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IMDbPro

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

  • 1984
  • PG
  • 1h 45m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
83K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,073
1,294
Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, Merritt Butrick, and Robin Curtis in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
Watch Trailer
Play trailer1:14
3 Videos
99+ Photos
ActionAdventureSci-Fi

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.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.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.

  • Director
    • Leonard Nimoy
  • Writers
    • Gene Roddenberry
    • Harve Bennett
  • Stars
    • William Shatner
    • Leonard Nimoy
    • DeForest Kelley
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.6/10
    83K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    3,073
    1,294
    • Director
      • Leonard Nimoy
    • Writers
      • Gene Roddenberry
      • Harve Bennett
    • Stars
      • William Shatner
      • Leonard Nimoy
      • DeForest Kelley
    • 257User reviews
    • 100Critic reviews
    • 56Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 7 nominations

    Videos3

    Trailer
    Trailer 1:14
    Watch Trailer
    Star Trek III: The Search For Spock: May the Wind Be on Our Backs
    Clip 1:30
    Watch Star Trek III: The Search For Spock: May the Wind Be on Our Backs
    Halloween Costume Creations
    Video 1:50
    Watch Halloween Costume Creations

    Photos264

    Walter Koenig, William Shatner, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, and George Takei in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
    Leonard Nimoy in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
    William Shatner in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
    William Shatner, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, and George Takei in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
    Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, Merritt Butrick, and Robin Curtis in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
    Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, Merritt Butrick, and Robin Curtis in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
    Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
    Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
    Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
    Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
    Christopher Lloyd in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
    Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

    Top cast

    Edit
    William Shatner
    William Shatner
    • Kirk
    Leonard Nimoy
    Leonard Nimoy
    • Spock
    • (as Frank Force)
    • …
    DeForest Kelley
    DeForest Kelley
    • McCoy
    James Doohan
    James Doohan
    • Scotty
    Walter Koenig
    Walter Koenig
    • Chekov
    George Takei
    George Takei
    • Sulu
    Nichelle Nichols
    Nichelle Nichols
    • Uhura
    Robin Curtis
    Robin Curtis
    • Saavik
    Merritt Butrick
    Merritt Butrick
    • David
    Phil Morris
    Phil Morris
    • Trainee Foster
    Scott McGinnis
    Scott McGinnis
    • 'Mr. Adventure'
    Robert Hooks
    Robert Hooks
    • Admiral Morrow
    Carl Steven
    Carl Steven
    • Spock...Age 9
    Vadia Potenza
    • Spock...Age 13
    Stephen Manley
    Stephen Manley
    • Spock...Age 17
    Joe W. Davis
    • Spock...Age 25
    Paul Sorensen
    • Captain
    Cathie Shirriff
    Cathie Shirriff
    • Valkris
    • Director
      • Leonard Nimoy
    • Writers
      • Gene Roddenberry
      • Harve Bennett
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      In the opening credits, there is an extra long pause between William Shatner and DeForest Kelley's names, where Leonard Nimoy's name would normally be.
    • Goofs
      When Kirk checks the video logs to find the keeper of Spock's katra, the timestamp reveals that Spock melded with McCoy on stardate 8128.78. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) begins on stardate 8130.3.
    • Quotes

      [Witnessing the destruction of the Enterprise]

      Kirk: My God, Bones... what have I done?

      McCoy: What you had to do, what you always do. Turn death into a fighting chance to live.

    • Crazy credits
      Leonard Nimoy is credited as director in the opening credits, but is not included in the cast list. There is a long gap between the names of William Shatner and DeForest Kelley, which lasts for the length of time Nimoy's name would have been displayed.
    • Alternate versions
      Some network broadcasts are noticeably truncated. In particular, the scene where Kruge destroys the female mercenary for looking at the Genesis information is deleted. The scene ends instead with the two characters expressing love for each other. The scene where McCoy refers to "that green-blooded son-of-a-bitch" is also censored.
    • Connections
      Edited from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
    • Soundtracks
      Theme From Star Trek (TV Series)
      by Alexander Courage

    User reviews257

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Winning space saga
    My review was written in Mary 1984 after watching the film at a Columbus Circle screening room.

    "Star Trek III -The Search for Spock" is an emotionally satisfying science fiction adventure. Dovetailing neatly with the previous entry in the popular series ("Star Trek II -The Wrath of Khan"), the Harve Bennett production (he also scripted) is helmed with a sure hand by debuting feature director Leonard Nimoy, who also appears briefly but to good effect as the indestructible half-human/half-Vulcan Spock.

    Relying upon clues (as revealed in flashbacks) cleverly planted in "Star Trek II", film centers upon a quest to seemingly bring Spock, the noble science office and commander who selflessly gave his life to save "the many", back to life. Pic opens in a melancholy mood as the U. S. S. Enterprise limps home in damaged state. It is to be scuttled, as announced by Commander Morrow (Robert Hooks), and only the ship's engineer Scotty (James Doohan) has been reassigned to a flashy new ship The Excelsior.

    Spock's friend, Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) is visited by Spock's Vulcan father (Mark Lenard, reprising a guest star role he played in the tv series), who informs him that Spock's living spirit may still me alive via a mindmeld with one of Kirk's crew and must be taken to the planet Vulcan to be preserved.

    Kirk discovers who the "possessed" crew member is, and with his other shipmates, steals the Enterprise out of its dock and sets off for Vulcan. Crossed with this mission is footage of Kirk's scientist son (Merrick Butrick) and Vulcan science officer Lt. Saavik exploring the unstable Genesis planet where they find a young but rapidly aging Vulcan boy who appears to be a life-form regenerated from Spock's corpse, which had been left on Genesis.

    The enemy are the Klingons, represented by one Commander Kruge (Christopher Lloyd) who defies an impending space treaty between the Klingon Empire and the Federation and attacks Saavik's ship, the U. S. S. Grissom (named for the late astronaut). Kruge attempts to steal the secret of the Genesis effect (life from lifelessness) but is outwitted by Kirk, who successfully arrives on Vulcan with Spock's regenerated body. In a ritualistic ceremony presided over by a high priestess (Dame Judith Anderson), Spock is reintegrated, spirit and flesh, and regains his memories with the help of his human friends in a moving conclusion, that promises not only a soon-to-come "Star Trek IV", but the prospect of the Nimoy as Spock character back in a starring role.

    Bennett's script carefully captures the spirit of the Gene Roddenberry-created tv series, even providing satisfying (though brief) scenes spotlighting each member of the crew, including communications officer Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), who gets to state (and demonstrate) that "this isn't reality -this is fantasy".

    Countering ongoing trends in science fiction and youth-oriented films, Nimoy's direction is people-intensive, with less of the zap and effects diversions of competing films. However, George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic, under Ken Ralston's supervision, has delivered arresting miniature work and animation which, especially in the sequences of the Enterprise docking and departing, impart a sense of realistically vast scale (not looking like tiny models). The point is that the performances, well-delivered by an ensemble rather than star cast.

    James Horner elaborates effectively on his score from "Star Trek II", and his orchestral work (even including theremin-like effects) combines with Dame Judith Anderson's mystical three-word incantation (when bringing Spock back to life) to conjure up pleasant memories of Robert Wise's classic "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and thereby link "Star Trek III" to science fiction tradition. Wise directed the first "Trek" feature but is no longer involved in the series.

    "Trek III" will definitely satisfy the fans of the Paramount tv series and along with "Rocky III" demonstrates the effectiveness in a feature film series (unlike the Bond pictures and "Indiana Jones") of preserving a continuity in characters and stories from one adventure to the next.
    helpful•3
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    • lor_
    • Feb 8, 2023

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    FAQ19

    • If Genesis resurrected Spock, why couldn't it do the same for David?
    • Why was the captain of the Grissom so shocked, and for that matter, the crew of the Enterprise surprised when the Klingon Bird Of Prey decloaked? They knew about cloaking technology. They learned about it in The Enterprise Incident (#3.2) on the original series
    • Why does Star Trek III look cheaper than Wrath of Khan yet cost more?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 1, 1984 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • StarTrek.com (United States)
    • Languages
      • English
      • Klingon
      • Russian
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Star Trek III: In Search of Spock
    • Filming locations
      • Occidental College - 1600 Campus Road, Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, California, USA(near the end, stairs and fountain on planet Vulcan)
    • Production companies
      • Paramount Pictures
      • Cinema Group Ventures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $17,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $76,471,046
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $16,673,295
      • Jun 3, 1984
    • Gross worldwide
      • $76,471,046
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 45 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Surround 7.1
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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    Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, Merritt Butrick, and Robin Curtis in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
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