All language subtitles for The Center Seat 55 Years of Star Trek S01E04 Trek Goes To The Movies 1080p AMZN WEB-DL DD+5 1 H 264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

On the eve
of the '80s,

a decade after cancellation,

Star Trek was back.

The motion picture had
successfully relaunched the franchise,

taking more than three times
its budget at the box office.

I could never believe it.

Well, despite earning
$139,000 worldwide...

...a sequel to the original
motion picture

was anything but a certainty.

So, beam aboard,
and hold on tight

as we boldly go into
the depths ofStar Trek.

And you can see
it all from here,

inThe Center Seat.

Despite having made millions,

and the studio's desire to make

a follow up to
Star Trek: The Motion Picture,

there were still issues.

By that time, the perception was

despite its financial success,

which you would think
would be enough,

it just didn't do
what they wanted it to do.

"They" being the studio,

and "they" didn't like
how the motion picture had been made.

The lack of discipline
during production was legendary.

But the studio
had a solution.

We're gonna make this picture,
and it's gonna be done

out of the eyes
of the television division.

The thinking being obviously
that folks on television

know how to do things cheaper.

You didn't need
to tellStar Trek creator Gene Roddenberry twice.

A TV guy through and through,

he cranked out the script
in no time.

Which was the crew
of the Enterprise

being involved
in the assassination JFK

and sort of writing history.

And Paramount
wrote back immediately.

They rejected it
with a form letter.

And this is going
to Gene Roddenberry.

Paramount had adopted

a less is more approach
to Roddenberry.

They didn't want
to deal with him.

No one did.

His last writer had
only one message for him:

"Don't ever touch my script,
you bastard!"

He wouldn't stop rewriting.

He was just maniacal about it.

Years of
creative interference

had burned too many bridges
with Paramount.

When Star Trek:
The Motion Picture got mixed reviews,

and because the budget
went so far over,

even though that had
nothing to do with Gene Roddenberry at all,

Paramount used that
as an excuse

to take Star Trek away
from Gene Roddenberry.

And he was demoted.

You could say
Gene was his own worst enemy.

But there's a theory

that explains complicated
characters like him.

Did you ever hear
the Moses-Joshua theory of creation?

It's the idea
that some creative types

are like Moses.

They bring into existence

something that
wasn't there before.

But like Moses himself,

they lack certain
managerial skills,

needing organized types
like Joshua.

He's a can-do person.

That is brilliant.

Gene led us through the desert
for 40 years, yeah.

But he couldn't deliver.

But Gene wasn't
entirely banished

from the Promised Land.

He was given the courtesy

of a tiny little office.

They gave him
a new contract that said

that he would be a very
well paid script consultant.

But in Hollywood terms...

That meant that he had no power.

He was not in control.

Well,
no power officially.

But Gene, a master
of the dark arts of PR,

wasn't ready
to de-materialize just yet.

Meanwhile, Paramount
had found their Joshua.

Guy named Harve Bennett.

Incredibly popular.

He knew how to do
a science fiction show.

Having cut his teeth
onThe Mod Squad,

The Six Million Dollar Man

andThe Bionic Woman,

he knew how to make
the ordinary extraordinary.

And...

He knew how to do a show
under budget.

Harve Bennett met
with Paramount executives.

They asked him
for his honest opinion

on Star Trek:
The Motion Picture.

And he said,
"Do I tell the truth or do I,

"you know, give him something
he wants to hear?"

What he said
shocked no one.

Kind of boring.

"My kids are
falling asleep during it."

And they said, "Okay, can you
make us a Star Trekmovie

"for less than
45 million dollars?"

And he very famously said,
"Sir, I could make

"three better pictures
for what you spent."

Harve was speaking
Paramount's language

and the budget for the sequel
reflected that.

- To the tune of...
- 13 million dollars.

For that kind of money, you could barely make

the opening titles
of most blockbuster sci-fis.

So Harve went to a producer

whose middle name
is "Resourceful."

I had gone to
the UCLA film school

before film was fashionable,

and one of my classmates
was a guy named Harve Bennett.

And one day,
out of the blue,

his old friend called him.

And he says,
"I'd like you to produce the Star Trekthing."

And I said,
"Sure, why not? Okay."

So while Harve
nailed down the story,

Bob's job...

Was to do everything else.

With no real ideas yet,

Harve returned toStar Trek's
roots for inspiration.

Harve did screen
all the previous episodes,

and it was in doing so
that he came up with the idea

of bringing Khan back
into the picture, as it were.

Khan was
the genetically engineered alpha male

made famous
by Ricardo Montalban

in the episode "Space Seed."

My name is Khan.

Please sit and entertain me.

And if Khan was back,
Montalban was back.

Older, wiser,
and even more famous,

thanks to some truly
fantastic performances.

Welcome to Fantasy Island.

Montalban is
an underrated actor.

He's a fantastic actor.

He played a great
variety of roles

and always a polished,
beautiful performance.

But there would
also be a spot on the bridge

for a fresh young face.

Stand by.

And it seemed like the young
and relatively unknown Kirstie Alley

had a knack
for being a good match.

I had done Match Game.

That went so well,

they wanted
to match her up again.

So they asked me
to do Password,

and I was lucky enough
to have Lucille Ball

as the celebrity on Password.

That's right,
the very same Lucille Ball

who financedStar Trek
in the first place.

And although purely
a coincidence...

It was just like...

It was like a dream come true.

It seemed that fate
had decided Kirstie Alley

andStar Trek were
a perfect match.

The most amazing thing
about Star Trekfor me,

other than it was the first job
I ever had as an actor,

was that Nick Meyer
and Harve Bennett

really championed me.

Because what they saw
in the young Kirstie Alley

was more than
just her good looks.

You know, basically, Saavik
doesn't have any humor at all.

I think it took somebody
with a lot of humor

to put over that
particular brand

of humorless-ness.

Humor...

It is a difficult concept.

But just as
a new Vulcan was confirmed,

the original
suddenly disappeared.

Leonard Nimoy did not want to do
another Star Trekmovie.

He thought it'd be a good time
to retire the character.

Spock or no Spock,

Harve Bennett and Paramount
continued to develop the script,

even turning to writers
from the original series.

It was a revolving door,
it seemed to me, of writers.

Taking bits
and pieces from everyone,

they were far from
having one script they were all happy with.

The clock was ticking.
I was very concerned.

Then it was
an unexpected break in casting

that would give the script
a new direction.

Nimoy had changed his tune,
telling producers...

"I would love to do it."

...meaning he'd love
to come back as Spock,

but under one condition:

Leonard said, "Write me out.

"Find an exit for Spock."

That is wise.

So Harve Bennett called Leonard
a few days later and said...

What no fan
would want to hear.

"We're gonna kill Spock."

And Nimoy said, "Okay, great."

Nimoy loved it,

but the creator
of Mr. Spock didn't.

Spock was supposed to get killed
ten pages into the script.

Gene Roddenberry
hears about this,

and he feels this is
the end of Star Trek.

Gene was
incensed at the idea.

"You don't have to kill Spock.

"You can just have him
going back to Vulcan."

Unfortunately, nobody
would listen to him.

He did not have
any responsibility for the production

or for shaping the material.

But that wouldn't
stop him from trying.

Gene would send us memos.

They were,
by and large, disregarded.

But Gene was not
going to just sit by

and watch them kill off
one of his favorite characters!

This was personal for Gene.

So Gene resorted
to one of his oldest tricks.

He leaked, through
Susan Sackett, his assistant,

that Spock was gonna get killed
in the first ten minutes.

How did they know this? Well...

They had put sort of
a code on the scripts

so they could track
the scripts back.

But by the time
they found out who did it,

it was too late.

And the fans had an uprising.

And once again...

Paramount was being flooded
with letters and phone calls.

Threatening to
boycott the movie...

Unless Spock was not killed off.

But some fans took it
much further than that.

And the next thing I know,

on my home telephone
answering machine, I got a message.

A message
that cut right to the point.

"You kill Spock
and we'll kill you."

I've served in the Marine Corps,

and I've served
in the Air Force,

and I've never had
my life in danger.

But I'm producing
a Star Trekpicture,

and my life is being threatened?

We were kind of being
driven up the wall

by the volume of mail,
by pressure tactics,

by certain people who,
as I say,

felt over-possessive
about Star Trek.

So we simply decided
on a policy,

and the policy is closed set.

But before
they could close the set,

Robert would have
to find a director.

What I found out is
a lot of people didn't want to do Star Trek,

a lot of people
didn't want to do a sequel,

a lot of directors didn't want
to do sci-fi,

and a lot of directors
weren't available.

There must be
somebody who wanted the gig.

So I made up a list.

I must have had 30
or 40 people on my list.

Down a long
list of names,

Bob came across this guy.

I'm Nicholas Meyer,

and I write and direct movies.

But back in 1982,

Nick had only one film
under his belt,

meaningStar Trek was...

Only the second movie
I'd ever made my life.

And a complete novice

when it came
to theStar Trek universe.

But we talked, and he got it.

Comparing Star Trek to...

Hornblowerin outer space.

Words almost out of
Gene Roddenberry's mouth.

So we signed him.

Cigar and all.

Harve and I walked out,

and Harve turned to me
and said, "I don't know."

I said, "What's wrong?"

And he said,
"He's gonna be trouble."

But the trouble was
all Nicholas' for now.

He was faced with
five different scripts.

So I read them.

And from five scripts, Nicholas came up with one idea.

Why don't we make a list

of all the things we like
in these five scripts,

and then we'll try
to cobble this together.

and make a new movie
that incorporates

as much of this as possible.

Which was
a great idea,

until Nicholas found out
he only had 12 days to write it.

Ah.

They say, well, the problem is

that if we don't have a draft
of a script in 12 days,

ILM...

That's effects house
Industrial Light and Magic.

...say they cannot deliver
the special effects shots.

in time for the June opening.

At which point
Nicholas asked...

"What June opening?"

It never rains, but it pours.

And they said, you know,
we've booked the thing

into 600 theaters
or something.

You booked it into the theaters
and there's no movie?

Nonetheless,
Nicholas said...

"Well, okay, I think I can
do this in 12 days."

To which Bob replied...

"There's no argument from me."

Paramount finally
had a writer-director

who could work with their
ridiculous schedule.

Our concern was

that they're gonna drag
their feet on this upstairs

in the administration building.

Although Nicholas
was already signed on as a director,

he would have to wait until
his writing deal was complete

before starting the script.

They said,
"Well, we couldn't even make your deal in 12 days."

And that's when
I sort of made my mistake,

and I said,
"Well, forget about my deal.

Forget about money.
Forget about credit."

You know, I was
really dumbstruck.

Nicholas agreed
to write the movie...

For free.

- Not just that...
- Um...

...he agreed to do it
without any credit.

I really wanted
to make this movie.

I was jonesing
for this thing by now.

And later he told me,
"My agent told me I was crazy."

Crazy or not,

the movie was now
on Nicholas' shoulders.

With just 12 days to write
this Star Trek movie sequel...

As I worked, it was like
fiddling with a Rubik's Cube.

It was mad libs.

Taking bits and pieces from previous straps...

The Genesis Project...

Genesis is life.

Kirk meets his son.

Lt. Saavik.

Thank you, sir.

The simulator sequence.

What about my performance?

I'm not a drama critic.

But along the way,
certain themes are jumping out at you.

And Nicholas realized
he was writing a movie about...

Friendship, old age,

and death.

Other people have birthdays.

Why are we treating yours
like a funeral?

Bones, I don't want
to be lectured.

And this is a cast
that is getting older,

so rather than pretending
that they're not...

Who am I hiding from?

...go at it head on.

From yourself, Admiral.

Give him glasses.

It sounded
like the answer to everyone's prayers.

He saved us.

CalledThe Wrath of Khan,

thisStar Trek sequel
had everything.

I get a call
from Harve Bennett.

He said, "We have a problem."

I said, "What's the problem?"

He says, "Bill Shatner
hates the script."

"What, he...
he hates the script?"

And I think, "Again,
only my second movie.

"Oh, that's it, we're done.
We're toast."

This is a disaster.

There was only
one thing for it,

a meeting with the producers.

All I remember
about the meeting is

that I had to keep getting up
and going to pee.

I didn't know where to put
either my embarrassment,

or my rage.

While Nicholas'
bladder took the initial hit...

And I'm sitting there
totally finished.

...drawing on years
of experience,

executive producer
Harve Bennett

had already
diagnosed the problem...

Correct.

...with Shatner,
not Nicholas' bathroom problem.

Basically figured out
that Bill wanted to make sure

that he was always
the first man through the door.

Permission to come aboard again.

Welcome, Admiral.

He was the leading guy.

So I was learning
how to write for a star.

And like every
screen actor ever,

Shatner was also worried about

the one number more important
to an actor than his fee.

The original script
specified Kirk's age.

And Shatner felt Captain Kirk
should be ageless, thinking...

They don't have to put
a number on him.

But I guess now
we'll never know.

Forty-nine in the script.

Happy birthday.

That wasn't something that
William Shatner wanted to do.

I think also,
for the character,

you don't want it to be
pinned down like that.

Thank you.

He was
understandably protective

of what he had created.

The character of Kirk.

So Nicholas rewrote
with the star's ego in mind.

I went home
and fixed the thing in eight hours

and just sent it back to him.

Shatner's response
came back at warp speed.

Lights.

He left a message
on my voice message machine.

Which said
something like this...

"You are a genius"

and something,
something, something.

And with that,
he had his star's blessing.

And I used to play it back
to him every now and again

when I was, you know,
having issues.

And I was like, "Hey, Bill,
just take a listen."

You are a genius and something,
something, something.

Now, with the script
settled, Nicholas was free

to pursue his vision
of an action adventure,

taking inspiration from
military dramas such as...

The movie called
The Enemy Below.

Because for
high drama on a low budget,

nothing beats a claustrophobic
contest of wills.

And so I went all out

to make it more like
a submarine, like destroyers.

Those things are
not built for comfort.

That meant
making everything...

Smaller, claustrophobic.

No minor detail
was spared.

Why aren't there
blinking lights?

Let's just put
a lot of those in.

More than just light,
Nicholas needed an epic score.

But he was short on cash.

Jerry Goldsmith
was too expensive.

While Jerry had
done a fantastic job

onStar Trek:
The Motion Picture,

his fee would have
consumed the entire

special effects budget
onThe Wrath of Khan.

So Jerry Goldsmith was out.

So we just started
listening to music.

Back in 1982,
that meant cassettes

and lots of them.

Composers would send in
samples of their work,

and I'd drive
to and from the studio

listening to these cassettes.

And on one
fateful morning,

Nicholas came across...

James Horner,
whoever that was...

Well,
since you asked,

he was just a young composer
looking for a break.

...had sent in a tape,

and I really liked it.

That's how
James Horner became

the composer
forThe Wrath of Khan.

Well, actually, that's not
how Robert remembers it.

As a matter of fact,

neither Harve nor Nick
had anything to do with it.

You know, maybe I shouldn't
talk about this.

Of course you should.

To be fair, Nicholas
isn't arguing with him.

As I wrote in my memoir,
memory is fallible.

So how does Robert remember it?

I knew I wanted something
somewhat operatic.

I went to Joel Silver,
who was then

the head of music department
at Paramount,

and I told him
the kind of thing I was looking for.

And I said, "Joel,"

I said, "What I don't want
is musical wallpaper."

And he gave me
I don't know how many cassettes

of different composers.

Okay,
those parts line up.

And I rejected all of them

except Jamie Horner.

Now, whether it was
Robert or Nicholas

who found this diamond
in the rough,

what really mattered
is that Horner wouldn't break the budget.

His creative fee for scoring
this film was $10,000.

Which was
quite a steal.

So much so that Bob felt
kind of guilty about it.

And they gave him $25,000 bonus.

Not bad
for a first timer.

Meanwhile, this old timer
didn't vibe with the changes

Gene Roddenberry,
I remember getting a memo, didn't like them.

He thought there were
way too militaristic.

But having been
relegated to a small office...

That was... just the way
it was gonna be.

Because Nicholas Meyer had drawn inspiration

from another classic film...

The Prisoner of Zenda
has the high collars,

and the wide flaps...

Which not only
framed the face beautifully...

Gives a color contrast.

But it was going to take
more than fancy uniforms

to make a splash
at the box office.

Oh.

They would need
state-of-the-art special effects

from the legendary
wizards at ILM,

while obeying Paramount's
prime directive.

Here's your budget,
doesn't change, work within that.

A budget
that was a lot less

than other films of the era.

But director Nicholas Meyer
was undaunted.

Art thrives on restrictions.

And also, I had a lot of help

from Robert Sallin...

Who oversaw
much of ILM's work for the young director...

He watched my back.

...and kept the designs
under budget

with a few clever tricks.

The design of the Regula One...

...where
the scientists were working on the Genesis Project,

was actually
the Orbital Office Complex.

It was left-over
from the first film,

and I just said,
"Turn it upside down."

And that's what they did.

And didn't cost a cent.

If I could save a buck
on the models,

I was going to do it.

But when it came
to theUSS Reliant,

a cheap hack wouldn't do.

We did the same thing.

Yeah, I just flipped
the Enterpriseupside down.

And so, instead of having
the cells up here,

the cells were down here.

Yep, totally different.

Yep.

So, with the
upside down ships...

I said, "How does that look?"

...a cobbled together script,
maroon uniforms

and a green director,

they began
rolling on production

on November 9th, 1981.

Roy?

We started production.

With just three days in,

Robert sounded
the distress signal.

At the end of
the first three days,

uh, Nick was a week behind.

So Robert did
what anyone would do...

I panicked.

Pure and simple.

I didn't know where
this was gonna go.

And I didn't know what to do.

Robert soon found himself producing a movie

whose director
he couldn't get through to.

Nick didn't know me,

and I think he was
protective and hesitant

and afraid that I would somehow

impinge on his world
or something.

And Nick was resistant.

I couldn't put my arm
around Nick

and say, "Nick, listen to me.

"You're in trouble.

"Now, I'm gonna help you.

"Let me see if I can do that."

His attitude was always
keeping me at a distance.

I was very busy.

It was like there was
a forcefield around Nick.

So Robert made a call
he thought was the only way

to save the second
Star Trek movie.

I went to management,

and I said,
"Here's what's going on.

"This could be a big problem

"and I think
you should replace him."

With his
inexperienced director falling behind...

I went to management.

...and delivered
a scathing report

to Paramount's top brass.

"I think you should
replace him."

But Paramount's
chief operating officer,

Michael Eisner,
saw things differently.

He said, "No, we're
not gonna do that."

Eisner was concerned
about Paramount's reputation.

He said, "Because nobody'll
want to work at Paramount."

And I said, "Fair enough."

So, stuck with
his young director for now,

Robert put the pressure on.

We were able to get
the message across

to Nick, and he was receptive.

But being behind,

he'd have to find ways
to make up time.

I had to fly down quickly
to get on set immediately.

On such a highly
technical shoot,

Ken's experience
would come in handy.

I come down, I have probably
my little bit of crew.

We go in...

And waited
for the young director to get

to his special effects shots.

And then waited some more.

They never got to the shot.

I'll say this for him:
He's consistent.

The ILM
effect wizards were

just sitting around,
conjuring up no light nor magic.

So, I had to
constantly help him

back into
the visual effects scenes.

Beginning with storyboarding

many of the film's
special effects sequences

with the help
of art director Mike Minor.

So I remember
clearly saying to Mike,

"You know, that battle..."

That battle would be
the epic final showdown

between theEnterprise...

There she is!

...and Khan's
stolenReliant.

We can't whip
these things around

like World War I
fighter planes.

You know, they're lumbering,
slow-moving things.

And I said, "We need
to have some way

"to enhance the tension."

And the clever
solution proved to be

right in front of their noses.

How about if we hid them
in a nebula?

The gaseous clouds proved to be the perfect setting

for a spatial chess match.

My logical conclusion was
to do it with a cloud tank.

Of course, a cloud tank.

Sorry. What's a cloud tank?

The cloud tank is basically
a large metal container

with glass panels on each side,

and it's filled with warm water

up to about three quarters
of the way up.

Then, insanely,

you would lay a piece
of plastic on it.

Very gently.

But they were
not done yet.

Then you would gently
pour in cold water

and and you would create
an inversion layer.

Meaning once
the clear wrap was removed,

the two layers would mix,

with lights used
to add cosmic colors.

And it starts to give
almost a look of thunderheads

or clouds that are spreading,

and there's a nice
fake sense of a scale to it when you do that.

Some of Robert's
money-saving ideas for effects

were so cheap,

they were literally
the garden variety.

The original script called
for a creature to attach itself

to the back of Chekov's neck.

But Bob felt
they could do a little better.

I was going out
to get my newspaper.

I saw a slug.

And I hate those things.

But anyway, I said,
"Hey, is it feasible

"that a little slimy
thing like that

"could enter the human ear

"and lodge itself maybe
in the cerebral cortex?"

The answer was yes...

For God's sakes.

...which was money
in the bank for Robert.

I said, "Great!"

That's when I got so excited.

So I went up to ILM

and I told
Ken Ralston about it.

And Ken got to work
crafting Bob's space slug.

I took a piece of poly foam,
cut these little,

you know, little segments
in this thing

very delicately, left a small
little thing in the middle

so it was flexible,

stuck it on their face,

and they had
a monofilament line,

and I would just pull.

It would actually do this.

Ah!

It could be that simple.

While the slug had
no trouble borrowing

into Chekov
and Terrell's heads,

director Nicholas Meyer
was having a hard time

getting through the chapter.

There's a moment in the movie

where he's supposed to give
Khan some information.

Give me some time to recall
the data on our computers.

I give you 60 seconds, Admiral.

And Kirk has a line,
"Here it comes."

And the first time
Bill says it,

he goes, "Here it comes."

And I say, "Bill,

"this guy is super smart."

Time is a luxury
you don't have, Admiral.

If you say that
with this, like,

sarcasm dripping
off the lens...

Just don't give away
the, you know,

what you've got up your sleeve.

His star
wouldn't take the note.

It was still late.

But like
Captain Kirk himself,

Nick had something
up his sleeve.

I just kept doing it.

Time's up.

That was no good for sound.

Time's up.

"I'm sorry,
we were soft focus."

Time's up.

And he got bored.

And look at the end result.

Here it comes.

Now, Mr. Spock.

When he became bored

and less aware
of how he was presenting,

he got really good.

But subtlety
went out the window

the day Ricardo Montalban
arrived on the set.

We came on. We were
doing the cargo bay sequence,

which introduces Khan...

but he screamed the whole thing

at the top of his lungs.

She built the Ceti Alpha V!

I was awestruck.

The whole crew was
sort of standing around.

And while Nicholas
was comfortable

asking William Shatner
for more takes,

the esteemed Ricardo Montalban
was a whole different story.

I really didn't know
what to do

because I was
sort of awed by him.

And that did not
bode well for the production.

A director, that's the one
person you look to

for how the shoot
is going to go.

Nicholas had
a choice to make.

And I thought,
"Is he going to yell at me

"if I try to tell him
anything?"

I wasn't really sure.

Not wanting
to incur the wrath of Khan,

Nick took the villain off set,

hoping to appeal
to the artist within.

I said, "You know,
Lawrence Olivier..."

this is my idol, "once said

"that an actor should never
show an audience his top.

"Because once you
show them your top,

"they know you've got
no place else to go."

And he said, "Uh-huh.

"You're going to direct me?

"Oh, that's great.

"I need direction.

"I don't know
what I'm doing up there."

Montalban
returned to set

to deliver his second take.

And it was flawless.

You couldn't make it
any better than that.

I gave him these
23 marks to hit.

He hit every one of them.

They didn't do a second take.
They didn't have to.

But from then on,

Bill and Leonard's performances
elevated.

It was just... just enough.

I don't think anyone
else noticed it,

but I did,
and it made me smile.

But someone's reviews
were less than stellar

for the new kid on set.

I don't know
if I've ever told this.

At one point,

I was told that
Bill wanted me

to have some acting lessons

in the middle
of making the movie.

News that
Bob broke to Kirstie

in the middle of lunch.

So I did,
and I took her to lunch.

And I gently
made the proposition.

I said, how about us
hiring a drama coach

to work with her?

I was a bit of a hooligan.

I went out all the time.

I wasn't great at
knowing all my lines.

I was handling it
a bit like a dilettante.

So I could see how
someone would go like,

"Oh, my God.

"Oh, my freaking God,

"she needs this
or she needs that."

And I was like,
"Okay, I guess."

But I also knew that

if I just had my lines
learned better

and didn't act so wild-ass

that it would appear

than I was a much better actor.

Uh... So...

So,
one way or another,

Kirstie had those lessons.

And I thought her performance
was better because of it.

But for another
young actor in the cast,

all the acting lessons
in the world couldn't save him.

And who do we have here?

Midshipman First Class,
Peter Preston.

The scene that
I auditioned with

was the scene that ended up
getting cut from the film.

A colorful exchange

between Preston
and Captain Kirk.

I believe you'll find
everything shipshape, Admiral.

Oh, do you?

And we learn that
it's Scotty's nephew.

My sister's youngest, Admiral.

And they cut that out
at the time,

and it made Scotty's reaction
kind of inexplicable.

He stayed at his post.

But not quite
as inexplicable

as why the dead body
keeps breathing.

I'd never done
a death scene before.

And as I'm laying there,

supposedly dead
underneath this thing,

they go on to this two,
two-and-a-half minute scene

of dialogue
going back and forth.

With poor Ike holding
his breath the whole time.

All of a sudden I thought,
"I can't do this anymore!"

And I'm going...

Luckily,
they called cut before he passed out.

And I had to check
with Nick and say,

"Okay, were you able
to make it through that

"without seeing me breathe?"

He said, "Of course
I saw you breathe.

"It was like a two-and-a-half,
three-minute scene.

"Nobody holds their breath
for that long.

"Don't worry about it.
I'm gonna cut it away."

While the new cast members

appeared to take
the setbacks in stride,

not all egos could be managed.

Off set,
there were problems, too,

where a brooding
Gene Roddenberry

saw his vision ofStar Trek
being forgotten.

So he was always pushing back
against things

that he felt weren't
true to Star Trek

and true to the characters
that he'd created.

Harve was
extremely polite to Gene,

and Gene was extremely
polite to Harve Bennett.

At least publicly.

Gene didn't have
any kind things to say

about Harve Bennett in private.

He continued to sound off.

Harve was careful
not to upset Gene

or his legions of followers.

If the two of them
had been any more polite,

there would have been
blood on the floor.

But Gene's meddling
had already created a monster

Harve Bennett
couldn't possibly control.

The leak about Spock's fate

had fans in open revolt.

And the Spock death rumors
were out there,

and they were gonna
boycott the movie

and boycott the merchandise,

and were
professional marketers

who had done a professional
marketing campaign

and were spewing statistics
and numbers and dollar amounts.

And the clamor
was spilling onto the set.

I was shocked that
I was holding in my hand a copy of something

that was going to be
hugely disappointing

to the massive fanbase.

People said,
"Oh, you can't kill Spock."

And I said,
"Yeah, you can kill him.

"The only question is
whether you kill him well."

With fans
threatening a boycott

over rumors
of Spock's demise,

Paramount was
in an impossible situation.

The bottom line was,
he wanted out.

They only got him
in the movie

promising them
a big death scene.

Star Trek was
caught in a conundrum

entirely of its creator's
own making.

The only question is
whether you kill him well.

Without
the element of surprise,

some ingenious sleight
of hand was required.

You have this scene
where it turns out

the Kobayashi Maru
is a simulation.

Captain.

Put that
at the beginning,

let the audience see
that Spock dies,

they'll say, "Oh, that's
what this was all about."

then you can catch
them by surprise at the end of the picture.

Aren't you dead?

It's all just kind of
a setup to throw us.

But when it
came to euthanizing his own character,

Leonard Nimoy was
suddenly uneasy.

That was a major, major,
difficult moment for me.

Very difficult.

I think he was having sort of
jittery feelings about,

"Do I really want
to end this after all?"

This was a big moment.

big enough so that
the minute they do it,

Leonard Nimoy starts
having second thoughts.

And I began to be concerned
that maybe I'd made a mistake.

Then he was feeling
very sort of jittery

and testy
and nervous about it.

But Nimoy
had no qualms

about the manner
of Spock's demise.

Maybe it's fitting
that Spock should die,

saving the ship and the crew
and be a hero

and go out in a blaze of glory.

This was potentially

the most important
Star Trek scene ever.

And everyone knew it.

Well, almost everyone.

I didn't really understand
the significance

to so many people

of what was going on
while we were shooting

until I turn around
and see my...

cinematographer is crying.

The First AD is crying.

Don't grieve, Admiral.

The prop guy is crying.

The needs
of the many, outweigh...

...the needs of the few.

Or the one.

And I was just
making the movie.

Spock...

Bill and Leonard really
just nailed that.

I mean, they were
sobbing on the set.

I mean, they really
got into it.

I was always
very touched

by what happened in that...
in that sequence.

And it really works
in the film.

I have people still today
who write to me and say,

"Every time I still see
that picture for the fifth, tenth time, I still cry."

It was
the perfect end for Spock,

performed to perfection, except...

We had shot the scene
with no film in the camera.

Are you kidding?

The first time it ever
happened to me

in thousands
and thousands of scenes.

This is a story about Kirk
coming to terms with himself.

Kirk begins by saying...

I don't believe
in the no-win scenario.

Until he's confronted by it.

It's a story about a man

who ultimately
realizes his fallibility

and perhaps
accepts his humanity.

Death is the no win scenario.

But Paramount
did not accept that.

The studio and producers
had an idea,

a highly controversial one.

And I and Harve, too,
were very strong

about the fact that
we needed to plant

in the audience's minds

the "maybe" idea.

Harve came to me on the set

and he said,
"What can you give us

"that might be
a thread for the future

"for Spock or Star Trek?"

Just in case.

And it took me a moment.

I said, "I can do a mind meld
on DeForest Kelley

"who's laying
there unconscious."

I'm sorry, Doctor.

I have no time
to discuss this logically.

And I can say
something ambiguous, like...

Remember.

He said, "Okay, do that."

This guy, this is a producer.

This touch of
Vulcan logic from the producers

made Spock proud.

But for the director,
they had lost the human emotion.

Oh, I hated it.

Nick was adamant.

I fought it tooth and nail.

We twist these people's
feelings into knots

and then we say,
"Oh, just kidding?"

Nonetheless,
the door was left open for Spock.

And they decided
they need a button on the end of the movie

showing the casket,
wherever it landed.

One way or another,
Spock would live on.

But not everyone
was happy about it.

They killed Spock.

They should've left him dead.

As hard as that is,

part of the reason
why that film works

is because of the emotional
impact of Spock's death.

And then at the very end

they give you
the shot of the coffin

that kind of winks at you
and says,

actually, he's gonna be back.

And it kind of takes
some of that away.

That said,
it's a small quibble

in what is really the best
of the Star Trekfilms.

Bye, buddy. Thank you.

Paramount couldn't
have been happier.

And when shooting wrapped
on January 29th, 1982,

Bob, Harve and Nick
delivered a film on schedule.

And we came in on budget.

While Nicholas never got
his say on Spock's immortality,

he had at least pulled off
his own little mind meld,

winning back the faith
of his producer.

It was a hard thing
to pull off,

and we couldn't have
done it without him.

Star Trek:
The Wrath of Khan premiered in 1982.

The first time I realized
it was gonna be a big thing,

honestly, was when
the premiere was at Grauman's Chinese Theater,

walking in and seeing
a bajillion photographers.

I hadn't really ever
seen that before.

What happened
during the screening

really took her by surprise.

The audience just
kind of went wild.

This was the best Star Trek
that I've ever seen before.

The death of Spock
had breathed new life into the franchise,

ninety-five million
dollars' worth.

- I loved it.
- It was awesome.

I hated part of the ending,
but I understand that

that will be remedied
in the next one, right?

Star Trek IIIis a possibility.

I think it's
a distinct possibility.

When we did Star Trek II,

up until the very final parts,

it was a standalone film.

Standalone or not,

Paramount now had
95 million reasons

to bring Spock back.

I'm looking forward

to discussing
as soon as possible

the next Star Trek
motion picture

and my involvement with it.

And the movie was
such a huge hit,

that they came back
to Nimoy and said,

"What would it take
to get you to come back and do another one?"

And I said
I would like to direct it.

To my surprise,

they didn't throw me
out of the office.

For a would be
first time director,

Nimoy had a Vulcan's
cool confidence.

When we made Star Trek II,
Nicholas Meyer was directing.

I thought,
"I can do what he does."

It seemed like
a match made in heaven.

But this was a director
arriving with serious baggage.

Certain people might have
been a little worried

about Leonard's directing.

Everybody was like,

"Okay."

Studio head
Michael Eisner wanted Spock

in front of the camera,
not behind it.

He said, "I can't have
you direct this movie."

I said, "Why, Michael?"

He said, "You hate Star Trek.

"You insisted on
the Spock character

"being killed in Star Trek II.

"You had it in your contract
that Spock had to die.

"I can't have your directing
a Star Trekmovie."

I said, "Mike, this is
really crazy.

"I don't hate Star Trek.

"It was not in my contract."

And I said, "The contract
is in a file

"in the building
that you're in.

"Somebody's giving you
bad information.

"Take a look at it
and see if you can find

"anything like that
in the contract.

"It's not there.
It's not true."

Whatever was
in that contract,

Eisner came back
offering Nimoy a new one,

as a director.

And he said,
"Okay, let's make a deal."

And we immediately
made a deal and went to work.

With Spock
returning in some form,

Paramount had gained
one Vulcan,

only to lose another

after an unhappy experience
onThe Wrath of Khan.

She didn't seem to be
very comfortable about it.

Kirstie Alley
would not be returning.

One day she came
to my dressing room

and she was in absolute tears.

All of a sudden,
she said to me, "You know what?

"If this is what
Hollywood is like,

"I don't think I want
anything to do with it.

"I think I'm done."

When invited
to reprise her role as Lt. Saavik,

the actress' eye-watering
asking price

sent a clear message
to Paramount.

That's 100% percent false.

The thing that's
always bothered me

was the fans thought
I was too good to do Star Trek III.

And so I said, "I don't want
to do Star Trek III,"

which was 100% false.

She says it was
the other way around.

They offered me less money
for Star Trek III

than Star Trek II,

and I've done
quite a bit of work in between those two things.

And the rising star
had no choice

but to politely pass.

It wasn't me just going,
"I'm good to be in Star Trek III."

So with
Kirstie Alley stepping aside,

Robin was introduced
to Saavik.

And I was tickled pink,
you know,

to come in
and take over the role.

Robin relaxed
into the character,

safe in the knowledge
that her director

was the world authority
on all things Vulcan.

What more expert hands
to be in then Leonard Nimoy

to be directed
to play a Vulcan?

He said, "Vulcans have
1,000 years of wisdom behind the eyes."

How many have paid the price
for your impatience?

He had this lovely way

of gently kind of
guiding me, you know,

to whatever moment it was
that Saavik was having.

But even
1,000 years of wisdom

wouldn't help Robin work out
how to negotiate Vulcan romance.

God, I remember the day
Stephen Manly and I were all...

All a flutter,
wondering, "Okay,

"what is Vulcan foreplay
going to be?"

Stephen Manly portrayed

a hormone-addled
teenage Spock.

Because the scene
on the page definitely read

that Spock and Saavik
are about to have

this important moment.

This was the ritual
mating of the Vulcan.

Pon farr.

Oh, my God,
what is this gonna be?

You know,
what parts of our bodies

are gonna be interacting?

Luckily for them,

the director was quite familiar
with Vulcan biology.

And Leonard Nimoy took us
very gently aside,

very quiet part
of the sound stage.

And he took our hands
and he formed them like this.

And he said,
"You're just going to gently

stroke each other like this."

Although it was
a bit demure,

it showed just enough
to preserve a little...

Vulcan mystique.

My Lord, the ship appears
to be deserted.

How can that be?

The Klingons
may not have been known for their mystique.

Oh, yeah.

But withTaxi's
Christopher Lloyd

having swapped
his furrowed brow for a Klingon forehead,

they had some star power
in their ranks.

Chris Lloyd was
well known for comedy.

But he was also wonderful
in the movie

called One Flew Over
the Cuckoo's Nest.

Why don't you knock off
the... and get to the point?

Terrific actor.
He's like a chameleon.

Charming.

Star Trek III
also saw the return

of the previously
undiscovered composer.

James Horner was out there
with a 102-piece orchestra

at Paramount.

And what a blast that was
to sit there,

see the sequence
everyone at ILM

had put so much
sweat and tears in.

And then there's this
102-piece orchestra,

boom, backing it up.

Nothing like it.

Music or not,

one scene would be
particularly dramatic.

We thought, "Well, let's create
a great death scene

"like a great actor would do."

Perhaps
even more traumatic than the death of Spock,

especially for Gene,

was the demise
of theEnterprise itself.

So that's a character.

Audiences love the Enterprise.

That's their home
away from home.

That's the premise.

You know, it's not me
and my friends,

these are the voyages
of the Starship Enterprise.

And you're gonna blow it up?

But if the ship
was going to go down,

it was going to go down
in a blaze of glory,

thanks to some ILM magic.

When we got to
the final blow up,

at the last second,
I remember,

"Hey, give me
some talcum powder."

And I just sprinkled it
on top of the ship.

So when it goes off,
you can see it in the movie, too,

this interesting sort of
fine stuff comes up...

which added to the scale of it.

And made
the whole thing really, really fun to blow up.

I personally am very hurt
by the destruction of the Enterprise.

I feel that more deeply

than I did the death of Spock.

And he wasn't the only one.

The movie was coming out.

I made a point of saying,

"Well, I finally got to blow up
thatEnterprise ship.

"It's such a pain to shoot."

And I got, like, death threats.

Welcome to the club.

I was like, "Whoa!
Okay, no more jokes."

Whatever fans
thought of this, they loved the film.

Star Trek: The Search for Spock
raked in

a cool 87 million dollars,

essentially guaranteeing
another outing.

I think this is really
the best Star Trekyet.

Leonard Nimoy has turned in,
I think, a magnificent job.

At that point in time
it felt like the original cast

was still gonna keep
doing some features.

Even if Kirk and Crew
would need a new ride.

Jeff Katzenberg
tells Leonard Nimoy,

"We want you
to makeStar Trek IV."

Leonard quickly accepted.

But that's a tale
for another time.