It May Have Been About Kirk, Spock, But In ‘Unification’ Robin Curtis and Saavik Steal Show
New short film is a love letter to original “Star Trek” and our long-lost friends
Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for the new short film, 765854 Unification.
Fandom has been abuzz since the release of 765854 Unification, a short film celebrating the 30th anniversary of Star Trek: Generations, and uses a lot of Hollywood magic to bring back a lot of old friends who we probably never thought we’d see again.
Released by the Roddenberry Archive and OTOY, in association with Paramount, clocking in at about eight minutes, Unification is the third in a series of Star Trek short films.
In a more-subjective narrative more reminiscent of the vibes of, say, 2001: A Space Odyssey, we’re reintroduced to an entire melange of classic Star Trek.
We’re reintroduced to Gary Mitchell, Yeoman Colt (Mahé Thaissa) and more old friends.
Amazingly, William Shatner comes back play Kirk at 93 and an 87-year-old Gary Lockwood returns as the godlike Mitchell.
It’s all made possible with some technical wizardry and some help with co-stars and supporting actors Sam Witwer helping play Kirk and Lawrence Selleck body-doubling for Spock.
You can watch the whole short film here:
And certainly the film’s raison d’etre and eponymous unification is the climatic reunion of Kirk and Spock at the time of Spock’s death in the Kelvin timeline.
But in my opinion, the real and unexpected star of this production is return of Saavik — played by an aged Robin Curtis — some 40 years after we last said, “Goodbye.”
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The way that both Saavik as a character, and Curtis as an actor, were left in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was not only unsatisfying but really felt disrespectful in a way.
(We recently published two editions of Subspace Chatter focusing on the history and development of the Saavik character; look for them in our archive.)
The character had been pivotal in the previous film, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock but unceremoniously dropped by The Voyage Home.
And the actress, Curtis?
I always felt she had gotten the short shrift, as well.
Although comparisons to Kirstie Alley — who originated the role in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan — are natural, I'm not sure that fans always gave Curtis enough credit for stepping in, and I don’t think she got adequate appreciation for what she brought to the role.
Finally, one of the best potential storylines for the character — a pregnancy by Spock from their time together in Star Trek III — had been carelessly discarded and left on the cutting room floor.
Thankfully, 765854 Unification solves all of that.
We finally get the proper farewell to Saavik that we’ve waited 40 years for.
There’s hardly any dialogue at all throughout this short, and none at all in the scene featuring Saavik.
And that’s what’s so special here.
Curtis and Shatner conveyed so much, in such a brief scene and did entirely wordlessly.
You cannot help but instantly recognize Saavik, even with through all the old-age makeup, and you can’t help but be moved by everything Saavik and Kirk convey to each other with just a few facial expressions.
It’s truly a masterclass in acting and Curtis finally gets to show off her chops.
Lastly, of course, we meet at long last Saavik and Spock’s son, Sorak (Mark Cinnery).
We’ve met that son — and saw the romantic relationship between Saavik and Spock — in novels and such, like Vulcan’s Heart.
But with 765854 Unification, this wonderful bit of lore now jumps off the page and comes closer to canon than any of us might have expected.
So, yes, with 765854 Unification we have one more chance to say farewell to Kirk and Spock.
But we Saavik fans got our chance to see the wonderful life she lived that before we could only imagine.
OTOY even released a brief companion video which focuses on Saavik and her history.
Watch it here:
As Curtis herself said, “I just remember thinking, ‘Oh my God, Saavik lived a good life. This woman lived a good life. Her life had meaning. It’s like life had been good to this character.’”
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