This film continues the storyline that began with "The Wrath of Khan" (which itself is a follow-up of the original series episode "Space Seed"). Whereas the previous film presents the notion of "the good of the many outweighs the good of the few, or the one" this film showcases the premise of "the good of the one outweighs the good of the many".

Some pointed observations need to be made pertaining to this generally satisfactory film. The most glaring note for this film is the inexplicable omission of Doctor Carol Marcus. Where is she supposed to be / what role is she supposed to play while her son David is first assigned to the science vessel Grissom and then later murdered by the renegade(?) Klingon contingent led by Kruge? It is as if she in fact passed on before David reached adulthood and hence became a non-entity by the time all these events are taking place. The flipside of this point is the equally inexplicable inclusion of Lieutenant Savvik. Firstly, the switch from Kirsty Alley to Robin Curtis seemingly makes no more sense than, say, changing the actor playing Spock from Leonard Nimoy to someone else (though this was done in the case of Captain Christopher Pike in "The Cage" by Jeff Hunter and in "The Menagerie" by someone aside from Hunter). Moreover, the Savvik character just did not seem all that integral to the plotline of either this or next film (of course if Alley re-prised the role in both "Search" and "Voyage" then at least the continuity would have been preserved). As for Robin Curtis, she is a fine actor in her own right/terms, as amply demonstrated by her portrayal of a Vulcan separatist in ST:TNG "Gambit I and II" episodes. Nevertheless, since the Savvik character has already been established by Alley, not Curtis, in "Wrath of Khan", it seemed inapropriate for anyone other than Alley to be portraying her, if at all.

On balance, this reviewer finds the film better than several Star Trek films, such as "The Wrath of Khan" with its egregious continuity discrepancy - Khan having met - and thus remembering - Chekov when in fact he never saw Chekov prior to the meeting at Ceti Alpha V in the film (Khan did not meet Sulu, either), or his reference to having been awakened in the year 1996! The main problem for this film seems to be a lack of clear and distinct identity. In short, this film in practical terms serves as a filler, a conduit between II and IIII, as perhaps intentionally symbolised by not having a main musical theme of its own (the film merely commandeers the one in "Wrath of Khan", something that is not true of "The Voyage Home").

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This film continues the storyline that began with "The Wrath of Khan" (which itself is a follow-up of the original series episode "Space Seed"). Whereas the previous film presents the notion of "the good of the many outweighs the good of the few, or the one" this film showcases the premise of "the good of the one outweighs the good of the many". Some pointed observations need to be made pertaining to this generally satisfactory film. The most glaring note for this film is the inexplicable omission of Doctor Carol Marcus. Where is she supposed to be / what role is she supposed to play while her son David is first assigned to the science vessel Grissom and then later murdered by the renegade(? ) Klingon contingent led by Kruge? It is as if she in fact passed on before David reached adulthood and hence became a non-entity by the time all these events are taking place. The flipside of this point is the equally inexplicable inclusion of Lieutenant Savvik. Firstly, the switch from Kirsty Alley to Robin Curtis seemingly makes no more sense than, say, changing the actor playing Spock from Leonard Nimoy to someone else (though this was done in the case of Captain Christopher Pike in "The Cage" by Jeff Hunter and in "The Menagerie" by someone aside from Hunter). Moreover, the Savvik character just did not seem all that integral to the plotline of either this or next film (of course if Alley re-prised the role in both "Search" and "Voyage" then at least the continuity would have been preserved). As for Robin Curtis, she is a fine actor in her own right/terms, as amply demonstrated by her portrayal of a Vulcan separatist in ST:TNG "Gambit I and II" episodes. Nevertheless, since the Savvik character has already been established by Alley, not Curtis, in "Wrath of Khan", it seemed inapropriate for anyone other than Alley to be portraying her, if at all. On balance, this reviewer finds the film better than several Star Trek films, such as "The Wrath of Khan" with its egregious continuity discrepancy - Khan having met - and thus remembering - Chekov when in fact he never saw Chekov prior to the meeting at Ceti Alpha V in the film (Khan did not meet Sulu, either), or his reference to having been awakened in the year 1996! The main problem for this film seems to be a lack of clear and distinct identity. In short, this film in practical terms serves as a filler, a conduit between II and IIII, as perhaps intentionally symbolised by not having a main musical theme of its own (the film merely commandeers the one in "Wrath of Khan", something that is not true of "The Voyage Home"). Was this review helpful to you?