Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.
| This article is written from the Real World point of view |
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| This article is written from the Real World point of view |
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| Star Trek III: The Search for Spock | ||
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| Release date: 1 June 1984 | ||
| ← | 3rd of 10 Star Trek films | → |
| ← | 104th of 726 released in all | → |
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| Written By Harve Bennett Directed By Leonard Nimoy Producer Harve Bennett | ||
| 8210.3 (2285) | ||
| ← | Arc: Project Genesis (2 of 3) | → |
"A Dying Planet. A Fight For Life. The Search For Spock."
"All that they loved, all that they fought for, all that they stood for will now be put to the test... Join us on this, the final voyage of the starship Enterprise."
Admiral James T. Kirk, finding out he made a mistake by leaving Spock on the Genesis planet, must disobey orders and hijack the hobbled Enterprise to retrieve his best friend. However, a rogue Klingon seeking the secrets of the "Genesis torpedo" puts Kirk's mission – as well as the Enterprise, its crew, and Spock himself – in jeopardy.
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[edit] Summary
- "USS Enterprise, Captain's Personal Log: With most of our battle damage repaired we are almost home. Yet I feel uneasy, and I wonder why... Perhaps it's the emptiness of this vessel? Most of our trainee crew have been reassigned; Lieutenant Saavik and my son, David, are exploring the Genesis planet, which he helped create; and the Enterprise feels like a house with all the children gone. No... more empty even than that. The death of Spock is like an open wound. It seems I have left the noblest part of myself back there on that newborn planet."
As a result of Khan Noonien Singh's attempt to kill James T. Kirk using the Genesis Device in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Spock is dead and a new planet has been created from matter within the Mutara Nebula. Dejected over the loss of Spock, the crew returns to port aboard the Enterprise for essential repairs to their ship, which was severely damaged in the battle against Khan.
However, when they arrive, they are shocked to discover that the Enterprise is to be scrapped. Leonard McCoy, meanwhile, is mysteriously being driven insane, speaking maniacally about locations on Vulcan. With an unexpected visit from Sarek, Kirk discovers that McCoy is actually harboring Spock's katra, the result of a mind meld just prior to Spock's suicidal repairs of the engines. Sarek believed that Kirk, Spock's best friend, would have been the one that would have received Spock's katra, but it was only after a mind meld with Kirk that he determined that it was elsewhere. When Harry Morrow, Commander, Starfleet, refuses to allow Kirk to return to the Genesis Planet, which the Federation has deemed off-limits to everyone except the science crew of USS Grissom, Kirk and his crew steal the Enterprise from spacedock and head to Genesis on their own.
Kirk is not the only person interested in illicitly going to Genesis. Kruge, a Klingon commanding a Bird-of-Prey, has acquired Kirk's own report on Project Genesis. Impressed by the power inherent to the process, Kruge resolves to travel to Genesis and seize whatever information he can. Kruge regards the Genesis torpedo as a powerful weapon, not as means of creating life.
While the Grissom orbits Genesis, its sensors discover Spock's casket on the surface harboring a lifeform that they cannot identify. Saavik and David Marcus transport down to conduct a closer examination of the lifeform. The duo discovers the unidentifiable lifeform to be an evolved form of microbe that had been present on the casket's surface when it was launched from the Enterprise. Opening the casket, they are puzzled to find Spock's body missing entirely, although they recover the burial robe. Before the scientists can speculate further, they are interrupted by what sounds like somebody screaming in the distance, and Saavik and Dr. Marcus set off to find the source.
After a final futile appeal to Morrow, Kirk's plan to return to Genesis begins to take shape. Despite being reassigned to the USS Excelsior as "Captain of Engineering," Scotty secretly makes essential repairs to the Enterprise in addition to slaving the ship's controls to the main bridge. Uhura accepts a post as a transporter operator in San Francisco, with the covert task of beaming Kirk and company aboard the Enterprise at the required moment. Matters are complicated when Dr. McCoy, influenced by the katra, is arrested by Federation Security while attempting to charter a civilian ship to Genesis, independent of his shipmates' efforts. Kirk and Sulu are forced to rescue the doctor. In the process they assault Federation personnel and the trio barely escape from the prison. With the doctor secure, Kirk and his crew (minus Uhura, who makes her way directly to Vulcan) rendezvous aboard the Enterprise which is still docked within spacedock. Unable to stop the Enterprise from opening the bay doors, the Excelsior is ordered to pursue. However, due to sabotage carried out by Scotty, the Excelsior's transwarp drive fails to activate and the Enterprise escapes at warp speed.
Unaware of events back in the Sol system, Saavik and Dr. Marcus locate a young Vulcan boy and conclude that it is Spock, somehow regenerated by the same process that created the Genesis planet. Captain Esteban, citing regulations, refuses to permit Spock to be beamed aboard the Grissom immediately. This turns out to be fortuitous as shortly afterward the Grissom is unintentionally destroyed by Kruge's vessel. Kruge had desired to take the science ship, and its data, intact and in a rage executes the subordinate responsible for the "lucky shot." Now marooned on the surface and in danger of being captured, Saavik, Dr. Marcus, and Spock flee to more defensible ground.
Kruge and several members of his crew beam to the surface of the Genesis planet to pursue the surviving crew of the Grissom. Saavik finally finds out why the Genesis planet is changing so rapidly: David had used protomatter in the Genesis device, a substance known to be unstable. The Genesis planet is not likely to remain stable for very long, and it is causing the rapid evolution of the lifeforms on the planet as well as making Spock age rapidly. As night falls on the planet, David guards the location where he, Saavik and Spock are hiding. Spock, now aged to adolescence, begins to experience pon farr. Saavik determines that the only way Spock will make it through this portion of his accelerated growth would be for her to mate with him.
As Enterprise enters orbit around the Genesis planet, they briefly detected a ship, but it vanishes. They scan the planet, looking for life on it. Meanwhile, as day breaks at their hiding place, David, Saavik and Spock are captured. Shortly after, Kruge returns to his Bird-of-Prey to confront the Enterprise. As they sneak closer, Kirk and Sulu notice spatial distortions caused by the Bird-of-Prey's cloaking device. As soon as the Klingon vessel decloaks, Enterprise reflexively fires two photon torpedoes, both hitting. Kruge demands emergency power to the thrusters, as Enterprise's shields malfunction. The Bird-of-Prey fires one plasma charge, which strikes Enterprise's aft saucer section, leaving it dead in space.
Kirk hails the Bird-of-Prey, demanding that they surrender within two minutes or face destruction. Kruge determines that Enterprise is in no position to dictate terms, and calls Kirk's bluff, ordering him to turn over all information he has on Project Genesis (which he calls the "Genesis torpedo"). He reveals that he has prisoners on the surface. Both Marcus and Saavik speak to Kirk by communicator, and Saavik reveals that Spock is with them, alive. Marcus says that he can't believe that Kruge would kill them for Genesis, which did not work. Kruge challenges that by ordering his men on the surface to kill any one of the prisoners. One of the men stalks behind with his d'k tahg knife unsheathed. He chooses Saavik. However, as he rears back to sink the blade into the Vulcan's back, Marcus shoots backward and attacks the Klingon. Marcus is knocked down and stabbed through the heart. On board, Kirk hears Saavik over the communicator: David Marcus is dead.
Distraught over the death of his son, Kirk breaks down, then surrenders. Kruge gives Kirk two minutes to prepare to be boarded. Kirk responds by activating Enterprise's auto-destruct mechanism, with the help of Scotty and Chekov. He chooses Mode 0, the dereliction mode, then quickly beams to the Genesis planet's surface as Klingons from the Bird-of-Prey beam onto the Enterprise. Shortly thereafter, the self-destruct detonates, and multitudes of small charges destroy the hull of the Enterprise section by section, killing the Klingon boarding party as well. Large charges then blow up most of the saucer section, and knock the lifeless hull out of orbit, where it burns up helplessly in the Genesis planet's atmosphere while Kirk, McCoy, Sulu, Chekov and Scotty watch from below. The USS Enterprise is no more.
Sulu detects lifeforms only a few kilometers away. The Enterprise crew finds Saavik, Spock and Kruge. As the Genesis planet begins tearing itself apart, the battle ensues. Most of the Klingons, except for Kruge, die, mostly due to falling into cracks forming in the Genesis planet's crust. Sulu, Chekov, Scotty, McCoy and Saavik beam onto the Bird-of-Prey. Kruge and Kirk fight; Kruge is prepared to kill himself in the battle. Fortunately, Kirk wins out, managing to kick Kruge into the forming chasms in the crust. He picks up Spock, who is now unconscious but back to around the physical age he was when he died, and tricks Maltz into beaming him on board the Bird-of-Prey. Maltz, the last remaining member of its crew, surrenders, but Kirk refuses to kill him as punishment. Scotty figures out the Klingon systems, and they set a course for Vulcan as the Genesis planet vaporizes.
The Bird-of-Prey lands near Mount Seleya, where it is greeted by Sarek and Uhura. A ceremony is then officiated by the Vulcan priestess T'Lar, who determines that Spock, indeed, is alive. Sarek, stating that his logic is uncertain as far as his son is concerned, requests that Spock's katra be reintegrated with its body in the fal-tor-pan ceremony. McCoy agrees to this despite being warned that there are risks involved. In a brief ceremony, T'Lar initiates a mind meld with Spock and McCoy, and succeeds in restoring Spock's soul. Spock rises, alive and slowly regaining his memories. In the end, he gives Kirk his name: "Jim. Your name... is Jim."
[edit] Memorable Quotes
"USS Enterprise, Captain's personal log. With most of our battle damage repaired, we're almost home. Yet, I feel uneasy, and I wonder why. Perhaps it's the emptiness of this vessel. Most of our trainee crew have been reassigned. Lieutenant Saavik and my son, David, are exploring the Genesis planet, which he helped create. And Enterprise feels like a house with all the children gone. No...more empty even than that. The death of Spock is like an open wound. It seems I have left the noblest part of myself back there on that newborn planet."
- - James T. Kirk
"Would you look at that?"
"My friends, the 'Great Experiment,' Excelsior, ready for trial runs."
"She's supposed to have transwarp drive."
"Aye, and if my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a wagon."
"Come, come, Mr. Scott. Young minds, fresh ideas, be tolerant."
- - Uhura, Kirk, Sulu, and Scotty, upon first seeing Excelsior in spacedock
"The word, sir?"
"The word is no. I am therefore going anyway."
"You can count on our help, sir."
"Thank you Mr. Sulu, I'll need it."
"Shall I alert Dr. McCoy?"
"Please, he has a long journey ahead of him."
- - Kirk, Sulu, and Chekov
"Your planet-welcome!"
"I think that's my line, stranger."
"Oh, forgive! I here am new. But you are known being McCoy from Enterprise."
"You have me at a disadvantage, sir."
"Oh, my name not important. You seek I. Message received. Available ship stand by."
"How much and how soon?"
"How soon is now. How much is where."
"Somewhere in the Mutara Sector."
"Oh, Mutara restricted. Take permits many, money more."
"There aren't going to be any damned permits! How can you get a permit to do a damn illegal thing?! Look, price you name, money I got."
"Place you name, money I name; otherwise bargain, no."
"All right, dammit! It's Genesis. The name of the place we're going to is Genesis!"
"Genesis?!"
"Yes, Genesis! How can you be deaf with ears like that?!"
- - Rogue charter pilot and McCoy
"You're suffering from a Vulcan mind meld, Doctor."
"That green-blooded son of a bitch! It's his revenge for all those arguments he lost!"
- - Kirk and McCoy
(Sulu knocks out a security guard who just insulted him)
"Don't call me tiny."
- - Sulu, after knocking out a security guard who called him "tiny", phasering the console, and walking out the brig doors
"Up your shaft."
- - Scotty, to Excelsior's turbolift
"I'd be grateful Admiral, if you'd give the word."
- - Scotty, to Admiral Kirk on the Enterprise bridge
"And...now, Mr Scott!"
"Sir?"
"The doors, Mr. Scott."
"Aye, sir, I'm working on it!"
- - Kirk and Scotty, while Enterprise is approaching the still closed space doors
"The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain!"
- - Scotty, explaining how the removal of four small parts can cripple Excelsior
"Hello, sir. It's David."
"I'm sorry I'm late."
"It's okay. I should've known you'd come. But Saavik's right. This planet is unstable. It's going to destroy itself in a matter of hours."
"David, what went wrong?"
"I went wrong."
"I don't understand."
"I'm sorry, sir. Just don't surrender. Genesis doesn't work. I can't believe they'd kill us for it."
- - David Marcus and Kirk
"You Klingon bastard, you killed my son. You Klingon bastard you killed my son! You Klingon bastard."
"There are two more prisoners, Admiral. Do you want them killed too? Surrender your vessel."
- - Kirk and Kruge, just after David Marcus dies
"All right. All right, damn you. All right! Give me a minute to inform my crew."
"I give two minutes, for you and your gallant crew."
- - Kirk and Kruge, just after the death of Marcus
"Computer, this is Admiral James T. Kirk. Request security access. Computer, destruct sequence one, code: 1-1-A."
"Computer, Commander Montgomery Scott, chief engineering officer. Destruct sequence two, code: 1-1-A-2-B."
"Computer, this is Commander Pavel Chekov, acting science officer. Destruct sequence three, code: 1-B-2-B-3."
"Destruct sequence completed and engaged. Awaiting final code for one minute countdown."
"Code: zero, zero, zero, destruct, zero."
"Destruct sequence is activated."
- - Kirk, Scotty, and Chekov, activating the Enterprise auto-destruct sequence (Listenfile info)
"My Lord. The ship appears to be deserted."
"How can that be? They're hiding!"
"Yes, sir. But the bridge appears to be run by computer. It is the only thing speaking."
"Speaking? Let me hear!"
"NINE...EIGHT...SEVEN...SIX...FIVE...FOUR..."
"Get out! Get out of there!! Get out!!!!"
"ONE..."
- - Torg and Kruge, learning that Enterprise is set to self-destruct
"My God, Bones... what have I done?"
"What you had to do, what you always do. Turn death into a fighting chance to live"
- - Kirk and McCoy, commenting on the destruction of the Enterprise
"You should beam the Vulcan up too."
"No."
"But why?"
"Because you wish it."
- - Kirk and Kruge, speaking on Genesis
"You fool, look around you! The planet's destroying itself!"
"Yes, exhilarating, isn't it?"
"If we don't help each other, we'll die here!"
"Perfect! Then that's the way it shall be!"
- - Kirk and Kruge
"I... have had... enough of... you!"
- - Kirk, kicking Kruge into the lava
"I do not deserve to live."
"Fine, I'll kill you later."
- - Maltz and Kirk
"Wait! You said you would kill me!"
"I lied."
- - Maltz and Kirk
"Forgive me, T'Lar. My logic is... uncertain, where my son is concerned."
- - Sarek, requesting Spock's katra be reunited with his body
"I choose the danger!"
(Kirk glances over at him) "Hell of a time to ask!"
- - McCoy
"Kirk, I thank you. What you have done?"
"What I've done, I had to do."
"But at what cost? Your ship, your son."
"If I hadn't tried, the cost would have been my soul."
- - Sarek and Kirk
"My father says that you have been my friend. You came back for me."
"You would have done the same for me."
"Why would you do this?"
"Because the needs of the one outweighed the needs of the many."
- - Spock and Kirk, asking Kirk why he came back for him
"Jim - your name is Jim."
"Yes!"
- - Spock and Kirk, as his memory begins to return
[edit] Background Information
| Movie trailer |
- Harve Bennett's twenty-page outline for this film was entitled Return To Genesis. Bennett has said in various interviews and the Star Trek III DVD that the script was the easiest he had ever written, starting at the end of the movie with Spock alive again and working backwards from that point.
- This is the only Star Trek film with a main character's name in the title.
- Actor and director Leonard Nimoy also worked on the film's story, but his contribution went uncredited.
- This movie marks the first live-action appearance of Ambassador Sarek (Mark Lenard) since his introduction seventeen years earlier in TOS: "Journey to Babel" (not counting TAS: "Yesteryear").
- The Excelsior-class, the Oberth-class, the spacedock, and the Klingon Bird-of-Prey all make their first appearances here. They continued to be used in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. The Bird-of-Prey appeared in every subsequent movie until Star Trek Generations, its last movie appearance.
- Judi Durand voices her first computer in this movie. She went on to play the Cardassian computer voice in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
- To keep secret Leonard Nimoy's participation in this movie as an actor, official daily callsheets mentioned the adult Spock character only as "Nacluv" ("Vulcan" spelled backwards), played by "Frank Force". Nimoy continued the joke by using the pseudonym in the end credits for his cameo role as the (Excelsior) Elevator Voice.
- During the scene where Kirk asks Admiral Morrow for permission to return the the Genesis Planet, the Epsilon IX station from Star Trek: The Motion Picture can be seen as a wall decoration hanging in the background.
- In an early draft of the script, the Klingon Bird-of-Prey was originally to be a stolen Romulan vessel (the red "feather design" of the wings' underside was designed with the original Romulan Bird-of-Prey in mind), but that detail was dropped from the final draft.
- The Enterprise destruct sequence was previously used in TOS: "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" with Spock's command codes used in place of Chekov's.
- Leonard Nimoy originally wanted Edward James Olmos as Kruge, but Paramount Pictures nixed the casting. Olmos went on to play William Adama in Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica revival in 2003.
- The climactic fight between Kirk and Kruge was originally supposed to feature huge boulders that would "burst" up from the ground. On the day of shooting, however, the boulders failed to work properly and the scene was shot without them (however, one of them worked correctly and was used to propel Kruge into the air to attack Kirk at the onset of their fight).
- This film featured the first appearance of tribbles since TAS: "More Tribbles, More Troubles".
- Paramount continued its practice of seeking design patents for designs from the Star Trek movies with this film as well. It obtained patents for several props, the Excelsior, and the Klingon Bird-of-Prey.
- Filming on Star Trek III began on Monday, 15 August 1983. The opening scene on the Enterprise bridge was the first to be filmed.
- During production, a fire broke out behind the Paramount lot which caused minor damage to the Genesis Planet set. Among those who assisted in putting out the fire was actor William Shatner. According to Shatner's Movie Memories book, he was in full Kirk costume and makeup when he helped with the fire. Shatner also accounted in his book that he was terrified the fire was going to hold up filming and thereby make him late for reporting back to start filming the new season of TJ Hooker, the police drama that Shatner was starring in at the time that Star Trek III (and later IV) was filmed.
- The film was nominated for a Hugo Award for "Best Dramatic Presentation." It was also nominated for six Saturn Awards.
- Although this film takes place immediately after The Wrath of Khan, Khan is never mentioned once.
[edit] Merchandise gallery
 Original UK VHS release |
 1991 25th Anniversary rerelease |
 1998 UK VHS rerelease |
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[edit] Video and DVD releases
- US Betamax release: 1985.
[edit] Links and References
[edit] Credits
- All credits
- Uncredited performers
- Charles Correll as a Spacedock Worker
- Claudia Lowndes as Officer's Wife
- Danny Nero as a Vulcan guard
- Dennis Ott as a Klingon
- Nanci Rogers as Bar Waitress #2
- Teresa Sloan as a Bar civilian
- Rebecca Soladay as a Vulcan maiden
- Uncredited production staff
- Leonard Nimoy – Writer
- Rick Stratton – Makeup Artist
- Steve LaPorte – Special Makeup Effects Artist
[edit] References
Altair water; antimatter inducer; auto-destruct; blue alert; chimpanzee; cloaking device; computer voice; Constitution-class; d'k tahg; Deltan; Earth Spacedock; Enterprise, USS; Excelsior-class; Excelsior, USS; Federation-class; French language; Genesis Device; Genesis (planet); Genesis sector; "Great Experiment, The"; Grissom, USS; Hermes-class; katra; kellicam; Klingon Bird-of-Prey; Klingon Empire; Klingon monster dog; Klingonese; Klingons; Kruge's Bird-of-Prey; lexorin; medical tricorder; McCoy, David; Merchantman; Mount Seleya; NCC-1707; Oberth-class; Old City Station; type 2 phaser; Project Genesis; protomatter; prototype; Saladin-class; shakedown cruise; orbital shuttle; Skon; Solkar; terminium; transwarp computer; transwarp drive; tricorder; Vulcan; Vulcans; Vulcan gong; warp drive
[edit] External links
- Star Trek III: The Search for Spock at Wikipedia
- Star Trek III: The Search for Spock at the Internet Movie Database
- Behind the scenes on The Search for Spock at Forgotten Trek
- Filming Locations at Film in America
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