Star Trek III - The Search for Spock (1984)

[Neville]

I hate Klingons!

I'm still not sure if I'll end up starting threads about all the "old school" Star Trek movies, but I happen to have all six of them ready to watch. We'll see what happens in the next weeks.

Today's movie is #3, which was easily my favourite during childhood. I really can't say why. It was probably a question of availability (it was the only one I got on VHS), or maybe because it marks a transition between the most serious entries (I and II) and the lighter and more humorous sequels to come.

Watching the film after all this years, I don't think it's my favourite anymore. Probably this is because now I think parts I and II (see related thread) have stood the test of time better than I expected. Specially part I, thanks to its revamped Director's Edition.

"The Search for Spock" it's nevertheless a good film, but Leonard Nimoy's direction isn't as good as Nicholas Meyer's. He sure has an excellent understanding of what he wants to tell and he does it rather well, but I though his filmmaking often takes a rather straightforward approach to all situations. It's not as bad as it sounds, but it does feels rushed or superficial in a few moments. The main problem with the movie, though, it's its second act. It's the section of the movie that takes place on the Federation headquarters, between the Enterprise's return from defeating Khan and the new voyage in search of Spock.

I won't blame Leonard Nimoy for this. Simply put, there is a reason the scenes taking place in Federation bases are used as foreplay in the other movies: they're not very interesting. However, they could have pulled them off this time if they only had bothered to give us a better understanding of how the Federation works, or just give it more background. It is surprising how little we know about the "backstage" of Star Trek after ten movies and five TV series, really.

However, once the movie is done with that and crew are reunited in the Enterprise the movie really finds its heart. If "Wrath of Khan" was a film about middle age crisis, "Search for Spock" is basically a film about how much Kirk can afford to lose in order to fulfil a promise. It's a rather dramatic story, and in a couple of moments, truly heartbreaking. It's not that Leonard Nimoy is aiming for tears here, but Kirk really has to take some serious abuse here. And no Klingon ass-kicking (even with a backflip) can't compensate for all he goes through in this movie.



(Neville sobs quietly)

So all in all "Search for Spock" is not as good as I remembered, but still earns its place into the bright side of the franchise. We'll see if "The Voyage Home" has the same luck.

[Him]

I wasn't a big fan of Search for Spock when it first came out. I saw it as a remake of Wrath of Khan. You have another evil villian trying to get his hands on the Genesis device. Kirk once again encounters this villian with the Enterprise only having a skeleton crew.

But I do appreciate the movie more now. I think I may even like it more than Wrath of Khan. The production values were certainly better.

[trekgeezer]

Star Trek III is a vastly underrated addition to the series (often getting lumped into the odd numbered Treks are bad garbage).  TWOK, TSFS, and Voyage Home should be taken as a trilogy. These three movies are Shatner's best acting work in Star Trek.

As far as production values, they had a very limited budget and the story was thrown together in a hurry. All the action takes place on soundstages, but they managed to pull it off.

Christopher Lloyd does a workable job as the Klingon Kruge even though at the time he was best known as the burned out druggy Rev. Jim on the sitcom Taxi. Leonard Nimoy actually tried to get Edward Jame Olmos the part, but Harve Bennett nixed it because  he thought Olmos was too short to play a Klingon.  You should also take note that John Larroquette, who played DA Dan Fielding on night court, was the only Klingon to survive the encounter with Kirk and crew.

Most people don't realize that all the Star Trek movies after TMP were made by the television division of Paramount Pictures and Gene Roddenberry was pretty much excluded from participating in them (he received an Executive Consultant credit).

This movie also produced one a my favorite Star Trek ships, the intimidating Klingon Bird of Prey.

[Him]

This movie also produced one a my favorite Star Trek ships, the intimidating Klingon Bird of Prey.

They said they originally intended that to be a Romulan ship with a Romulan crew, but they eventually decided to use Klingons instead of Romulans. The original premise was that the Klingons in the movie stole that ship from the Romulans.

[D-Man]

My only problem with Search for Spock is that they basically negated Wrath of Khan with it.  You want Spock back?  Fine...but why did they have to destroy the Genesis planet, the enterprise, AND kill Kirk's son at the same time?  I swear, they have a big issue with Star Trek captains having young potential successors, or "son" figures.  If you recall, in Generations, they also killed off Picard's nephew for no good reason.   

Other than that, it's an OK film...much better than The Final Frontier, to be sure. 

[Shadow]

I remember sitting in the theater, getting all misty-eyed as I watched the fiery end of the Enterprise.

Bones did have a great line in this film, when learning that he carried Spock's katra: "That green-blooded Son of a b***h. It's his revenge for all those arguments he lost to me."

[Menard]

As far as production values, they had a very limited budget and the story was thrown together in a hurry. All the action takes place on soundstages, but they managed to pull it off.

That was one of the things I didn't like about this film; it feels more like a TV production than others in the movie series. It still provides, though, a necessary crux between Wrath and Voyage Home. Spock is brought back, but the Enterprise bites the dust.

If I want to feel better about this one, I can always watch the one about Spock's brother to remind me it can get worse.

[Doggett]

Look, maybe it's William Shatners acting, but Kirk doesn't seem that bothered by his son's death. He gets over it very quickly. Kirk is a very chirpy guy in part IV.

[metalmonster]

I Liked The Movie , I Thought It Was A Perfect Follow Up To THE WRATH OF KAHN

[Hammock Rider]

I've always felt that  the young Kirstie Alley was definitely a hotter Saavik than Robin Curtis. Although I  wouldn't want to see her in Pon Faar today. 

[AndyC]

My only problem with Search for Spock is that they basically negated Wrath of Khan with it.  You want Spock back?  Fine...but why did they have to destroy the Genesis planet, the enterprise, AND kill Kirk's son at the same time?

Very true, although I always understood why the Genesis device had to be a failure. They put that into Wrath of Khan maybe without thinking through just how much it would change things. A gadget you can carry on a starship that will make planets habitable almost instantly would be too much to introduce to the ST universe, especially when it wasn't that important to the story in the first place.

They didn't exactly negate Kirk's son by killing him off. It just made Kirk that much more of a tragic and isolated hero, with nobody but his ship and his closest friends. I think that's what Trek has had against family for the captains. It's that idea that they're married to their ships, and their officers are like a family to them. And then you can have stories where they question the choices they've made. That's why they killed off Picard's nephew. It forces him to confront his own mortality, and the choices he's made. He's the last of his line and he's not getting any younger. Then he has to choose between eternal bliss and his real life.

What really strikes me as odd though, is that after killing off Spock and deciding to bring him back, they went ahead and blew up the Enterprise, only to present Kirk with another one just like it at the end of The Voyage Home.

I do like The Search for Spock, although I agree that it tends to get lost as one of the installments that everybody likes but few consider their favourite.