Display MoreGreetings WingNuts,
The Wing Commander movie club found the Search for Spock worth the effort! It sometimes feels like Star Trek III gets a bad rap just to fit together the 'even good, odd bad' Star Trek movie joke. The reality is that it only ever falters at the very end with a final ten minutes of dull Vulcan resurrection that loses more and more meaning the further we travel from the tastes of 1980s fandom. But everything else, what a movie! And not only that, Star Trek III takes the world of Star Trek II and twists it into what it will become for the next thirty years. The 'tone' of Star Trek TNG and its spinoffs is born in Search for Spock's first act… as are a huge number of the models, sets and ideas (including the modern Klingon) that will go on to fuel an enormous franchise. And a rousing story, to boot.
The big connection to Wing Commander is that Star Trek III was the origin of the "Spacedock". The Enterprise returns to this massive enclosure in Earth orbit early in the film and then in the second act Kirk and his crew must steal the Enterprise from its depths. The Spacedock model was constructed by Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) for the film. Their artists created a distinct and impressive model which would go on to serve in a number of Star Trek roles. Additional footage of the Spacedock was shot for Star Trek IV and Star Trek VI. Star Trek V reused stock footage as did several episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation which matted the new model of the Enterprise on top of Kirk's ship. In recent years, it has appeared on Discovery, Lower Decks and Picard. Here are some great behind the images from Memory Alpha:
Per tradition, we've put together a gallery of shots of the station. You can absolutely see how Chris Douglas adapted the idea into Privateer's distinct Perry.
It looks particularly like Perry in wireframe form on Uhura's bridge readout aboard the Enterprise!
And if you're interested in some of the contemporary lore for the station, here's a page from FASA's Star Trek III sourcebook that covers the new installation:
Did you know there are only two images of Perry in all of the original Privateer? The one from the front of the box and the one that appears in the game itself!
Perry's closed off internal bays are not based on the Spacedock's open area… but the little animated shuttle that was ultimately cut from the game does seem to reference the shuttlepods that fly around the Spacedock.
Sully also got so large because of the Genesis device.
