Rating: 
Summary: As Usual With Paramount, Decent Movie, Weak DVD
Review: First the movie: "Star Trek III" is a decent installment in the "Star Trek" movie series, even if it is just one big segue. First-time director Leonard Nimoy does a servicable job in helming the story of Spock's rebirth. The premise of the story is quite compelling (Kirk's crew mutinies against Starfleet and sends the Enterprise to it's destruction) and the special effects are fantastic. The movie, however is far from perfect. At times, the story isn't too--well--logical, and all the sacrifices Kirk and co. make in "Star Trek III" are pretty much undone or forgotten in "Star Trek IV". Add to that the wrong-headed casting of Robin Curtis as Saavik--and especially Christopher Lloyd as Kruge--and you get a flick firmly entrenched as the "middle child" of the "Star Trek" movie franchise. As far as the DVD version, given how much money Paramount rakes in from "Star Trek" would it KILL them to make a Trek DVD with some special features? A director's commentary would have been great; a triva section would have been outstanding. Instead what do we get? The requisite widescreen and theatrical trailer and that's it. This disk doesn't even have foreign language captions, for goodness sake! Like all the Trek releases before this one, Paramount put as little work as possible into the DVD version, and frankly that stinks. If SOME effort had been put into this, I would have rated this 3 stars instead of 2.
Rating: 
Summary: Needs more Shatner!
Review: Leonard Nimoy turns in a decent directorial debut, but stumbles badly by focusing way too much on Spock, who's not even in the movie! A real waste of some prime Shatner. Skip this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Another success
Review: If you're hoping for extra footage, well forget it. What you do get is another excellent transfer, sound, and commentaries, although Leonard Nimoy should've brought a buddy to talk with. He's pretty boring to listen to. There are plently of extras to keep you from missing the extra footage the previous DVDs included. Well worth it.
Rating:
Summary: lets hope the adventure does not continue
Review: a dreg film. amazingly glib, bad, and sour from start to finish.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad as a "prequel" to Star Trek IV.
Review: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock should not be judged as a sequel to Star Trek:The Wrath of Khan. Although III starts off right after the events of II, it really is a prequel to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Don't get me wrong, III has some great and classic Star Trek ingredients: A solid villian, a good plot, and a couple of great surprizes. It's just after the wonderful and exciting experience that II provided this seems a little watered down. One of the highlights of this movie is the Klingon contingent. Led by Christopher Lloyd as the evil Captain Kruge, we're treated to a group of interesting and sometime complex characters. Hidden under all the Klingon make-up is John Laroquette of Night Court fame. Another highlight is the magnificent score of James Horner, which manages to capture the mood of this film better than almost any movie I've seen. Overall Star Trek III: The Search for Spock in enjoyable. Again watch it not as a sequel to II but as a prequel to IV. If you can manage that, you will enjoy it too.
Rating: 
Summary: Leonard Nimoy Gives This One A Heart And A Soul!
Review: STAR TREK III:THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK is an excellent addition to your science fiction movie collection. The commentary by actor/director Leonard Nimoy (Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Brave New Wolrd) alone is worth it. The movie picks up where Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn left off. Spock has died, or has he? The movie is the race to get Spock's mind back to his body. There is a dangerous planet that is evolving as Spock is but the end of this Genesis planet evolution is its destruction. The cost of saving Spock's life is the price of the Starship Enterprise itself. Nimoy did a fantastic job creating a broad opera with heart and soul and some real moments of friendship and loyalty. DeForest Kelly (Gunfight At The OK Corral) really steps up to bat with his performance and humor as the doctor with Spock in his head. The movie has drama, action, space battles and most importantly - humor. William Shatner (Showtime, Miss Congeniality) has some very special moments of Star Trek lore in this movie. Each of the supporting cast even have their moments in the limelight. Nichelle Nichols (Snow Dogs, Porgy And Bess) shines with Mr. Adventure and James Doohan (The Duke, Load Weapon 1), really shows what a crafty engineer can really do. This film also introduces Robin Curtis (Ghost Story, Making Contact) as Saavik (originally played by Kirstie Alley (Cheers) in Star Trek II as the Vulcan science officer assigned to investigate the newly formed Genesis planet with the late Merrit Buttrick (Zapped, Stagecoach) as Dr. Marcus. The most outstanding performance however goes to Christopher Lloyd (Back To The Future, Taxi) as the Klingon commander Kruge. His energy and excitement and evil nature in the role made a great nemesis for Admiral James T. Kirk. Watching the two of them fight is amazing. The DVD extras include a great commentary by Nimoy and crew as well as several behind the scenes featurettes with great footage of the film as it was being shot. Also there is a great docudrama about the exploration and planet terraforming of Mars ad other planets. What real space science is capbable of and shooting toward. A very educational piece. This is a MUST for every Star Trek fan and a simply good sci-fi film for those who like good vs. evil, friendship and loyalty type movies. Get this and you will love it! (11-26-02)
Rating:
Summary: Another fine "Special Edition"
Review: Once again, a fine special edition has been released for these venerable Star Trek movies. In this film, the crew heads off to the newly-formed Genesis planet in the stolen Enterprise. They meet up with Klingons newly arrived to try and steal the secret of the Genesis Device, which they call the "Greatest weapon ever invented." This film is clearly more light-hearted than TMP or TWOK, the previous two films in the franchise, and introduced the plot device of sending each crewmember off on their own mission before pulling them back together. As such, we see more of Sulu, Uhura, and Scotty than we are used to, which adds rather than detracts from the story. Another highlight is the scene-chewing performance of Christopher Lloyd as the Klingon commander, in perfect opposition to William Shatner. Unfortunately, the film tends to be repetative. It starts off with a flashback to Wrath of Khan to bring the audience up-to-date. That's fine, but these moments are relived again when Sarek visits Kirk 20 minutes in, and YET AGAIN at the end of the film. Thus, this 100-minute movie only contains 80 minutes of new material, and repeated watchings tend to leave you fidgiting. In addition, the sound-stage sets of the Genesis Planet (and Vulcan) are impressive, but not the same as actual location footage. However, it's a worthy addition to the Star Trek family, it simply suffers in comparison to the two movies on either side of it. Likewise, this special edition is good, but not as good as those for TMP and TWOK. The highlights are the text commentary by the Okudas, a featurette (25 minutes) on the development of the Klingon language, and the ILM featurette on the effects. The general making-of feature is interesting (Shatner is amusing in a faux-pompous way), but is mostly a repitition of the audio commentary. The print is curiously grainy, in contrast to the obviously cleaned-up DVD versions of the previous 2 films.
Rating:
Summary: An underrated Star Trek chapter.
Review: First, here's what I didn't like: Kirk's son dies, and the Enterprise is destroyed. I know they wanted gripping drama, but still, doing ether one of the two seemed a bit too much. The Enterprise has been home to it's crew (and, in a way, to the fans) since the first T.V. episode, and the death of Kirk's son, well...it's his _son_. Otherwise, why does everyone concider this one of the weaker episodes? SPOCK LIVES. His ressurection should have been enough to make any true fan stand up and cheer. There's also enough action to satisfy anyone. Kirk and crew (minus Spock) must face off against not only the dastardly Klingons, but also against their own superiors at Starfleet. This is also the first film where we see the Excellcior, my favorite Star Trek ship. Check this film out.
Rating:
Summary: As Usual With Paramount, Decent Movie, Weak DVD
Review: First the movie: "Star Trek III" is a decent installment in the "Star Trek" movie series, even if it is just one big segue. First-time director Leonard Nimoy does a servicable job in helming the story of Spock's rebirth. The premise of the story is quite compelling (Kirk's crew mutinies against Starfleet and sends the Enterprise to it's destruction) and the special effects are fantastic. The movie, however is far from perfect. At times, the story isn't too--well--logical, and all the sacrifices Kirk and co. make in "Star Trek III" are pretty much undone or forgotten in "Star Trek IV". Add to that the wrong-headed casting of Robin Curtis as Saavik--and especially Christopher Lloyd as Kruge--and you get a flick firmly entrenched as the "middle child" of the "Star Trek" movie franchise. As far as the DVD version, given how much money Paramount rakes in from "Star Trek" would it KILL them to make a Trek DVD with some special features? A director's commentary would have been great; a triva section would have been outstanding. Instead what do we get? The requisite widescreen and theatrical trailer and that's it. This disk doesn't even have foreign language captions, for goodness sake! Like all the Trek releases before this one, Paramount put as little work as possible into the DVD version, and frankly that stinks. If SOME effort had been put into this, I would have rated this 3 stars instead of 2.
Rating:
Summary: 20 Years of "The Search For Spock"
Review: "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Thats not very damn funny."
- Kirk gives the Vulcan Salute to Dr. McCoy as they both escape a trip from The Federation Funny Farm, and look for a lost pointed ear friend in "Star Trek III: The Search For Spock" Its been 20 years to the day since the search began in this third and underated entry in the "Star Trek" saga. "The Search For Spock" is an adventurous (if corny) film that teaches a lesson in the loyalties, & importance of friendship, no matter the consequence. Picking up where "Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan" left off, with the death & funeral of Captain Spock & the birth of the Genesis Planet, "The Search For Spock" begins with the crew of The Enterprise limping home after the battle wrath with Khan, only to find out that the Federation has decided to decommission the legendary starship & reassign most of its crew. Whats worse is the fact that Dr. "Bones" McCoy is having a sort of nervous breakdown, breaking in to Captain Spock's sealed quarters and giving Admiral Kirk an errie message from the grave.
When Spock's father, Ambassador Saarik, arrives informing Kirk that Spock isn't dead, but, is in a state where mind & body are in seperate forms, its up to both, Kirk & Saarik to find who has Spock's marbles (McCoy has them) & where Spock's body rests (on The Genisis Planet). Once both are retrieved, and thru an ancient Vulcan ritual, only then can Spock become his old self again. With the arrival of the Kilngons, looking for the secret to Genesis, its a race against time as the planet becomes unstable and starts to deteriate at an alarmingly fast rate. The search isn't without sacrfice & Kirk loses the two things he holds dearest to him in order get his friend back. "Star Trek III" is one of those films thats pretty much written for fans of the series (if this film was your introduction to "Star Trek", I'm pretty positive your reaction was more of a "Huh!?" with a shrug of the shoulders). I hold this as the fifth best in the series tieing it with "Star Trek: Generations" ("II" & "First Contact" are the two best in the series). The Klingons finally get some much needed screen time in this film. Since they were the main nemesis in the television series, it was only a matter of time before they would show up (the Klingons make a cameo in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"). A year before he went "Back To The Future", Christopher Lloyd gives a great performance as Commander Kruge, the greedy, power hungry Klingon commander. Kruge is much better than the two Klingons in "Star Trek V". Those two reminded me of the Wonder Twins from the "Super Friends", for some reason. The Klingons in "Star Trek VI" came across as more regal and honorable than threatening and coldblooded, like Kruge is. As for Shatner and the rest of the cast, all are also great & age gracefully in their respective roles.
James Horner's score to "III", like "II", is one of the better scores in the series (acutally, I think, its a lot of reused score material from the previous film, but, I just get so tired of hearing Jerry Goldsmith's opening theme from "The Motion Picture". Its been used in at least half of the the ten films, as well, as the opening theme to "The Next Generation" series). Leonard Nimoy directs his first of two "Trek" films ("III" is his directorial debut) and gets a lot out of his actors and does a good job overall. The 2 disc DVD edition to "Star Trek III: The Search For Spock" is worth owning and is better than "Star Trek V" on any given Sunday. Join the Search.
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