A review by Brooks Rich
Leonard Nimoy did not want to come back to the series after Spock died in The Wrath of Khan. Spoiler. So they let him direct the follow up film to Wrath of Khan, which is the film we're talking about today, and the film after that, The Voyage Home. Yeah the one with the whales. Nimoy is a very good director because this film is fantastic. Not as good as The Wrath of Khan but still a very good film.
The Enterprise has returned after their run-in with Khan. Kirk is still grieving the death of Spock and finds the Enterprise is being decommissioned, considered a relic of the past now. However Spock's father Sarek arrives and informs Kirk that Spock has transferred his spirit to Dr. McCoy, who has been acting strangely. On the Genesis Planet the Device has brought Spock back to life and he is rapidly aging from an infant to a full grown man. His mind and body must be brought together so Kirk and his crew steal the Enterprise and head for the Genesis Planet. Waiting for them is Kruge, the hostile leader of a Klingon Bird of Prey who is interested in the Genesis Device.
This might seem obvious but the star of this film is William Shatner. He is so good as Kirk in this one. He really shows Kirk to be a great leader and kind of a badass. Shatner would get a little full of himself down the line, good God just wait till he directed one of the films, but in this film he really shows the leadership and courage we expect from Kirk. I was most taken by that when I rewatched this for the blog. I forget how good Shatner can be as Kirk. There's a reason this character is considered a legend in television history. A lot of that is due to Shatner's performance.
It's hard to have a good villain after the brilliance of Ricardo Montalban in The Wrath of Khan. That's always the problem with the sequel of a film that has a memorable villain. Christopher Lloyd does a great job as the villainous Kruge. His goal is similar to Khan's, he wants the Genesis Device, but he doesn't have that vendetta against Kirk. Instead he has the warlike behavior that came whenever the Klingons were villains. The makeup effect is great on the Klingons in this. They maybe never looked better than they do here. In the following series they looked a little too much like eighties hair metal bands. Poison opening on a Klingon Bird of Prey.
In the film Kruge calls out the Federation for creating such a powerful weapon. He argues it's a breach of the treaty the Klingons have with the Federation. He has a point. The power to create life like that might not be something a single government should have. One of the interesting points in The Search for Spock is the Genesis Device is a failure. One of the scientists on the project cut corners and so therefore the Genesis Device is unstable and anything created by is destroyed in a few hours.
I really like this film. It's a great action film and has one of the most shocking moments of the film series. I won't spoil it here. Kirk is still a badass even when he does that. This film has the misfortune of following up one of the greatest science fiction adventure films of all time. This is a really good movie and one I think gets unfairly maligned. Out of all the odd numbered Star Trek films, it's the best one.
Rating: 4/5
Leonard Nimoy did not want to come back to the series after Spock died in The Wrath of Khan. Spoiler. So they let him direct the follow up film to Wrath of Khan, which is the film we're talking about today, and the film after that, The Voyage Home. Yeah the one with the whales. Nimoy is a very good director because this film is fantastic. Not as good as The Wrath of Khan but still a very good film.
The Enterprise has returned after their run-in with Khan. Kirk is still grieving the death of Spock and finds the Enterprise is being decommissioned, considered a relic of the past now. However Spock's father Sarek arrives and informs Kirk that Spock has transferred his spirit to Dr. McCoy, who has been acting strangely. On the Genesis Planet the Device has brought Spock back to life and he is rapidly aging from an infant to a full grown man. His mind and body must be brought together so Kirk and his crew steal the Enterprise and head for the Genesis Planet. Waiting for them is Kruge, the hostile leader of a Klingon Bird of Prey who is interested in the Genesis Device.
This might seem obvious but the star of this film is William Shatner. He is so good as Kirk in this one. He really shows Kirk to be a great leader and kind of a badass. Shatner would get a little full of himself down the line, good God just wait till he directed one of the films, but in this film he really shows the leadership and courage we expect from Kirk. I was most taken by that when I rewatched this for the blog. I forget how good Shatner can be as Kirk. There's a reason this character is considered a legend in television history. A lot of that is due to Shatner's performance.
It's hard to have a good villain after the brilliance of Ricardo Montalban in The Wrath of Khan. That's always the problem with the sequel of a film that has a memorable villain. Christopher Lloyd does a great job as the villainous Kruge. His goal is similar to Khan's, he wants the Genesis Device, but he doesn't have that vendetta against Kirk. Instead he has the warlike behavior that came whenever the Klingons were villains. The makeup effect is great on the Klingons in this. They maybe never looked better than they do here. In the following series they looked a little too much like eighties hair metal bands. Poison opening on a Klingon Bird of Prey.
In the film Kruge calls out the Federation for creating such a powerful weapon. He argues it's a breach of the treaty the Klingons have with the Federation. He has a point. The power to create life like that might not be something a single government should have. One of the interesting points in The Search for Spock is the Genesis Device is a failure. One of the scientists on the project cut corners and so therefore the Genesis Device is unstable and anything created by is destroyed in a few hours.
I really like this film. It's a great action film and has one of the most shocking moments of the film series. I won't spoil it here. Kirk is still a badass even when he does that. This film has the misfortune of following up one of the greatest science fiction adventure films of all time. This is a really good movie and one I think gets unfairly maligned. Out of all the odd numbered Star Trek films, it's the best one.
Rating: 4/5
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