In this one, when Spock is reborn and starts growing at a tremendous rate he has to go through the pon farr in something like every seven minutes instead of every seven years.
Now, it's made almost crystal clear in Voyager a Vulcan must mate when the pon farr comes... Vorik goes to great lengths to get B'Elanna no matter what.
So with Spock needing to do this every seven minutes and only one woman available... is Saavik really that understanding?

By Paul T. on Tuesday, November 17, 1998 - 01:05 pm:

If you read the Star Trek Encyclopedia and look at the entry for Saavik, It says that originally the script called for Saavik mating with Spock. In Star Trek 4, Saavik still remains on Vulcan to have hers and Spock's child. For some reason it was never mentioned in the film.

By Brian Henley on Tuesday, November 17, 1998 - 01:24 pm:

Vulcans don't HAVE to mate during pon farr. I refer to "Amok Time" and "Blood Fever" The pon farring individual can simply duke it out with whoever is available untill the urges have passed. I guess a Saavik / Spock slugfest was something they didn't want to show us.

By Chris Thomas on Wednesday, November 18, 1998 - 03:29 am:

My thoughts were derived from seeing Blood Fever and Vorik's determination to mate. And then I thought these would be tenfold during Spock's rapid regeneration to the point where he would become an extremely savage animal that would stop at nothing to achieve his goal.
Interesting about the original script.

By D.K. Henderson on Friday, November 20, 1998 - 07:40 am:

In the movie, Spock goes into Pon Farr at a much younger age than he was on the episode "Amok Time." The implication on the television show was that he was undergoing it for the first time. Apparently that Genesis whatsis caused him to sexually mature much faster the second time around.

By NSetzer on Friday, November 20, 1998 - 07:50 am:

I am not quite sure about this, but I think in Amok Time they did mention a certain age which the pon farr is first experienced. With that I was under the impression that this wasn't the first time for Spock.

By Mf on Tuesday, November 24, 1998 - 03:22 pm:

Spock at the same time metions that he hoped he would be Spared because of his human blood.

A nit - why did the Bird of Prey look so damn big? Even if it was literally nose to nose with Enterprise, it only holds a dozen officers and men.

By Adam Howarter on Wednesday, November 25, 1998 - 12:59 am:

Don't remeber if Phil tounched on this in the guide or not, but isn't it odd that as Spock was growing his nails and hair were nice enough to realize he was going through some hard times and decided to cut him some slack by only growing as needed?

By Chris Thomas on Saturday, November 28, 1998 - 01:57 am:

Can't remember - was there any facial hair by the end?

By D. Gunther on Sunday, November 29, 1998 - 12:30 am:

Nope, no facial hair whatsoever.

By N.L.A. on Sunday, November 29, 1998 - 01:13 am:

The Bird of Prey isn't really big. If you look at the self-destruct scene, the Bird of Prey is only about half the size of the Enterprise's saucer.

By Mf on Monday, November 30, 1998 - 06:14 pm:

I was thinking of the scene right after the klingons have attacked. Their sitting nose to nose, waiting - - with the enterprise in the foreground - - and the Bird still looks huge.

By Johnny Veitch on Saturday, December 12, 1998 - 06:12 am:

Chekov refers to the Grissom as a scout-class vessel. Scout-class? The same way as the Enterprise is Constitution-class? So sometime in Star Trek`s past, there was a USS Scout? And anyway, the Grissom is actually a science vessel, and Oberth-class.

At the end of the film, when Spock is back, they play music from the original series and have a caption "And The Adventure Continues". I feel this would be more appropriate for "The Voyage Home" where the story arc is really completed. In The Wrath Of Khan Spock dies. In The Search For Spock he comes back, and the Enterprise is destroyed. The Voyage Home begins with Klingons referring to instances in The Search For Spock and at the end the crew gets a new Enterprise. Wouldn`t you say that is the end of the story arc?

By Anonymous on Saturday, December 12, 1998 - 02:49 pm:

No.

By Spockania on Sunday, December 13, 1998 - 08:34 am:

Note on facial hair- have we ever seen a bearded Vulcan? I don't think so. It's possible Vulcans just don't HAVE facial hair.

By NSetzer on Sunday, December 13, 1998 - 09:24 am:

We _have_ seen a bearded Vulcan, in Mirror, Mirror.

By Anonymous on Sunday, December 13, 1998 - 11:00 pm:

And Spocks 1/2 Brother had a beard in Star Trek V

By ScottN on Monday, December 14, 1998 - 11:35 am:

Tuvok shaves in "Year of Hell"

By Cableface on Saturday, January 16, 1999 - 10:46 am:

How come the self destruct of the enterprise seems to originate from the bridge?In The Motion Picture, Kirk sets the self destruct and a worried woman asks Scotty if it will be enough to destroy V'Ger (or something like that) and Scott replies "when that much matter and anti-matter mix..."So basically, to self destrust, the computer allows all the anti-matter and matter to mix uncontrolably and they destroy each other and the ship.So shouldn't the drive section blow up first, instead of the bridge and saucer?And shouldn't there be a shock wave, like in generations?

By MikeC on Saturday, January 16, 1999 - 05:59 pm:

GUEST STAR PATROL (In Search Of...Nits)

Christopher Lloyd (Kruge) we all know as Reverend Jim on "Taxi", Doc Brown in "Back to the Future", etc.

John Larroquette (Maltz) was Dan Fielding on "Night Court", and had his own TV sitcom for a while. Gosh, lots of TV sitcom stars turn into such nasty Klingons on the big screen.

By Rodnberry on Tuesday, January 19, 1999 - 07:00 am:

I think the nastiest Klingon of all was John Tesh! AAAAIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

By John Tesh on Tuesday, January 19, 1999 - 03:57 pm:

You have NO HONOR! You must listen to my music as punishment!

By L. Maltin on Tuesday, January 19, 1999 - 04:02 pm:

How about Mary Hart of Entertainment Tonight playing a Klingon warrioress?

By BF on Tuesday, January 19, 1999 - 04:40 pm:

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Kill me now!! How dare you put that thought in my head!!

By Chris Ashley on Sunday, February 07, 1999 - 11:18 pm:

There was also a bearded Vulcan on Voyager's "Gravity" this week. (The beard is a tactical error on his part, IMHO--with Vulcans knowing Earth literature so well they might put a beard and pointy ears together to make Mephistopheles.)

Just my $0.02...the scenes between Spock and Saavik in this film were quite frankly a model of making something pretty stinkin' suggestive without being vulgar. (Hands, hands, hands.....)

Christopher Lloyd isn't all that great a Klingon compared to Christopher Plummer, IMHO. Of course, Plummer actually had a character.

That is actually my main complaint about this film. Except for Kirk, Saavik, Scotty and maybe McCoy this film has no characters. I can't imagine anyone but Kirk caring about David, and the rest of the characters are either taken for granted (Sulu, Chekhov, Uhura) or plain caricatures (the Excelsior's captain, "Adventure-boy", all the Klingons). I just didn't get this one.

I also have to say that after the philosophical discussions of grace in ST:II the implication that issues existed but were not being dealt with left me confused. The metaphor doesn't carry at all. (This doesn't worry me in IV--that was a romp, plain and simple--but III seemed to be aiming for something else.)

By MikeC on Monday, February 08, 1999 - 04:40 pm:

True--Lloyd gave Kruge a good try, and the character seems like he's more than a stereotypical Klingon, but then the character dies, so we don't have to worry about it.

This movie is the kind in which you know what's going to happen, but you're not sure exactly how. The scenes at Starbase are well done, Mark Lenard is always good as Sarek, etc. The Enterprise's destruction is very dramatic, and the death of David is surprising.

The only quibble is that the film isn't exactly involving, and seems like a play, limited to a few sets. The Klingons are forced, one-dimensional characters, with no development.

By Ted Pro on Thursday, February 11, 1999 - 07:08 pm:

Cableface (1/16/99-10:46a)
In Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise, they discuss two different self-destruct sequences.

"000 Destruct 0"
Used in planetary orbit, or near other objects to be preserved.
An overload of the electrical systems, and finally powerful explosives to render the hull useless.

"000 Destruct 1"
Used when clear of planetary bodies.
"when that much matter and anti-matter mix..."
That's when the drive section would blow up first, and there would be a shock wave, like in Generations.
------------------------------------------------
You know, they still could have initiated a
"000 Destruct 0" from Engineering. The only Klingons on the ship were Maltz and Kruge. Kirk could do a saucer separation and beam Spock and Saavik off of the surface, with a cargo transporter. Also Engineering section has photon torpedoes and warp engines.

By Dwmarch on Thursday, February 11, 1999 - 10:16 pm:

The ships are backwards in this movie! In ST:II we have the Reliant out looking for a suitable planet to test Genesis on. It works and the USS Grissom is assigned to study it. But shouldn't it have been the other way around? Why not have the science vessel Grissom out hunting for planets and the USS Reliant keeping Klingon pirates away from the planet?

By Greg W on Friday, February 12, 1999 - 04:55 pm:

Ted:

Seperate the SAUCER SECTION? on the original Enterprise???? What??? I don't understand at all. This is IMPOSSIBLE.

By Ted Pro on Friday, February 12, 1999 - 09:41 pm:

Greg,
Not quite impossible. The model of the 1701 refit wasn't built to do that, but the design specs say it is possible. It woun't have been as clean as the saucer seperation of 1701-D. This was the original Enterprise, but it was after the 18 month refit mentioned in ST:TMP. Explosive bolts below "H deck" or "Level 8" would separate the saucer from the Engineering Section.
A few books where this is mentioned indlude: "Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise", "The Art of Star Trek" and in some books that discussed the proposed "Star Trek II" series around 1978.

An alternate ending would be interesting.

By Charles Cabe (Ccabe) on Friday, February 12, 1999 - 10:04 pm:

Also, the saucer seperation was first mentioned in "The Apple". Although, the saucer couldn't be reattached.

By Keith Alan Morgan on Saturday, April 17, 1999 - 12:55 pm:

Why didn't Kruge just beam Valkris out of the ship and then blow it up? The only apparent reason for killing her was that she had watched the information she had sent him, but isn't she a spy? Wouldn't part of her job be to check the information to make sure it is really valuable and not just a muffin recipe? (Wouldn't that have been an interesting scene, Shatner in a chef's hat saying, "Then... you take... Three... cups of flour...") Also Kruge doesn't strike me as the sort of person who would have allowed the ship to fly away and maybe tell people that they just had a run in with a Klingon vessel. It seems to me that Kruge would have destroyed the ship anyway, so why didn't he save Valkris? (Maybe she didn't like his 'dog?')

Throughout the film we occasionally hear Spock's voice when McCoy is talking. Does this mean that McCoy is a gifted voice imitator or does Spock's katra somehow affect McCoy's vocal cords?

Vulcans are known for their adherence to logic and rejection of emotions, not the sort of people who would hang on to old superstitions, because that is not logical. So why is this katra business dismissed as "Vulcan mysticism"? Does that commander have something against Vulcans?

So why hasn't this katra business come up before? Spock has faced death any number of times, but he has never placed his katra in anyone before. He could have done it before he took the shuttle into the giant amoeba in The Immunity Syndrome, also he assumed that he would be tested by the Vians and have his mind destroyed in The Empath.

Maybe I just missed the reason, but why does Kirk think he has to go to Genesis? I realize that Sarek kept saying, "Why did you leave him on Genesis?", but once he explained the business of the katra, wouldn't Kirk realize that that was what was so important to Sarek? All they had to do was take McCoy to Vulcan and have Spock's katra placed in... whatever. (Hmmm. In Return To Tomorrow Sargon suggested that his race may be responsible for the creation of other races and Spock commented that Sargon's statement might explain several Vulcan myths and Spock's body was strong enough to contain Henoch's spirit longer than the human bodies. Do Vulcans place their katra in little glass light up globes?)

Since it is logical for a member of Starfleet to die in the line of duty, would it not also be logical to have a little entry in one's personnel file explaining how one would like one's body to be disposed of after death? If Spock wanted his body buried on Vulcan, then why not have that written down somewhere?

The captain of the Grissom is reluctant to beam David and Saavik down to Genesis because of the possibility of some kind of contamination. However, in the previous movie we saw the Genesis Cave that Kirk and the others hid in to get away from Khan and I don't remember anyone worried about any kind of contamination then.

Does it bother anyone that by the 23rd century people will still refer to a psychiatric institution as the "funny farm?"

I liked McCoy's line, "That green blooded son of a •••••! That's his revenge for all those arguments he lost."

The line is, "Now entering Genesis sector.", but I thought it was the Mutara sector?

How exactly did the self destruct work? We see the saucer blow up, but not the engines? Shouldn't a self destruct blow up the whole ship at once? Perhaps by initiating a warp core breach? I find it amazing that a photon torpedo causes more destruction to a ship then a self destruct. Of course then we see the Enterprise body burning up in the atmosphere, but the Enterprise is about the size of a battleship and much smaller objects have survived falling through an atmosphere. If Genesis hadn't of blown up, the majority of the Enterprise would be salvageable. It would have to be hauled away as garbage, but it would be possible.

Kirk shoots the Klingon and the guy gets knocked backwards by the beam. When did Starfleet add a Repulser setting to the phasers?

Throughout the film the wings of the Bird of Prey change their position depending on speed, they are down when hanging in space or going at impulse, they flatten out when going to warp, and they fold up when landing on a planet. However, when they are supposed to make their best speed to Vulcan, the wings are down.

If a Vulcan believes that he or she is going to die they place their katra in another individual to be taken back to Vulcan and be stored somewhere. Presumably if the Vulcan survives he or she simply performs another mind meld and 'sucks' their katra back into themselves. (Kind of like a vacuum cleaner. "Oops there's still a little behind your medulla oblongata. Just a minute while I get my crevice attachment.") So how and why would the practice of fal-tor-pan, the act of others placing the katra back in the owner's body, get started? The only explanation I can think of is some kind of damage to a Vulcan's mind where he is unable to remember himself or perform the katra retrieval himself, but the body remains in good health. Of course, for that matter, why didn't McCoy just use Spock's knowledge to place Spock's katra into Spock's body? (Because then we wouldn't have seen that ridiculous Vulcan pageantry. Was it just me or was the whole Vulcan sequence just a little ornate and over the top for a supposedly logical and unemotional race? Maybe that explains why it's dismissed as "Vulcan mysticism?")

If Spock's aging is tied to the planet, then why didn't he die with it? Did the proto-matter only affect him until his cells reached that same age that they were when the cells were regenerated or was it his proximity to the unstable proto-matter?

By George H. Daley Jr. on Saturday, May 01, 1999 - 10:18 pm:

Note to Johnny Veitch: When the Enterprise arrived at Genesis The Grissom was long since destroyed. The Scout-class vessel Chekov detects for an instant was the Klingon cruiser as it cloaked. That's why the sensor contact was too brief to get a positive ID.

Speaking of the Grissom's destruction, why didn't the Enterprise detect the floatsam that surely remained?

By SB on Thursday, June 10, 1999 - 02:48 pm:

Not to interrupt you, George, but I briefly have a nit of my own to state. Surely someone else noticed this: there are, for some reason, a lot more scorch marks on the Enterprise in this film than there were in "Wrath of Kahn" - specifically, burns where the ship was never hit!

By Nangeloni on Thursday, June 10, 1999 - 11:11 pm:

I noticed that too. In Trek II, the ship was only hit on the starboard torpedo bay, starboard engineering hull, and lower aft saucer (at least that's what it appeared to be). In this movie, there are additional ones on the portside engineering hull, the upper saucer, and the warp engines. Something happened we don't know about!!

By Brian Lombard on Monday, June 14, 1999 - 09:30 am:

So if Scotty was promoted to Captain of Engineering, why does he identify himself as Commander Montgomery Scott during the auto-destruct sequence?

By Chris Todaro on Monday, June 14, 1999 - 10:12 am:

Probably because he knew the Enterprise computer had not been re-programmed with his new rank.

By Brian Lombard on Monday, June 14, 1999 - 09:49 pm:

Possible, but going by that logic, the computer shouldn't have accepted Kirk's id, as he wasn't the Captain. He was an Admiral who just happened to take the ship out for a spin. : )

By Chris Todaro on Monday, June 14, 1999 - 10:39 pm:

But Kirk was the Captain:
"As of now, 1800 hours, I am assuming command of this vessel. Duty officer so note in the ship's log..."

By mf on Tuesday, June 15, 1999 - 11:04 am:

"captain" of engineering doesn;t necessarily imply a promotion in rank, despite Jimmy Doohan's protests.

By Brian Lombard on Tuesday, June 15, 1999 - 12:13 pm:

Yeah, but he's always referred to as Captain. See TNG's "Relics." Geordi even points this out to him when they're on the Jenolan.

By Nangeloni on Tuesday, June 15, 1999 - 10:48 pm:

His rank pin after he leaves Excelsior's engineering for the last time imply that indeed he is a captain.