Star Trek III : À la recherche de Spock

How does one follow a film with a fantastic villain, perfect structure, and really good special effects? Muddy the waters, apparently.

Don't get me wrong. I feel like the third Star Trek film is good, but it's also got problems.

So, let's start with the good. The Enterprise is coming home from the Mutara system, wounded with one less officer. There's no sense of victory as the ship tracks into spacedock where its wounds get pushed into a harsh light. Captain Kirk dismisses a cadet's desire for a celebration by referring to paying for their return with their dearest blood. And, on top of it, McCoy is acting odd. He breaks into Spock's sealed quarters and talks of a need to go to Vulcan. Spock's father, the Vulcan ambassador Sarek, tells Kirk of the need to bring Spock's katra, his soul, back to Vulcan, or his essence will die forever.

Kirk must get Spock's body back from the Genesis planet where they shot his body, but Starfleet won't allow it. The Genesis planet is at the center of a galactic controversy and has been declared forbidden.

All of this first act up to this point is a bit clunkier than it should be, but it's effective at getting the point across. And then we get to one of my two favorite individual sequences in all of the Star Trek movies (both of which are in this one, actually).

There are a few things in the sequence of the Enterprise escaping Space Dock that get me. First is the music. James Horner did a bang up job for the previous film, and Nimoy, the director, brought him back to score this. Here, Horner explores the musical themes he created in the second film and gives them greater scope and a larger breadth. The second is the action itself. Much like in the second film, there's an understanding of the limitations of what the models can do, and turning a slow chase out of a dock into something really exciting through the editing is a solid accomplishment. The third is about Kirk. Kirk knows that what he's doing is going to ruin his career, but he has to do it because his friends need him. He's not doing this because he expects to get Spock back, but he does know that Spock's soul is hurting McCoy and needs to find a place to rest. When the captain of the Excelsior tells him that he'll never sit in a captain's chair again, Kirk's face doesn't move. That may be a coincidence of editing, an accident more than anything else, but it's also effective. Kirk's face doesn't move in a way that suggests he knows what the Excelsior's captain is telling him is the truth and that he's still willing to go through with the action anyway. He understands the consequences of his actions, and he's sill stalwart. It's such a fantastic moment.

Before I go any further, I'm going to address the single largest problem with the film: Christopher Lloyd's Klingon, Kruge. Taken in a vacuum, Kruge is actually a pretty good Klingon. The way he strangles a giant space worm with his bare hands, picks up his communicator, and tells his ship that nothing's going on is just perfect. The problem, though, is that he feels like a missing subplot from The Wrath of Khan rather than a natural element in The Search for Spock. He doesn't fit thematically. The theme of the film is about rebirth and creating second chances, while Kruge is having an argument that he missed out on with Khan. He feels like a puzzle piece in the wrong puzzle.

Anyway, the movie continues to the point that Kruge overpowers the weakened Enterprise and sends most of his men onboard in order to commandeer. That's when we get to my other favorite moment in the Star Trek film series.

The self-destruct sequence became such a cliché after this, but it never meant anything because they all got aborted or reversed somehow. Here we have the self-destruct go all the way through, and the destruction of the ship is beautiful. I love how the saucer section essentially melts away, tearing apart the letters of the timeless ship before exploding and falling into the atmosphere of the Genesis planet and turning into nothing more than a ball of flame. There's something permanent and meaningful about that action.

The movie's final action beats are weaker, though. A fist fight in an exploding environment (with some dodgy compositions with the special effects) between our main character and a bad guy from another movie just feels a bit unsatisfactory.

The Vulcan mysticism of the final few minutes of the movie hints at a larger culture that I really enjoy as well. Vulcans, driven by logic, also hang on ceremony in extremely focused ways.

Amidst all of this action, I think we have Shatner's best performance in a Star Trek movie. His reaction to hearing his son die, where he simply falls to the ground instead of into his chair, is great. DeForest Kelley is very good as the confused and angry version of Bones. Lloyd is solid as the bad guy from another movie.

Overall, I do think the movie is solidly good, but it had the capability of being something great. Rewriting Kruge so he actually fit in thematically would have helped, I'm sure. Upping the production and special effects budget a bit so that the effects weren't such a mixed bag would have done good things as well. Still, as a follow up to what is arguably the best Star Trek movie, they could have done far, far worse.

It is what it is folks, it's a good honest Star Trek story, it beats a real emotive heart and although some may decry the lack of blistering space battles, or end of the universe peril scenarios, it's an essential film for dealing with the protagonists we know and love.

Into the mix here we have our favourite alien enemies The Klingons (led by the oddly cast Christopher Lloyd), Spock's father, Sarek, who adds grace to the story, and crucially Kirk gets an emotional kicker. While elsewhere hardcore fans get a big surprise with the beloved Enterprise.

It's of course merely a set up for the next (and delightfully great) instalment of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, but on its own terms this stands up as one of the better character pieces in the series. Due in no small part to having Leonard Nimoy directing it because he shows care and thought about a subject he obviously knows quite a bit about. 7/10

Boldly going where no man (or woman) has gone before, climb aboard the Enterprise and let it fly and soar, as old friends gather, reunite, off to battle and to fight, strange new worlds, civilisations to explore.

A child is discovered all alone, a Vulcan without soul, perhaps a clone, while a Doctor rediscovers, an old friend inside another and a starship's final journey helps them home.

Some things are more important than rules and regulations as the captain of the Enterprise takes his pride and joy to recover what was lost and resurrect what was saved.

Picking up where "The Wrath of Khan" left off, McCoy seems to be going mad, the Enterprise is being retired, Kirk mourns the loss of Spock and his son Dr. David Marcus is off exploring his newly created Genesis planet with the lovely Vulcan vixen Saavik (exit Kirstie Alley, enter Robin Curtis). Kirk then finds out from Sarek (Mark Lenard, who had a brief, unrecognizable role in the opening of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" as an ill fated Klingon Commander and played a Romulan before playing Spock's dad) catches up with Kirk and tells him that there's a chance at resurrecting Spock, who's mind and spirit are housed in McCoy's brain while his body is on Genesis. Feeling obligated to return the favor for saving them all at the end of #2, Kirk and the gang hijack the Enterprise and rush towards the Genesis planet to rescue Spock "in whatever form he may still be alive." Meanwhile, a bodily resurrected and rapidly re-aging Spock has been found by Saavik and David and they are stranded on Genesis after their ship is destroyed by Klingon Commander Kruge (Christopher Lloyd) and he comes looking for them in hopes of unlocking the secrets of the Genesis project, which he thinks could be used as a weapon against his people. Who will survive?

Considered by some to be trash and by others to be the only good odd numbered Star Trek film, this is a sufficiently entertaining bit of science fiction yarn that continues following the theme of what happens when you mess with mother nature. Good performances as usual, with Lloyd giving one of his best as the Klingon Commander Kruge, who becomes oddly sympathetic in light of his blood thirsty actions when you consider that he was just looking out for his own brood and was willing to spare the crew of the USS Grissom. Shatner's brawl with Lloyd is also fun to watch, and the film still has that great James Horner music. Don't miss Shatner kicking Lloyd in the face shouting "I... have HAD... enough of... YOU!"

Robin Curtis is a capable Saavik. As a bit of trivia, Saavik apparently engaged in sexual intercourse with Spock while he was going through his aging phases and, as part of an idea never utilized in the films or even in the spin off series, Saavik became pregnant with Spock's child, which was originally why she was supposed to stay on Vulcan in "Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home".

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

*** (out of 4)

After the events in the previous film, Kirk (William Shatner) risks his career by stealing the Enterprise to go to a restricted planet in hopes of finding Spock's body who they feel might be alive. Along the way they run into a Klingon leader (Christopher Lloyd) who wants to kill them all. STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH OF SPOCK probably shouldn't have worked since if you've seen the second film then you know what happens to Spock. In order for this "trick" to work the producers and writers really needed to come up with something good and thankfully they did that. I won't ruin what this trick is in "the search for Spock" but I thought it was a rather smart move and it helped make the film a lot more believable. Leonard Nimoy steps into the director's chair here and it's obvious he's very comfortable there as he delivers a good looking film with a good pace and of course the main people back in action. Once again we've got Shatner turning in a good performance as Spock and there's no question that he helps keep the film moving. I don't care what you want to say about the guy but there's no question that he owned this role and could play it in his sleep. Regulars like DeForrest Kelley, James Doohan and George Takei are also good in their roles. It seems a lot of people are split on Lloyd but I thought he was pretty good here. I liked seeing him under all the make-up and thought he did a good job even if the role itself wasn't the greatest. The special effects here are certainly a step up from the previous movie and I'd also say that battle sequences are much better directed. Overall this film doesn't quite reach the levels as the second but it's certainly a worthy sequel.