BACK COVER SYNOPSIS: Kirk must battle Klingons to protect the Genesis planet and save a friend's life. Admiral Kirk's defeat of Khan and the creation of the Genesis planet are empty victories. Spock is dead and McCoy is inexplicably being driven insane. Then a surprise visit from Sarek, Spock's father, provides a startling revelation: McCoy is harbouring Spock's living essence. With ony friend alive and one not, but both in pain, Kirk attempts to help his friends by stealing the USS Enterprise and defying Starfleet's Genesis planet quarantine. But the Klingons have also learned of Genesis and race to meet Kirk in a deadly rendezvous.

FILM REVIEW: 'Star Trek III' really didn't have much chance of achieving the high-water mark of its predecessor, 'Star Trek II', but it does manage to be a very strong continuation even if the dramatics are a bit more down to Earth. In almost all cases, this works in the film's favour as this instalment of the Star Trek film franchise, perhaps more than any other, focuses the most on the interpersonal relationships between the characters, what they are prepared to do for each other, and what trials they will put themselves through to achieve those goals. As a result, 'Star Trek III', despite having a decent amount of action as we've come to expect from Star Trek, is filled with fabulous individual character moments and scenes which will touch and move you. Everything that happens in this film is not galactic in stature as in 'Star Trek II', rather it's more personal, even down to the film's villain Kruge who although doesn't match the stature of Khan still manages to pack a mighty punch as a character, as expertly played by Christopher Lloyd. All of this comes as no surprise as Leonard Nimoy serves as director this time around, bringing an actor's sensibilities to the director's chair. Overall, this is a strong entry in the Star Trek franchise and a worthy science fiction film in its own right.

There isn't really much to explain about the story other than to say that it's all in the title. Spock died at the end of 'Star Trek II' and the crew of the Enterprise spend the bulk of this film bringing him back. Along the way, they have to deal with the Klingons who want to steal the Genesis device and use it for their own evil purposes. This comes to light when Kirk and company steal the Enterprise to go to the Genesis planet in order to retrieve Spock's body but the Klingons are waiting for them, culminating in the destruction of the Enterprise and a strong finale where Kirk battles the evil Klingon commander Kruge, eventually triumphant over the Klingon, steals the Klingon ship and heads back to Vulcan just in time to restore Spock's mind to his body. It sounds a little hokey but surprisingly this concept that one human being (in this case McCoy) is containing Spock's spirit and can essentially be downloaded back in to Spock's body is never silly or contrived. What makes it all work is the seriousness with which it's portrayed. McCoy's 'isnanity' is properly developed a story point, and it actually isn't realised what is happening until well in to the film. Some strong acting from DeForest Kelley and William Shatner really sell the idea that there's something more going on and makes for some compelling character scenes.

The action in the film, while not as huge as in 'Star Trek II', is still effective and entertaining. The film contains two big centrepiece sequences; the first is when Kirk and his crew successfully steal the Enterprise out of its space dock. This is a very good scene, and works well from a dramatic standpoint as Kirk is now putting his career on the line by stealing the Enterprise to search for his friend. The second sequence is the space battle between the Enterprise and the Klingon Bird of Prey. They both outmanoeuvre each other, leading to a verbal confrontation between Kruge and Kirk which leads to the tragic death of Kirk's son David. This is where the character moments I mentioned before bring a more personal touch to this film; Kirk's reaction to his son's death will leave you silent and moved as you realise just how much Kirk is sacrificing to get Spock back. Kirk's final sacrifice of blowing up the Enterprise to save the lives of his crew and destroy the Klingons is another strong moment, and seeing the iconic starship exploding in to pieces makes for one of the strongest sequences in the film series.

The ethics of the 'Genesis' project are extended and broadened in this film. Whereas 'Star Trek II' pondered the question of the ethics of what it could be used for, 'Star Trek III' focuses more on why humans should never attempt to play God by creating such technology. In creating Genesis, David makes mistakes which lead to the destabilisation and eventual self-destruction of the Genesis planet. In one stong scene, David is confronted with his transgressions when he realises that many people have died so he could fulfil his own dream of seeing this project come to a reality; behaviour which is extremely selfish, which leads David in the end to pay the ultimate price.

Where the film finally comes undone a bit are the scenes between when Kirk defeats Kruge and commandeers his ship back to Vulcan and the scene where Spock appears at the very end, alive and well. Much of the heat goes out of the story and the pacing gets bogged down considerably because for about 10-15 minutes there is no danger and we know exactly what is going to happen so these scenes are almost killing time until Kirk and company can get Spock back up and running again.

Despite some slow parts towards the end of the film, 'Star Trek III' is a great sci-fi adventure yarn with great character moments and further continues the Star Trek legacy in style.

TECHNICAL REVIEW: The transfer of this film on to this DVD is quite good and is an improvement of the transfer for Star Trek II but there are still moments of softness and grain in places. The audio is also quite good, and again is an improvement of its predecessor, particularly in the dialogue department which is much less mono sounding. Other effects sound great, particularly the starship battle sequences and the musical score. For a film of this age you can't really expect anything more.

EXTRAS REVIEW: The extras on this DVD are on par with those of 'Star Trek II'. There is a comparable, well made documentary about the making of the film. Featurettes on specific aspects of the production, including new ships and costumes, round out the making-of aspects of the film well. We get a fascinating featurette about the idea of 'terraforming' (which is at the heart of the 'Genesis' idea), theatrical trailers (including one for Star Trek Nemesis), and an informative director's commentary for Leonard Nimoy. All in all, this is a great collection of extras which complement the film well.

BOTTOM LINE: Worth having in the collection.