Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Good concept, poorly executed.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

This film is the third of the franchise and addresses the theme of death and resurrection of Spock, something that I honestly could not understand immediately but, being an alien, did not make any knot in my head when I've got it. The script is not bad but it gets even better from the moment the Klingons, a welcome element of action, are added to the story. However, being a film that continues the story of "The Wrath of Khan," it is natural that both are similar at several points. On a technical level, they're almost identical, the sets and costumes are the same and the special effects are still what we could expect at this period. And as for the actors, this film is almost entirely of Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley, actors that the script privileged and that they had the capacity to shine. In the end, we get a film that honors its predecessor without, however, being able to match it.

The needs of the franchise outweigh the needs of the movie. It's certainly logical. I just wish the movie left me more to think about.Shortly after the battle that resolved "Star Trek II," we join a largely vacated U. S. S. Enterprise heading home. Still mourning his friend and comrade Mr. Spock, Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) discovers Spock's sealed-off cabin occupied by "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley), himself occupied by Spock's "katra," or spirit."Climb the steps of Mount Seleya," a tranced-out McCoy tells Kirk, kicking off a new journey for the Enterprise.No doubt the "Star Trek" production team, buoyed by the great success of their prior film but now stuck with a gaping, pointy- eared hole, saw its repair as job one. Bringing Spock back to life thus becomes the focus of the film, and the only thing that it gets right.A series of decent if lully setpieces that awkwardly cohere into a larger story, "Star Trek III" feels stuck in orbit from first to last. The funeral tone of mourning Spock, established in the opening moments, hangs over the rest of the film. Kirk broods about the "emptiness" he feels, about abandoning "the noblest part of myself" and "our dearest blood."Having spent decades unsuccessfully separating himself from his best-remembered part, director Leonard Nimoy could have told his old comrades it was no use. You don't just say goodbye to Spock and expect him to stay dead. Nimoy lets his film linger over the loss of our favorite Vulcan, at the expense of the tension and suspense that animated "Star Trek II."What Nimoy does do well is engage the other actors, at least the ones he worked with in the original series. Kelley is delightful as the keeper of the katra, struggling to reconcile his new persona as a logical Vulcan while retaining Bones' short temper. "It's his revenge for all those arguments he lost," McCoy fumes when Kirk explains what has happened to him.What did happen, anyway? The introduction of a mystical element to the Vulcan story, that Spock has what Kirk calls "an immortal soul," is at odds with "Star Trek's" materialistic approach to life, especially as it culminates in a religious ceremony conducted in English with a lot of "thou" and "thee." I can't say I bought it, but then again, it wasn't like I felt expected to. It's something to justify the reason we are here, getting Spock back.The rest of the film punctuates this by giving us little else to watch. There's some business about renegade Klingons trying to steal the secret of the prior film's Genesis project from the Federation, but the action here is strictly by the numbers. Christopher Lloyd spits every line as the head Klingon, pushing to dominate every scene he's in. Long sections of narrative deal with the collapse of the Genesis planet and its impact on a young Vulcan who may be Spock, a plot device which is neither believable nor compelling.What "Star Trek III" needed was something to pull us from the Spock story, a crisis/adventure to engage us long enough for Spock's return to take us by surprise, the same way his demise did in "Star Trek II." Unfortunately, "Star Trek III" doesn't find that hook, and the film becomes a minor slog with some funny character-driven moments, pleasant for fans but eminently forgettable.

The unpleasant incident with Khans Wrath had cost the life of Mr. Spock...........or so it seemed. Admiral Kirk is informed by Spock's father Sarek that his son is being kept alive in the thoughts of one of the crew members. It now becomes necessary to search for Spock's body, so that flesh and soul can be rejoined on Vulcan. It turns out that Spock's spirit is residing within the mind of the Vulcan's longtime shipmate, Dr. McCoy. Finding the body is another matter, since the Enterprise has been consigned to the trash heap and thus is out of Kirk's jurisdiction......With a helpful 'previously on....' At the beginning of the film, ST:TSFS takes no time in getting straight to the main point of the narrative, find Spock, and maybe we can find ourselves along the way.There are a lot of metaphors in the film surrounding life, mortality, and finally death, but these never really hinder the pace of the story, and after the tense and dark second entry, it's a bit of a relief that this has a more light hearted, almost Schumacher touch to the sets and the colours of the film.Take Lloyds uber villain, as despicable as he is, he's almost pantomime with his performance and gait, and when we first meet him with his Henson Workshop pet, and that really eighties neon lighting, it takes the urgency away from his motivation.But Lloyd seems to be enjoying the fact he is playing a Klingon, and Nimoy as director just seems to let him do what he wants. Shatner is more Shatner in this, and he hams up the screen, especially in the hilarious final fight between him and Lloyd (I particularly loved the backflip).But it's all highly enjoyable, the sets are astonishing, and the film is full of vibrant colours that almost make the film feel a little like 'The Temple Of Doom' in the final act (which was out at the same time).But do yourself a favour, don't do what my father did and take me to see this without seeing the prior movie, you'll feel like you're watching totally incoherent.It's best watching II and III back to back.It works so much better...

Star Trek has always been about the great adventures of the Starship Enterprise, but I think as this film quite clearly addresses, it's also about two unlikely friends, who are always there for each other even in the most dangerous of times. The Search for Spock does for Spock what Episode 7 did for Luke Skywalker. It's the search for Spock but it's also the search for Kirk's soul as the guilt of Spock's death weighs over him throughout the film. The whole film we are impatiently waiting for the inevitable, but luckily, the rest of the story is interesting enough to delay the revelations for just the right amount of time to give us the satisfaction we wanted.Leonard Nimoy directs and rightfully so, as it's largely his story, even without a ton of screen time. The story follows the Enterprise team journey to go back to Genesis, the planet created in the last film, to find and hopefully revive Spock. I think what I and most people will appreciate most about this entry in the long running franchise is the sense of togetherness that the previous two were missing. There is an emotional backbone to the team that perhaps even Wrath of Khan was missing.Of course, there are the inevitable villains who show and try to ruin the mission, this time led by Commander Kruge, played by Christopher Lloyd. All of the questionable campy elements to the villains are back and you never truly get a sense of where these people come from and why they are doing it. To be fair, it would be difficult for any villain to follow up Khan.The pacing is once again improved as it moves even faster than Wrath of Khan. James Horner is also back from the previous installment to keep us humming that glorious Star Trek theme even after the movie is done. Horner's music proves to be just as important to the emotionally layered moments as it was for the previous entry. With that said, I can't help but think this film is hindered by its tonal issues. We go from having a deeply emotional moment to a campy scene of Kruge doing weird things to slimy worm-like creatures.So in what is one of the darker entries to the Star Trek series, there's plenty to like. Kirk goes to some dark places that I'm not sure we really get to see in other films. We also get a satisfying conclusion to some of the cliffhangers the previous film left up for question. With the exception of tonal issues, and some distracting set pieces, The Search for Spock is a solid installment for the franchise.+Satisfying conclusion to the Genesis storyline+Emotional arc for the entire team+Gutsy plot points-Tonal issues-Some rough set pieces7.0/10