History YMMV / StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock

* QuestionableCasting: ''Averted'' with Creator/ChristopherLloyd as the balls-out ruthless Klingon Commander Kruge. He was previously and subsequently mostly associated with comedies and light dramas. But in ''Star Trek III'', Lloyd played possibly the most brutal, cold-hearted, calculating, ruthless Klingon captain ever seen in the Star Trek franchise. Every other Klingon captain has either had minimal screen-time, or has wound up earning at least some sympathy. Kruge was a '''''monster''''', and every kick he took to the face from Kirk's boot was ''pure'' audience satisfaction. He is also the only Klingon to ''call Kirk on his bluff'' when Kirk demands his surrender.
-->'''Kruge:''' He's ''hiding'' something. I must have dealt him a more serious blow than I '''thought'''.\\
'''Torg:''' How can you tell '''that'''?\\
'''Kruge:''' I trust my ''instincts''.
** And later:
---> '''Kruge:''' It is not '''''I''''' who will surrender, it is '''''you'''''! ...Surrender your vessel.
** He started to do more villainous roles afterwards, most notably [[Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit Judge Doom.]]
** Similarly, comic actor John Laroquette as Maltz. His deadpan delivery style works perfectly for the character.

* HilariousInHindsight: Admiral Morrow's justification for decommissioning the ''Enterprise'', that she was twenty years old[[note]][[ContinuitySnarl Though, the events of "The Cage" would show she was at least 30 years old]].[[/note]] and "her day is over", comes off very hypocritical when we see on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' that Starfleet was still using the ''Excelsior'', ''Oberth'' (USS ''Grissom''), and ''Miranda'' ([[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan USS]] ''[[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan Reliant]]'') classes well into the late 24th century, almost ''90'' years after this film's events.[[note]]In the reference work ''Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual'' it was stated that many ''Excelsior''-class starships were still operational than Starfleet had expected them to even though the class was almost 80 years old in 2364. Also the manual stated that ''Galaxy''-class ships were built with a 100 year service life expectancy. In ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'' some of the starships listed on the ''Operation Retrieve'' presentation chart were still active in Starfleet decades later.[[/note]]

** The scene when Kirk meets with Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura in his apartment, all of them toasting "to absent friends," had particular poignance between Nimoy's death in 2015 and Nichols's in 2022, when the four were the last surviving TOS cast members.

* SoOkayItsAverage: Typically considered a well-liked and decently-executed ''Star Trek'' film (compared to several other entries in the series), ''Star Trek III'' had the very, '''''very''''' bad luck to be sandwiched between a pair of ''Trek'' films which were far-and-away two of the most popular with the general public.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: After the USS ''Grissom'' is inadvertently destroyed, Kruge calls out the gunner for insubordination. The gunner's response? "[It was] a lucky shot, sir." Kruge doesn't take it well.

* WTHCastingAgency: ''Averted'' with Creator/ChristopherLloyd as the balls-out ruthless Klingon Commander Kruge. He was previously and subsequently mostly associated with comedies and light dramas. But in ''Star Trek III'', Lloyd played possibly the most brutal, cold-hearted, calculating, ruthless Klingon captain ever seen in the Star Trek franchise. Every other Klingon captain has either had minimal screen-time, or has wound up earning at least some sympathy. Kruge was a '''''monster''''', and every kick he took to the face from Kirk's boot was ''pure'' audience satisfaction. He is also the only Klingon to ''call Kirk on his bluff'' when Kirk demands his surrender.
-->'''Kruge:''' He's ''hiding'' something. I must have dealt him a more serious blow than I '''thought'''.\\
'''Torg:''' How can you tell '''that'''?\\
'''Kruge:''' I trust my ''instincts''.
** And later:
---> '''Kruge:''' It is not '''''I''''' who will surrender, it is '''''you'''''! ...Surrender your vessel.
** He started to do more villainous roles afterwards, most notably [[Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit Judge Doom.]]
** Similarly, comic actor John Laroquette as Maltz. His deadpan delivery style works perfectly for the character.

** Also deserving mention is the waitress at the bar [=McCoy=] goes to.

** The destruction of the ''Enterprise'', which involved blowing up models rather than just overlaying explosions. It was so successful, they used the same technique in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' when the ''Enterprise''-D is ([[ResetButton temporarily]]) destroyed in the GroundhogDayLoop episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E18CauseAndEffect Cause and Effect]]".

** Due to the conservative budget compared to the [[Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture first movie]], a lot of the Genesis planet looks like obviously fake once it starts to fall apart. (Though one does have to wonder if there is a way for snow on cacti NOT to look fake...)

* SpecialEffectFailure: Due to the conservative budget compared to the [[Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture first movie]], a lot of the Genesis planet looks like obviously fake once it starts to fall apart. (Though one does have to wonder if there is a way for snow on cacti NOT to look fake...)

* ContestedSequel: Successfully-executed thematic sequel to ''The Wrath of Khan'', or massively disappointing follow-up to the same?

** Casting Creator/ChristopherLloyd as Kruge almost counts as a CastingGag in retrospect, since Kirk and the rest use his vehicle to [[Film/BackToTheFuture travel backwards in time]] in the next film.

* WTHCastingAgency: Creator/ChristopherLloyd as the balls-out ruthless Klingon Commander Kruge. He was prior and after that mostly associated with comedies and light dramas. But hey, he did pretty damn well playing the most brutal Klingon captain ever seen in the Star Trek franchise. Every other Klingon captain either had minimal screen-time or wound up earning at least some sympathy. Kruge was a monster, and every kick he took to the face from Kirk's boot was pure audience satisfaction. He is also the only Klingon to ''call Kirk on his bluff'' when Kirk demands his surrender.
-->'''Kruge:''' He's hiding something. I must have dealt him a more serious blow than I thought.

* SoOkayItsAverage: Typically considered a well-liked and decently-executed ''Star Trek'' film (compared to several other entries in the series, ''Star Trek III'' had the very, '''''very''''' bad luck to be sandwiched between a pair of ''Trek'' films which were far-and-away two of the most popular with the general public.

* SoOkayItsAverage: Typically considered a decent film that had the bad luck to be sandwiched between two much better ones.

* HilariousInHindsight: Admiral Morrow's justification for decommissioning the ''Enterprise'', that she was twenty years old[[note]][[ContinuitySnarl Though, the events of "The Cage" would show she was at least 30 years old]].[[/note]] and "her day is over", comes off very hypocritical when we see on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' that Starfleet was still using the ''Excelsior'', ''Oberth'' (USS ''Grissom''), and ''Miranda'' ([[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan USS]] ''[[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan Reliant]]'') classes well into the late 24th century, almost ''90'' years after this film's events.

** The scene when Kirk meets with Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura in his apartment, all of them toasting "to absent friends," has gotten sadder since their actors were the last surviving TOS castmembers from 2015 until July 2022 when Nichelle Nichols passed away.

** Having both Leonard Nimoy and Christopher Lloyd in the same movie? Are talking about this movie or [[WesternAnimation/ThePagemaster The Pagemaster]]?

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:

* HarsherInHindsight: The scene when Kirk meets with Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura in his apartment, all of them toasting "to absent friends," has gotten sadder since their actors were the last surviving TOS castmembers from 2015 until July 2022 when Nichelle Nichols passed away.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: Kruge. While we see and understand Kirk's and Starfleet's point of view, to the Klingons, it does appear the Federation has developed a weapon of shocking destructive power, disguised as something benevolent. What if the bomb dropped on Hiroshima had destroyed everything and then turned it into a beautiful garden? Starfleet (apparently) just destroyed a nebula, a quite visible action that would appear to be a show of force. Kruge was sent to investigate with a small ship with a small crew compliment, and dealing with a very difficult and confusing situation.

* IdiotPlot: If a guy like Harry Mudd can afford his own interplanetary spaceship, surely a half-dozen well-respected Starfleet officers can pool their pensions to purchase one. Instead, they immediately glom onto the idea of stealing an aging battleship--risking major legal consequences above and beyond sneaking into the quarantined Genesis planet--that requires a crew of hundreds to fly effectively, despite Scotty stating they weren't expecting any combat at all. [[HonorBeforeReason The theft of the Enterprise and the ensuing court martial basically comes down to sentimentality about its decommissioning.]]
** That said, between the restrictions of the Mutara Sector (which even the charter [=McCoy=] tried to hire was refusing to go all the way to Genesis) and the fact that, given the worsening medical state of [=McCoy=] ("One alive, one not, yet both in pain."), there was easily a belief that they were under a ticking clock, it's also just as easy to view the theft of the Enterprise as, if they have to steal a ship to get all the way to Genesis, they might as well take the one that they both knew was already out of commission and how to fly with their eyes shut.