classic Trekkers as well as newbies and adventure film lovers should enjoy it a lot unless the Trekkers are angry about the Khan character being revisited and reinterpreted.

Zach, Benedict and their stunt doubles on set

This Blu-ray + DVD set could have used a fun Outtakes/Blooper reel and a Director and Actor Commentary but the little featurettes that focus on the making of key scenes are fun, informative and do show the actors going out of character and talking about their experiences. This Blu-ray and DVD look and sound amazing. We gave the film 4 stars and, although more extras would have been cool, we like those included enough to go 4 stars on this home video presentation as well.

Star Trek Into Darkness Blu-ray + DVD Rating:

Star Trek Into Darkness is now available on Blu-ray + DVD!

Blu-ray DVD Cover Art