Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is the VHS release of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
US release[]
Advert celebrating the sales of the 1982 release
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was first made available for sale in November 1982.
With commercial VHS sales still largely based on the rental market, limiting the ability of motion picture companies to gain revenue, Paramount elected to take a risk with Wrath of Khan. In September 1982, it announced that it would be selling the release for just US$39.95, when other studios were still pricing retail editions at US$79.95. [1] Doing so was a gamble, because the release needed to sell triple the volume to earn the same amount of profit for the studio. Responsible for this new strategy was recently appointed head of Paramount Home Video, Mel Harris, who was convinced that a low-pricing strategy would greatly add to Paramount's profits, and it was Harris who selected the Star Trek title as proving ground, which incidentally, also applied for the Betamax counterpart tape. (The Encyclopedia of Television, Cable, and Video, 2012, p. 411, ISBN 1468465236)
Aiming for a total of 60,000 copies sold to meet that goal, over 80,000 copies had been shipped ahead of release date, [2] and ultimately, 120,000 were sold. [3] Proving Harris right, the success of the Wrath of Khan pricing ultimately lead to VHS (and Betamax) prices dropping further and the market shifting towards retail, a format that became known as the sell-through market.
In 1986, The Wrath of Khan was re-released with the two other existing Star Trek films as part of the "Special Collector's Series", marking Paramount's 75th anniversary with a collection of twenty films at $19.95. (Starlog #113, p.68)
The film was re-released, along with the other films, in 1991 as part of the 25th anniversary; a Widescreen edition was made available at the same time.
Individual releases[]
| Release | Catalogue Number | Cover | Certificate | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail release | 1180 | 
|
|
November 1982 |
| 1986 "Special Collector's Series" edition | 1180 | 
|
|
11 October 1986 |
| 1991 Pan and scan rerelease | 1180 | 
|
|
29 July 1991 |
| 1991 Widescreen release | 1180 | 
|
|
29 July 1991 |
Boxset releases[]
| Set | Catalogue Number | Cover | Certificate[1] | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Star Trek: The Movies - 25th Anniversary Collectors Set | 12593 | 
|
|
29 July 1991 |
| Star Trek - The Screen Voyages | 15150 | 
|
|
26 May 1993 |
| Star Trek: The Movie Collection | 15169 | 
|
|
26 May 1993 |
| Star Trek: The Starfleet Collection | 15171 | 
|
|
15 November 1993 |
| Star Trek: The Seven Screen Voyages[2] | 15390 15407 |
|
|
20 August 1996 |
| The Ultimate Star Trek Movie Collection[2] | 155644 156868 |
|
|
19 October 1999 |
UK release[]
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan has been released on VHS in the UK several times, both individually and as part of boxed sets, since 1983. The film was released by CIC Video until 1998, and by Paramount Home Entertainment thereafter.
The original release of the film was of the version released in UK cinemas, with a number of cuts made. It was not until 1989 that the full-length, uncut version was made available, rated 15. All future releases were the full-length version.
Individual releases[]
| Release | Catalogue Number | Cover | Certificate | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rental release | VHA 2062 | 
|
 [3]
|
October 1983 |
| Original retail release |
|
1987 [4] | ||
| Uncut retail release | VHR 2062 | 
|
|
1989 |
| 25th Anniversary rerelease | VHR 2062 | 
|
|
1991 |
| 1998 rerelease[4] | VHR 4861 | 
|
|
28 December 1998 |
| 1998 widescreen release[5][4] | VHR 4869 | 
|
|
28 December 1998 |
Boxset releases[]
| Set | Catalogue Number | Cover | Certificate[1] | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Star Trek: The Movies - 25th Anniversary Collectors Set | VHR 2592 | 
|
|
17 February 1992 |
| Star Trek - The Screen Voyages | VHR 2817 |
|
|
23 November 1993 |
| Star Trek - 30th Anniversary Movies Box Set | VHR 4152 | 
|
|
6 November 1995 |
| Star Trek - The Movies[5][6] | VHR 4554 | 
|
|
20 October 1997 |
| Star Trek - Movie Collection[5][6] | VHR 4896 | 
|
|
1 November 1999 |
Footnotes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 In the case of sets, the certificate is over the set as a whole (unless stated otherwise).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Released in widescreen and pan and scan editions.
- ↑ Originally released without a certificate, as it predated entry into force of the Video Recordings Act 1984.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Includes a trailer for Star Trek: Insurrection.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Presented in a widescreen ratio of 2.35:1.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Featured on the same tape as Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
| Previous release: Star Trek: The Motion Picture |
Star Trek films VHS |
Next release: Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Special Longer Version |
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