181 - STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK

The Bloody Pit

Mark Maddox returns for a discussion of the third Star Trek film – THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK! The odd number films are generally derided but both of us feel the positives outweigh the negatives in this one. Of course, we pick at every nit we can spot but we do also praise the film for the elements that stand tall and resurrect the dead!

We dig into the genesis (he he) of the story with Leonard Nimoy’s desire to step into the director’s chair leading to several interesting choices. We discuss what it means to be the middle chapter of a trilogy with Mark claiming that The Undiscovered Country is part of the story as well. I bring in details and story additions from the excellent novelization of the film by Vonda McIntire that enhance the story and the secondary characters. The casting of the Klingons is a point of contention with Doc Brown as an alien bad guy becoming an amusing cinema crossover I had not considered before. We lament the stage bound nature of the Genesis planet segments and agree that some location filming would have improved things overall. The special effects get some attention with the destruction of the Enterprise being singled out for praise and we also express our pleasure at having another performance from Mark Leonard as Sarek. This is turning into a fun revisit to this series of movies!

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