Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (PG, 1984)

Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) gave his life to save the lives of his crewman aboard the USS Enterprise in the finale of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and got the equivalent of an old-time burial at sea, his body fired off in a missile casing. Returning to Earth after Spock's sacrifice, Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) learns that not only is the starship Enterprise to be decommissioned and scrapped, but that Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelly) appears to be going insane. Spock's father, the Vulcan ambassador, explains that just before Spock died, he downloaded his mind/soul into McCoy. Only by reuniting McCoy and Spock's body in a ritual on Spock's home world can both be at peace. Because Spock's makeshift coffin came to rest on an unstable planet, spawned out of the top-secret Genesis experiment in the last film, Starfleet forbids Kirk from carrying out this highly personal mission (this is the first time in the series that Starfleet itself becomes an antagonist). Kirk resorts to stealing the Enterprise -- with the help of his faithful bridge crew -- even though it's practically committing mutiny.

The main problem with STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK is that it ties in snugly with the predecessor film The Wrath of Khan, and the next one in the series, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Put end-to-end, these three practically amount to one super-sized episode. In other words, Trekkie heaven. But viewers lacking prior exposure to Wrath of Khan or Star Trek (is that even possible?!) might be confused about the setup. But for followers of the classic TV cast and science-fiction fans of all ages, it's a great ride. When thunderbolts rip across the skies of an unruly planetscape because someone's having a really, really tough day, it hits mythic, almost Wagnerian-opera notes.

Some of the Khan themes seem to have gotten lost in the interim -- there are no more hang-ups about old age for this James T. Kirk, who suddenly doesn't need glasses and brawls enthusiastically. But those are minor complaints, in a space-adventure movie that has all the expected stupendous visuals, but also characters that are just as compelling. We know and care for these people, and really root for them as they risk everything for their friends. In a lot of science-fiction spectacles the actors are pretty much stick-figures, but in any given Star Trek they're charming, funny, perceptive, touching, pained, smart -- in other words, just as interesting as the futuristic stuff. Even with planets exploding around them.