I’m
very happy to be talking about this one because this year it’s actually
the 30th anniversary of when the film came out. It was November, 1986
and it was a monster hit. Because of it’s light tone even non Star Trek
fans loved it. This movie was a huge deal when it came out with all
kinds of press from talk shows to William Shatner even hosting Saturday
Night Live. We were excited about Trek when this came, we couldn’t wait
for TNG and were so hyped for the next movie (who knew then what we’d
get, but that’s another story).
I said before that finding things to hate would be tough. But not because it’s a perfect movie, just because I adored this movie and the more you love something the harder it is to pick on it. True story, my family and I were going to California the next summer and guess what movie was playing on the airplane? Yep, we were very excited! But years after this movie came out and seeing it three million times, I am able to take the nostalgia goggles off to be fair and pick on some of the things I either didn’t like or can easily nitpick.
The Klingon Ambassador
Don’t get me wrong, John Schuck was fantastic in the role. But what was this doing here? Except as way to catch people up on Star Trek iii it serves no purpose. If it was just hear to catch people up, why? Having the prologue before Star Trek III was kind of stupid but I get them thinking people may have forgotten WTOK. But by 1986 most people had VCR’s so we didn’t need this recap. It’s also never really followed up on, even in Star Trek VI which could you argue kind of follows up on it but not really. He says there will be no peace as long as Kirk lives…and end scene. Why didn’t they just have Sarek appear to plead his case, it could have ended the same way. Especially considering Genesis is quietly forgotten after this scene, we didn’t need to be reminded about it. Having the ambassador is pointless (though it does seem like an unwritten rule that if it’s a Star Trek movie there HAS to be a Klingon in it somewhere!). Oh and one last thing, where in the world did Starfleet that beautifully edited footage of the Enterprise blowing up???
The Whale’s Talking to the Probe
This has always been a huge fast forward moment for me. I get it, the whole movie is building to it so it has to be here. I suppose the idea was that it would be suspenseful. Would the whale’s communicate with the probe? Would the probe be happy with the answer it finally got and leave? But in the end, it’s just boring. It’s followed but the scene of them all jumping in the water which I have read was no planned, Nimoy just kept the camera’s tolling and kept it in Oh and what about the part where Kirk holds his breath for an eternity to free the whales? It’s James Kirk, hecn do anything!
Sulu’s missing scene(s)
This one really pisses me off. Uhura got screwed in the last movie, in this movie it’s Sulu’s turn. When the Bounty (that’s what they named the captured Klingon vessel) is landing Sulu mentions he was born and raised in San Fransisco. There was supposed to be a scene while he is walking with Scotty and McCoy where the three ran into a small child. It would turn out the child was Sulu’s great great grandfather! What a great character moment! Never filmed (it’s in the book and was a good moment). The published reason is that the child they hired didn’t cooperate so they scrapped the idea. If true that’s pretty unfair. Without that Sulu becomes the only one in the movie without a big moment, we see him talking to some guy about a helicopter and then he disappears from the film for the next twenty minutes! Next we see him he’s suddenly flying the copter with the transparent aluminum. How did get get the copter? How did he get the aluminum? Where was all for those night scenes where everyone was on the ship restoring power? Who knows, never explained. A scene where Sulu steals the copter was never filmed though it was written. The result is he doesn’t get another line until they’re ready to go home. He almost vanishes from a quarter of the movie. However he did get that line about hoping for Excelsior at the end while Sulu and Chekov just stood there for that scene, so that’s something.
Loose Ends
You could call this a cheat, but there are lot of loose ends from Star Trek III that were never carried over to this movie. For instance, whatever happened to Carol Marcus anyway? It was kind of understandable she wasn’t in the third movie, but did Kirk ever tell her about David? What happened to her after Genesis turned into a disaster? Even worst was Saavik’s odd cameo. It makes sense why the creators didn’t think they needed her in the movie but in universe why was Saavik staying behind anyway? Did that have to do with that pon far scene I discussed last time? Why did she wait so long to tell Kirk about David anyway? (she was supposes to pregnant with Spock’s child but this was dropped). How about that Klingon that was alive and well at the end of the third movie? Most expanded media state he committed suicide, but he has popped up in other books. And they were on Vulcan three months how come Starfleet never went and got the crew on Vulcan, did they really not know they were there? Even McCoy brings that one up! Heck even within the movie there are loose ends. What ever happened to the crew of the Saratoga anyway? We assume they were fine but we never hear from them again. Of course where the probe came from is never mentioned (except in a boring as hell novel). Oh and one more thing, when did Starfleet build the Enterprise-A anyway? It was clear in Star Trek III that Starfleet was done with the Enterprise. Why build a new one? And how did they get it ready so fast? Was it like when DS9 got a new Defiant and they just threw the name onto another ship in the same class? Thinking about this movie hurt. And it gets worst in the next category!
Time Paradoxes??
I guess this could also fall in the category of loose end but I’ll give it it’s own category. I guess this movie is running on the pre-destination paradox approach because that’s the only way to explain some of the things in it (the only clue to this is in the test Spock takes at the start of the film one of the questions was supposed to about the origin of transparent aluminum and the answer would have been 1986). Otherwise, our crew takes a lot of chances with altering history, ever notice that it’s only mentioned once? For example Kirk thinking his selling the glasses would mean he would get them back. How? All he’s doing is causing a grandfather paradox where he sells them, is given them by McCoy, and then goes back to sell them. Who made them then?? Even DC Comics ripped apart that one! Other things I could pick apart include the garbage men who one could assume will keep quiet about their encounter, Scotty and McCoy giving that guy a formula years before it should have been invented, the lady in the hospital who was magically cured (hope she was supposed to get cured, and when did Star Trek have that kind of medical technology anyway?), or the men on that whaling ship who will be treated like nuts when they go running back to shore talking about the site in the sky they just saw. How about the fact Chekov left 23rd century tech behind on that ship he was on? Isn’t leaving tech from the future like that really dangerous? For pete’s sake DC’s Legends of Tomorrow did a whole episode about that kind of thing! But the biggest one has to be Gillian herself. At the end of the movie she is in the 23rd century, and while they made a good case for why she would be needed there (who else in that time knows about humpback whales?) what about the people she knew in 1986? Yeah she said she had no one there, but what about that poor guy who has to spend the rest of his life wondering where she vanished to after she slapping him and leaving in a huff? The police would find her abandoned car in the park and assume she was murdered or something! (and don’t get me started on how stupid it was they landed in the park). She was fairly young what about the kids she may have had who will now not exist? Unless everything happened “the way it was supposed to” all of these things could be big paradoxes. Finally, my friend Les pointed out the silliness of the moment when the crew return to the future and forget the probe will cripple them. When I first saw this movie I had kind of forgotten about the probe myself, so it didn’t seem that stupid. Looking back…yeah maybe they should have planned ahead a little better. Truth is that return to Earth and landing in the bay scene is rushed a bit to fast, it’s the one place where I think Nimoy’s directing failed.
Despite my griping this movie will always be near and dear to me. It was one of the best times I ever saw seeing a movie since when I saw it was with a crowd of Trek fans who enjoyed every second. How many movies from 30 years can you still remember actually seeing in the theater? Even I admit it wasn’t the best (TWOK and even Star Trek VI are probably stronger) it will always be my favorite. I always felt Star Trek II, III, and IV should be considered it’s own trilogy right up there with the Back to the Future trilogy or Lord of the Rings trilogy or Star Wars Trilogy. It’s three solid films that continue the same story and they’re all really good, why not?
I said before that finding things to hate would be tough. But not because it’s a perfect movie, just because I adored this movie and the more you love something the harder it is to pick on it. True story, my family and I were going to California the next summer and guess what movie was playing on the airplane? Yep, we were very excited! But years after this movie came out and seeing it three million times, I am able to take the nostalgia goggles off to be fair and pick on some of the things I either didn’t like or can easily nitpick.
The Klingon Ambassador
Don’t get me wrong, John Schuck was fantastic in the role. But what was this doing here? Except as way to catch people up on Star Trek iii it serves no purpose. If it was just hear to catch people up, why? Having the prologue before Star Trek III was kind of stupid but I get them thinking people may have forgotten WTOK. But by 1986 most people had VCR’s so we didn’t need this recap. It’s also never really followed up on, even in Star Trek VI which could you argue kind of follows up on it but not really. He says there will be no peace as long as Kirk lives…and end scene. Why didn’t they just have Sarek appear to plead his case, it could have ended the same way. Especially considering Genesis is quietly forgotten after this scene, we didn’t need to be reminded about it. Having the ambassador is pointless (though it does seem like an unwritten rule that if it’s a Star Trek movie there HAS to be a Klingon in it somewhere!). Oh and one last thing, where in the world did Starfleet that beautifully edited footage of the Enterprise blowing up???
The Whale’s Talking to the Probe
This has always been a huge fast forward moment for me. I get it, the whole movie is building to it so it has to be here. I suppose the idea was that it would be suspenseful. Would the whale’s communicate with the probe? Would the probe be happy with the answer it finally got and leave? But in the end, it’s just boring. It’s followed but the scene of them all jumping in the water which I have read was no planned, Nimoy just kept the camera’s tolling and kept it in Oh and what about the part where Kirk holds his breath for an eternity to free the whales? It’s James Kirk, hecn do anything!
Sulu’s missing scene(s)
This one really pisses me off. Uhura got screwed in the last movie, in this movie it’s Sulu’s turn. When the Bounty (that’s what they named the captured Klingon vessel) is landing Sulu mentions he was born and raised in San Fransisco. There was supposed to be a scene while he is walking with Scotty and McCoy where the three ran into a small child. It would turn out the child was Sulu’s great great grandfather! What a great character moment! Never filmed (it’s in the book and was a good moment). The published reason is that the child they hired didn’t cooperate so they scrapped the idea. If true that’s pretty unfair. Without that Sulu becomes the only one in the movie without a big moment, we see him talking to some guy about a helicopter and then he disappears from the film for the next twenty minutes! Next we see him he’s suddenly flying the copter with the transparent aluminum. How did get get the copter? How did he get the aluminum? Where was all for those night scenes where everyone was on the ship restoring power? Who knows, never explained. A scene where Sulu steals the copter was never filmed though it was written. The result is he doesn’t get another line until they’re ready to go home. He almost vanishes from a quarter of the movie. However he did get that line about hoping for Excelsior at the end while Sulu and Chekov just stood there for that scene, so that’s something.
Loose Ends
You could call this a cheat, but there are lot of loose ends from Star Trek III that were never carried over to this movie. For instance, whatever happened to Carol Marcus anyway? It was kind of understandable she wasn’t in the third movie, but did Kirk ever tell her about David? What happened to her after Genesis turned into a disaster? Even worst was Saavik’s odd cameo. It makes sense why the creators didn’t think they needed her in the movie but in universe why was Saavik staying behind anyway? Did that have to do with that pon far scene I discussed last time? Why did she wait so long to tell Kirk about David anyway? (she was supposes to pregnant with Spock’s child but this was dropped). How about that Klingon that was alive and well at the end of the third movie? Most expanded media state he committed suicide, but he has popped up in other books. And they were on Vulcan three months how come Starfleet never went and got the crew on Vulcan, did they really not know they were there? Even McCoy brings that one up! Heck even within the movie there are loose ends. What ever happened to the crew of the Saratoga anyway? We assume they were fine but we never hear from them again. Of course where the probe came from is never mentioned (except in a boring as hell novel). Oh and one more thing, when did Starfleet build the Enterprise-A anyway? It was clear in Star Trek III that Starfleet was done with the Enterprise. Why build a new one? And how did they get it ready so fast? Was it like when DS9 got a new Defiant and they just threw the name onto another ship in the same class? Thinking about this movie hurt. And it gets worst in the next category!
Time Paradoxes??
I guess this could also fall in the category of loose end but I’ll give it it’s own category. I guess this movie is running on the pre-destination paradox approach because that’s the only way to explain some of the things in it (the only clue to this is in the test Spock takes at the start of the film one of the questions was supposed to about the origin of transparent aluminum and the answer would have been 1986). Otherwise, our crew takes a lot of chances with altering history, ever notice that it’s only mentioned once? For example Kirk thinking his selling the glasses would mean he would get them back. How? All he’s doing is causing a grandfather paradox where he sells them, is given them by McCoy, and then goes back to sell them. Who made them then?? Even DC Comics ripped apart that one! Other things I could pick apart include the garbage men who one could assume will keep quiet about their encounter, Scotty and McCoy giving that guy a formula years before it should have been invented, the lady in the hospital who was magically cured (hope she was supposed to get cured, and when did Star Trek have that kind of medical technology anyway?), or the men on that whaling ship who will be treated like nuts when they go running back to shore talking about the site in the sky they just saw. How about the fact Chekov left 23rd century tech behind on that ship he was on? Isn’t leaving tech from the future like that really dangerous? For pete’s sake DC’s Legends of Tomorrow did a whole episode about that kind of thing! But the biggest one has to be Gillian herself. At the end of the movie she is in the 23rd century, and while they made a good case for why she would be needed there (who else in that time knows about humpback whales?) what about the people she knew in 1986? Yeah she said she had no one there, but what about that poor guy who has to spend the rest of his life wondering where she vanished to after she slapping him and leaving in a huff? The police would find her abandoned car in the park and assume she was murdered or something! (and don’t get me started on how stupid it was they landed in the park). She was fairly young what about the kids she may have had who will now not exist? Unless everything happened “the way it was supposed to” all of these things could be big paradoxes. Finally, my friend Les pointed out the silliness of the moment when the crew return to the future and forget the probe will cripple them. When I first saw this movie I had kind of forgotten about the probe myself, so it didn’t seem that stupid. Looking back…yeah maybe they should have planned ahead a little better. Truth is that return to Earth and landing in the bay scene is rushed a bit to fast, it’s the one place where I think Nimoy’s directing failed.
Despite my griping this movie will always be near and dear to me. It was one of the best times I ever saw seeing a movie since when I saw it was with a crowd of Trek fans who enjoyed every second. How many movies from 30 years can you still remember actually seeing in the theater? Even I admit it wasn’t the best (TWOK and even Star Trek VI are probably stronger) it will always be my favorite. I always felt Star Trek II, III, and IV should be considered it’s own trilogy right up there with the Back to the Future trilogy or Lord of the Rings trilogy or Star Wars Trilogy. It’s three solid films that continue the same story and they’re all really good, why not?
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