Star Trek III question...

[Timo]

At this point in the movie no one had any idea that the torpedo tube had made a soft landing on Genesis and that Spock's body had been rejuvenated.

The crew of the Grissom did know of the soft landing. Starfleet did know of the soft landing, because Esteban had insisted on reporting it ASAP. And we can assume Kirk kept a close eye on what Starfleet knew, because it's explicit that he had immediate plans of returning to Genesis at the earliest convenience quite regardless of any katra business. He had said as much at the end of ST2 already.

Kirk didn't know that Spock's body was alive again, no. Nobody except David and Saavik knew that, since Esteban's last message had been jammed by the Klingons. But apparently, even getting the body back was something that Kirk had always considered worthwhile: he knew that Genesis was "life from death", and he stated this as the reason for his intent to return to that planet.

Perhaps Sarek didn't mean that (although we do know Vulcans have interstellar-range telepathic abilities, and Sarek might have known a thing or two about what was going on at Genesis), but Kirk would have misinterpreted Sarek due to his own expectations...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Grant]

Here's a link to the script.

It was written to show Kirk's knowledge was almost instant about the tube soft-landing. I guess they just figgured it didn't matter when they edited it or more likely forgot that it was needed to fill the info gap.

Star Trek The Search for Spock (1984 Sci-Fi) Screenplay by Harve Bennett

 

[Grant]

That's a fun read since it shows how much the david/Saavik stuff had to carry the movie if they had left it in that order.

They made a wise decision by reodering the movie after filming.

Butrick & Curtis---as a boring stoic Vulcan---couldn't carry the first half of the movie. You can also see that David/Saavik's scenes were heavily trimed of all but the most essential parts.

 

[Alrik]

....why was it neccesary for Kirk and his crew to steal the Enterprise in order to do it?...

Everything else has already been pretty much addressed. Now "why Enterprise"? Kirk had alway intended to use Enterprise. Early on Scotty reports that everything is nearly complete and he will have the ship ready in two weeks. Upon reaching Space Dock as they were getting their "atta boys", Kirk tells the Admiral he plans to take Enterprise back to Genesis and gets shot down. After getting shot down with one last try, Kirk gives the line, "The word? The word is no, therefore I am going anyway."

It would have all worked much better if they had kept with the original log entry regarding finding that the tube had soft landed early in the movie. I can see where it might confuse some people. For me, it wasn't that big of a deal just because I had figured that the entire reason for the ending of ST II was to lead into bringing Spock back in the next film.

 

[Timo]

Now "why Enterprise"? Kirk had always intended to use Enterprise.

...And even when that was denied him, he still had a reason to prefer Enterprise to any other ship.

For one, Starfleet had declared the planet off limits, so Kirk couldn't legitimately purchase the services of another skipper for the trip. He probably couldn't buy or rent an entire ship for his own use, either. Stealing from Starfleet would be easier for him than stealing from elsewhere - both logistically (he'd know the codes, the guards, the schedules) and morally (it was "his" business he was robbing, not somebody else's). Indeed, stealing from "himself" would probably be more morally acceptable than purchasing a ride from a criminal.

Also, a starship would have better odds at running the supposed Starfleet blockade than a civilian ship would - in terms of speed, IFF transponders and the like, and in the worst case also shielding and firepower... And of course, the Enterprise specifically was the best choice for such a starship, again logistically (she was available and he had the codes) and morally (she was "his" ship, sort of).

Timo Saloniemi

 

[shapeshifter]

That it took 24 years for this flaw to be revealed says something positive about the editing.

Not precisely -- some of us who saw it in theaters in 1984 wondered the same thing, as well as why Kirk had transformed from the relatively sanguine character at the end of TWOK to the obsessed TJ Hooker-ish figure he was in TSFS. I recall being fairly disappointed with how TSFS basically undid everything from the superior previous film, went nowhere with secondary characters like David Marcus and Saavik, provided some of the dopiest Federation folk and campiest Klingons since TTWT, and though it took nearly two years to make, only advanced things in the Trek universe a few months. On the whole, I found it to be an inferior film, mawkish in sentiment and dweeby in humor, though a few scenes -- Sarek's mindmeld, the destruction of the Enterprise, the return to Vulcan -- deserved to be in a much, much better film.

That it took 24 years for this flaw to be revealed says something positive about the editing.

You gotta be kidding, right? For some reason, my mother -- whose knowledge of TREK was pretty much nonexistent -- went with me to see the movie, and even SHE mentioned aloud that there was something missing with respect to all this 'go back to Vulcan' crap, WHILE THE MOVIE WAS ON.

EDIT ADDON: Oh, I see Basil covered all this (except for the part about my mom.)

In all my time online I have never before seen a thread about it till now.

 

[Timo]

The last time this cropped up on this forum, on this very sub-forum, appears to have been February 27th of this year...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Alrik]

Now "why Enterprise"? Kirk had always intended to use Enterprise.

...And even when that was denied him, he still had a reason to prefer Enterprise to any other ship.

For one, Starfleet had declared the planet off limits, so Kirk couldn't legitimately purchase the services of another skipper for the trip. He probably couldn't buy or rent an entire ship for his own use, either. Stealing from Starfleet would be easier for him than stealing from elsewhere - both logistically (he'd know the codes, the guards, the schedules) and morally (it was "his" business he was robbing, not somebody else's). Indeed, stealing from "himself" would probably be more morally acceptable than purchasing a ride from a criminal.

Also, a starship would have better odds at running the supposed Starfleet blockade than a civilian ship would - in terms of speed, IFF transponders and the like, and in the worst case also shielding and firepower... And of course, the Enterprise specifically was the best choice for such a starship, again logistically (she was available and he had the codes) and morally (she was "his" ship, sort of).

Timo Saloniemi

Something else to keep in mind. NCC-1701 was slated to be decommissioned. I'm sure that would have factored into Kirk's thinking as well.

 

[shapeshifter]

The last time this cropped up on this forum, on this very sub-forum, appears to have been February 27th of this year...

Timo Saloniemi

Doesn't matter, it's still the first time I've ever seen the point raised. Not everyone reads every post on a MB.

 

[Joker]

The last time this cropped up on this forum, on this very sub-forum, appears to have been February 27th of this year...

Timo Saloniemi

Doesn't matter, it's still the first time I've ever seen the point raised. Not everyone reads every post on a MB.

... which says nothing positive about the editing.

 

[shapeshifter]

The last time this cropped up on this forum, on this very sub-forum, appears to have been February 27th of this year...

Timo Saloniemi

Doesn't matter, it's still the first time I've ever seen the point raised. Not everyone reads every post on a MB.

... which says nothing positive about the editing.

Neither did you bring anything relevant to the thread.