William Shatner
Admiral James T. Kirk
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With William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan. Admiral Kirk and his bridge crew risk their careers stealing the decommissioned U.S.S. Enterprise to return to the restricted Genesis Planet to recover Spock's body.
- (87K)
- Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
- Leonard Nimoy
- 1984-06-01
A 1984 sci-fi film based on the TV series Star Trek, directed by Leonard Nimoy and starring William Shatner. The crew of the USS Enterprise tries to rescue Spock's body and spirit from a planet created by the Genesis Device, while facing Klingon enemies.
- Overview
- Summary
- Log entries
- Memorable quotes
- Background information
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"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."
Act One
"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 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, 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 fierce battle against Khan. A little over two hours away from the Spacedock One, Kirk asks Commander Pavel Chekov to take the science station – Spock's old post – for a pre-approach scan. He asks Uhura about an inquiry he made on Project Genesis: Uhura replies that there was not yet a response from Starfleet Command, which he finds odd. He then gets a status report from Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott, who says automation will be ready in time for docking, and states he can have the ship repaired for her next cruise within two weeks, compared to his usual recommended repair time of eight weeks. Kirk observes that Scott always multiplies his repair estimates by a factor of four in order to maintain his reputation as a miracle worker. Before leaving the bridge, handing Hikaru Sulu the command con, Foster, one of the few remaining Starfleet Academy cadets still aboard asks if a reception will greet them when they arrive at Earth. "A hero's welcome, son? Is that what you'd like?" Kirk asks the cadet. He adds in observation, "Well, God knows there should be. This time we paid for the party with our dearest blood." With that, he enters an empty turbolift and becomes emotional about the loss of his old friend as the lift descends towards his quarters. Meanwhile, somewhere off in space, a freighter with a female Klingon, Valkris, awaits somebody. That somebody is her lover, the warrior Kruge, who suddenly decloaks in a Klingon Bird-of-Prey, which dwarfs the freighter. Once there, she transmits data to the Bird-of-Prey, which from brief flashes can be ascertained to relate to Project Genesis. When Valkris reveals that she had seen the data, Kruge reluctantly determines that she must die, and subtly relays this to Valkris, who understands. After conveying their mutual admiration for each other, Kruge destroys the freighter with the Bird-of-Prey's disruptors. This also means he does not need to pay the freighter's crew for their work. After the freighter's destruction, he sets course for the Federation-Klingon neutral zone and orders one of his crew to feed his pet. Welcome home, The Enterprise reaches Earth and approaches the mammoth Spacedock One. During the approach, they see a new ship: USS Excelsior, a part of "The Great Experiment", an attempt at transwarp drive. Although Sulu seems to be in awe of the possible capabilities of the ship, Scott is less than impressed, commenting "If my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a wagon…" "Come, come, Mr. Scott. Young minds, fresh ideas. Be tolerant," Kirk gently chides him. After the Enterprise is moored at the spacedock, Chekov, who is sitting at the science station, notes to Kirk that someone has entered Spock's quarters. When Uhura adds that the sealed room's door was forced open, Kirk goes down to investigate. After running down a corridor to Spock's quarters flanked by two security guards, he slowly enters through the damaged doors and, inside, he hears Spock's voice. "Jim, help me. You left me… on Genesis. Why did you do that? Help me…" Kirk runs forward and grabs the shadowed figure, finding the individual to be Dr. Leonard McCoy, mumbling about locations on Vulcan, particularly Mount Seleya, before fainting. Kirk calls Uhura to send medics to Spock's quarters, immediately. Once Enterprise is docked, they are met by Fleet Admiral Morrow, Commander, Starfleet. In the ship's torpedo bay, he states that all crewmembers will be given the highest commendation of the Federation as well as extended shore leave, all except for Commander Scott who is being promoted to Captain and will serve as chief engineer aboard the Excelsior. Scott appreciates the sentiment, but would rather remain and help with the refit of the Enterprise. Morrow explains that the Enterprise is not to be refit, but is to be decommissioned instead. When Kirk protests, Morrow states to him, "Jim, the Enterprise is twenty years old. We feel her day is over." Kirk voices his hope that one day, the Enterprise will be able to return to Genesis, but Morrow says that is out of the question, as, in Kirk's absence, Genesis has become a galactic controversy. Morrow orders the Enterprise crew that they are not to discuss with anyone their knowledge about Genesis. "Consider it a quarantined planet… and a forbidden subject." On the Bird-of-Prey, Kruge and his most trusted officers, Maltz and Torg, view the data on Project Genesis. The Klingons are impressed by the power, but Kruge bristles at the idea of the Federation making new planets for themselves. He resolves to travel to Genesis and seize whatever information he can. Kruge regards what he calls the "Genesis torpedo" as a powerful weapon, not a means of creating life. After he dismisses Maltz, he tells Torg that they will seize the secret of this supposed "weapon" for the preservation of their race. The USS Grissom, with Lieutenant Saavik and Dr. David Marcus aboard, arrives at Genesis and begins using sensors to explore the surface. During the initial scans of the planet's biosphere, its sensor scans discover Spock's photon torpedo casket on the surface harboring a lifeform that they cannot identify. Saavik and David Marcus try to convince Captain J.T. Esteban to allow them to beam down and investigate closer. Due to the sensitive nature of Genesis, Esteban keeps Starfleet in the loop with their every move. However, he reluctantly permits them to beam down and check it out. At Kirk's apartment in San Francisco on Earth, he, Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura toast to "absent friends." Kirk reveals that the Enterprise is to be decommissioned. McCoy is sedated at home, apparently suffering "exhaustion," and promises he will behave himself. A chime at the door is anticipated by Kirk to be Scott, but is instead Sarek, who demands a word alone with him. After Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura leave, Sarek is upset that Kirk did not follow what would have been Spock's final wishes, but Kirk is unaware of any particular request Spock would have made, and had no physical contact with him in the immediate moment of his death. Sarek believed Kirk would hold Spock's katra, his living spirit, but after conducting a mind meld with Kirk, Sarek does not find it – since they were on opposite sides of a wall, Spock would not have been able to meld with him. Sarek dejectedly says that, since the katra was not passed to Kirk, all of Spock is lost forever and silently turns to leave. Before he reaches the door, Kirk asks him to wait, since he knows that, if the katra is as important as Sarek suggests, one way or another, Spock would have found some way to save it. After reviewing flight recorder tapes from the time of Spock's death, they find out that it was Dr. McCoy that received his katra. Although it will be very difficult, Kirk swears to Sarek he will get Spock's body back and return him and Dr. McCoy to Mount Seleya on Vulcan so they can find peace. Back at Genesis, Saavik and David transport down to the surface to conduct a closer examination of the unidentified lifeform. The duo discovers them 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 his burial robe. Before the scientists can speculate further, they are interrupted by what sounds like somebody screaming in the distance, and Saavik and Marcus set off to find the source.
Act Two
Kirk's attempt to get the Enterprise back runs afoul of Admiral Morrow. In a bar at Starfleet Headquarters, despite Kirk's plea, Morrow does not give him back Enterprise, and explicitly orders him not to return to Genesis, warning him, as a friend, to stop obsessing over this or it will ruin his career and he will destroy himself. Considering Morrow's words for just a moment, Kirk tells the admiral that he hears him and says he had to at least try. Kirk thanks Morrow for the drink and gets up to leave. Upon seeing Sulu and Chekov standing near the bar's exit, Kirk tells them, "The word – is "no." I am therefore going anyway." With the help of his loyal crew, Kirk then begins to put his plan into motion. Meanwhile, Dr. McCoy, influenced by the katra, attempts to charter a black market civilian ship to Genesis, independent of his shipmates' efforts. Upon meeting his nameless alien contact, McCoy attempts to negotiate terms of passage without revealing the exact details of his ultimate destination, but the alien presses harder, and as the conversation escalates, McCoy reveals that the destination is the Genesis planet. The alien refuses very loudly, due to the planet's recent forbidden status, but McCoy persists when he is interrupted by Federation Security and arrested. He tries to nerve pinch the security officer, but is unsuccessful. "You're going to have a nice, long rest doctor," the officer says while McCoy raises an eyebrow. Kirk and Sulu are subsequently forced to rescue the doctor. In the process they assault Federation personnel and the trio barely escape from the brig before the security officers arrive. Despite being reassigned to Excelsior, Scott has been secretly making essential repairs to the Enterprise in addition to slaving the ship's controls to the main bridge. The commanding officer of the Excelsior, Captain Lawrence H. Styles, makes an offhanded remark to Scott about looking forward to breaking the speed records of the Enterprise the next day, which doesn't sit well with Scott at all. After asking the Excelsior's turbolift to take him to the transporter room and the computer thanks him, he responds "Up your shaft." Uhura accepts a post as a transporter operator at Old City Station in San Francisco, with the covert task of beaming Kirk and company aboard the Enterprise at the required moment. Kirk and his crew arrive in the transporter station and Uhura locks the junior officer in the closet while she beams the officers to the Enterprise. Before she energizes she tells her friends that she will meet them at rendezvous point and says to Kirk "all my hopes" and the crew are beamed to Enterprise, which is still docked within spacedock. Scott has set up an automation system to allow control of the Enterprise just from the bridge. "A chimpanzee and two trainees could run her," he assures the admiral. Although Kirk cannot ask his friends to go further, and that only he and McCoy must continue, Sulu, Chekov, and Scott hear none of it and insist on joining the flight. Kirk orders one-quarter impulse and the Enterprise begins its departure from spacedock. Unable to stop the Enterprise from opening the massive bay doors in spacedock, the Excelsior is ordered to pursue. Styles sends a message to Kirk threatening him that if he goes through with this he will never sit in a captain's chair again. Kirk considers this for a brief moment but refuses to give up on Spock. "Warp speed," Kirk orders Sulu. The Enterprise engages warp drive. Styles prepares to send the Excelsior into transwarp to intercept the Enterprise as soon as possible. However, due to sabotage carried out on its transwarp computer drive by Scott, the Excelsior's transwarp drive fails to activate and comes to a rough halt as the Enterprise escapes at warp speed. Meanwhile, aboard the Enterprise, Scott hands McCoy a handful of parts from Excelsior's transwarp drive computer as a souvenir "from one surgeon to another." Commenting on the excellent work, Kirk jokes that he will recommend his crew for promotions… "in whatever fleet we end up serving." The Enterprise goes to its best possible speed, bound for Genesis. Unaware of events back in the Sol system, Saavik and Dr. Marcus locate a young Vulcan boy in the snow among large cactus and conclude that it is Spock, somehow regenerated by the same process that created the Genesis planet. Relaying this surprising information to the Grissom, Captain Esteban is reluctant to permit Spock to be beamed aboard the ship immediately, and would prefer to contact Starfleet Command to receive instructions. This turns out to be fortuitous; shortly afterward, Kruge's Bird-of-Prey decloaks. The USS Grissom is unintentionally destroyed by a "lucky shot" from the ship's gunner. Kruge is furious, as he had desired to take the science ship, and its data, intact, and the crew as prisoners. Kruge summarily executes the gunner, vaporizing him with his disruptor. Torg points out to Kruge that there are life signs on the planet and surmises that it is a landing party, which pleases Kruge. Now marooned on the surface and in danger of being captured, Saavik, Marcus, and Spock flee to more defensible ground. The cruise of Enterprise to the Genesis planet goes well. As Kirk asks for a scan ahead for any vessels pursuing the stolen Federation ship, Dr. McCoy, who is at the science station, gives an impression of Spock while reporting that they have not detected any vessels in pursuit of the Enterprise, to Kirk's amusement. Later on, Chekov reports that Starfleet is transmitting a message to Grissom, warning them of the approach of the stolen Enterprise, but that Grissom is not responding. Kirk wonders aloud what Grissom is up to, having not responded to earlier messages, and wonders how the science vessel will respond when Enterprise arrives at Genesis: whether she'll join Enterprise or fire on her. He orders Chekov to break radio silence and send his compliments to Captain Esteban. 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 matrix, 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. After discussing Spock's difficult adolescence that lies ahead of him, David detects life forms approaching their position from his tricorder. Saavik offers to confront them but David instead insists on intercepting them, asking for her phaser. Later, 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 approaches the Genesis planet, they briefly detect a ship, but it vanishes. They scan the planet, looking for life on it, and attempt to hail the Grissom. Meanwhile, as day breaks at their hiding place, Saavik and Spock are captured by the Klingons, as well as a beaten David Marcus. Kruge demands to know the secrets of the Genesis Project, but neither Marcus nor Saavik are forthcoming, and tell Kruge that the project was a failure. 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 the Bird-of-Prey's hull. The advantage proves short-lived however as, after the initial shock of being hit, the Klingons swiftly regain control of their vessel and bear down on the Enterprise. Chekov tries to raise the Enterprise's shields, but finds the system non-responsive, and Scott reports that the automation system is overloading under the strain of the unexpected combat situation. The Bird-of-Prey fires one plasma charge, which strikes the Enterprise near the bridge, causing a series of internal explosions. The crew recovers and Kirk orders emergency power be engaged and to return fire; before Scott can do so though, the helm console sparks and bursts into flames, and Scott grimly informs Kirk that the automation system has been destroyed by the Klingon blast, leaving him having no control over any system, the ship dead in space. "So – we're a sitting duck," Kirk grimly notes. Aboard the Bird-of-Prey, Kruge becomes suspicious that the Enterprise isn't putting up more of a fight, considering it has far heavier armaments than his ship. Kirk then hails the Bird-of-Prey, demanding that the crew surrender within two minutes or face destruction. Kruge determines that Enterprise is less of a threat than Kirk is letting on, and calls Kirk's bluff, ordering him to surrender instead. 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, since the project was a failure. Kruge challenges that by ordering his men on the surface to kill any one of the prisoners. One of the men stalks behind the Grissom prisoners 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 jumps backward and attacks the Klingon. Thoroughly outmatched physically, Marcus is knocked down and stabbed through the heart, while both Spock and Saavik can only watch and do nothing. With the Klingon communicator forced in her face, Saavik simply intones, "Admiral, David is dead." The death of the Completely devastated, Kirk stumbles back, and falls to the deck in front of his chair, cursing the Klingons for the needless death of his only son. Kruge is unmoved however, and threatens to have Saavik and Spock killed if Kirk refuses to surrender. The admiral finally gives in, and Kruge gives Kirk two minutes to prepare to be boarded. After taking a moment to quietly grieve David's death, Kirk consults with Sulu as to the crew numbers of a Bird-of-Prey, realizing that their only chance of survival is to eliminate as many of the Klingons as possible in one go. Kirk orders McCoy and Sulu to go to the transporter room and set beam-down coordinates for the planet below, while he, Scott, and Chekov activate the ship's auto-destruct sequence from the science station. With the sixty-second countdown begun, Kirk, Scott, and Chekov make a hasty departure to the transporter room, and then the five crewmembers leave the Enterprise for the last time. Moments later, the Klingons board the ship and begin stalking their way to the bridge. Torg becomes suspicious while storming through the Enterprise's corridors with his men, finding no crewmembers to confront them. Arriving on the bridge, Torg signals Kruge and informs him the ship is deserted, the only voice coming from the computer as it counts down to zero. Kruge frantically tries to warn his crew to get off the ship; however, it is too late and the auto-destruct detonates: the bridge is engulfed in explosions that instantly kill the Klingon boarding party. As the saucer disintegrates in a series of explosions, a final detonation destroys the primary hull and knocks the lifeless hulk that was once the USS Enterprise out of orbit and into the atmosphere of Genesis. Safe on the planet's surface, Kirk, McCoy, Scott, Sulu, and Chekov watch on a plateau as their starship streaks across the atmosphere, burning up when it contacts the planet's atmosphere. Blinking hard to fight back tears, Kirk asks McCoy for guidance. All McCoy can offer is that Kirk did what he had to do and what he always has done: turn death into a fighting chance to live.
Act Three
Sulu detects lifeforms with his tricorder only a few kilometers away, and more worryingly that the planet's structure is beginning to totally destabilize. In that direction, Spock is going through a series of painful physical changes. He throws one of his two remaining Klingon guards to their death. The Enterprise crew finds them, and Kirk shoots the remaining Klingon. As McCoy examines Spock, who is now physically near his actual age, Kirk tends to David's body, covering him with his jacket. Saavik tells Kirk he gave his life to save her and Spock. McCoy says Spock is rapidly aging, but has no mind; McCoy suspects he possesses all of Spock's mentality. Kirk taunts Kruge, who is mourning his crew, as a way to goad him into beaming them aboard the ship before the planet destroys itself. Kruge himself beams down to the planet instead and holds them all at gunpoint, ordering Maltz to beam up Sulu, Chekov, Scott, McCoy, and Saavik, but leaving Kirk and Spock. Kruge demands Genesis, over Kirk's protests that it is a failure, evidenced by the disintegrating planet they're on. Kruge and Kirk fight; Kruge is prepared to kill himself in the battle. The two eventually end up on a cliff-side overlooking a lava stream, and Kruge nearly falls to his death when part of the cliff breaks off. Kirk offers to save Kruge's life by extending his hand to help, but he tries to drag Kirk into the chasm along with him, and Kirk finally declares that he has had enough of the Klingon and kicks him in the face three times until he falls off the side of the cliff. As he plummets, the Klingon commander disappears in a flash of flame. Kirk retrieves Spock, who is now unconscious, but back to the physical age he was when he died, and tricks Maltz into beaming him on board the Bird-of-Prey by impersonating Kruge. Maltz, the last remaining member of his crew, surrenders, and Kirk gives him the choice of helping the Enterprise crew or dying, and Maltz is content to let the ship be destroyed when the planet below explodes. "Fine, I'll kill you later," Kirk says. Scott, Sulu, and Chekov figure out the Klingon propulsion systems, and they set a course for Vulcan as the Genesis planet finally begins to blow itself apart. Once safely away from the self-destructing planet, Kirk quietly says his farewell to his son. He then orders Chekov to hold Maltz prisoner, but Maltz protests that Kirk stated he would kill him. Kirk intones, "I lied," and stands by his order. In a medical bay aboard the Klingon vessel, McCoy tries to converse with Spock's unconscious body. McCoy tells Spock of the katra that he had put into him in the Enterprise's engine room, asking him to remember that. Still getting no response, McCoy tells his old Vulcan rival that he is going to say something that he never thought he'd hear himself say – he has missed Spock since his death and he doesn't know if he could stand to lose him again. The Bird-of-Prey lands near Mount Seleya, where it is greeted by Sarek and Uhura. After Spock's body is taken up telekinetically to Mount Seleya, followed by Sarek, Kirk and company, 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. T'Lar initiates a mind meld with Spock and McCoy, and begins the ritual to restore Spock's soul. The ceremony proceeds through the long night. As day breaks, T'Lar is escorted away in her sedan as McCoy wearily informs Kirk that's he's all right. When Kirk asks Sarek about Spock, the Vulcan can only reply "Only time will answer." As he begins to thank Kirk for his actions, the admiral cuts in saying that he did what he had to do. Sarek, with a hint of sorrow, asks Kirk if the price he paid with the loss of the Enterprise and his son was worth all of the effort. Kirk replies that if he hadn't tried, he would have paid with his own soul. At first, Spock and two Vulcan priests walk past the Enterprise crew without a glance, but Spock removes his hood, turns back and then regards each of them, trying to remember a fragment of a memory of any of them. As he approaches Kirk, he regards him carefully and states that Sarek has told him that Kirk was his friend, that he came back for him. Kirk replies that Spock would have done the same for him. Spock, puzzled, asks why Kirk would do such a thing. Remembering what Spock had told him as he slowly died in the engine room of the Enterprise about the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few, Kirk turns it back and explains to Spock that in this case, "the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many." In Spock, the memory begins to surface and he echoes back to Kirk "I have been and ever shall be your friend." Kirk, encouraging, tells Spock that he is correct. He also remembers more from his last meeting with Kirk, asking if the Enterprise is out of the danger that Khan had forced them into. Kirk tries to continue to jog Spock's memory by telling him he saved the ship – he saved them all. Spock, considering Kirk, looks at him guardedly: "Jim. Your name… is Jim…" Kirk smiles and says "Yes!" Spock, almost contented with the success, regards Dr. McCoy who taps his finger to his head knowingly and in a moment of overwhelming joy, the rest of the Enterprise crew welcomes Spock back as the sun rises over Vulcan. "…and the Adventure continues…"
"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 ...
"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."
- Kirk's personal log
"Sir? I was wondering… are they planning a ceremony when we get in? I mean a reception?"
"A hero's welcome, son? Is that what you'd like? Well, God knows there should be. This time we paid for the party with our dearest blood."
- Foster and Kirk, on receiving a hero's welcome
"Until the Federation Council makes policy, you are all under orders not to discuss with anyone your knowledge of Genesis. Consider it a quarantined planet and a forbidden subject."
Production
•Harve Bennett's twenty-page outline for this film was entitled Return To Genesis and is dated 16 September 1982. 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. Bennett also said that Paramount green-lighted this film faster than any film he ever worked on, having been told to "Start writing Star Trek III" within days of the release of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. •According to an article on io9.com Harve Bennett's original outline for Star Trek III would have involved Romulans coming to Genesis instead of Klingons and them finding the world very rich in dilithium. The Romulans then begin to mine the planet until the miners begin being killed by a feral Spock, whose aging was still tied to the aging of the planet. At the same time, Vulcan, upon hearing of the Genesis Device, is so horrified to discover that the Federation created such a potential weapon they want to secede from the Federation. This would have sent Kirk to Vulcan, with the crew of the Enterprise, to face the angry Vulcans. In the article, Robert Meyer Burnett argues that this would have been a more serious, "perilous" and above all epic story than the actual produced and released film – and it would have featured a Romulan commander along the lines of the thoughtful antagonist from the original Romulan story, "Balance of Terror". •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. •A copy of Bennett's original storyline was leaked to fans in February 1983, forcing him to rewrite the script, changing many of the film's original details and events. This forced the original release date to change from the Christmas of 1983, when production was delayed until 15 August 1983, partially due to the rewrite. (Starlog #77, December 1983, p. 15) •After filming on Star Trek III began on Monday, 15 August 1983. The opening scene on the Enterprise bridge was the first to be filmed. The last shot was taken at Thursday, 20 October 1983 on the Excelsior bridge. When the film was released, the box office receipts were strong. The film grossed US$16.7 million in its opening weekend, approximately US$2.4 million more than Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan made when it first opened. In the long run, however, Star Trek III grossed a total of US$76.5 million domestically, falling just short of Star Trek II's US$78.9 million gross. •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 his Star Trek Movie Memories, Shatner 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 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) was filmed.
Cast
•Leonard Nimoy originally wanted Edward James Olmos as Kruge, but Paramount Pictures nixed the casting, while Olmos went on to play William Adama in Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica revival in 2003. •This movie marks the first live-action appearance of Ambassador Sarek (Mark Lenard) since his introduction seventeen years earlier in TOS: "Journey to Babel". In the interim, he appeared in TAS: "Yesteryear". •Judi Durand voices her first computer in this movie. She can be heard announcing that the space doors are closed. She went on to play the Cardassian Computer Voice in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Props
•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. •During the scene where Kirk asks Admiral Morrow for permission to return to the Genesis Planet, part of the Epsilon IX station from Star Trek: The Motion Picture can be seen as a wall decoration hanging in the background, and when they reach the turbo shaft, the other half can be seen. •The Klingon d'k tahg is first introduced in this film. •Several costumes, props, and set dressing from this film were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay, including a pair of Vulcan gloves, a lot of Genesis microbes, Scott McGinnis' undershirt, and one of Robin Curtis' costumes.
Credits References
2265; 40 Eridani A; accident; act of war; acting; adrenaline; adventure; agent; aging; animal; area; Altair water; alternative; answer; antimatter inducer; approach control; Arcanis Lager; argument; "at regular intervals"; attack; auto-destruct; automate; automation center; automation system; auto system; bar; bargain; barn door; battle alert; battle damage; battle cruiser; bearing; behavior; blood; blue alert; boarding party; body; "Bones"; Bounty, HMS; brain; breeze; burial robe; "by the book"; captain's chair; captain of engineering; "calling it a night"; career; cell; Celsius; ceremony; chance; chief engineering officer; channel; charter; children; chimpanzee; choice; city; civilization; cloaking device; closet; combat; commander; commendation; communications; compartment; compliments; computer; computer voice; comrade; Constitution II-class; Constitution II-class decks; contamination; countdown; country; course; crew complement; criminal; cylindrical; d'k tahg; damage; danger; darts; data; day; deafness; death; decommission; Deltan; desert; destination order; distortion; docking; docking maneuver; docking procedure; doomsday weapon; door; dozen; drain; duty station; ear; Earth; emergency channel; emergency frequency; emergency power; emergency tube; emissary; emotional problem; emptiness; encoded ID; enemy; energy; energy surge; Enterprise, USS; estimating; ethics; event; evolution; Excelsior-class; Excelsior, USS; execution; exhaustion; expedition; failure; Fal-tor-pan; fantasy; Federation Council; Federation government; Federation Neutral Zone; Federation Security; feet; finger; firing range; flag; fleet; Flight International; flight recorder; foliage; fool; French language; friend; friendship; funny farm; gang; Genesis Device; Genesis effect; Genesis Experiment; Genesis (planet); Genesis matrix; Genesis Planet sun; Genesis sector; Genesis Torpedo; Genesis wave; Genesis worm; "give the word"; God knows"; gravitational field; gravitational support system; "Great Experiment, The"; green; Grissom, USS; gunner; hailing frequency; hand; head; hello; "hind end"; home; honor; hope; hour; house; Human; humor; idea; impatience; impulse power; information; inquiry; inspection; instinct; instruction; intention; James T. Kirk's San Francisco apartment; katra; Keeper; kellicam; kidney; Klingons' Klingon Bird-of-Prey; Klingon Empire; Klingon monster dog; Klingonese; knowledge; Kobayashi Maru; knowledge; Kruge's Bird-of-Prey; land; landing; lava lamp; legend; lexorin; light; life (lifeform); lifelessness; life sign; line; lord; loyalty; luck; machine; main transwarp computer drive; marbles; mass; maximum velocity; medical tricorder; McCoy, David; medic; memory bank; Merchantman; message; metal; meter; microbe; Milky Way Galaxy; mind; mind meld; minute; miracle worker; mission; money; moon; mooring (automatic mooring); Mount Seleya; multiplication; Mutara sector; "my God"; mysticism; NCC-500; NCC-585; NCC-3801; NCC-4000; name; negotiation; newborn; Oberth-class; obsessive behavior; officer; "oh my God"; Old City Station; "on course"; opinion; opponent; orbital shuttle (unnamed); Orbital shuttle 6; Orbital shuttle 7; order; "out of the question"; "out on a limb"; pain; parlor; peace; permission; permit; phaser; phaser bank; photon torpedo; photon tube; poison; place; planet core; plant; platitude; playing; plumbing; policy; pon farr; pre-approach scan; price; priority one; prisoner; problem; progress report; Project Genesis; promotion; protomatter; prototype; quarantine; quarters; radiation; radio silence; range; rationality; reality; reception; recorder; red alert; refit; refit time; regeneration; rendezvous; repair estimate; reply; report; reputation; research; retrothrusters; revenge; risk; "Roger"; room; rule; sabotage; sacrifice; science officer; science station; science team; science vessel; scientist; scout class; Scott's grandmother; screen; search; "second wind"; secret; Sector 1; Sector 2; Sector 3; security access; sense of humor; "set sail"; shaft; shield; ship for hire; shock; short range scan; side elevator; signal; "sitting duck"; "son of a bitch"; Spacedock One; spacedock ship; spirit; ship's surgeon; shore leave; Skon; snow; soft landing; Solkar; soul; souvenir; space; space body; Spacedock One; space door; spaceflight; space veteran; speed; speed record; staff meeting; Starfleet; Starfleet Command; Starfleet Commander; Starfleet regulations; step; standard orbit; standard orbital approach; "stand by"; stranger; stealing; subject; subspace coded channel 98.8; sunrise; surface; surgeon; surprise; surrender; survivor; sympathy; temperature; terminium; terrain; "the promised land"; thought; thousand; thruster; time; toast; torpedo casing; town; tractor beam; trainee; trainee crew; tranquilizer; transmission; transporter; transporter beam; transporter room; transwarp drive; treaty; trial run; tricorder; trick; travel pod 05; truce; truth; type 2 phaser; umbilical support system; Unit 1; Unit 2; vegetation; victim; violation; voice; Vulcans; Vulcan (planet); Vulcan gong; Vulcan language; Vulcan nerve pinch; Vulcan salute; wagon; "wait a minute"; walk; warp drive; warp speed; "what the hell"; weakling; weapon; weapon system; weather; week; wheel; wisdom; wish; word; world (planet); wound; year; yellow alert
External links
•Star Trek III: The Search for Spock at StarTrek.com •Star Trek III: The Search for Spock at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works •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 •Star Trek III: The Search for Spock script at Star Trek Minutiae •"Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" at MissionLogPodcast.com, a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
A comprehensive article about the 1984 Star Trek film, directed by Leonard Nimoy and starring William Shatner. Learn about the plot, production, cast, props, sets, trivia, reception, and more.
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In the wake of Spock's ultimate deed of sacrifice, Admiral Kirk and the Enterprise crew return to Earth for some essential repairs to their ship. When they arrive at Spacedock, they are shocked to discover that the Enterprise is to be decommissioned.
Jun 1, 2019 · Learn 12 little known facts about the classic Star Trek film that opened on June 1, 1984. Find out how Nimoy directed, cast, and wrote the story of Spock's return and the Genesis planet.
Adm. James T. Kirk (William Shatner) has defeated his archenemy but at great cost. His friend Spock has apparently been killed, the USS Enterprise is being scrapped, and starship physician Dr ...
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- Sci-Fi
- PG
Find out the plot, cast, and crew of the 1984 sci-fi adventure film Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Watch the trailer, read user reviews, and join the TMDB community.
