Review of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) by Ryan K — 29 Dec 2013

After the near-perfect masterpiece that was The Wrath of Khan, audiences realized that a strong Trek film can be made. However the ending involving the death of Spock cried many Trekkies foul back in 1982, which caused the producers to go for a direct sequel involving the return of Spock. I strongly believe the Spock death sequence was crucial to making The Wrath of Khan that great film it was. Leonard Nimoy, who initially did not want to return as Spock due to growing tired of playing the character, directed this Trek film. This third Trek film, The Search for Spock, while it may be completely unnecessary and sometimes cheesy to watch, is actually an entertaining installment in the franchise, though those expecting another Wrath of Khan will be extremely disappointed.

Set after Wrath of Khan, Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) and the crew of the Enterprise return to Earth after Spock"s (Leonard Nimoy) ultimate sacrifice. Upon returning, things get even more complicated; the creation of the genesis planet creates a stirring controversy in the scientific world, Scotty (James Doohan) is reassigned, and Dr. Bones (DeForest Kelley) has lost his mind. When it's revealed by Spock's father (Mark Lenard) that Spock has transferred his mind to Bones before his death, Kirk has to defy orders of Starfleet to lead the mission to reclaim Spock's body, though he has to suffer some heavy consequences along the way by Klingon forces, led by Kruge (Christopher Lloyd), who are also after The Genesis Project.

The Search for Spock also features George Takei as Sulu, Walter Koenig as Checkov, Nichelle Nichols as Uhura, Merrit Butrick as Kirk's son David, Robin Curtis replacing Kirstie Alley as Saavik, and the great legend Judith Anderson has a small role as a Vulcan high priest.

Roger Ebert says it best when it comes to this film by it being a compromise between the visual heavy Motion Picture and the character-driven Wrath of Khan. There are things throughout this film that confirms this statement. Some sequences are entirely heavy on visuals, which are made well by Industrial Light and Magic, including a fun escape from Starfleet sequence, but other sequences visual wise are poorly dated during character driven moments, such as Klingon phaser shootings. Despite this jarring focus, The Search for Spock is really fun to watch.

The character-driven moments in the film are certainly far better than the visual-heavy moments of the film, especially in scenes where the visuals have aged poorly. Kirk is heavily dedicated to helping Spock in giving him life again, even if it risks in punishment from Starfleet and losing things that are valuable to him. William Shatner once again surprises me in delivering an excellent performance yet again in his dedication in rescuing Spock. He also delivers the best line in the whole film, "You Klingon b-------, you killed my son!" Leonard Nimoy when he actually does have screen time is also excellent (obviously you know he'll show up in the film cause this was only created to please Trekkies angered by Spock's death in Khan). DeForest Kelley continues to be memorable as Bones, though I wished he could have been a little more fun when it comes to going insane. James Doohan has another memorable performance here as Scotty. What surprises me most about The Search for Spock, character and acting wise, is that I actually cared this time about Sulu and Checkov. They finally get to prove they're wonderful companions to Kirk in his mission. Uhura gets fewer screen time here, but she gets a pretty memorable scene during the Starfleet escape scene. I honestly have no clue why they decided to replace Kirstie Alley for Saavick; she did a fine job. Robin Curtis was not that good in the role, with the acting abilities of an amateur compared to Kirstie. Merrett Butrick has a good small role as David, Mark Lenard has a great appearance as Spock's father, and Judith Anderson's small appearance in the end is extremely awesome. Christopher Lloyd is OK as the Klingon villain, but he's poorly developed, has a campy approach all the time, and is nowhere as evil or extremely menacing as Khan.

James Horner's score is another well-deserving listen to, but it's nowhere as excellent as his Wrath of Khan or Goldsmith's wonderful score for The Motion Picture. It's not terrible, bit it's certainly not as great as it could have been.

Yes The Search for Spock has some pretty awful visuals in some places, it lacks a menacing villain, and it's nowhere as excellent as Wrath of Khan, but I was still entertained by the final result of the third Trek installment. There's some fine performances from the main cast, the story is good for what it is, and the adventure promises to continue in the next installment, which is said to be one of the best Trek films. For me, only time will tell.