Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Theme of Technology

The Search for Spock was made before the digital revolution was even a twinkle in scientists' eyes, and that's a good thing…because this movie would be very anticlimactic in a future where the Internet existed.

Kruge would have downloaded the Genesis plans off WikiLeaks, and Kirk would have just texted David to bring Spock's body back with him. Problems solved; everyone enjoys a game of Minecraft.

Although the technology on display is both futuristic and somehow dated, it still serves to exhibit Star Trek's major theme of technology helping humanity. Starships allow Kirk to rescue Spock, and Scotty's engineering feats save the day on numerous occasions. With that said, the film also explores the darker side of innovation with the Genesis project, a technology that promised peace but delivered not but destruction.

1. Which character would you say is the most apt at using technology? Where do you see this and how does this character impact your understanding of this theme?
2. Do you see any Luddites in the film (i.e. a person opposed to technology or technological change)? If so, who and how do they shade your understanding of this theme? If not, then why do you suppose such a character is absent from the film?
3. How do Kruge, David, and Kirk use technology throughout the film? How do their various approaches help you understand this theme in the film?
4. Imagine that the Genesis device worked properly, i.e. made habitable planets that didn't go boom. Would you consider it ethical to continue developing the technology or would its potential uses as a weapon curb your enthusiasm? Explain your answer using evidence from the film.

Despite the importance technology plays in the film, the ultimate success is not a scientific but a spiritual one. Spock is not truly resurrected with the Genesis device but the mystical rituals of the Vulcans.

Although The Search for Spock raises issues of ethics in technological pursuits, it ultimately skirts the issue by making the Genesis project a failure.