Stars:
William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei,
Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, Merritt Butrick, Christopher Lloyd, Robin
Curtis, Mark Lenard, Dame Judith Anderson, Grace Lee Whitney, John Larroquette,
Miguel Ferrer, and James B. Sikking
Writer:
Harve Bennett
Based
On “Star Trek” Created By: Gene Roddenberry
Director:
Leonard Nimoy
Feature
length: 105 minutes
Extras:
Feature Length Audio Commentary With Director Leonard Nimoy, Writer And Producer
Harve Bennett, Director Of Photography Charles Correll, and Actress Robin
Curtis, Text Commentary By Michael and Denise Okuda, Captain’s Log
Documentary, Space Docks And Birds Of Prey Documentary, Speaking Klingon
Documentary, Klingon And Vulcan Costumes Featurette, Terraforming And The Prime
Directive Documentary, Storyboard Galleries, Photo Galleries, Theatrical
Trailers
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and English and French Dolby Surround
Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and French Language Subtitles On Disc Two
Packaging:
Double-Disc Alpha Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 11
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1984/DVD Release: 2002
Theatrical
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: PG
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Shortly
after Kirk’s defeat of Khan and the death of Captain Spock, the Genesis planet
has been quarantined and has become the subject of galactic controversy. While
studying the planet’s development from above within the science vessel Grissom,
Dr. Marcus (Merritt Butrick) and Lt. Saavik (Robin Curtis) discover a life form
that is not a part of the natural planet’s evolutionary pattern, but never the
less could have been effected by it during the early stages of the planet’s
development. Meanwhile Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) receives a visit from
Spock’s father (Mark Lenard) who informs Kirk after some investigation that
before Spock died he melded his consciousness into the person closest in
proximity to him before making his sacrifice. In this case it was Dr. McCoy (DeForest
Kelley). With two friends not at peace, Kirk and the key crewmembers of the Enterprise
steal their starship and fly to Genesis with the hope of reclaiming Spock’s
body, but a rogue group of Klingons have discovered the existence of the Genesis
Torpedo and wish to obtain the information to use it as a weapon. With the
threat of universal Armageddon, careers on the line, and the souls of his
friends in jeopardy, Kirk enters into a deadly rendezvous with the Klingons in a
desperate effort to save all he can for the needs of his departed friend, who
just might have a second chance at life.
In
many ways “Star Trek III: The Search For Spock” is one of the most
introspective entries in the series. It takes certain premises regarding the
nature of youth and responsibility as well as facing death and presents a deeper
if not inverted analysis of these topics and explores the nature of the
character relationships within the scope of “Star Trek” and still manages to
tell an entertaining story too. Some might be disappointed that the action that
made the previous film so popular is not as ever-present in this film, but at
the heart of “Star Trek” was the characters and the references to
contemporary issues reflected from a science fiction effort.
While
“Star Trek” is definitely a vast space opera of sorts it is also a complex
science fiction tapestry that has it’s own set of rules that it adheres to in
part because the science of “Star Trek” is based in part on a mix of theory
and fantasy and just like fantasy, the rules established in any genre creation
by a new series must stay consistent in order to maintain some form of
respectable suspension of disbelief. These rules apply in our everyday world
whether or not one is even consciously aware of it. Think about office politics,
family dynamics, religion, government, and even science and tell me if there is
not an established if not unspoken agreement between most people to believe what
they are told to believe based on what is sociologically acceptable at that
moment. That is why science fiction is one of the best genres out there because
it enables to reader, storyteller, and viewer to examine these and other issues
of what it is to be a conscious human being and extrapolates this in some
fantastic manner in order to teach or preach and raises question so profound
that few genres ever come so close to investigating and extrapolating. “Star
Trek” is contemporary science fiction mythology in motion. The theme of
mortality and consequence seems to run through every “Star Trek” feature in
one form or another including the upcoming highly anticipated tenth feature film
installment “Star Trek: Nemesis.”
Paramount
Home Entertainment’s upcoming DVD release of “Star Trek III: The Search For
Spock: Special Collector’s Edition” presents what appears to be the same
source print encoded onto the DVD to preserve the original theatrical
presentation with an anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio. The print has
a few minor blemishes and is uneven with some scenes showing a bit of grain that
appears to be from age and not a result of the MPEG-2 compression process. I
note this because despite the flaws direct comparison between the movie only
release and this new two-disc set reveals that the “Special Collector’s
Edition” of “The Search For Spock” indeed benefits from the extra storage
and bit rate an RSDL DVD-9 delivers with a rich and more detailed texture and
more vibrant colors. Remember I noted that the source print is uneven with some
grain in certain scenes from age, but not every scene suffers from this and when
the grain is gone, the image is truly beautiful to behold so overall the
transfer is definitely better on this DVD than the previous release.
The
same English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround mix is provided and is a serviceable one
though not quite outstanding. English and French Language Dolby Surround
Soundtracks are encoded on to disc one while all of the extra features with the
exception of the “Star Trek III” trailer feature English Dolby Pro Logic
Surround Sound. The trailer for “Star Trek III” appears to be stereo or
maybe two-channel monaural. It was difficult to judge exactly. English Captions
and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired are encoded onto disc one while
English Captions and French Language Subtitles are encoded onto disc two as
options. Disc one also features audio commentary with Director Leonard Nimoy,
Writer and Producer Harve Bennett, Director of Photography Charles Correll, and
Actress Robin Curtis mixed together from what appears outtakes from videotaped
interviews found on disc two since the words spoken here at times are spoken
verbatim in the interviews on the second DVD.
Nimoy
is very enthusiastic and articulate as he touches upon how he was approached to
return for the third “Star Trek” film, a strange misunderstanding between
the then Production Head at Paramount at the time and Nimoy’s desire to
continue actively as a participant as both an Actor and Director with “Star
Trek.” He credits William Shatner as well as Producer Gene L. Coon for helping
“Star Trek: The Original Series” survive and thrive and credits Writer and
Producer Harve Bennett with saving “Star Trek” and brining new life into it
through the feature film series. Bennett credits “Wrath Of Khan” Writer and
Director Nicholas Meyer for helping him see beyond the limits he thought existed
with “Star Trek,” by simply asking “Why not?” It is obvious that
everyone credits Gene Roddenberry for his resolve and vision in creating “Star
Trek.” There are anecdotes about the perils of directing your fellow cast
members and the fire that almost destroyed the set complete with Shatner using a
garden hose to help keep it at bay until firefighters arrived and also some
character directing technique Nimoy used with Robin Curtis to get the reaction
from her character he was seeking at the film’s closing moments. These are
also extrapolated on with videotaped interviews that include William Shatner and
Christopher Lloyd on the “Captain’s Log” documentary (26:12) that appears
on disc two. As usual the Authors behind “The Star Trek Encyclopedia,”
Michael and Denise Okuda give another great screen specific and cross-referenced
text commentary track on disc one that runs throughout the feature’s length
except for the closing credits.
Besides
the “Captain’s Log” documentary that covers much of the same ground as the
commentary and appears to be at least in part a source for the mix on disc one,
“Star Trek III: The Search For Spock” features an excellent documentary
entitled “Terraforming And The Prime Directive” (25:51) that features a
number of interesting viewpoints regarding the nature of “Star Trek” and the
impact it has had on science and how science has also inspired science fiction
with Hugo Award® Winning Author David Brin and a detailed discussion of the
possibilities and realities bringing a world like Mars into it’s own living
natural habitat or an Earth like atmosphere that could benefit humanity on a
number of levels for a quarter of a billion years for what could possibly be
achieved within a century’s time. The documentary is simply fascinating and my
favorite extra value feature within the entire two-disc set.
Under
the heading of “Star Trek Universe” one will find a documentary regarding
the special effects created for the film by ILM entitled “Space Docks And
Birds Of Prey” (27.48), a surprisingly engaging look at how the Klingon and
Vulcan languages for “Star Trek” have been developed by Linguist Marc Okrand
entitled “Speaking Klingon” (21:03), and a featurette on the costume,
jewelry, and makeup designs entitled “Klingon And Vulcan Costumes” (12:16).
Storyboard galleries for the Opening Credits, Klingon Attack, Entering Spacedock,
Search For Life, Finding Spock, Destruction of Grissom, Stealing Enterprise,
Self Destruct Sequence, Kirk Fights Kruge, and the Katra Ritual are included
along with a behind-the-scenes production photo gallery and promotional photos
from the film.
The
widescreen (2.35:1) trailer for “Star Trek III: The Search For Spock” (1:09)
as well as the (1.85:1) letterboxed teaser trailer for “Star Trek: Nemesis”
(1:34) wrap up the extra features included in the set. On a personal note, the
new upcoming “Star Trek” feature looks great, but what really catches my eye
is how far special effects have come in the eighteen or so years since “Star
Trek III: The Search For Spock” premiered theatrically. Comparing the look of
“Nemesis” to “The Search For Spock” is like comparing “The Search For
Spock” to “The Original Series.” That is how different as well as how much
more vivid the look of this new upcoming “Star Trek” movie appears. I find
it truly amazing.
The
interactive menus on both discs feature the best looking three-dimensional
animation on a “Star Trek” DVD yet with disc one giving an amazing computer
generated look at the exterior of the “Klingon Bird Of Prey” on the surface
of the planet “Vulcan” while disc two guides the viewer up the stairs of
Mount Seleya on the planet “Vulcan” and all of the menus are easy to
navigate. An insert with scene selections and content information is enclosed
within the double-disc Alpha DVD keep case.
To
close this review I also would like to note that at the end of the commentary
Nimoy reveals that both he and Shatner will be providing the commentary for
“Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” and hopefully the wait will not be long.
Another great entry in the series, “Star Trek III: The Search For Spock:
Special Collector’s Edition” will debut on DVD-Video on Tuesday, October 22,
2002 from Paramount Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.