SAD NEWS: Popular Star Trek Director ‘Jeffrey Jacob Abrams’ Dies At 58
Leonard Nimoy Directed Star Trek’s Most Underrated Movie
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, the first feature film directed by Leonard Nimoy, is Star Trek‘s most underrated movie. Released on June 1, 1984, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock celebrates its 40th anniversary. Written by Star Trek producer Harve Bennett, Star Trek III is a direct sequel to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, directed by Nicholas Meyer. Star Trek III is also the middle act in what has unofficially been dubbed ‘The Genesis Trilogy,’ which is completed by Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, also directed by Leonard Nimoy.
In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the crew of the USS Enterprise put their Starfleet careers on the line to rescue Spock (Leonard Nimoy), who was resurrected by the live-giving energies of the Genesis Planet. Kirk was charged by Spock’s father, Ambassador Sarek (Mark Lenard), with reuniting Spock with his katra, or soul, on Vulcan. However, Klingons led by Kruge (Christopher Lloyd) want the power of Genesis for themselves, culminating in a confrontation on the doomed Genesis Planet. But, in the end, Spock is indeed reunited with Kirk and his friends.
Star Trek III Is Sandwiched Between 2 Great TOS Movies
Leonard Nimoy’s movie is a Star Trek middle child.
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock generally does not rank in the upper tier of Star Trek movies, and one reason why is because it’s the middle child sandwiched between two classic Star Trek films. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which culminates in the death of Spock and centers on an all-time great villainous performance by Ricardo Montalban as Khan, is widely regarded as the greatest Star Trek movie of all. Star Trek III doesn’t quite measure up to Wrath of Khan‘s grand space opera or the final chapter in ‘The Genesis Trilogy.’
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, meanwhile, is one of the most crowd-pleasing Star Trek movies ever made. Popular with general audiences and known colloquially as “the one with the whales,” Star Trek IV is a charmingly offbeat comedy that plunges Admiral Kirk and his fellow space heroes from the 23rd century smack-dab in 1986 San Francisco. Filled with humor, warmth, and an effective ecological message, as Kirk and his friends must find and bring two humpback whales back to the future to save Earth, Star Trek IV showcases a more confident Leonard Nimoy directing at the height of his powers.
Spock’s sacrifice in Wrath of Khan is the Star Trek death all others are measured by.
As a direct follow-up to The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III is notable for what it lacks, and how it tries to hit many of the same notes as Star Trek II. Missing is Kirstie Alley, who didn’t return as the alluringly volatile Lt. Saavik. Robin Curtis replaced Alley, playing Saavik as more Vulcan under Leonard Nimoy’s direction. Spock’s sacrifice in Wrath of Khan is the Star Trek death all others are measured by. Comparatively, the murder of Kirk’s son, David Marcus (Merritt Butrick), doesn’t have the same impact. Star Trek III’s other major ‘death,’ the destruction of the Starship Enterprise, is a loss that doesn’t quite resonate in the same way as the death of Spock, himself.
