Oregon daily emerald., November 21, 1986, Page 54, Image 70

\ K I N Ai \ \ I I K I A 1 N M » N 1
MO VIES
Vulcanized Once Again
Contrary to enduring rumors, Leonard Nimoy doesn’t mind being Mr. Spock
UREOORY STHWARTZ
In costMM. not character: Nimoy and William Shatner relax on the set of 'Star Trek IV’
Everyone knows television is make
believe. It’s just actors, and scripts,
and fancy special effects. Same
thing for movies—none of it is real
Sure, we all know that. But if you
were to bump into I>eonard Nimoy at
7-Eleven, your first thought wouldn't be,
"Hey, I>eonard, how ure the Slurpees?” Ad
mit it—you’d think, "My God, it’s MISTER
SPOCK.'" So would we all. Because to the
millions of us who teethed on the 79 prime
time episodes of "Star Trek" and the two
years of animated adventures on Saturday
mornings and the three movies, Nimoy
isn 7 Nimoy at all He is emotion less Mister
Spock, science officer of the starship Enter
prise, loyal friend to Captain Kirk, eternal
irritant to Doctor McCoy. Nimoy could play
Hamlet tomorrow, but he’d still be a Vul
can doing Shakespeare.
"We are what we are,” says Nimoy, 54.
bearded, bespectacled and decidedly un
Spocklike. "I’m welcome in other projects.
but I’m most welcome in 'Star Trek.’ It’s
obvious." Nimoy is cowriter, costar and
director of "Star Trek IV: The Voyage
Home,” the latest big-screen sequel to the
small-screen series (1966-19691, which is
scheduled for release late this month.
In "IV," the "Star Trek” gang must go
back to 1986 and kidnap a couple of
whales—they are extinct in the 25th cen
tury—to appease a frustrated alien intelli
gence that will destroy Earth unless it can
talk to the mammals At the same time,
"IV” ties up some loose plot strings left
dangling from the previous movies. Nimoy
says this film will come closer to the spirit
of the original TV series than its predeces
sors. "The jauntiness of the characters is
somehow less self-concious, less preten
tious," says Nimoy. "It sets out to be less
profound and in a way becomes more pro
found as a result.”
Nimoy predicts that "IV," as more of
a pure adventure story, may be the
first "Star Trek” movie that
can lure in people who don’t
know the difference between a
Vulcan neck pinch and a hearty
handshake. "We have a chance
to break in a new audience
with thisone,” hesays. "I’m the
first to admit there are inside
jokes that might make a stran
ger or outsider somewhat un
easy, might make him look
around and say, T don’t get this,'
butlthinkyoudon’t necessarily
need to be a 'Star Trek’ follower
to enjoy the movie. ”
Tirad at tha pointy ears? For
years the Hollywood communi
ty has continued to nurse the
rumor that Nimoy was sick and
tired of putting on his pointy
earsandplayingtheVulcan. In
fact, after Spock died at the end
of "II,” Nimoy met with Mi
chael Eisner—then the presi
dent of Paramount, the studio
that releases the "Star Trek”
movies—to lobby fora chance to
direct "III.”"1 can’t understand
how you can ask me to do this,”
the perplexed Eisner reported
ly said. "How can you ask me to
give you control of a $16 million
'Star Trek' feature when you
hate it? You hate it so much you had your
selfkilledoff!”
Nimoy denies these enduring reports.
"There has never been a'StarTrek’project I
haven’t been a part of, and yet there is this
persistent notion that I have refused to do
’Star Trek’ or that I have rejected it in some
way,” he says. "There’s some kind of
strange anomaly going on here, right?” But
does he regret his eternal linkage with
Spock? "I’m grateful for it,” says Nimoy.
"It’s better than being forgotten.” Spock
did, after all, provide him with enough clout
to persuade Paramount to let him takeover
"III." And that movie, "The Search for
Spock,” did so well—grossing $76 mi I lion—
that he was asked to do it again this time.
(Captain Kirk has since decided to follow
suit; William Shatner will direct "V.")
Deciding what to put the Enterprise* crew
through on this voyage wasn’t easy. In the
early planning stages, "IV” was going to
add Eddie Murphy tothecast—Paramount