Cast
Kirk: William Shatner
Spock: Leonard Nimoy
McCoy: DeForest Kelley
Scotty: James Doohan
Uhura: Nichelle Nichols
Chekov: Walter Koenig
Sulu: George Takei
Sarek: Mark Lenard
Saavik: Robin Curtis
David Marcus: Merrit Buttrick
Kruge: Christopher Lloyd
Maltz: John Larroquette.
Directed by: Leonard Nimoy; Screenplay by: Harve Bennet
Released: June 1, 1984. Domestic Gross: $76 million
My Rating: ***
Plot
The Enterprise is coming home. It is battered and defeated. Then, we find that McCoy is crazy.
Saavik and David are on Genesis, studying the planet. They find a lifeform, and go down. At Spock's
torpedo tube, they find a lifefrom which evolved rapidly from microbes. And Spock's body is gone.
On Earth, Sarek visits Kirk, demanding for Spock's katra. Kirk doesn't have it, but it turns out that
McCoy does. Kirk steals the Enterprise in an attempt to rescue Spock's body and reinfuse the katra.
On Genesis, David and Saavik find Spock alive, but a little boy, and suffering from the effects of the planet.
Above, a klingon bird-of-prey has destoyed the ship the pair was with. Then, the Klingons head to the planet in
an attempt to discover the secret of Genesis.
Kirk arrives, is attacked by the Klingons, and hears David get killed. Then, he self-destructs the Enterprise with a
bunch of Klingons on it. On the planet, Kirk gets his crew plus Saavik beamed to the Klingon ship, then fights to the
death with Kruge, the Klingon Captain. Then, he and Spock beam to the ship and escape the planet's collapse.
They head to Vulcan and Spock's katra is successfully reinfused with his body.
My Comments.
Thsi is the only odd-numbered, original six movie that I will watch repeatedly. This movie is the direct sequel to the
best of the six. It also showcases the best of the crew interaction, and has some of the best "in-jokes" of the series.
Everything except Kruge (who was a really campy villian) was good.
This movie also showcases some new ships. The Grissom and the Excelsior are ships of 'new' design. At least, they were never seen
before now. The Excelsior is especially important, considering the aftermath of STIV and VI.
Once again, Paramount released this one in sequence in 2002 as a Collector's Edition. It, once again, added dimension to the film, although not enough to make me add another star. I have come to appreciate this movie more and more over time. it is one of my favorites.
