Which is the point at which this intriguing alternate universe becomes a dystopia.
Your Ideas: Star Trek III but no Leonard Nimoy
- Thread starter somebuddyX
- Start date
I would also hate losing Alley in Summer School. Not a good film, but she was hot.Which is the point at which this intriguing alternate universe becomes a dystopia.
I found it fun, though I haven't seen it in years. And yes, she was.I would also hate losing Alley in Summer School. Not a good film, but she was hot.
I'm honestly not sure Star Trek would have worked without Spock, at least not on the big screen. He's part of the triumvirate with Kirk and McCoy, and that is the heart of TOS.
I imagine that Paramount's greed would have led to another film after TWOK's success, but I can't imagine that version of Star Trek III doing well after the curiosity of opening weekend died down. Fans would have likely refused to watch the movie and general audiences would have to be really impressed with whatever followed something like the death of Spock. Spock's death, of course, had the effect of bringing in non-fans and would have been almost impossible to follow. Hell, that's why David Marcus and the Enterprise die as something big needed to happen before Spock's full return.
As for a Spock-less Trek III, I don't know where you can go that beats TWoK...maybe a direct threat to Earth? Do you just do The Voyage Home? That story doesn't work without Spock or, at least, isn't nearly as strong and classic.
I imagine that Paramount's greed would have led to another film after TWOK's success, but I can't imagine that version of Star Trek III doing well after the curiosity of opening weekend died down. Fans would have likely refused to watch the movie and general audiences would have to be really impressed with whatever followed something like the death of Spock. Spock's death, of course, had the effect of bringing in non-fans and would have been almost impossible to follow. Hell, that's why David Marcus and the Enterprise die as something big needed to happen before Spock's full return.
As for a Spock-less Trek III, I don't know where you can go that beats TWoK...maybe a direct threat to Earth? Do you just do The Voyage Home? That story doesn't work without Spock or, at least, isn't nearly as strong and classic.
Is it though? The trio became important as the series went on, but when it started, it was focused on Kirk and how the stories impacted him. And there are a good number of later episodes that separate all three which work like crazy. The Doomsday Machine, for example. Kirk is on the Constellation, Spock is on the Enterprise dealing with Commodore Decker and McCoy is ushered off screen after the first 22 minutes. It is also my favorite Star Trek story franchise wide.
A movie could work without Spock. In fact, Star Trek III did work just fine without him being on screen. There was no lack of heart in the film. Yes, Spock was still the primary motivator, but it was Kirk's story. Replacing Spock with Saavik, and having McCoy there to temper Kirk's prejudice towards her (because she's not Spock), would have retained that mix while giving it a fresh perspective. This was, I think, what they had in mind for Xon in Phase 2. McCoy would still be frustrated with having a Vulcan to deal with but he also took sympathy on him because of the large shoes to fill.
I feel like Star Trek III would have worked just fine with Saavik as the Spock replacement (especially if Kirstie Alley came back). Watching Shatner explore that side of Kirk and grow to accept Saavik would have been a nice change of pace and actually had potential for growth in the series instead of simply restoring the status quo.
And TNG proved that Star Trek can exist just fine with new blood.
As others alluded to it could be pretty similar, switch Carol out for Saavik and have Saavik part of the main crew as the replacement for Spock. Kirk finds out Carol and David are in trouble with the Klingons and steals the Enterprise to go get them, faces off with Kruge as usual. You'd have to pad some stuff out to make up for lost screentime on Vulcan. Might have even been better than the movie we did get.
I find it interesting that, as of January 18, 1982, the second film was being called 'The Undiscovered Country' (or, alternately, Star Trek: The Motion Picture II), even though it was the same Khan story that we know:
If Nimoy had not participated at all, there was still plenty of room for a good story that could have retained a lot of the same elements.
The Genesis project could have been at the heart of a conspiracy such as we saw in the sixth film. All that business about Kirk being kept out of the loop about the ongoing Genesis planet story seemed a little odd, to begin with. He was still a full admiral and he had been right in the middle of the events.
"Only the science team goes to Genesis." Horse hockey. One little Oberth-class science vessel to deal with something so unprecedented?!?
Kirk would have been highly suspicious of that. He would have stolen the Enterprise just to go make sure that his son was safe!
While TSFS is my favorite of the films, much could have been done better.
Same with TWOK. Kirk would not have gotten caught with his pants down. That was wildly out-of-character.
If Nimoy had not participated at all, there was still plenty of room for a good story that could have retained a lot of the same elements.
The Genesis project could have been at the heart of a conspiracy such as we saw in the sixth film. All that business about Kirk being kept out of the loop about the ongoing Genesis planet story seemed a little odd, to begin with. He was still a full admiral and he had been right in the middle of the events.
"Only the science team goes to Genesis." Horse hockey. One little Oberth-class science vessel to deal with something so unprecedented?!?
Kirk would have been highly suspicious of that. He would have stolen the Enterprise just to go make sure that his son was safe!
While TSFS is my favorite of the films, much could have been done better.
Same with TWOK. Kirk would not have gotten caught with his pants down. That was wildly out-of-character.
