MovieChat Forums > Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) Discussion > Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

Who saw this in cinemas back in 84?

posted 11 years ago by bozo_500
55 replies | jump to latest

Who saw this back in the day? What were your memories - the anticipation of seeing it in the weeks/days before, the actually seeing it and how much a big deal was it where you were back then, the crowds, audience etc and after coming out of the cinema what were your thoughts and in the days/weeks that followed….

I recall my brother seeing it opening day (before me) and he bought back the glossy movie program with crystal Spock cover and inside it showed a photo of the little people on top the mountain watching the falling star 'comet' and I remember looking at that image mesmerised and wondering what it could be and my bro said 'thats the enterprise!' and the rest of my family being angry (quite right) that hed spoiled it!

I wasnt that much into Trek at the time (still young) and recall wen I was going to see it I was concerned id miss Dr Who that was on that evening lol. remember when I saw it was amazing it felt so epic and big like it was really there in space witnessing the giant space station and destruction of the Ent. plus it had abit of a star wars feel to it with the cantina, alien microbes, crew becoming rebels, the klingons, phaser fights/ship battles, and the epic fight at the end with all the lava recalled Temple of Doom as did the Vulcan temple (id seen TOD earlier that summer)

remember getting a few III things after – the little ERTL figures of Kirk Spock (in his TWOK uniform) Scotty (no Bones) and Kruge (with his plastic dog). plus the metal ships of the Ent, BOP, Excelsior. Also the storybook. Maybe a couple of other things too

[–] ebhaynz (3689) 3 years ago

I saw this in Kansas City, Missouri while I was a 19 year old Airman(1 stripe!) in the Air Force. I was stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base, which was about 50 miles away. Sometimes, during my days off I'd stay at my parents house which was right outside Kansas City. Anyway, I was in my mom's 82 Chevette I drove all over KC the weekend Star Trek 3 was released. Probably on Saturday night, around 9P.M. I decided to go to the main Blue Ridge East theater and catch ST3. I was a semi-serious Sci-Fi buff, just a couple of years earlier(mid 81-early 82) I had followed the ordeal of how Paramount got ST2 made by reading monthly updates in Starlog. Now that it was summer 1984 I was somewhat shocked that ST3 was released a short 2 years after ST2. I got to the theater and bought a ticket after the movie had already started. Thankfully I got the ticket for the big central theater. Anyway, I remember walking down the aisle and I think the scene that came up was where it showed the Grissom, or a huge space station, something not seen in ST1 or ST2. One middle aged trekker loudly exclaimed "whoa!", I admit I kind of either laughed or was shocked by such a loud exclamation from an adult. Honest, after that I don't remember much except that I had done a decent job predicting that the plot would evolve around Kirk going crazy(turned out to be Bones), kidnap a Starship, and go snag Spock from the Genesis planet. ST3 was kind of a letdown, it definitely didn't have the same quality as ST2. It was a weird time for me, I had been out of high school for just a year, worked as an Airman in a Top Secret Communications Center on a nuclear missile base. And here I was on my day off driving all over KC, MO in my mom's car, doing whatever I wanted even catching a Star Trek movie on a Saturday night.

By the time Star Trek 4 was released in Nov 1986 I was living in a small barracks room while stationed at a small air base in southeastern Turkey. Getting to see ST4 was a much bigger ordeal!

[–] bozo_500 (13151) 3 years ago

Cool memories, im sure ive read other ones of yours somewhere maybe on anther Trek film ? (edit: it was Batman)

[–] ebhaynz (3689) 3 years ago

Thanks, I've written about 5 or so of these; Terminator 2, Blade Runner, Star Trek 4 & 5, Hunt for Red October. Great memories because from 1984 - 2000 almost every year I was at a different base watching these movies.

[–] Gd5150 (11774) 3 years ago

After the epic TWOK was this movie had big shoes to fill.

Imagine if Montoban had been cast as doc brown in Back to the Future.

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 3 years ago

Was on a cross country drive with parents. My dad and I had seen ST2 with each other and loved it. So when he saw ST3 on a marquis, He took the exit. "If it's starting within the next 30 minutes, we will watch it" he says. It was. We did. Left rolling our eyes. Didn't hate it but were let down. Still, it was an exciting memory. We were so jazzed to see it on the highway. We didn't even know it was out. The sudden surprise movie in the middle of long distance driving is a treat. Even if it is some watered down Trek.

[–] bozo_500 (13151) 2 years ago

Cool way to see it no doubt, im guessing that was in US

[–] javie (2216) 2 years ago

It's so noisy, not too bad.