Star Trek III: The Search for Spock story
After the death of Spock, the crew of the USS Enterprise returns to Earth. When James T. Kirk learns that Spock's spirit, or katra, is held in the mind of Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Kirk and company steal the Enterprise to return Spock's body to his homeworld. The crew must also contend with hostile Klingons led by Kruge who are bent on stealing the secrets of a powerful terraforming device. It is the third film in the Star Trek film series, and is the second part of a three-film story arc that begins with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and concludes with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986).
20 total · 6 major · 14 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| duty vs. friendship | major | Kirk and the command crew disobeyed orders and took off with the Enterprise in an effort to save their friend Spock. |
| friendship | major | Kirk and command crew with Spock. |
| interstellar space travel | major | Travel among the stars is a fundamental reality in the Star Trek universe. |
| speculative spaceship | major | The film is predominantly set aboard Enterprise. |
| speculative terraforming | major | The Genesis Planet was a recently terraformed planet that now abounded with life. |
| the lust for power | major | The Klingon captain expressed this as his motive for trying to obtain the secret of the Genesis Torpedo. |
| coping with the death of a child | minor | Kirk was momentarily overcome with grief over the murder of his son David at the hands of the Klingons. |
| coping with the death of a friend | minor | Kirk mourned the loss of his longtime friend and fellow crewman Spock. |
| crew's attachment to their ship | minor | Scotty didn't want to be reassigned to the Excelsior. He requested to be put in charge of refitting the Enterprise instead, but the request was denied. |
| father and son | minor | Kirk and David. Sarek and Spock. |