Star Trek IN SEARCH OF SPOCK

[bionicbob]

Kirk and his noble crew risk their careers and lives to resurrect their fallen comrade, Spock!

The Search for Spock is my personal favourite adventure of the classic cast movies. The themes of friendship, loyalty and sacrifice are timeless and powerful. Leonard Nimoy's directorial debut is a solid one, eliciting from Shatner one of his best performances. The FX from ILM is gorgeous and the James Horner score is wonderful.

But the movie has some minor issues for me, especially in the area of narrative structure. It is called the SEARCH for SPOCK, but the quest does not even begin until 20 minutes into the movie. So with this version, the first 50 minutes is completely restructured, with Saavik's quest for Spock running parallel with Kirk's. 11 minutes of cuts and trims have been made for pacing and tonal evenness. And additional Horner music (from KRULL and BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS) has been added to many scenes.

CUT/CHANGE LIST:
--Added TWOK Paramount title card
--Cut Opening Recap
--Added subtle TOS bridge ambience to Grissom scenes and fully staffed Enterprise scenes
--Open now pre-titles with USS Grissom and life sign reading
--Cut Grissom informing Starfleet about finding Spock's tube
--Opening titles with new title card IN SEARCH OF SPOCK
--first 50 minutes all scenes in new order, so Saavik's quest runs parallel to Kirk's.
--Cut Chekov and Scotty gag about Spock's quarters
--wrote Klingon sub-titles
--cut most Klingon dog gags
--Trimmed David and Saavik's beam down to Genesis
--added Spock's theme when opening the tube and finding his robe
--added shuttle flyby sound fx to transition from Spock scream, with Spacedock shot from TVH.
--added Spock's theme when Sarek appears in Kirk's doorway
--re-scored the Mind Meld and added scenes from TWOK
--created a camera panning up transition from Grissom to snow cover desert
--cut McCoy at bar
--cut rescuing McCoy
--cut disbelief reaction shot of Grissom officer
--cut yellow alert Captain Styles quarters scene
--replaced sound effect of Excelsior losing power
--from this point onward, added thunder sound effects to all Genesis planet scenes
--cut Ponn Farr discussion with David, also swapped in a shot of teen Spock
--cut bizarre shot a Klingon behind a tree!!!!!
--cut Saavik and teen Spock Ponn Farr scene
--slight trim/cut from Klingon torpedo impact to bridge explosion
--scored David's death
--cut Kirk and crew on Genesis stopping suddenly to look at....???... nothing?
--scored Kirk with David's body
--scored Kirk and Kruge's fight
--slight trim when Kruge grabs Kirk's foot

10GB MP4 file. PM if interested.

Special THANKS to @Fran_Garcia for is unending support and positivity!

 

[bionicbob]

Here are some sample clips from IN SEARCH OF SPOCK:

 

[bionicbob]

THANK YOU @Wraith for your review!

The re-arranged first 50 mins, the removed off-kilter moments, the judicious trimming and care taken has made what was a decent movie into a throughly enjoyable and satisfying conslusion to KHAN..

What can I say other than HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
This is THE GO-TO VERSION

It's HAPPY DANCE time!!!!

 

[bionicbob]

@hbenthow Thank YOU for your review and for mentoring me behind the scenes in recent days.

The video and audio edits were seamless, and someone who has never seen the original cut (or hasn't seen it recently and forgotten much of it as a result) would probably not realize that anything has been changed.

The only cut that I'm conflicted about is the Pon Farr subplot. While cutting it did speed up the pacing, it is logical that Spock would go through Pon Farr as he matures, and the Spock/Saavik Pon Farr scene was rather poignant.

As a life long Trek fan, I truly appreciated the Ponn Farr inclusion in the original movie. One of the reasons for the cut, after rearranging the first 50 minutes and cutting scenes, there was no longer a natural place for the scene without throwing off the pacing and momentum.

Of course, if they kept the Saavik Pregnant subplot in The Voyage Home, then the scene would have had to stay.

 

[bionicbob]

A Thank You to @Bored at 3:00AM for taking the time to post a review.

The two biggest improvements in my view are the addition of Horner music to the death of David and the Kirk vs Kruge brawl. Those scenes are definitely given more oomph from Horner's bombastic score.

To me, it is just not a real KIRK fight unless you have epic bombastic music to accompany it LOL.

Not sure if I mentioned it, but most of the additional Horner music came from his work on KRULL, with some bits from BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS.

 

[bionicbob]

Thank You @phineasbg for your review.

Some of the best improvements come from the musical choices. BionicBob has added new emotional cues and rousing action themes that accentuate the drama and adventure.

It is fascinating at how musically sparse the original movie really is in many key emotional or dramatic moments. I am happy to hear my additions worked for you.

 

[bionicbob]

@gilhodges Thank You very much for posting a review.

Trying to figure out what version of Shatners TJ Hooker toupee he was wearing.

This will be a 5 outta 5 with some butter on the popcorn scale

 

[bionicbob]

@janderclander14 THANK YOU for taking the opportunity to post a review. It is always greatly appreciated.

In regards to the new opening with the USS Grissom and the Spock reveal, this is how it was originally scripted, shot and edited together. The scene was moved very late in Post. Thus, that is why it has that specific opening music cue and shows the Stardate at nearly 20 minutes into the film. The reason for the scene relocation? Lots of rumors, few facts... lol

 

[bionicbob]

THANK YOU @ParanoidAndroid for your review.

Thanks Bob for taking a film I remember getting bored of before and making it into something I had difficulty looking away from...

Happy to hear you enjoyed it.

... to my eyes the cutting here deletes just superfluous material.

Trek III is my personal favorite of the Original Series, thus I pretty much love every scene. So what got cut was mostly determined by the new narrative structure of having Saavik's quest unfold parallel to Kirk's. I wanted to keep the pacing tight by continually rotating from Saavik to Kirk to Kruge and back again. By adhering to this structure, many of my beloved moments no longer fit. But that is why we always have the original.

 

[bionicbob]

@lwdallas Thank You for your review.

The rescoring of the music results in even more heart. I wouldn't have thought it could be better but it is!

So happy you enjoyed it. Rescoring the final fight between Kirk and Kruge was perhaps the most satisfying change for me, so it great to read that it works for others as well.