Star Trek III: The Search for Spock : Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

Who saw this back in the day? What were your memories - the anticipation of seeing it in the weeks/days before, the actually seeing it and how much a big deal was it where you were back then, the crowds, audience etc and after coming out of the cinema what were your thoughts and in the days/weeks that followed….

I recall my brother seeing it opening day (before me) and he bought back the glossy movie program with crystal Spock cover and inside it showed a photo of the little people on top the mountain watching the falling star 'comet' and I remember looking at that image mesmerised and wondering what it could be and my bro said 'thats the enterprise!' and the rest of my family being angry (quite right) that hed spoiled it!

I wasnt that much into Trek at the time (still young) and recall wen I was going to see it I was concerned id miss Dr Who that was on that evening lol. remember when I saw it was amazing it felt so epic and big like it was really there in space witnessing the giant space station and destruction of the Ent. plus it had abit of a star wars feel to it with the cantina, alien microbes, crew becoming rebels, the klingons, phaser fights/ship battles, and the epic fight at the end with all the lava recalled Temple of Doom as did the Vulcan temple (id seen TOD earlier that summer)

remember getting a few III things after – the little ERTL figures of Kirk Spock (in his TWOK uniform) Scotty (no Bones) and Kruge (with his plastic dog). plus the metal ships of the Ent, BOP, Excelsior. Also the storybook. Maybe a couple of other things too

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in u201884?

never saw one Star Trek film in the cinemas prior to Trek 09.

Something about the old Trek films up until Voyage home that even the new films don't seem to have, the beautiful soundtracks, and majesty of the Enterprise against back drop of space and epic feel. They just have a magical feel. Perhaps I'm letting nostalgia get the better of me? I'm not for a second saying I don't like the new films - I like them very much and anticipate the next one!

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in u201884?

I saw it in the theatre at least three or four times back then. I distinctly remember the anticipation of seeing it for the first time. I couldn't wait until it came out, and saw it on opening night. I remember afterward, heading towards the subway, with my friend and I just saying over and over "that was so good, that was SO good!".

It's one of my favorite Star Trek Movies.



"What is necessary is never unwise." -- Sarek.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in u201884?

I saw it in the theater also. I was very excited since I had already heard that spock was returning. I didnt know that the enterprise was going to be destroyed, that made a big impact.

All in all, i really enjoyed it and still do to this day. Just watched it last night....

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in u201884?

This movie had several things going against it, IMO:

1. Chrisopher Lloyd. He just seemed a little too goofy to be taken seriously as an adversary. The order to kill a hostage, besides being incredibly stupid on his part, seemed out of place.

2. Unwinding TWOK. They just seemed to undo everything that happened in TWOK. If felt like a cheat.

3. It came right after TWOK. TWOK, for all its plot holes, seemed to be a perfect mix of scifi, humor and action. TSFS seemed to fall a bit in these areas.

I remember leaving a bit disappointed. And while I like the James Horner score. I was a bit disappointed that he didn't come up with a new theme.

"Live long and suck it, Zachary Quinto!"

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in u201884?


I remember leaving a bit disappointed. And while I like the James Horner score. I was a bit disappointed that he didn't come up with a new theme.


The movies are too closely linked to come up with a new theme. I support Horner's decision to keep the themes the same, as the movies are like one long story that picks up where the other left off. I also like that he slowed down the theme and made it more somber, which resulted in a score that is far more beautiful than Trek II's score. Don't get me wrong, as I like Trek II's score as well, but Trek III's score is the most moving of the two.

- - - - - - -
Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in u201884?

My family saw it in a movie theater when it first came out. I'm not a Trekker, though I enjoyed the original series (have never found a foothold with any of the others). Therefore, I was stunned at how affected I was when the Enterprise was destroyed - I kept expecting something to happen so that it wouldn't be destroyed, and when it was, and the audience saw it die, and watched the fireball arc down across the sky, you could hear the gasp. It was surprising to me how much I cared. For that moment alone, and for it to have been shared in the theater, I rate this movie pretty high.

I also kind of like the rewinding of II: II enacted the reason for the standing for the needs of the many; III showed the why Kirk believed in the needs of the one. II and III balance, and then along comes IV to show how the needs of the many require the exquisite teamwork and commitment of the few - IV shows how all the special talents of the central cast of the first series depended and supported each other (and it's funny, too...). For me, II, III and IV fit together in a nice, loose coalition.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

I was eleven back in 1984. Ahhh the memories! lol. Well, anyway, I made my brother go see this with me. He wanted to go see IJ and the temple of doom, but I really wanted to see how they got spock back. I loved it (my first Trek film I saw in the theaters.) I remember thinking it was a little slow, but I really enjoyed it. Theater was half full, everyone seemed to enjoy it. Except for my brother.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

5-6 years old. I don't remember any pre-release anticipation, but when it was finally out there, I DEFINATELY wanted to see it. I'd seen TMP & WoK enough times at home, but I didn't see any trailers or commercials for III(that I recall). I remember it on a theater marquee on the sign for a plaza.

I believe this was the first movie I saw twice at the theater(once at a regular cinema, and again at the drive-in). I loved the experience. I remember the Enterprise being stolen, the Enterprise exploding, and the image primarily attached to my brain regarding this movie: Admiral Kirk, in the new red outfit, face closeup, when he's meeting Commander Morrow.

That's about the best I can do.

Quien es mas macho?

Benedict Cumberbatch

O

Ricardo Montalban


Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

I stopped by the theater every day during the last few days before release just to see the posters.

I remember the theater had the sound volume absurdly LOUD -- really high, that theater was known for its (then) state-of-the-art sound equip -- and thinking it was perfectly adequate. I remember the booming music during the Enterprise escaping from the space station and the Vulcan ceremony most of all. Some chairs must have unbolted themselves.

I watched ST IV in the same theater and the volume was still on eleven. Too bad it doens exist anymore.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

Saw it the week it was released in '84. I was 12 and I remember thinking that it was a bit more violent even than "TWOK" and really more than most PG rated films I'd seen to that point, so that's what initially stuck with me.

The brutal murder of David on the Genesis planet was especially hard to watch and I thought that Shatner probably gave his best performance in the film series in that moment. I also remember thinking how much different the Klingons appeared than in "TMP," but that didn't bother me all that much. The violence was what stuck with me.

I did kind of follow the production in Starlog and I wondered what the picture would be like and I even wondered if it would be the last "Trek" movie. After seeing it, it was obvious that another film would be required to wrap up the story started in "TWOK."

-Rod

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

saw it. loved it.
it played at a local multiplex whe they had one HUGE theater reserved for big releases. opening weekend. The crowd was mostly fans, applauded each name as it appeared in the opening credits, with an added sense of surprise and delight when we saw Mark Lenard's name. It was like a party.

"After years of fighting with reality, I am pleased to say that I have finally won out over it."

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

While I've learned to appreciate it more over the years, and I do like the main theme of sacrifice, I just was really bothered that they seemed to undo everything that had happened in TWOK AND blew up the Enterprise to boot!

"Live long and suck it, Zachary Quinto!"

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

I always objected to this "undid EVERYTHING they did in TWOK"... Obviously they'd undo Spock's death if they got Nimoy back, but they did not undo the growth of the characters, and David's death does not "undo" the changes in Kirk that came from meeting him and speculating on "My life that could have been." In fact, I considered trading the Enterprise for Spock to be character growth -- discovering what REALLY mattered.

I see TSFS to be an EXTENSION, not an undoing, of TWOK.



"After years of fighting with reality, I am pleased to say that I have finally won out over it."

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

yes i remember seeing it. i also remember seeing posters for it in the spring a few months before its release. it was exciting because we wanted to see what happed to Spock after they left him of the Genesis planet

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

I saw in the theater in '84 when I was 11. I remember being excited because of Spock's return and wanting to see how it was going to happen. My friend and I assumed as most people probably did that the Genesis effect would bring him back. I remember being really please with the mind meld angle which I had not noticed in Star Trek II. I don't remember the crowds very well or even who I saw it with. Probably my father though the rest of my family might have been with us. Or my best friend. I remember liking it a lot. Unlike most people, I really liked Robin Curtis as Savik, but I was disappoint that the role had been recast because of the discontinuity.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

I actually saw this movie at a drive in theater, with my family. My sister and I were just children and we went with our parents to see this film at the drive in. I remember the warm summer night and sitting with the speaker on the car window, my parents snuggling in the front seat.

I still clearly remember getting sleepy partway through but determined to watch the whole movie. And snapping full awake when the Enterprise was destroyed. Watching that ship burn across the Genesis sky on the giant outdoor screen, itself surrounded by stars (by then night had fallen) was a visual that is still ingrained in my head.

I also remember asking my mother (I think the next day) what happened after the end of the movie. She said "we'll just have to wait until they do the next one to see" or something similar.



Pardon my Klatchian.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

Opening day at the Americana Theater in Austin, Texas. School had just been out for the summer and it was maybe a week later. I was 15 at the time.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

I remember when the first movie came out the audience applauded each actors name as it appeared on the screen. By this movie we knew it would keep going on for a while. We all wondered how Spock returns. He's dead, Jim.

Favorite memory was the 2 people on a date sitting behind me. As the lights dimmed the girl asked him, "Now, who is Spock?" I quietly laughed imagining how to answer that in 10 seconds before the film starts.



. . . The Bones tell me nothing.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

When I left the theater after having watched The Wrath of Khan in 1982, Spock was dead and Han Solo was frozen in carbonite. When I left the theater after having watched The Search for Spock, the universe had been put back in order

----
A journey into the realm of the obscure: http://saturdayshowcase.blogspot.com/

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

I was 9 years old and here's what I remember:

1. HUGE lines at the concession stand, which had a model Enterprise hanging overhead.

2. Being inside waiting for the movie to start and hearing an even smaller kid whining about the waiting and the dad trying to comfort the kid by telling him, "It's alright, it's alright Star WARS is about to start."

3. Being in ABSOLUTE SHOCK that the Enterprise was blowing up...then thinking, "Nah, it will be repaired somehow." and then it turns into a fiery streak in the sky.

4. My dad trying to cover my eyes when David opens Spock's casket, but then removing his hand when nothing was in there except a robe.

5. I remember loving the movie.

6. To this day, the stealing of the Enterprise remains my favorite sequence in ANY Star Trek film.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

As I"ve said elsewhere, my overall impression was one of disappointment. Three movies in and only one even remotely like an episode of the series. While I did like the theme of sacrifice, I didn't like that they basically undid everything from TWOK, and blew up the Enterprise to boot.

I also thought that Kruge was rather comical, which made his decision to arbitrarily kill a hostage seem rather strange.

And what's with Kirk offering his hand to Kruge during the fight? Maybe he thought Kruge was his only ticket off the planet.

"Lovey-dovey. Bonk bonk on the head!"

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

Did you think Kruge was comical for the character or was it because it was Jim from Taxi. I thought he was good for being an evil dude.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

id never watched Taxi so knew nothing about Lloyd from that. all I knew was Kruge was one scary mean bastard - as ruthless and evil as Khan (maybe even more so)

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

That was partly the reason, but I had seen him play villains on TV. The way he fried his gunner and waxed philosophically at times.

He was obviously some kind of Klingon renegade. Makes you wonder why the Klingon Empire was defending Kruge instead of apologizing for his actions.

"Lovey-dovey. Bonk bonk on the head!"

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

I saw this in a full theater when I was 17. It was great to see a movie that had people cheering, cheering at Uhura pulling a phaser on Mr. Adventure, "Don't call me Tiny", and "The answer is no, I am therefore going anyway". Really got the audience fired up.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

I saw it opening day with a friend.

I didn't think much of it. I wondered where Kirstie Alley was.

The story seemed to move a little too fast, and I was wondering why the hell the Klingons were flying a Romulan ship.

It was a sequel that had a lower budget than the previous film, so...there you go.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

It had a higher budget

The BOP was a Klingons ship (originally the idea was for the villains to be romulans in a romulan ship, then Klingons in a romulan ship, then Klingons in a Klingons ship)

It'd have been awesome had K Alley had returned and would've felt even more like a true sequel to TWOK but alas 'twas not to be. In retrospect a deal should've been reached as Savvik wasn't just some throwaway character..and Alley totally owned it in TWOK (she was one of the highlights of that film)

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

The story is that the STIII script was stolen, and mister Roddenberry was so outraged by it that he swapped out the Roms for Klingons, but by then the SFX footage had already been shot, so the Klingons got a Rom ship.

It's just more ego idiocy. I love Trek, but the figurehead for the creative team that put it together had some character issues.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

I saw each of the films in cinemas in the West End of London - my home town - as soon as it came out. They used to do Trek marathons, showing all the films with the new one last, of course.

I remember saying to my friends as we came out after seeing TSFS, well, now get out of that! Because they had destroyed the Enterprise, and as we thought were all likely to be sacked from Starfleet.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

The one thing I remember was when in 1985 when I was going to UAlbany, they had a common area called the Rathskeller (sic) which had a bar and food etc. I had taped both TWOK and TSFS back to back and the bartender was nice enough to play both of them on their big screen projection tv. People were skipping their classes to watch both movies. Had to be over 100 people at one point. Ovation at the end of the 'show'.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

shame these reminiscing seeing in cinema threads will soon be no more 😖

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

I remember William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy being interviewed by David Hartman on Good Morning America about TSFS the day it opened. At one point, Hartman said," Leonerd, give it up...What brings Spock back to life?"
Before Nimoy could answer, Shatner cracks,"I'll answer that. It was the $25 million they paid him to play the part again."
I literally fell out of my chair laughing.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?


by bozo_500 » Fri Oct 18 2013 03:12:18 Flag ▼ | Reply |
IMDb member since June 2011
Post Edited: Sat May 3 2014 07:55:07
Who saw this back in the day? What were your memories - the anticipation of seeing it in the weeks/days before, the actually seeing it and how much a big deal was it where you were back then, the crowds, audience etc and after coming out of the cinema what were your thoughts and in the days/weeks that followed….

I was very young but remember thinking it was amazing it felt so epic and big like it was really there in space witnessing the giant space station and destruction of the Ent. plus it had abit of a star wars feel to it with the cantina, alien microbes, crew becoming rebels, the klingons, phaser fights/ship battles, and the epic fight at the end with all the lava recalled Temple of Doom.

I saw it on opening day, and it was a dumb-@$$ film.

In fact I was quietly angry, and didn't say a whole lot about it.

It looked like it was directed by some idiot who knew the characters and some basics about story telling, but not much beyond, and certainly even less about Trek itself.

I thought it was a poor film on nearly every level, and refuse to see it again, much less buy the DVD.

There was no overarching theme that is usually the main focus of the story. It was just an installment to bring back Spock, which I don't mind, but no real message to it.

There was nothing about the planet, other than it was a failed experiment, there was nothing about the Klingons interfering, Kristy Alley apparently wanted a boat load of cash to come back for the role, the script got stolen and Roddenberry dickered with the story out of anger ... it was just one giant FUBAR.

I'm sorry I saw it. I'm sorry it was made. I wish someone at the executive level would have raised their eyebrows and slapped the producers with a giant restraining order and/or fine for making such a piece of trash.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

It was so awful, I actually walked out of the theater with about 20 minutes to go. I couldn't take any more. That was the only time I've ever done that.

What was up with the way the Klingons were talking? Did anyone eve figure out why they were switching back and forth between Klingon and English in the same conversation? It's like the writers and directors didn't even care enough about the whole silly mess to attend to even the most basic details. The whole film was a disjointed, disorganized joke in my opinion.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

I have to admit, I wish I had walked out on it, but my friend and I were big Trek fans back in the day, and we had to see the whole thing. In retrospect, walking out would have been the thing to do.

The Klingons switching languages was bothersome, but I was so blinded by the fact that it was a Star Trek film, one that had some fairly high production values, that I stayed to see the whole thing.

To me Trek ended with STII. Spock died, and everyone went on to live their lives. What happens after that is up to fan fiction or speculation.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

We waited in line on opening night. The first 100 people got free commemorative STIII glasses. On the glass it has a synopsis of the plot, including Spock's resurrection. So - years avoiding spoilers in magazines and commercials, and handed a spoiler on walking in.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?


We waited in line on opening night. The first 100 people got free commemorative STIII glasses. On the glass it has a synopsis of the plot, including Spock's resurrection. So - years avoiding spoilers in magazines and commercials, and handed a spoiler on walking in.


these huh?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M0ezyb2aJY
https://img0.etsystatic.com/061/0/5414645/il_570xN.779642544_7atf.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a_90G7lyvcU/U2Jvtg4SBmI/AAAAAAAArVI/sDnqQc3f16A/s1600/spockglasses+001.JPG

they gave away the details of Spocks resurrection and the Ents destruction!!!

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

Yep - the one on the left in the last link.

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Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

Saw it a couple of times and enjoyed it. I was a bit disappointed that Kirstie Alley wasn't back; but, Robin Curtiss did a good job. It wasn't quite the classic that Wrath of Khan was; but, it was a darn good film.

Fortunately, Ah keep mah feathers numbered for just such an emergency!

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Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

I also saw it again in cinemas in 1987 as part of a I-IV marathon at a local cinema (I remember seeing the ad for it in a comic store and was like I gotta go to that!) It was great as back then buying films (on vhs) wasn't the norm (too expensive) so really you just had to wait for them to come on tv (and tape them off there if you had a home video recorder - which I didn't). TMP id never even seen on the big screen just once on tv (and tvs wernt that great back then were they) so that was an event in itself. II had seen once in 82 but was way too young to appreciate it, and once or twice on tv a few years later. id seen III twice in 84 and had forgotten most of it so this was almost like seeing it for the first time again. and IV had seen a couple of times that year already but that was ok as I couldn't get enough of it

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

I did. Seeing this film on the big screen back in the day was such a total blast.

Yes, this is really me.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?…



"THAT'S SOME BAD SHIT, HARRY!".

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

I saw it on my birthday that year. I remember loving it as the good adventure that it was.

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?…

! , I ALSO saw it in the cinema when it came out in '84.

"THAT'S SOME BAD SHIT, HARRY!".

Re: Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

I saw V and VI at ze cinema.
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