After the events of the previous movie, Khan has been defeated, but at the cost of Spock's life. If that wasn't bad enough, the Enterprise is being scrapped and its crew reassigned. Also, Dr. McCoy has been taken mysteriously ill. David Marcus (Kirk's estranged son) and Lieutenant Saavik are investigating the newly formed Genesis planet when they detect life signs coming from the planet. Upon beaming down to investigate, they discover that the detonation of the Genesis Device has brought Spock back from the dead in the form of a child, but his mind is not present. Unfortunately, the Genesis planet is rapidly ageing along with the newly reborn Spock. Spock's father Sarek, meets with Admiral Kirk and together they learn that one of Spock's last acts was to transfer his 'katra', or his living spirit, into McCoy's mind. Spock's body and his katra need to be taken back to Vulcan to be reunited or McCoy will surely die. Disobeying orders, Kirk and his officers steal the Enterprise and head to the Genesis planet in order to retrieve Spock's body. Meanwhile, Klingon commander Kruge intercepts information about the Genesis Device and believing it to be a potentially useful weapon, becomes determined to claim it for the might of the Klingon Empire.

I never thought that this movie deserved such a bad reputation as other people have given it. I'm not as big a Star Trek fan as I once was, but I have always had a soft spot for this movie. It was probably the first Star Trek movie I ever remember watching. It didn't help that this movie is sandwiched between what many consider to be the two best Star Trek movies (The Wrath of Khan and The Voyage Home).

Another thing that adds to my enjoyment of the movie is the presence of Christopher Lloyd of Back to the Future fame as Klingon commander Kruge. Great Scott! I have always liked the Klingons, so it was nice to see them as the baddies in a movie. General Chang was a villain in The Undiscovered Country, but he was just a small part in a larger conspiracy (spoilers for a movie that is twenty-seven years old, I guess!)

The movie has quite an interesting history behind it as well. Spock was originally killed off in The Wrath of Khan because Leonard Nimoy was fed up of the role, but he enjoyed himself so much during the making of the movie that he changed his mind and the ending was left open in case there ever was a way to bring Spock back. He also agreed to take on the duty of director, so that's why we don't see the adult Spock until right at the end.

My rating: 3.5 stars.