Star Trek III - Alla ricerca di Spock

It's really a fantastic Trek movie, a bit lesser mainly because it came in the shadow of Wrath of Khan, a classic of the genre.

It's also far deeper than it appears because while the Klingons are depicted as ruthless, in fact, they are absolutely justified in being terrified at the Genesis Device.

From their point of view, the Federation has developed a weapon of astonishing power that is dressed up as a terraforming device. The evidence they have is a video showing this "terraforming" device as a torpedo, and the first use of this device is the destruction of a nebula. If you were any other power in the galaxy, would you not see this as a Tsar Bomba level demonstration of force?

If North Korea developed a terraforming device that can convert a uninhabited thousand square feet of ocean into a garden, would you not be terrified? It doesn't require any known enemy to be terrifying.

Honestly, for a long time, I wished they hadn't made Kruge so apparently blood thirsty. After time I think it works perfectly. Put the shoes on the other foot and you easily have James Bond or James Kirk himself battling to defeat this weapon.

The movie itself... I think Robin Curtis does a great job but I think her lines made more sense coming out of Kirstie Alley. Curtis plays Saavik like a straight Vulcan and her judgments of David don't really make logical sense. Alley played the half Romulan thing so her emotional judgements made more sense.

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".

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.

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.

My review was written in Mary 1984 after watching the film at a Columbus Circle screening room.

"Star Trek III -The Search for Spock" is an emotionally satisfying science fiction adventure. Dovetailing neatly with the previous entry in the popular series ("Star Trek II -The Wrath of Khan"), the Harve Bennett production (he also scripted) is helmed with a sure hand by debuting feature director Leonard Nimoy, who also appears briefly but to good effect as the indestructible half-human/half-Vulcan Spock.

Relying upon clues (as revealed in flashbacks) cleverly planted in "Star Trek II", film centers upon a quest to seemingly bring Spock, the noble science office and commander who selflessly gave his life to save "the many", back to life. Pic opens in a melancholy mood as the U. S. S. Enterprise limps home in damaged state. It is to be scuttled, as announced by Commander Morrow (Robert Hooks), and only the ship's engineer Scotty (James Doohan) has been reassigned to a flashy new ship The Excelsior.

Spock's friend, Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) is visited by Spock's Vulcan father (Mark Lenard, reprising a guest star role he played in the tv series), who informs him that Spock's living spirit may still me alive via a mindmeld with one of Kirk's crew and must be taken to the planet Vulcan to be preserved.

Kirk discovers who the "possessed" crew member is, and with his other shipmates, steals the Enterprise out of its dock and sets off for Vulcan. Crossed with this mission is footage of Kirk's scientist son (Merrick Butrick) and Vulcan science officer Lt. Saavik exploring the unstable Genesis planet where they find a young but rapidly aging Vulcan boy who appears to be a life-form regenerated from Spock's corpse, which had been left on Genesis.

The enemy are the Klingons, represented by one Commander Kruge (Christopher Lloyd) who defies an impending space treaty between the Klingon Empire and the Federation and attacks Saavik's ship, the U. S. S. Grissom (named for the late astronaut). Kruge attempts to steal the secret of the Genesis effect (life from lifelessness) but is outwitted by Kirk, who successfully arrives on Vulcan with Spock's regenerated body. In a ritualistic ceremony presided over by a high priestess (Dame Judith Anderson), Spock is reintegrated, spirit and flesh, and regains his memories with the help of his human friends in a moving conclusion, that promises not only a soon-to-come "Star Trek IV", but the prospect of the Nimoy as Spock character back in a starring role.

Bennett's script carefully captures the spirit of the Gene Roddenberry-created tv series, even providing satisfying (though brief) scenes spotlighting each member of the crew, including communications officer Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), who gets to state (and demonstrate) that "this isn't reality -this is fantasy".

Countering ongoing trends in science fiction and youth-oriented films, Nimoy's direction is people-intensive, with less of the zap and effects diversions of competing films. However, George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic, under Ken Ralston's supervision, has delivered arresting miniature work and animation which, especially in the sequences of the Enterprise docking and departing, impart a sense of realistically vast scale (not looking like tiny models). The point is that the performances, well-delivered by an ensemble rather than star cast.

James Horner elaborates effectively on his score from "Star Trek II", and his orchestral work (even including theremin-like effects) combines with Dame Judith Anderson's mystical three-word incantation (when bringing Spock back to life) to conjure up pleasant memories of Robert Wise's classic "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and thereby link "Star Trek III" to science fiction tradition. Wise directed the first "Trek" feature but is no longer involved in the series.

"Trek III" will definitely satisfy the fans of the Paramount tv series and along with "Rocky III" demonstrates the effectiveness in a feature film series (unlike the Bond pictures and "Indiana Jones") of preserving a continuity in characters and stories from one adventure to the next.