The Search for Spock Movie Review: Leonard Nimoy Looms Large Over the Enterprise's Attempt to Bring Back an Old Friend

Review: The Search for Spock serves as a necessary continuation of one of the franchise’s biggest success stories. Leonard Nimoy shows off his chops as a director with a distinct visual style and promising practical effects.

The Search for Spock review 1984 Leonard Nimoy William Shatner Star Trek movie — Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

It was always going to be tough to follow up The Wrath of Khan. Not only does that movie open up your eyes to the Star Trek universe on the big screen, but it also kills off one of the series’ largest characters (both in terms of heart and actual *literal* height). Spock may not take up much more than a word in the third Star Trek movie’s title, but he looms large over this story. So much so that Paramount was even able to get Leonard Nimoy to direct the Vulcan’s resurrection.

The Search for Spock serves as a necessary continuation of one of the franchise’s biggest success stories. The Wrath of Khan was understandably different from the original. The Motion Picture chose to condense its scale and focus on the characters and their initial introduction to moviegoers. If you weren’t a consistent watcher of the television series, this was the first time you were seeing Admiral Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Nimoy), and the rest of the crew of the USS Enterprise. They slow-played it all the way down to the nuts and bolts, which allowed The Wrath of Khan to pay off in a big way.

Which, in turn, meant that The Search for Spock had to tidy up many of the loose ends of that film -the biggest one being bringing the titular character back to life. Now it was never in question whether Spock would be resurrected if the franchise wanted to move forward with subsequent movies after this, but it had to be done in a matter that wouldn’t cheapen the fallout of the film before it. The Search for Spock uses most of its runtime to build up that anticipation; to that moment where Leonard Nimoy would step back in front of the camera as the indelible Spock.

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And trust me, I feel like a real nerd typing that, but it actually kind of won me over in the moment. Much of this movie loses a bit of steam because his character isn’t present in the narrative, but it makes for a very satisfying conclusion and a welcomed return for that character. It’s a worthy unofficial “Part 2” if you were to consider The Wrath of Khan “Part 1” and it makes the case for continuing this franchise into a few more movies.

William Shatner is pretty solid in this one too, having to carry the emotional weight of losing Spock and journeying on the unwavering quest to bring him back. He’s able to make it work a majority of the time, and he’s aided by a cast that chews up the extra time they get because of Nimoy’s absence. The Search for Spock allows you to spend more time with Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Scotty (James Doohan), Sulu (George Takei), and others.

There’s a natural come-down from the high that is The Wrath of Khan, but this movie isn’t a dud by any means. Leonard Nimoy shows off his chops as a director with a distinct visual style and promising practical effects. His thumbprints can still be felt all over this thing despite his lack of presence as a character in the movie. Although not the best that Star Trek has to offer, it’s far from the worst. A pretty serviceable (and often entertaining) trip through the galaxy to resurrect an old friend.

The Search for Spock Rating

Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction

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