On this day, 8^th September 1966, the first episode of Star Trek (1966 to 1969), “The Man Trap” (Daniels, 1966), first aired. Since then, Star Trek has become a massive cultural phenomenonthat endures to this day, spawning numerous continuations, spin-offs, and ancillary media to become, perhaps, the most influential science-fiction franchise of all time. Accordingly, the 8^th of September has been deemed “Star Trek Day” and is thus the perfect excuse to dedicate some more time to, and celebrate, this massive sci-fi franchise.

Released: 1 June 1984
Director: Leonard Nimoy
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Budget: $16 million
Stars: William Shatner, Christopher Lloyd, DeForest Kelley, Robin Curtis, Merritt Butrick, and Leonard Nimoy,

The Plot:
Still reeling from the death of his friend, Captain Spock (Nimoy), Admiral James T. Kirk (Shatner) is shocked to learn that Spock placed his “katra” in the mind of Doctor Leonard “Bones” McCoy (Kelley). Determined to reunite Spock’s spirit with his restored body on the Genesis planet, Kirk defies Starfleet’s direct orders but soon comes into conflict with a hostile Klingon, Kruge (Lloyd), who wants Genesis’s secrets for himself.

The Background:
Despite grossing almost $140 million, Paramount were disappointed with Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Wise, 1979), which was met with mixedto negativereviews. Since the studio placed most of the blame on Star Trek-creator Gene Roddenberry, it fell to Harve Bennett to pen the far more critically lauded sequel. Although Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Meyer, 1982) made less at the box office than its predecessor, it wasincredibly influential and is widely considered one of the best Star Trek movies. Paramount’s eagerness to capitalise on Wrath of Khan’s success was matched by Nimoy’s renewed interest in his iconic character and the actor readily agreed to return and to direct the third film. Bennett and Nimoy collaborated on the script to come up with a plausible way to bring Spock back from the dead using inspiration from the television show, and it was Bennett who came up with the idea to destroy the Enterprise to subvert audience expectations. With a slightly bigger budget than Wrath of Khan, the filmmakers were given more money for special effects scenes; Industrial Light & Magic produced the effects and models for the film, including an elaborate Spacedock and a large and threatening Klingon Bird of Prey, though many of the interiors were redressed sets to save money. While friendship, specifically the bond between Kirk and Spock, was at the heart of the film, Nimoy wanted The Search for Spock to be operatic in its scope, and to develop the Klingon species beyond the television show to be allegorical stand-ins for Soviet Russia. With a worldwide box office of $87 million, The Search for Spock was the lowest-grossing Star Trek movie at the time; reviews, however, were generally positive: its grandiose scope was praised, as was the direction and chemistry between the actors, though the film has been criticised for being overplotted and arbitrary. In the years since, The Search for Spock has gained something of a cult following; while I often regard it as inferior to The Wrath of Khan, some believe it’s an under-appreciated entry in the series and have attempted to sing its praises as a result.

The Review:
I hate to be cliché, but The Wrath of Khan is definitely my favourite of the classic Star Trek movies (although, truth be told, I have a soft spot for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Shatner, 1989), which I feel is an under-rated entry). I think a lot of this is because The Motion Picture was so dreadfully God-awful, and the second film just nailed the characterisations and atmosphere that I was looking for in a Star Trek film. It also helps that Spock’s death was so tragic; Kirk’s eulogy is still one of the most heart-breaking scenes in cinema for me, even though I know full well that Spock returned just two years later. It’s interesting to me that The Wrath of Khan included a tease for this; it’d be so easy to retroactively extend the recap of the last film at the start of this one with new footage of the “Remember” moment between him and Bones, but the producers clearly never intended Spock’s death to be permanent when they made Wrath of Khan, which you could argue diminishes Spock’s sacrifice somewhat but I’d still say it’s a deeply emotional scene regardless. If Spock’s death hit me hard, it practically cripples Kirk; in the last film, it was stated that Kirk had “never faced death” and that he didn’t believe in a “no-win situation”, meaning he was arrogant enough (even in his advancing age) to think that he could think, fight, or talk his way out of any situation to avoid having to face such a loss. Consequently, Spock’s death hit Kirk like a brick wall and he’s still carrying the grief and guilt of that loss at the start of this film, despite having discovered and built a fledgling relationship with his recently discovered son, Doctor David Marcus (Butrick).

Already struggling to cope with the loss of his dear friend, and feeling like he’s left a part of himself on the Genesis planet with Spock’s corpse, the suggestion from the last film’s finale that Kirk has rediscovered his zest for life has been replaced with a sullen despair at how empty the Enterprise feels with Spock dead and David and Lieutenant Saavik (Curtis) off exploring Genesis. In addition to these concerns, and the strange behaviour of Bones, Kirk is astounded to learn from Admiral Morrow (Robert Hooks) that the Enterprise is to be decommissioned rather than refit since Starfleet feels “her day is over”. This continues the themes of age established so well in the last film and, when his attempts at diplomacy are rebuked since Starfleet has designated the Genesis planet as top secret, Kirk is compelled to steal his ship to reunite Spock’s spirit with his body. This mission is only made possible thanks to the arrival of Spock’s father, Sarek (Mark Lenard), who initially believes Spock passed his katra to Kirk and rebukes the Admiral for leaving his son’s body behind. Reviewing footage from the last film and realising that Spock’s soul dwells in McCoy, Kirk is once again reinvigorated and happily defies Starfleet orders to try and make up for his previous failure and restore his beloved friend. Kirk is stunned when Bones starts begging (in Spock’s voice) for help and to be returned “home” to Vulcan. Bones’s mind has been fractured by Spock’s consciousness, which intrudes upon his normally grouchy demeanour and results in some amusing scenes where Bones (who was routinely aggravated by Spock’s cold, logical nature) despairs over the illogical nature of alcohol and unsuccessfully attempts to perform the Vulcan nerve pinch. The Search for Spock gives Bones the rare opportunity to be more than the cantankerous ship’s doctor; Kelley now channels Nimoy’s mannerisms and line delivery into his performance, and Bones is left both perplexed by his condition and resentful towards Spock for lumbering him with such a burden in, what he sees as being “revenge for all those arguments [Spock] lost” to him.

Honestly, it’s been tough for every subsequent movie since Wrath of Khan to top the malicious menace and scene-stealing threat of Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán) but The Search for Spock certainly gives Kirk’s most infamous rival a run for his money with Kruge. Although Star Trek movies overly relied on the Klingons as a persistent antagonistic force, this maniacal Klingon commander is probably their most memorable villain thanks to the grandiose and operatic performance by Christopher Lloyd. Barely recognisable under the Klingon’s heavy make-up, Lloyd exudes menace and is absolutely captivating in every scene thanks to a barking, sinister eloquence. Kruge’s cold-blooded ruthlessness is established right away during his introduction when he casually executes his lover, Valkris (Catherine Shirriff) since she viewed the Genesis data. A cruel and calculating villain who is determined to bring honour to himself, his crew, and the Klingon Empire, Kruge commands absolute authority onboard his monstrous Bird-of-Prey; when his gunner (Bob K. Cummings) lands a “lucky shot” on the Grissom, Kruge is outraged and vaporises the Klingon since he “wanted prisoners” (this immediately paints him as going against Klingon tradition as Kirk stated in the last film that “Klingon’s don’t take prisoners”). Having witnessed the destructive potential of the Genesis Device, Kruge is obsessed with obtaining the secrets of Genesis for himself and use it as a weapon to establish himself as the premier Klingon force in the galaxy. So consumed by this desire is Kruge that he refuses to listen to pleas for mercy; gleeful at having David and Saavik as leverage to force Kirk to give in to his demands, he thinks nothing of ordering one of them killed and, in that moment, earns Kirk’s wrath after his proxy (Dave Cadiente) murders David in cold blood.

Spock’s death is like a heavy weight baring down on the entire Enterprise crew; Commander Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) reluctantly takes Spock’s place as interim Science Officer for their journey back to Spacedock, made possible thanks to chief engineer, Commander Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (James Doohan). Although the Enterprise suffered massive damage in the last film, Scotty fixes it up for the trip back and promises to fully repair it within two weeks (rather than eight). Despite receiving a promotion to Captain and being assigned to Starfleet’s greatest ship yet, Excelsior, Scotty is dismayed about the Enterprise’s decommissioning since he has put so much of himself into the ship and is only too happy to assist Kirk in stealing the Enterprise. Although Commander Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) and Lieutenant Commander Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) are instrumental in freeing Bones from Starfleet custody (Sulu even gets a quick fight scene out of it) and stealing the Enterprise, the crew still don’t get much to do other than stand around, frantically pilot the ship, and react with dismay when David is killed, though they willingly stand by Kirk out of sheer loyalty despite knowing that they will all face a severe court-martial for their actions. Since the Genesis planet is such a scientific wonder and a controversial subject, Morrow forbids any talk or travel to the planet. David and Saavik are onboard the science vessel Grissom and marvel at the various terrain, weather, and geological properties of the planet. Notably absent is David’s mother, Doctor Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch); Kirk takes her place as the narrator of the Genesis Device and David is now the principal scientist behind the technology, which is revealed to have used experimental “protomatter” to stabilise the device and create “life from lifelessness”. Despite her cold, Vulcan logic, Saavik is clearly disgusted by David’s recklessness, which has resulted in the planet becoming violently unstable and teetering on the bring of destruction, spawning mutated parasitic lifeforms, and had the unexpected side effect of restoring Spock’s body and forcing him to rapidly advance from a child, to a youth and, finally, to a full-grown adult. Essentially a mindless, agonised, and confused form, Spock is comforted throughout his tumultuous changes by Saavik but incapable of anything other than tortured screams as his body rapidly changes and he suffers the painful effects of “Pon Farr”. The Search for Spock introduces some interesting twists to Vulcan society; it is apparently the way of their species to transfer their consciousness to another before death, but it’s not made clear how their katra is normally restored to their body as the ritual is said to not have been performed since “ages past”(“and then only in legend”, hardly inspiring confidence) and it’s not as if dead bodies are routinely restored to life like Spock’s was here.

The Nitty-Gritty:
The Search for Spock was probably the most ambitious Star Trek movie to date in terms of its visual effects; model shots and traditional cinematic techniques like matte paintings and practical props are aplenty here, though admittedly many ships are repurposed from previous Star Trek movies. While the space battles aren’t as prominent as in the last film since the Enterprise is in no condition for combat and is manned by a skeleton crew, Kruge’s Bird-of-Prey still makes an impact with its fearsome design and destructive phaser blasts. Much of the film is set on the tumultuous Genesis planet, a man-made world best by chaos; snow, desert, forests, and mountains are scattered haphazardly across the surface and conditions constantly change in violent ways. The planet appears to be directly tied to Spock’s physical and mental wellbeing, meaning when he suffers the agony of Pon Farr the climate shifts and ominous thunderstorms blare overhead. This allows for a great deal of variety in the film’s locations, and we even get to see a little variety off-planet as Bones tries to charter a ship in a seedy bar and Kirk and the others have to liberate him from a holding cell at Spacedock. Spacedock itself is finally explored as well, and much grandeur is made of the Excelsior, which results in some amusing scenes when Scotty sabotages the trans-warp ship and the Enterprise barely manages to escape from Spacedock before crashing into the doors.

Despite having devoted himself to the ideals and expectations of Starfleet, Kirk doesn’t hesitate to defy Morrow’s direct order; although he emphasises that he doesn’t expect his loyal crew to follow him further than to the Enterprise, he’s grateful for their support in journeying to Genesis even though he knows that it means they’ll all face punishment for their mutinous actions. Still, the chance to reunite Spock’s immortal soul with his restored body is seen by Kirk as worth the risk but comes to cost Kirk more than he bargained for. Although the Enterprise manages to put up a fight against Kruge’s Bird-of-Prey, a stalemate ensues when Kruge threatens his hostages to learn the secrets of Genesis. When the Klingons attempt to kill Saavik in a demonstration of power, David desperately defends her and is killed in the process. This loss hits Kirk hard; seeing Kirk collapse in stunned shock, his distressing cries of “Klingon bastards…you’ve…killed my son!”, is disturbing not just to his crewmen but also the audience. After a lifetime devoted to gallivanting across the stars and having missed out on most of David’s life, Kirk was just finally starting to build bridges with the misguided scientist when Kruge’s order ripped him away from him with a violent callousness that only galvanises Kirk’s hatred for the Klingon species for years to come. As if this tragedy wasn’t bad enough, Kirk is forced to sacrifice his beloved ship; since the Enterprise is still suffering from her battle with Khan, the ship ends up summarily disabled by Kruge’s firepower and Kirk is forced to activate the self-destruct sequence to take out Kruge’s boarding party. Thus, for the second film in a row (and for a second time in a row), Kirk (and the audience) are forced to endure a disastrous loss; the visual of seeing the iconic starship burst apart and then careen through the sky as a flaming husk is a powerful one, one that is just as harrowing for Kirk as the loss of his friend and son since he’s literally giving up the most important aspects of himself to bring Spock back.

Still, the sacrifice enables Kirk and his crew to beam safely to the Genesis planet, where they’re stunned to see Spock restored and suffering from his unnatural aging. Despite the planet being ravaged by severe storms, Kirk takes the time to cover up his son’s body, and then lures the callous Klingon commander to the planet’s surface by promising him the knowledge he desires. Although Kirk convinces Kruge to beam the others to the Bird-of-Prey, Kruge spitefully refuses to take Spock along and, refusing to back down even though the planet is literally being torn apart around them, a final confrontation between Starfleet’s most celebrated commander and the vindictive Klingon ensues. Naturally, Kirk is no physical match for the superior Klingon, but he’s fuelled by a need to avenge his son and protect his restored friend; this, in addition to the constantly shifting, “exhilarating” landscape, essentially means the two are almost on equal ground. With flames and lava spewing around them and the ground cracking apart, Kirk ultimately sends his hated enemy plummeting to the molten rock below when Kruge refuses Kirk’s attempt to save his life. Feigning Klingon, Kirk and Spock are beamed to safety and his crew easily take control of the Bird-of-Prey and pilot it to Vulcan. There, much to Sarek’s dismay at Kirk’s losses and gratitude for his heroics, the Enterprise crewmen witness an ancient ritual in which a wizened Vulcan priestess, T’Lar (Dame Judith Anderson), successfully transfers Spock’s katra from Bones’s mind and into Spock’s restored body. Although T’Lar stresses that the “fal-tor-pan” poses a great danger to both Bones and Spock, the re-fusion is successful with very little fuss and fanfare and, while understandably confused, Spock soon recognises his friends and crew as they joyfully gather around him, grateful to have their companion returned to them despite the heavy price they paid.

The Summary:
There’s a stigma that all the odd-numbered Star Trek movies are “bad”; I can somewhat understand this given how terrible the first film was and how some seem to suffer more than others, but I’ll never concede that the ultra-dull Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Meyer, 1991) is better than The Final Frontier (because…it’s not!) and, similarly, The Search for Spock also bucks the trend a bit. I think the biggest issue facing this film is that it followed the universally lauded Wrath of Khan, and the entire thrust of its plot is undoing one of the most memorable and impactful moments of that film (and in all of Star Trek), all of which place the film at a severe disadvantage from the get-go. I think viewing it now, with the benefit of hindsight and in the grand scheme of things, helps to elevate The Search for Spock’s stock somewhat; the film is a great continuation of the themes and characterisations established in the last film, and aims to be a feel-good coda to Wrath of Khan’s dour ending. The conclusion of The Search for Spock largely delivers on this, with the crew’s elation at Spock’s return being evident but the film is actually one of he bleakest and most tragic Star Trek movies. David, a character who really got the shaft and could’ve been moulded into a young, fresh-faced addition to the aging cast, is unceremoniously killed before we ever really get the chance to know him and what could be more impactful than the death of a beloved character like Spock than seeing the Enterprise go down in flames? The film also seems to undo or walk back many of the messages of the last film, with the needs of the one now outweighing the needs of the many, but the underlining message of The Search for Spock seems to be one of hope. If you have a chance to redeem a mistake or save a loved one, you must do everything in your power to fulfil that, whether that means defying your superiors or sacrificing your livelihood. It’s a poignant theme that definitely underscores the bond between Kirk and Spock, but I can understand how it’s a little muddled amidst all the tragedy that befalls Kirk in service of this mission. Ultimately, The Search for Spock is a pretty decent third entry; it’s worth it for the amusing moments, Christopher Lloyd’s stellar performance, and the continuation of Kirk’s character development into a more jaded individual and, while it doesn’t quite live up to the standards of the last film, I still rather enjoy it as one of the more under-rated Star Trek films.  

My Rating:

Pretty Good

Where does Star Trek III: The Search for Spock rate for you amongst the other Star Trek films? What did you think to it as a follow-up to The Wrath of Khan and do you think it succeeded, or failed, to match its predecessor? Did you enjoy Christopher Lloyd’s portrayal of Kruge? What did you think to his ruthless methods, the killing of David, and the destruction of the Enterprise? Were you happy to see Spock’s return or do you feel like the cost was too great? Which Star Trek captain, crew, show, or movie is your favourite and why? How are you celebrating Star Trek Day today? No matter what you think, leave your thoughts down below or leave a comment on my social media.