STAR TREK 3: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK

 
Release Date: June 1, 1984
Music By James Horner
Executive Producer Gary Nardino
Written And Produced By Harve Bennett
Directed By Leonard Nimoy
Domestic Gross (US): $76 Million

Production Notes

After the overwhelming success of Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan, both Nicholas Meyer and Harve Bennett were asked back by Paramount. Although Bennett accepted, Meyer turned down the director’s chair because he was not interested in resurrecting the character of Spock. Instead, Leonard Nimoy filled the role.

Harve Bennett: "It would have been very easy to say that at the conclusion of Star Trek II that all the things we (had) done to modify that film’s ending to be ambiguous about the death of Spock were carefully designed and that the plot for Star Trek III was already in my mind. Not true."

Harve Bennett: "Somewhere along the line I read a fan poem in one of the hundreds of fan magazines about Star Trek. It was first-person Kirk. It said, ‘I left you there. Why did I do that? I must come back to you, my friend.’ I thought, ‘That’s it!’ I suddenly had a thrust. It got a lot easier from that point."

Leonard Nimoy: "Originally, Harve’s outline featured the Romulans as the heavies, but I’ve always been more intrigued by the Klingons so I suggested the switch, which Harve readily embraced. To this day, I wish I could have done a serious study of Klingon culture in one of our films. I think they’re marvelous ‘dark side’ adversaries. It was Bill Shatner who reminded me that Gene Coon, our valued line producer on the original series, gave us the gift of Klingons."

The Search For Spock featured the character of Saavik even more than the previous movie, in which she was introduced. Unfortunately, Paramount was unable to convince Kirstie Alley to reprise the role. Kirstie Alley: "They offered me less money than they did for Star Trek II, so I figured they weren’t very interested in me for Saavik."

Leonard Nimoy: "It looked like everything would work out, so when the script was ready, we sent it along for Kirstie and her agent to read. Shortly thereafter, her agent called us back and said, ‘Look, we didn’t realize how large a roll Saavik was going to have in this film. So we’re withdrawing our earlier figure. Here’s what we have to have now. . . ." and he quoted a price that was so far beyond our reach that it left me slack-jawed. I’m sure neither he nor Kirstie realized it, but the salary he wanted for her second Star Trek appearance was higher than what was being paid to De Kelley after seventeen years." Instead, the role was re-cast and actress Robin Curtis made her film debut as Saavik in The Search For Spock.

Saavik was written as half-Vulcan and half-Romulan in Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan, so Kirstie Alley displayed some emotion in that film in her portrayal of the character - such as cursing during the Kobayashi Maru simulation and having tears in her eyes at Spock’s funeral. However, the scene establishing Saavik’s heritage was edited out of the film before release to theaters. At Leonard Nimoy’s direction, Robin Curtis portrayed Saavik as a full Vulcan in The Search For Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Leonard Nimoy wanted Edward James Olmos for the role of the Klingon commander, Kruge. Producer Harve Bennett and Executive Produce Gary Nardino vetoed his decision. Christopher Lloyd was later chosen for the role. Leonard Nimoy: "Harve’s a good producer, and by that I mean he has the tools to entice people, to cajole people, to coerce people, to manipulate people, and he is quite good at it. He and I didn’t always see eye to eye over taste or ethics, and we had our differences about the script, and shooting scenes, and casting, but he was always capable."

Leonard Nimoy: "When Gene Roddenberry was first informed that I’d been hired to direct this picture, his reaction was to say, ‘Well, you’ve hired a director that you can’t fire.’ That wasn’t very supportive, but I realized it was absolutely valid, and in a way, I took that to heart, and it empowered me to stand up for myself a bit more than I probably would have in a situation with less leverage. Still, I didn’t have enough experience under my belt to feel comfortable saying, ‘Get off my case, Harve, don’t f-ck around here.’ That came on Star Trek IV."

Actor George Takei originally objected to Sulu’s "Don’t call me Tiny" scene. George Takei: "I had never imagined Sulu as being tiny. So I got on the phone right away with Harve and I said, ‘Harve, it’s a wonderful script. I love it, except I think we need to rewrite this one scene where Sulu throws the big guy. I think it’s a great bit of business, but this reference to Sulu as "Tiny" just doesn’t make sense. . . .I know how the fans see Sulu. They don’t see Sulu as tiny – he’s a hero and he mustn’t be referred to as tiny.’" Bennett agreed to film the scene twice – with and without the "Tiny" reference. The "Tiny" version was chosen for the final film, against Takei’s wishes. He later admitted that he was wrong about the scene.

William Shatner: "(Takei) is far and away the most enthusiastic Trekker among us Star Trekkers. For example, limiting myself to just Star Trek III, George accompanied his battle to erase Sulu’s diminutive nickname by personally leading groups of tourists through our Star Trek III sets, hugging almost every cast and crew member at least once a day throughout our production, and ultimately demanding work as an extra during the film’s climactic Vulcan ritual scene. The reason for this wasn’t money or screen time. George merely couldn’t pass up the chance to wear a ‘genuine Vulcan ceremonial robe, at least once.’"

Merrit Butrick reprised his role of Dr. David Marcus, Kirk's son, in The Search For Spock. Harve Bennett: "The reason David dies, structurally, is because he’s messed with mother nature. He’s allowed himself to bend the rules at the wrong time in the wrong place. He’s there on that planet for only that reason. The whole story dates back to David putting protomatter in the matrix. The death of Spock, everything rests on his shoulders if you want to blame him for it."

Leonard Nimoy: "How many space epics do you see where your hero, on receiving personal news, stumbles back and falls on the person’s own ship? You don’t see that a lot. It was a scary thing for all of us, hoping that it would be perceived as a very touching moment. Some little kid breaks in laughter in the audience and you’re dead. . . .I’m very moved by it. In my opinion, it is some of the best work (Shatner) has ever done. It looked as though he had received a physical jolt, as if someone had hit him with the information. He looks deeply hurt, some of the most personal and vulnerable work I’ve ever seen done in the role of Kirk."

Leonard Nimoy: "It was so utterly convincing – I really thought he’d accidentally fallen – that afterwards, I rushed over to him and said, ‘Bill, are you all right?’ ‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Think we can use that?’ His performance was so beautiful that the next day, after the Paramount executives had viewed it, an elated Jeff Katzenberg called me on the set. ‘Leonard! Congratulations! I just saw that wonderful scene with Bill. Why have you been wasting your time acting all these years? You’re a director!’ Thanks, Jeff – but I really think the call should have gone to Bill."

The destruction of the Enterprise in this movie was leaked to quickly outraged fans, probably by Gene Roddenberry. Leonard Nimoy: "I’ve had people say, ‘Gee, why did you do that?’ My response is, ‘What else would you have had Kirk do under those circumstances?’ It seems to me that the script laid itself out that it was the only thing to do. . . .We didn’t destroy the Enterprise for cheap or inflammatory reasons but because therein lay drama."

Gene Roddenberry: "I would rather have seen the saucer blow up. As all the old time fans will know, our ship is supposed to come apart. The stardrive part is the nacelles and the underneath, and the saucer is not star-driven. If the saucer had been blown up, at the end of the picture we could’ve had a new saucer come down and reunite the two, symbolic of the end of the story. They preferred to do it the other way."

William Shatner: "I thought the loss of the Enterprise and David’s death were very clever devices used to create drama in a situation. The problem is that, in a continuing series of movies where the characters appear through all the films, we have to raise some jeopardy. But everybody knows the characters are not going to die. So, two elements that were expendable, David and the Enterprise, were killed off because nothing else could be killed off. In fact, the real problem is, what else can we kill? We’re looking around for people to die."

Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) was hired again to create the special effects for this film, and many of them had strong thoughts about the destruction of the Enterprise. ILM’s Robert Dawson: "We figured it was high time for the crew to move into something a little bigger and more elaborate. After all, the (Enterprise) was 20 years old. It was kind of like moving out of the family station wagon and into something a little more sleeker."

Production Designer John Chilberg: "It freed us to put together a more state-of-the-art spaceship for the next film."

ILM's Ken Ralston was tempted to blow up the large Enterprise model, originally constructed for The Motion Picture by Entertainment Effects Group (EEG), or to even "take a mallet to it", but settled on destroying the smaller model for the scene. The plan was for the Enterprise crew to move to an Excelsior-class ship in Star Trek IV. Ironically, this never happened and the same model the ILM crew had grown to hate would eventually be used for the Enterprise-A. An Excelsior-class Enterprise was later introduced in Star Trek Generations, under the command of Captain John Harriman.

The Bird of Prey was intended as a Romulan spacecraft, commandeered by the Klingons - a fact that was edited out of the final film. The Bird of Prey has since been featured prominently as a Klingon vessel on various Star Trek productions.

Leonard Nimoy: "We put the finishing touches on the film, and it was time to prepare the main titles. Now, traditionally, on any Star Trek episode or film, William Shatner’s name comes first, followed by mine, then De Kelley’s. But in this case, it was time to break with tradition – because I realized that if the audience saw my name in the opening titles, the mystery was over. It would be obvious that Spock as we know him was back. I explained the problem to the Paramount executives, and they agreed – so, to this day, long after the mystery has been solved, my name doesn’t appear in the film’s opening credits, except as director."

Leonard Nimoy: "I’m probably somewhere between Bob Wise and Nicholas Meyer. Not as precise as Bob, not as imaginative or rough-edged as Nick. I think the major difference, and for me the most important difference, is my attitude towards the story and the actors. They are looking for a different kind of final product than I am."

Kirstie Alley: "I thought (Robin Curtis) was at a real disadvantage playing a role someone else established, especially with Star Trek, which has an enormous following. I think she did a fine job. I have no problem with what she was doing except that, when I saw the film, I said, ‘She isn’t Saavik, I am.’"

Leonard Nimoy: "The major theme in this film is about friendship. What should a person do to help a friend? How deeply should a friendship commitment go? What price should people be willing to pay? And what sacrifices, what obstacles, will these people endure? That’s the emotion line of the film. For me, that’s its reason for existence."


Film Quotes

McCoy-Spock: "You left me on Genesis. Why did you do that?"

Sarek: "He spoke of your friendship." Kirk: "Yes." Sarek: "Asked you not to grieve." Kirk: "Yes." Sarek: "'The needs of the many outweigh. . . .'" Kirk: "The needs of the few." Sarek: "'Or the one.'" Kirk: "Spock. . . ." Sarek: "'I have been and always shall be your friend. Live long and prosper.'" Kirk: "No."

McCoy: "How can you be deaf with ears like that?"

McCoy: "Where's the logic in offering me a ride home, you idiot! If I wanted a ride home, would I be trying to charter a space flight?"

Kirk: "I hear he's fruity as a nutcake."

Uhura: "Be careful what you wish for, you may get it."

Uhura: "This isn't reality, this is fantasy."

McCoy to Uhura: "I'm glad you're on our side."

Kirk: "I intend to recommend you all for promotion, in whatever fleet we end up serving."

Kirk: "My god, Bones, what have I done?" McCoy: "What you had to do, what you always do: turned death into a fighting chance to live."

McCoy: "I choose the danger. Hell of a time to ask."

Spock: "My father says that you have been my friend. You came back for me. Kirk: "You would have done the same for me." Spock: "Why would you do this?" Kirk: "Because the needs of the one outweighed the needs of the many." Spock: "I have been and ever shall be your friend." Kirk: "Yes! Yes, Spock!" Spock: "The ship? Out of danger?" Kirk: "You saved the ship! You saved us all! Don't you remember?" Spock: "Jim. Your name is Jim." Kirk: "Yes."

End Super: "...and the Adventure continues..."