With the kinks worked out from the previous exposition and time travel-heavy Kirk/Spock origin story, and by staying close to the spirit of Wrath of Khan, the most action-oriented entry of the Star Trek episodes, the result is a more focused and thus clearer action sci-fi picture aimed at moderate Trek enthusiasts and summer blockbuster audiences.
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) dir. Leonard Nimoy Starring: William Shatner, Christopher Lloyd, DeForest Kelly, Robin Curtis
**1/2
It didn’t take long for the Star Trek producer Harve Bennett to figure out how to continue on the adventure of the immensely successful 'Wrath of Khan'. Without the talents and instincts of Nicholas Meyer at the helm, it’s a technically proficient affair but less passionate and ultimately a softened version of the previous film.
When we last left the crew of the Enterprise, Kirk outsmarted his nemesis Khan, destroying him and his mutinous crew and launching the Genesis device thus creating the first artificial ‘Genesis Planet’, but not before Spock saved the day and sacrificed himself for his colleagues. At the beginning of SFS those warmongering Klingons have also caught on to the presence and power of Genesis and seek to harness its power for evil. On the flight home Bones starts exhibiting strange behaviour and speaking like Spock. In fact, it’s Spock soul which he had downloaded to Bones via a mind meld. And when signs of human life emerge on the new Genesis planet, it’s apparent Spock is alive and needs to join up with Bones to complete his reincarnation. Kirk and a the essential Trek crew hijack the enterprise while docked at Earth and go back to the Genesis Planet to find Spock.
Kirstie Alley’s Lt. Saavik character is recast with newbie Robin Curtis. Though less striking in pointy ears than a young Alley, Curtis delivers a fine performance in one of the key roles in the film. Saavik’s matronly nurturing of Spock provides some of the most tender moments in the series, not excluding the Trekkie wet dream version of the Vulcan lovemaking ritual.
Unfortunately Christopher Lloyd doesn’t stand up to the intensity of Ricardo Montalban’s passionate performance as Khan. It’s the first Klingon baddie on the big screen, and admittedly it was difficult to look past Lloyd’s comic persona to find the fear in his character.
The Blu-Ray’s featurette is a treasure of the intra-cast conflict of egos. Leonard Nimoy’s promotion to director seems to be a sore spot in William Shatner. A palpable bit of jealousy emerges as he freely describes Nimoy’s popularity among the Paramount brass after his performance in Wrath of Khan. He even is bold enough to suggest that because he got Nimoy a directing gig on his show, “TJ Hooker”, and there actually taught him how to direct.
Of course, a fourth Star Trek meant an even longer voyage for the crew. “The Voyage Home” which completes what’s been billed as the “Original Motion Picture Trilogy”. The journey through time back to 1987 to bring back an extinct humpback whale to the future works like that famous ‘Trouble with Tribbles’ Original Series episode – a blatant comedy episode, with little redeeming franchise gravitas.
“The Search for Spock” sits right in the middle of these two pictures, film which unfortunately charts the downfall of the movie version of the franchise, that is, until the JJ Abrams resurrection. Enjoy.
“Star Trek: The Original Motion Picture Trilogy” is available on Blu-Ray from Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment
Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan (1982) dir. Nicholas Meyer Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Ricardo Montalban, Merrit Buttrick
***1/2
Arguably, prior to the new JJ Abrams Trek, WOK was one of the few genuinely decent Trek flicks (I’d also add “First Contact”). Bringing back one of the great baddies from the Original Series, Khan Noonien Singh, gave the franchise the shot of nasty adrenaline missing from “Star Trek: The Motion Picture”. TMP was an interesting experiment in reviving an old property. You have to remember, before Trek, there was no precedent for bringing a old TV series to the big screen. The first movie was like the creative team learning to walk again, it was so consumed with awe-inspiring spectacle, it took the second film to get to the action the series deserved.
Nicholas Meyer, then a newbie to directing, but renowned writer ("The Seven Percent Solution") directs the film with the inspiration of a sea-faring adventure, a dogfight between two ship captains on the high seas, or two u-boat commanders engaged in an intergalactic chess match.
To open the film we see the Enterprise crew minus Capt Kirk, engaged in a battle with a Klingon warship. A Vulcan beauty Lt. Saavik (Kirstie Alley) commands the vessel to its destruction, after which we learn its just a training exercise - the famous Kobayaski Maru test, which will be featured in the new Trek. It turns out Kirk has been promoted to Admiral – a desk job really, far from the gritty action he’s used to. While supervising Saavik’s training Kirk and the real crew are called in to investigate a highjacking deep in space.
Meanwhile Chekov and his new ship the Reliant have been taken over by one of Kirk’s old nemeses from The Original Series, Khan (Ricardo Montalban), the 20th Century prisoner exiled by Kirk on the TOS episode “Space Seed”. Khan is hungry for revenge (a dish best served cold) and power and he serendipitously finds it in the form of the new planet-making device Project Genesis. It will take all of Kirk’s instincts and cunning to defeat the intellectually superior Khan, but when he finds the situation un-winnable, it's Spock who will make the grand sacrifice for his old friend.
The introduction of Khan is a brilliant build-up of suspense - the desolate and decrepit planet leading to Chekov’s discovery of Khan’s belt buckle which reads ‘Botany Bay’ is a great nod to the Treksters who would have remembered the name of Khan’s original ship. And those disgusting beast creatures which are placed in Chekov’s ear gave me nightmares as a kid for weeks.
Ricardo Montalban, who then was known by most as Mr. Roarke on “Fantasy Island”, plays heavily against type. And he manages to convert his soothing Mexican voice into that of a menacing maniacal psychopath. He’s by far the best villain the franchise has ever had.
James Horner's grand music is masterful. Perhaps the string and horn arrangements steal some from John Williams, but arguably it even soars higher than Jerry Goldsmith's great score from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". It thus became a rare occurrence to have two equally great music scores produced for one franchise. For music score fans, the special features of the new Blu-Ray disc has a fine featurette with Horner deconstructing his score and his motivations for many of the key scenes.
WOK was the first in an unplanned trilogy which links directly to "The Search For Spock" and "The Voyage Home". Unfortunately the other two films didn't achieve the dramatic heights of "Wrath of Khan", and even counting the new flick, I'd say WOK is still top of the Star Trek heap. Enjoy.
"Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan" is packaged in the new Blu-Ray version from Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment called "Star Trek: The Original Motion Picture Trilogy", also containing the aforementioned sequels.'
Star Trek (2009) dir. J.J. Abrams Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Bruce Greenwood, Eric Bana
***
Who would ever have thought a recast Spock, Kirk, Bones, Uruha, Scotty, Sulu and Chekov could have been made into a rebooted franchise? J.J. Abrams strikes gold again adequately updating the 40 year old franchise with maximum coolness. We’ve never seen a Star Trek movie or TNG episode move this kind of pace. From the opening shot, it’s off to the races, with little breathing room to stop and think about an often unfocused and meandering plot.
Flashing back we get to see the origins and formation of the most famous starfleet crew. We get to see Kirk (Chris Pine) birthed as his ship captain father heroically saves his pregnant mother. We see Kirk become a badass rebel getting into fights and skirting the law in typical rebellious fashion - a woeful underachiever destined for greatness. We see the childhood trauma Spock's (Zachary Quinto) half human ancestry and his cross-cultural identity problems cause him in his youth. While in starfleed academy the elder mentor Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) recognizes the leadership talent of Kirk and encourages his development despite objections from his peers, including Mr. Spock.
When Spock's planet of Vulcan is threatened by a rogue Romulan assailant, the Enterprise crew including, Bones, Sulu, Uruha, et al captained by Pike embark on their first mission together. The bland and underdeveloped Romulan baddie Capt Nero (Eric Bana) has set a trap for the crew, a plan of action to hunt down and kill none other than Mr. Spock - a mission of revenge which will involve a number of trips through time and space.
“Star Trek” unfortunately isn't elevated to the upper tier of say, "Iron Man" or "The Dark Knight", but its a fine example of that same character-based blockbuster entertainment. Visually, it’s like Star Trek on steroids, Abrams’ desire to make it ‘not your father’s Star Trek’, has meant, at times, an incomprehensible mash of shakey picture, tight angled close-ups and a hyperkinetic camera movements, reminding us of those early Michael Bay pictures.
Abrams has enough cinematic chutzpah to hurdle his often atrociously written screenplay by Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman. Seriously, how do these guys keep getting work? Carefully looking at the individual scenes , at times the writing is even more amateurish than "Transformers". It's an unnecessarily overtooled narrative. Just as we're trying to re-ingratiate ourselves with these old characters Abrams unnecessarily sends us through black holes, warping us through time. Sure it allows us to see Mr. Nimoy again, but really, save that stuff for the second or third sequels. At one point the writing duo throws us into an elaborate scene of shameless exposition as the Leonard Nimoy Spock plainly describes to Kirk why the hell he's in the movie. And a number of scenes which seems ripe for the cutting room floor seem to have no point whatsoever - namely the Iowa car chase we've seen in the trailer and a Star Wars-like monster attack in the snow. Both are headscratchers and serve no plot purpose whatsoever.
Thankfully it’s not complicated enough to require acute attention to the character movements. The actors playing the roles are red hot and buff and look and sound like a Laguna Beach version of “Star Trek”. Nichelle Nichols was never that hot as Uruha, James Doohan never that clever or funny as Scotty, and even Chris Pine, exaggerates the affability, brawniness, cockiness and horniness of William Shatner's Kirk. There’s no doubt the film is Spock’s picture though. Zachary Quinto, looking identical to a young Leonard Nimoy, brings as much of the logically cold demeanor as Nimoy ever did along with a competing humanism which causes him his inner conflict. He is the heart and soul of the film.
Abrams gets the Trek lore right. Trekkies will love the linkages with both the original series and the movies. Elements of “The Wrath of Khan” provides fun linkups, including the Kobayshi Maru test and Kirk’s personal character flaws which allow him to rise quickly to captain of the enterprise. Watch carefully how the Capt Pike character is played out. Hardcore Trekkies should beam with delight the obscure link up to the great Season 1 episode, “The Menagerie”.
Star Trek succeeds as blockbuster, delivering the spectacle, humour and energy required distract us for two hours and maintaining the integrity of the franchise. Enjoy.
