Because of the critical and financial success of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Paramount quickly put plans into action for part three, telling Harve Bennett to get them a script as quickly as he could. And he did. Soon, they had brought Leonard Nimoy on to direct, feeling okay that he could handle it since his part of Spock had such a diminished role in the film. And two years later, they had a film in theatres. But does it work? Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we continue our Star Trek series with Leonard Nimoy’s 1984 film Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.
We talk about the elements of the film that work for us – the incredible ship modelwork, the destruction of the Enterprise, the parts of canon introduced here – and we talk about what didn’t work, which generally focuses on the script. We chat about Nimoy as a director and what he and Bennett brought to the table here – notably their senses of humor – and why that largely doesn’t work for us. We discuss the sequence where Kirk makes the fateful decision to blow up the Enterprise in order to escape the clutches of the Klingons and look at what the team is bringing to the table in that sequence. We touch on James Horner’s score, continuing from the previous film, and love how much it helps build the destruction of the Enterprise. And we ponder the theme so beautifully illustrated in the previous film about the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few, and how this film bungles up that entire message.
It’s a frustrating film to watch but one we still enjoy, probably in part because it helps connect the dots within this mini franchise trilogy. We have a great time talking about it on the show this week so check it out then tune in! The Next Reel. When the movie ends, our conversation begins.
Film Sundries
- Watch this film: iTunes • Amazon • Hulu
- Script Transcript
- Original theatrical trailer
- Original poster artwork
- Flickchart
- Letterboxd
