To celebrate the release of Star Trek Into Darkness, the Flickering Myth writing team look back at the classic sci-fi franchise. Next up for Star Trek Month is Luke Owen reviewing Star Trek III: The Search for Spock….
There is a common rule of thumb theory amongst Star Trek fans that the even numbered movies are good while the odd numbered ones are bad. This is highlighted by the odd numbered and quite poor Star Trek: The Slow Motion Picture (despite Matt’s glowing review a couple of days ago) and the superior even numbered Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The theory is exemplified later on with odd numbered Star Trek V: The Final Frontier being an embarrassing farce while even numbered Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country brings a tear-jerking end to the ‘Original Series’ while Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is arguably the best Trek movie ever made.
However, the theory does come into question with Star Trek III: The Search for Spock which is, despite being an odd number, actually quite a good film. That’s not to say it’s a masterpiece along the lines of The Voyage Home or Wrath of Khan, but it’s a fun ride with some great characters, half-decent performances and exciting action scenes.
Search for Spock picks up directly on from Wrath of Khan as the Enterprise reaches home following the death of Spock. Due to its extensive battle damage, the Federation decide to decommission the Enterprise in favour of a new ship while the crew are given an extended leave of absence. However, Bones starts to begin acting erratically as it appears as though Spock transferred his katra into him before his demise – meaning they need to get Bones and Spock’s body (which is on Genesis) back to Vulcan before Bones dies. After getting Bones out of detention, Kirk, Scotty, Sulu and Chekov board Enterprise once more – only to find that a Klingon warrior named Kruge has beaten them to Genesis and has discovered that Spock has been reborn along with Savvik (this time not played by Kirstie Alley) and David Marcus.
It’s quite a silly plot, but that’s what makes it so charming. Kirk’s breaking Bones out of detention is incredibly fun and Bones acting like Spock alone is high entertainment. To give the film a level of criticism would be to say that Search for Spock’s biggest deterrent is that it doesn’t feel particularly cinematic – especially when compared to what that came before it. It’s sad to say, but coming off the back of the epic Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock feels like an inferior piece of work.
To back this point up, Kurge isn’t that great of a villain (although Christopher Lloyd is delightfully hammy in the role) which doesn’t help the emotional drive of the movie – something that Wrath of Khan had in spades. Furthermore, David’s death, while pretty impactful for the Kirk character, doesn’t have the weight as Spock’s demise in the previous movie. Of course, Spock was more of an established character by this point so it’s kind of an unfair assessment, but it does feel like David’s death was Search For Spock’s emotional tug at the heartstrings.
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock is not a great film, but it doesn’t deserve to be slotted in the “inferior odd number” category. I can see why others wouldn’t like it, but for me its biggest crime is that its sandwiched between Wrath of Khan and The Voyage Home. There is a lot to like about it and when you don’t compare it to the other movies of the franchise, it’s a really good film.
Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Month in Review show for Flickering Myth’s Podcast Network. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Star Trek Month continues tomorrow with J-P Wooding reviewing Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home…
Originally published May 3, 2013. Updated November 6, 2019.
