mike48128 One of the better written and directed Star Trek (early) movies. The actors (especially "Scotty and Bones") look quite long-in-the-tooth. So many full head wigs, probably sold at a "fire sale" to Pat Sajak of Wheel Of Fortune. Just a comment about Vulcan men in "season". There must be more to it than the intense rubbing of fingertips. The ILM models are good but some of the scenes look over-processed and a bit fake. Christopher Lloyd makes a pretty good "Klingon" and his snarly alligator-dog is a hoot! The new "Vulcans" prove that it's all in the ear make-up as female "Saavik" can truly be played by anyone, so it appears. A rather fast-moving story with pretty good scenery and somewhat convincing set decoration. The "puppet worms" on the planet look truly disgusting. The Genesis Planet doesn't look quite as hokey as most Star Trek "worlds" do. I expected Kirk's son would die as both the other hostages were needed for the movie to continue. Star Trek (usually) only kills off extraneous female aliens. As usual, typically over-tight costumes on female personnel. Saavik was needed to help transport young Spock's "body shell" home to Vulcan. A good satisfying film although quite a predictable ending. A nice Star Trek adventure from beginning to end.

Tweekums Following on from the events of 'The Wrath of Khan' the crew of the Enterprise have returned to Space Dock and it looks as if they will be going their separate ways; Scotty has been transferred to a new ship, the Enterprise is due to be decommissioned and Dr McCoy is behaving strangely. It turns out that before Spock died he mind-melded with McCoy and now his consciousness is in McCoy's mind. Spock's father tells Kirk that he must get both McCoy and Spock's body back to Vulcan.There is a major problem though; Spock's body is on Genesis and the only ship allowed near there is the research vessel monitoring the planet. Kirk, along with McCoy, Scotty, Sulu and Chekov steal the Enterprise and head to Genesis. While this is going on a Klingon commander has learnt of Genesis and heads there hoping to get the data on the project which he believes could be used as the ultimate weapon. By the time the Enterprise arrives at Genesis the Klingon's have destroyed the research ship and captured three people on the surface; Saavik, Kirk's son David and a young Spock! Kirk and his crew will have to think fast if they are to rescue Spock; not only are the Klingons threatening to destroy the Enterprise but Spock is aging at a rapid pace just as the Genesis planet is undergoing rapid evolution and becoming unstable.After the really impressive 'Wrath of Khan' this might seem a bit disappointing but it still has some fine moments. The Klingons can usually be relied on to be good villains and the fact their leader, Kruge, is played by Christopher Lloyd is just a bonus. The death of Spock was one of Star Trek's most moving moments but it isn't a huge surprise that this iconic character would ultimately return. The story is solid enough and includes a real surprise when Kirk must make a sacrifice if he is to save his crew. The special effects are a bit mixed at times they look really great but at others it is almost as if the makers wanting to hint at the look of the old TV series! The ending leaves a few questions unanswered which sets things up somewhat for the opening of the next film, 'The Voyage Home'. Overall I'd say that this film was better than I remembered and fans of classic 'Star Trek' should enjoy it.

zkonedog During the three-season run of Star Trek: The Original Series, First Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) became one of the most intriguing characters on television. Viewers embraced the Vulcan's logical mind and Spock become the perfect antithesis to the emotionally-charged Captain Kirk (William Shatner). After almost two decades of being associated exclusively with the Spock character, Nimoy decided he wanted a break to try to avoid being typecast, hence Spock's emotional death scene at the end of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Nimoy's "I Am Not Spock" days ended quite quickly, however, when he realized that either the typecasting had already occurred, or he missed reprising his most famous character.As a result (and partially because the Star Trek writers had left an opening for Nimoy/Spock to return), the quest to re-integrate Spock into the Star Trek cannon comprises most of Star Trek II: The Search For Spock. Though the entire film is not as scriptually solid as the "Khan" effort (as Kirk's "family feud" with the Klingons is not fully resolved until later in the movie series), it makes up for it with the emotional punch of Spock's journey back to reality. The final scene, revolving around the tense and delicate Vulcan ritual that must be undertaken to revive Spock, will have emotional fans reaching for the tissue box. The final words will have you weeping (whether from joy or sadness I will not disclose).The major problem with this film is that it almost seems to be "too soon" after "Wrath of Khan" (perhaps this problem was a bit remedied by original theater viewings). I watched them practically back to back, and it just seemed like there should have been some other story in between parts II & III. A way for the crew to truly mourn Spock before he (quickly) returns.Overall, the third installment in the Star Trek movie cannon is an emotional journey that, while perhaps lacking an air-tight script, is still a watchable movie due to the emotional struggle of favorite character Spock and those around him. 3.5 stars would be my exact rating. If you just finished the "Khan" movie, you will receive the emotional "finale" of that storyline in this film. The ending will also leave you wondering how the U.S.S. Enterprise crew will ever be able to "seek out new life and new civilizations" again.

Jonathan Fisk It feels a little strange to say, but this film may be worse than the first Star Trek movie. At least the first film was creative and slightly intriguing, even if it did not translate to the big screen. But The Search for Spock contained little mystery, a prolonged and obvious outcome, and continued the same flawed subplot (and basically the only negative aspect of) The Wrath of Khan, that being the Genesis Project. This unlikely Federation project was at least a bit on the afterburner in the previous film, compared to Khan's quest for vengeance against Kirk. Now it's the main story as it gives Spock his rebirth, but this time there is hardly any thought to the moral dilemma of the project.There are some positives in this film; I don't think it is a disaster. It was nice to see the rest of the crew given a little more of the spotlight, such as Uhura putting the young Federation member in his place (then she disappearing for basically the rest of the film…) and Sulu taking out the Federation MP's (his hand-to-hand combat is much more believable than Kirk's; more on that in a bit). Also, while it is a little strange to see Christopher Lloyd as a Klingon, he made the character sinister and interesting.But my main criticism with Search for Spock is that we always know Spock will return, and the child version of the character is found early on. The film could have been so much better if the Spock regeneration was settled during the first or second act, then we can move on to a new Star Trek adventure with the crew back together. There is a sense with this film, especially since it was directed by Leonard Nimoy himself, that Kirk got his movie with Wrath of Khan, now let's explore more about Spock's nature throughout this entire film. But it all just comes across as a lackluster, immediate follow-up to the previous installment. With Wrath of Khan, it felt like a reboot to the franchise, not a sequel. But this film exemplified exactly what most of us don't like about sequels: trying to wrap- up loose ends from the last film and taking it up a notch from there, but failing.Final thoughts: Please, no more hand-to-hand combat from Kirk, it doesn't work anymore. The character plays so much better as a captain outwitting the enemy, as he does with the destruction of the Enterprise. And are you serious with that Ponfar scene? I know Kirstie Alley said she didn't want to be typecast, so she chose not to continue her role as Saavik, but I have to think that this scene with post-adolescent Spock had to really push her over the edge. Plus, do we really think that these characters who are pushing 50 could walk up all of those steps on Vulcan carrying a comatose Spock? Scotty must have been freaking out. And what is Bones regular "poison"? Gotta be Romulan ale.*My film rating follows the soccer player rating measure of 6 as a baseline: you did what was expected of you. This film is a 4 because it fails to intrigue and shows essentially nothing new. It is simply a sequel trying to continue the excitement of its predecessor, but utterly failing.