Trek at 60: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock


This year Star Trek turns 60. For decades, it has enthralled and entertained audiences. Part of that legacy is 13 feature films. Over the next few weeks, I'll be looking back on each of the feature films in the franchise, including where I place them in my personal rankings!

McCoy: [to an unconscious Spock] I'm gonna tell you something that I... never thought I'd ever hear myself say. But it seems I've... missed you. And I don't know if I could stand to lose you again.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
Franchise Ranking: 10
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, Merritt Butrick, Robin Curtis, Mark Lenard, and Christopher Lloyd
Director: Leonard Nimoy
About: Anything following Khan was going to be a let down. This sees Nimoy ascend to the director's chair, which makes sense since he doesn't appear much. After all, we begin with Spock dead. He is reborn thanks to Genesis, and is soon discovered by David (Butrick) and Saavik, re-cast as Robin Curtis. This one is about his friends making a daring mission to retrieve him and finding danger from a Klingon Bird of Prey led by a vicious captain (Lloyd) bent on bringing Kirk down. It ends up being an interesting enough adventure, though the plot doesn't always feel like it works as well as it could. The death of David in particular feels like it's glossed over in an odd way. The excitement we feel to have Spock back has to be tempered by the idea that Kirk has lost his son, and yet the film doesn't really feel structured to let you fully appreciate it. This is not the worst, but it's far from the best in the run of the original cast.

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