Cinema Sunday: Star Trek III - The Search For Spock.

 Last week in Cinema Sunday, this happened in the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

"I am...and always...have been... your friend."

Oh no! Spock is dead!!!!

 Also last week in Cinema Sunday, this happened after the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

At the wrap party, Leonard Nimoy was telling Harve Bennett how much he enjoyed making this new Star Trek film and couldn't wait for the next one. 

Oh hell? What are they gonna do next?

This week, Cinema Sunday takes a look at what they did next, Star Trek III - The Search For Spock. 

The Enterprise has returned to Earth. The ship has had the total crap beat out of it in the battle with Khan. 

Admiral Morrow tells the crew that Enterprise is to be decommissioned. Also don't talk to anyone about anything to with the Genesis device.   

Gee, Dr. McCoy is acting weird.  

Sarek arrives to give Kirk shit about not bringing Spock's body to Vulcan instead of shooting it out a photon torpedo tube. 

And where the hell is Spock's katra.

Is katra Spock's cat? Did Spock have a cat? I don't remember Spock having a cat? Why would Spock have a--

SHUT UP ABOUT THE DAMN CAT!!

The katra is what Vulcans call the living spirit and both it and the body needs to come back to Vulcan to be laid to rest.

And Sarek assumed Kirk had Spock's katra since they are...

You know....

Really good friends?

(Throwing a bone to the Kirk/Spock shippers.) 

Nope, Spock put his katra in Dr. McCoy. (As the good doctor puts it, "as pay back for all those arguments he lost.") 

Kirk needs to get back to the Genesis planet, pick up Spock's body and get it and McCoy's katra carrying ass to Vulcan so Sarek will shut up about it for a damn minute.

Also the katra will eventually kill McCoy if it stays in him too long. 

Kirk asks Starfleet for a ship.

Starfleet says no.

Kirk says, "We are therefore going anyway!" 

Scotty scuppers the the USS Excelsior's trans warp drive and jury rigs the Enterprise to flown by a skeleton crew because Scotty is just that freaking awesome. 

Meanwhile, elsewhere in space, there's stuff happening.

Klingon commander Kruge has discovered the existence of Genesis, figures it would be a kick ass weapon for the Klingons to have and heads off to the Genesis planet where he blows up the Starfleet science vessel Grissom real good, killing everyone on board.

But not the two who were not on board at the moment.

David Marcus and Lieutenant Saavik (who looks different in that Robin Curtis replaced Kirstie Alley in the role) had beamed down to the planet earlier to investigate an unexpected life form.

It's a Vulcan child. It's Baby Spock! 

Genesis has resurrected Spock, regrowing him from childhood but without a mind. He is also aging rapidly because David cut some corners in creating Genesis, using protomatter. 

The protomatter is also screwing with the Genesis planet, spinning the world into chaos and ultimate destruction.

Spock is aging to death, the planet is breaking up and shit! Klingons have shown up! 

But the Enterprise has arrived! YAY!!

OK, there's only 5 people working the thing but still...

The Enterprise gets a good shot in on the Klingon ship but return fire from the Klingons disables the undermanned ship.

Down on the planet, Kruge  orders that one of the hostages on the surface be executed. Marcus is killed defending Saavik and Spock. 

Kirk is pissed off! 

"You Klingon bastards! You murdered my son!"

Kirk and his gang agree to surrender. 

The Klingons beam over, find the ship is deserted and hey, why are the lights blinking and what is that countdown-

KA-BOOM!!! 

The Enterprise self-destruct takes out a whole bunch of Klingon bastards as Kirk and his allies watch from the planet below as the flaming hulk of the once proud Enterprise plunges through an alien sky.

Kirk ponders, "Oh my God, Bones! What have I done?"

Well, for the second time in two movies, pissed off a whole bunch of Trekkies for a start.  

Kirk and Kruge get into a knock down drag out fight as the Genesis planet disintegrated around them.  

Kruge gets kicked into a lava pit because the fucker doesn't know the meaning of the word "quit".

Or dental floss.

Or deodorant.

Or katra.

Kirk, Scott, Chekov, Sulu, Bones, Savik and zombie Spock arer now on the Klingon ship as they zip there way to Vulcan. 

There's a change of plans.  Since Spock's body is not dead, being laid to rest on Vulcan is not quite an option. There is some proto-mystical mumbo jumbo that will pull Spock's marbles out of McCoy's head and back into Spock.

McCoy agrees to this procedure.

Could be dangerous.

Damn it! 

But whatever happens happens and Spock is whole again but a bit confused. He recognizes Kirk who he calls "Jim". 

(Throwing another bone to the Kirk/Spock shippers.) 

And then he asks, "The ship... out of danger?" 

Funny you should mention the ship.  

The smiling crew gathers around their resurrected friend and we fade out.  

The Search For Spock marks Leonard Nimoy's debut in the director's chair. He's a steady hand at the helm, leaning more towards competency that inspiration. 

The 3rd cinematic outing for Star Trek is a bit of an odd duck in that there is no central driving threat (V'Ger, Khan). This movie moves through a sequence of events towards the quest of searching for Spock.  If Wrath of Khan drives home that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one, Search For Spock inverts this premise: what are the many prepared to do for sake of one person, regardless of the sacrifice.

Speaking of sacrifice, the loss of the Enterprise hits particularly hard. It's self destruction is a hail Mary pass by Kirk to strike a decisive blow against a heavily armed phalanx of Klingon soldiers. It is as Bones assures Kirk, "turning death into a fighting chance to live".  

It is an odd thing that Spock died so that the Enterprise would live but the Enterprise must die so that Spock may live again. The symmetry may or may not be intentional but it is hard to ignore.

Enterprise is a synonymous with Star Trek as Capt, Kirk or Mister Spock. It's loss hits hard.

On to other things...

I missed Kirstie Alley's sly take on Lt. Saavik. Apparently she didn't want to return to the role for fear of being type cast. Robin Curtis is OK but plays Saavik with the more traditional stoicism which you expect from Vulcans.

By the way, as new Spock ages from adolesence into young adulthood, he gets zapped by Pon Far, the big ol' mating urget that Vulcans get.  It is understood that Saavik "helps" Spock through this experience although it is never explicitly stated. No need to be lewd about it. Saavik having sex with Spock was just the logical thing to do.  

Star Trek III - The Search For Spock ends on a happy note, a revived Spock surrounded warmly by his friends and comrades. But there is much to be dealt with in the future.

The Enterprise got blowed up real good. Kirk will have to answer for that.

Kirk and his allies will have to answer for a shit ton of broken Starfleet regulations when they stole the Enterprise to go searching for Spock.

And Spock freaking died, man. And came back to life. What kind of profound impact might it have on Spock. 

Those questions will have to wait for another time.

Next week, Cinema Sunday looks at Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home.

I'm sure we'll have a whale of a time on that trip.