hamachi@ucbvax.UUCP (Gordon Hamachi) (06/03/84)
So you won't think this is the testimony of a hard core Trekkie (although there's nothing wrong with being one), Star Trek: TMP sucked. Star Trek II: TWOK was pretty decent. The Search for Spock is the best. Do they find Spock? C'mon, think about it. Three guesses. Still, the movie is full surprises. Best not to spoil any of it. DeForest Kelly as McCoy plays a substantial supporting role. One of his best scenes is Star Trek III's cantina scene: A man goes into bar with humans and aliens. He tries to charter a ship from a strange creature. The AUTHORITIES show up. Everything else about the scene is different from the way it was in that other movie. I always thought that that other movie was somewhat overplayed, anyway. At the very start of this scene is a humorous reference to one particularly famous TV episode. Regrettably, Sulu, Scottie, Uhura, Checkov, and Savaak have very small parts. I think Savaak is played by someone different from in Star Trek II. What was wrong with the original? As (almost) always (was this why Star Trek I was such a flop?), William Shatner's Kirk is the central force in the movie. He's as effective as he ever was in this role. This time he's a step slower, and not quite the macho starship captain of old. His grief is at best short-lived, but that must be Nimoy's directing. Speaking of directing, the Starfleet brass come off as pompous, by the book nitwits. It's almost comically overdone. The end of the movie as much as promises another sequel, although the ending makes it seem impossible that things can ever be the same as they once were. Why does the movie end the way it does? After that, how can there possibly be another sequel? Go see Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. It is an excellent film.