Star Trek III: The Search For Spock

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Hosted by Remi Lavictoire,  Ian Fults an Jonathan Colbon

Podcast length: 56:14

This week on The Sci-Fi Movie Podcast, Rem, Ian, Jonathan dig deeper into "Star Trek III: The Search from Spock" from 1984 and directed by Leonard Nimoy.

The PositiveThis third installment of the original Star Trek franchise is a direct continuation of the events in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and as Ian says, it's the 'Empire Strikes Back' of the Star Trek series.  'Spock' is one of the odd numbered movies, which according to the curse, tends to make it one of the lesser movies in the overall series. Jonathan considers this to be the best of the worst odd numbered movies. Great music, some solid acting from Deforest Kelly and William Shatner make this one better than most people give it credit for.

The NegativeIt was always going to be hard for 'Spock' to follow the popularity critical praise of 'Khan', Rem considers this to be something of a part 2 of the 'Khan'. Jonathan found the characterization of Commander Kruge seemed one dimensional and a poor successor to Khan.

The VerdictThis will be essential viewing if you're a fan of the franchise, and it's the middle tier of the 2, 3, 4 collection. Don't let the odd number curse hold you back, it's a good watch as part of the original Star Trek movie series.

Get more detail on Star Trek III on IMDB

Listener Feedback

John Sheehylways going to be tough to follow up Wrath of Khan, remember feeling yeah this is movie is ok but it was the start of the decline in the Star Trek series until the brilliant Undiscovered Country.Christopher Lloyd for me introduced the more rounded and thoughtful Klingons that became the model particularly in TNG/DS9

Lisa LyonsThe follow on from the best film of the franchise! And the only film to make us cry. The loss of the Enterprise, and seeing the crew falling apart without Spock? Very heart rending. However, the biggest moment for me was that darkened room, a single figure shrouded by shadow and what sounded like Spock's voice from the darkness! BOOM! DeForrest Kelly nailed it!!! Sent shivers down my spine! "That green-blooded son of a bitch! He did it to me on purpose!"

Ken BizarroI love Trek III. It has an adventure vibe to it much like "Wrath," with the added element of "Kirk gone rogue" in there. The late James Horner's soaring music, especially in my very favorite sequence, "Stealing the Enterprise" ranges from exciting to heartbreaking. Giving the fancy new Excelsior a pompous captain (James Sikking) was genius, and the movie is visually stunning too- the shot of the Enterprise pulling away with Excelsior coming around the space dock in the background- made my heart race. If I'm not mistaken, this film also introduced the Klingon Bird of Prey, one of the best spaceship designs to come out of the film franchise.

Balbinder BhatiaWhen I first saw this film, years ago I have to admit I didn't like it at all. It didn't have the dramatic flair of The Wrath of Khan or the fun of The Voyage home that followed it. Also Robin Curtis replacing Kirstie Alley as Saavik did not sit well with me.

However as I have gotten older and wiser I have come to appreciate this film more. It has a lot to offer towards the Star Trek cannon. For instance we finally get to see the new Klingons in more detail than in their debut in the Motion Picture. Also there are 2 important onscreen deaths firstly that of David, which will effect Kirks motivations from then on and secondly that of the Enterprise, the ship that has carried us through from the start of Star Trek. I should also mention that Deforest Kelly gives his best performance in a Star Trek film here (in my humble opinion)

There are still lots about the film I don’t like, again Robin Curtis (I’m not picking on her, I’m sure she is a lovely person, but the change irks me), also the character of Saavik helping the now very young Spock going through Pon Farr is a bit strange.

Brian CampbellA mediocre entry at best. To spend almost an entire movie "resurrecting" a character was a little tedious. At the theater, I was kind of bummed that Lt. Saavik had been swapped out for a less crush-worthy actress. Lessly crusher, if you will. The movies saving grace, at least for me, was Jim from Taxi. A little perplexing, however, that such a war-like species as the Klingons could ever develop warp speed.

Michael SimshauserThe middle film of the unofficial trilogy (II,III,IV) but is the flipside to Star Trek II, turning Spock's last words "The needs of the many outweighs the needs of the one" on its head, that their friend was so important that they would all risk their careers, their lives and ultimately their ship. But again we learn that some will end up paying the ultimate price. Best scenes for me were the Kirk's response after officially being told not to go to Genesis (The answer is no, I am therefore going anyway.) and Kirk's reaction to his son's brutal murder and McCoy's line after Kirk and the crew watch the Enterprise that they had been on for so long and survived so much burn up in the atmosphere of Genesis. Maybe not as essential viewing as II,IV or VI but still able to be viewed on its own or as a part of the unofficial trilogy of II,III and IV.

Ton de WitteGood movie, liked Christopher Lloyd. It was of course inevitable that Spock returned without the trinity having a discussion Star Trek would be less fun. All there is left to say is, impressive they can make planets

Mike CrateI've never really liked Star Trek III even though I've seen and heard many warm words for the movie but it was such a let down after Wrath of Khan and I can never judge it as a standalone. I've watched ST: V more than this movie which speaks volumes.

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