The conventional wisdom goes that the even-numbered Trek movies are the good ones, and the odd ones are all, well, odd. Enter these two films, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Of all of the Trek films starring the original series cast, III is my favorite odd-numbered film, and IV is my least favorite even numbered film.

Neither one is cringe-inducingly bad, but neither is also good enough to make my top 5 favorite Trek films. So this is kind of the creamy-middle of Trek. Regardless, it was nice to revisit these both, as I haven’t seen either of them since. . . well, let’s just say there was a Bush in the White House and I’ll leave it at that.

The Search for Spock

When we last left the Enterprise, Spock had died, but not before transferring his mind into Dr. McCoy. McCoy is, shall we say, having some multiple personality issues, as we can see with this great scene with a weird, backwards-talking alien.

“>httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3c9wtbQTZ4

Upon learning that some form of Spock may yet still be alive on the Genesis planet, Kirk and company must commandeer the Enterprise and tangle with a Klingon Bird of Prey captained by Christopher Lloyd to try to rescue him.

This film marks the first time they really seemed to get Klingons right. They were swarthy, violent, unpredictable, and they even had a targ on the bridge of the ship. Awww, how cute.

And, in a real first for the series, other members of the bridge crew actually got some things to do in this film, instead of just complying with Kirk’s orders. Takei has an especially good moment with “Don’t call me Tiny” and Uhura schools a young Lieutenant, “Mr. Adventure.”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlqErSr6Rjw

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPQvVBaOx2E

Also, there’s a “don’t blink or you’ll miss it” appearance by character actor Miguel Ferrer as the helmsman of the USS Excelsior in one of his first roles. (You can also see him as the Vice President in Iron Man 3 in a theater near you, doncha know.)

Shatner and Lloyd’s hand to hand combat in the movie’s climax is just. . . well . . . .you can watch it yourself.  The boot-to-the-face, “I.. . have HAD. . .ENOUGH of… YOU!!!” is pretty classic.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS4s3XXNLiE

This also marks the first time they blew up the Enterprise, a shocker to me when I first watched this film as a kid. (Probably to a lot of Trek fans, too.)  But just as much time was spent filming the exterior of the Enterprise in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, so too were there long, lingering shots as the ship we all loved as it prepared to go kablooey. . .

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1xdGCvNMEY

The finale leaves the crew aboard a Klingon ship on Vulcan, which leads us to. . .

The Voyage Home

For those of you who like your Trek silly and campy, this is your film. In this film we learn that Spock is a Mormon (“He did too much LDS in the 60’s), that Vulcan mind melds work on whales, that you can travel through time simply by slingshoting past the sun, and that humpback whales are the key to saving the world 200 years in the future.

Yes, a conservation message. Look, I’m all for saving the whales. I even have good friends who have deployed with Sea Shepherd. But I just never bought the premise that whales are the key to fighting off an alien probe.

But, beyond that, if you don’t take it too seriously, it’s kind of fun.

Oh, yeah, it’s a period piece. Set in the 1980’s. So let’s make fun of 1980’s computers.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkqiDu1BQXY

Oh, and yes, you knew it: “There be whales here.”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CM8tTG9Yig

Ok, and now a rant about “nuclear wessels.”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo2MyIGZFkg

As much of a point as it was about Chekov’s Russian heritage in the show, I’d expect them to get this right. No Russian would EVER have a problem pronouncing a v sound. In fact, the transliteration of a v to a w is Polish, not Russian. Therefore, some Ukrainians also have picked this up, but Ukrainians are not Russians, and Chekov was no Ukrainian. So cut it out with the nuclear “wessels!!”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGmk3-vb2Pk

So, prepare for mild entertainment, not as good as Wrath of Khan, but nowhere near as bad as what’s coming next: The Final Frontier, aka “What would God want with a starship?”