Was That Film Really That Bad??? - Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

The "difficult third album" is only a cliche because it happens to be true in many cases. Indeed, the same could be said of any art, and never more true of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Not only did this film have to meet heady expectations raised by the seminal Wrath of Kahn, but it also had to juggle the difficult task of reintegrating a fan favourite character in to the series. Over the years, it has become a commonly held belief that the odd number entries into the Star Trek series are crap whilst the even numbered ones are held in high esteem (or at least in higher esteem than the odd-numbered entries). In the case of TSFS, it was too early for such simple labelling, so it must be asked of Star Trek III, was that film really that bad???

The film opens with the Starship Enterprise returning to Earth after the dramatic events of the previous movie. Looking much worse for wear, the ship is due for decommissioning and the crew are held to silence following the political fallout of the Genesis Project. When it becomes clear that Bones is carrying the soul of Spock and must be reunited with his body on the Genesis planet, Kirk and company resolve to steal the Enterprise and save their friends. 

I'm sure that'll buff out...

The Klingons want the Genesis device as a weapon and attack the science vessel dispatched by the Federation (the USS Grissom), whilst taking Kirk's son and Lt Savik (who were on an away mission to the Genesis planet) prisoner. Once the Enterprise arrives, it all kicks off, the Enterprise is destroyed, Kirk's son is killed, but the crew get Bones and a reborn Spock back to Vulcan. 

Ok, that will definitely NOT buff out.

It's a pretty simple tale and one that is delivered well. With a slightly higher budget than WoK, the space bound effects are top notch but the decision to film all of the Genesis planet scenes in a studio (and the sets are quite impressive at times) means that the film at times comes across as a standard TV episode writ large and paradoxically a little cheap. 

A Toast! To the set designers and construction gang!

The usual cast members return and, for a change, they are given a bit more screen time. After the first two films, it's nice to see Koenig and Takei actually have something to do, though Nichelle Nicols is criminally underused - and that is a trend that continued into the fourth movie. The sole returnee from WoK was Merritt Butrick as Kirk's son, David Marcus. Kirstie Alley didn't come back so the role of Savik was recast with Robin Curtis picking up the reins. A touch of class is provided by Dame Judith Anderson as a Vulcan high priestess and it's always good to see Mark Lenard as Sarek. The star of the show is Christopher Lloyd, playing a pitch perfect foil to Shatner's Kirk as Kluge, the Klingon commander chasing after the Genesis device. 

He's just dropped one and appreciates the ambience it provides.

The Search for Spock was a financial success, making $87m off a $16m budget, but it took less than WoK ($97m against a budget of $12m) and critical reaction was less favourable. No, it wasn't as slow or po-faced as The Motion Picture, but neither was it as action packed and dramatic as WoK. TSFS sits somewhere in between these two films but the key thing to remember is that it expands on the world outside of the Enterprise as well as allowing some of the cast to breathe a bit more. There is a enough humour to raise the odd smile and all told, this is very much a more personal story, relying as it does on the core trio of Kirk, Spock and McCoy. 

The space effects are really good though.

Maybe that's not what general audiences wanted. Maybe they wanted more of the ship combat and scenery chewing that WoK delivered. Or maybe not. Consider the next film in the series, The Voyage Home which was essentially a film about whale-napping, was a huge success for the series ($133m against $21m), as well as finishing off the story arc which began in WoK.

That guy at the back "Hey, Spock, do you like Sci-Fi movies?"

Is The Search for Spock really that bad? No. Thematically and stylistically, it fits in perfectly with the prior and later films. Yes, the studio work is obvious but hey, these weren't mega-budget films at the time. Compared to the likes of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Ghostbusters, TSFS had roughly half the budget and put bloody impressive SFX onscreen. Perhaps best binge watched with the second and fourth films, The Search for Spock delivers the story it needs to in a poignant and respectful manner to the characters. And after all, wasn't it the characters and the story that kept us enthralled with Star Trek in the first place?