30 Year Anniversary of "Star Trek III: The Search For Spock"

Hard to believe that it's been 30 years since "TSFS" premiered on June 1st, 1984. How well I remember the real excitement I felt over it! I bought the novelization a few days before seeing the movie, but held out on reading the end so that there would be some surprises. Here are the sum total of articles, clippings and photos on this site associated with this film for your review:  Click here!

If you haven't seen them already, or in a while, they will cause many great memories to resurface!

Nimoy Looks Back at Star Trek 3

From issue #106 of Starlog, published May, 1986, we find this look back at "The Search For Spock" with a critique of the film in retrospect by director Leonard Nimoy.

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have to click on it again to view full-size.)

Below: from the same issue, a photo of Nimoy from page 74, the last page of the magazine with a regular feature called "Liner Notes."

Bonus: from the same issue, an ad for the upcoming 20th Anniversary convention. Hard to believe we have passed the 45th anniversary already. And sad to see how many of the stars are no longer with us.

"ST:3 The Search For Spock" Effects Article

From issue #28 of Enterprise Incidents (after the format change and national distribution as a sci-fi movie magazine) from April 1985 comes this behind-the-scenes article on the making of the effects for Star Trek 3. I do remember that the anticipation in my mind was much higher for #3 than it was for #2... there seemed to be very little advance publicity for TWOK, except for the furor over the leaked death of Spock. But after the movie was released and so well-received, the fan excitement over the third one seemed to be increased and there was much more in the media about it as it was being made.

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This Kruge miniature was used for the scene where he plunges into the abyss on New Genesis... the cut between the actor and the animated figure was disguised by a flash of lightning.

Ah, the good ol' days of model work.

Below is a detail from the 2-page spread put back together. I didn't want to shrink down the spread by showing both pages connected, so I scanned in the one photo that went across both so you could see it in its entirety. The detail visible on the scale model of the Excelsior is interesting to see, since we didn't get to see it much on screen in the movie.

It was still an ugly ship, though.

They Won't Let Spock Stay Dead

From the Beckley Herald, Friday, June 1, 1984 comes this oddly pictureless article about "The Search For Spock."

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Below, from the same page of the newspaper, the movies playing at the time.

Bonus: below, from the Macon, GA Central High School newspaper, published in 1974, an article by a friend of mine that I met there that year, Clay Weaver. Both being Trekkers and having other similar interests (like "Planet of the Apes" and "Kung Fu" movies) we hit it off immediately, because back then, us Trekkers had to stick together. The button in the photo belongs to him, as does the shirt it's on.

1984 Cinefantastique Article on "The Search For Spock

From the May 1984 edition of Cinefantastique comes this 6-page article on "The Search For Spock." Lots of good behind-the-scenes photos, and interview with director Nimoy in this preview of the movie, and it's interesting reading about the making of one of the most anticipated of the sequels. The first page is from the back cover of the magazine, which is an unusual blurb about the inside contents; one seldom saw the back cover of a magazine used for this purpose.

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How well I remember my excitement connected with the release of this film! Although it would have been better if there were multiple versions of Spock appearing... a partial-cyborg Spock, a hip young Spock with a black leather jacket, a more severe and emotionless Spock that wore sunglasses, and a black Vulcan in cybernetic armor that calls himself Spock. Kirk and crew all wonder which, if any, are the real Spock, and then they all fight amongst themselves, and we find the real Spock at the end who has been regenerated, and he has long hair. He comes out with phasers blazing to help defeat an intergalactic threat, and we learn where the other Spocks came from. Wouldn't that have been way cool? They could have stretched that story out for several more movies. A "super" idea! Moving right along...

Bonus: Below, the filming of Spock's V'Ger spacewalk from "ST:TMP."

1985 Cracked "Search For Spock" Spoof

Severin does his usual great job of capturing the actor's likenesses in this spoof on "The Search For Spock," from issue #209 of Cracked magazine, published January 1985. However, he does mix in uniforms from the first movie on the first page for some reason! No Trek cover artwork this time, sadly.

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Bonus: Below, a nice photo of the cast from the same movie, omitting Nimoy since at the time these were released it was supposed to be a mystery if Spock was in it or not. Was there ever any doubt? I was thrilled to see Uhura finally get her skirt back, thanks to Nichelle's request. Poor Chekov didn't fair so well with his wardrobe, however.

"The Search For Spock" Press Kit Pics

Where ever I lived at the time, I made it a point to get in good with the person at the local newspaper who handled the entertainment section and received the movie press kits. I was fortunate to be able to get quite a few press kits for various genre movies when they were finished with them, as most were thrown out later. Here are a few from the "Search For Spock" press kit package, I'll post more from this and others as time goes by. Beneath each one is the card stuck to the back that described the photos.

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On a personal note, I apologise for the lack of recent posts; but it's getting into the holiday season and my mail order business is getting very busy and taking up more time than usual (no, it's not Trek-related.) I'll try to post more soon, though, as often as I can!

"Search For Spock" article from Twilight Zone magazine

From the August, 1984 edition of "Twilight Zone" magazine, comes this article on "The Search For Spock." The main article is an interview with Leonard Nimoy on directing the movie, and there is an inset writeup on Cathie Shirriff, who plays Valkris. She was first Klingon female we had seen in the movie series, beginning the welcome tradition of Klingon Kleavage.

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"I challenge you to a battle of the Bh'Rhests."

Bonus: Below, another of the 1967 Leaf bubblegum cards, this time sporting a caption that actually makes sense. If it had continued the trend the other cards followed, it would have sported something like ""What's on the menu?" or "Opening the mail."

And one last bonus image, a nice publicity shot of Kirk and Bones on the bridge, in a slightly different pose than the others taken at the same session. Kirk looks a little uptight over something in this one.

"Forget it, Bones! I'm not going on another diet."

1995 article: Nimoy Closes Book on Trek Myths

From USA Today, Oct. 23, 1995, comes this article on Nimoy, as he is promoting his new book, "I Am Spock." Aware that the title of his first book, "I Am Not Spock," was unfortunate, he attempts to set the record straight about how he feels concerning his Vulcan alter-ego.

Bonus: Below is a 1985 review of the "new" Star Trek 3 videotape release, from "Video Review" magazine. Buying movies was getting a little more affordable by then; this one was released for "only" $29.95.

Bonus: a rare 1991 Enterprise hologram card, the only one I found in any of the packages. The image appeared surprisingly clear in the scan.

And below, the back of the card. I'd like to know what this is worth, should I sell it.

Bonus: another Bloom County strip with the gang engaging in a little role-playing. But everyone must play by the rules or it's not as much fun!