The best Saavik?

[F. King Daniel]

Who played the best Saavik and why?

I say: Kirstie Alley, by miles.
Written as a Vulcan/Romulan hybrid (the lines stating it were cut for some reason), she tried to hide her emotions but wasn't very good at it. Fiery, likable and colourful.

Robin Curtis' Saavik, written as a full Vulcan, was pretty much a zombie. No fire, no charisma, no nothing. Waste of a great character.

I'm really glad they changed Saavik to Valaris in STVI. I couldn't see either of the Saaviks as traitors.

 

[Mr Silver]

I think they both had positive as well as negative qualities about them

Kirstie Alley: She brought something new to Star Trek, a Vulcan/Romulan hybrid, the confliction of emotion and logic, which Alley portrayed excellently (particulary the scenes with Kirk, her curiosity about the Kobayashi Maru test and indeed her curiosity about him)

Robin Curtis: I really dunno why, but her voice alone makes me tremble lol, its awesome how she speaks, but as Saavik she brought a more Vulcan direction to the character, throughout Star Trek until TSFS we had yet to see a Female Vulcan with any real depth, AT gave us a foundation but Curtis brought more overall to the Female Vulcan template that continued into TNG and onwards

Overall though, i'm with the majority, Kirstie Alley really was the better Saavik

 

[Ssosmcin]

Saavik, of course, but I feel bad for Ms. Curtis. She really is a good actress, but was not given much to do. Saavik was blandly written, and obviously Nimoy didn't do much to help her out. I'll say this, Robin Curtis looks really hot today (or, 8 years ago when the SE version of TSFS came out), better than back in 1984. Kirstie, however....

 

[Therin of Andor]

obviously Nimoy didn't do much to help her out.

Director Nimoy to Robin Curtis: "Colder... say it colder."

 

[Mysterion]

Kirstie Alley. But Curtis looked pretty good as a vulcan, too.

Never bought the "half-romulan" thing for Saavik. Always assumed Saavik acted the way she did in TWoK due to her being still reletively young for a vulcan and thus still learning to control her emotional responses to things. Remember the way Spock acted in The Cage?

 

[Pauln6]

On balance I prefer Alley as her features have a natural exotic quality. I was also disappointed that Nimoy wanted Curtis to be so cold and also that the Romulan connenction was left off screen. Anybody who has read the novelisation of TWoK will see that Romulan Saavik had HUGE potential as a character. They wasted it, and the opportunity to bring another woman into the inner circle. A real shame.

 

[Amaris]

I like Kirstie Alley, and thought she did a very good job as Saavik. That said, I enjoy Robin Curtis' interpretation far better. Just a taste thing.

 

[sbk1234]

I really think Kirstie Alley's Saavik hada lot more to work with, and therefore made a more memorable performance. As much as I really hated her not being in TSFS, I felt really bad - and still do - for RObin Curtis having to step into the shoes of such a popular and well performed character. She was fighting a losing battle, IMHO.
Kirstie also had the advantage of originating the character. Even if RObin Curtis had played it as Kirstie Alley did, she'd have gotten flack for copying Alley's character instead of making it her own.
On a side note, Robin Curtis was one of the first Trek actors I ever met, and she was an absolute sweetheart, so she'll always have a soft spot with me.

 

[Pauln6]

There's nothing wrong with Curtis as an actress and if she'd been Saavik from the start I wouldn't have been unhappy. I think I lament the loss of the Saavik/Romulan sub-plot more than I dislike Curtis' performance. It leaves people scratching their heads wondering why Kirstie was so emotional in comparison.

 

[A beaker full of death]

Robin Curtis: ... as Saavik she brought a more Vulcan direction to the character

Blech. She emoted all over the place. I think she creamed her pants while Spock was metamorphosizing.

As Jimmy Doohan put it, Kirstie Alley was much better cast.

 

[Shazam!]

Kirstie Alley has that impish quality that I find really appealing. She was an early crush of mine.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Alley by a mile.

Curtis was little more than a stand-in, and her closely-directed portrayal was essentially Nimoy's gift to the other long-time Trek cast members - Saavik's character, and to some degree David's, were being set up in TWOK as major supporting cast for future Trek films and screen time for them would have further diminished the already minimal roles played by several of the TOS actors. There was open resentment on the TWOK stage directed against the new actors. By the end of Nimoy's maiden film, both characters had been assassinated in one sense or another - no wonder his TOS castmates liked him so much.

 

[Greg Cox]

I have to admit: I kind of wish they hadn't changed Saavik to Valeris for ST VI. Having Saavik betray Kirk would have been more more dramatic and tragic than some brand new character we had no connection to.

 

[Mysterion]

I have to admit: I kind of wish they hadn't changed Saavik to Valeris for ST VI. Having Saavik betray Kirk would have been more more dramatic and tragic than some brand new character we had no connection to.

This. Very much this.

 

[Iamnotspock]

I prefer Kirstie's portrayal but I don't think it's really fair to compare them as they were really only playing the same character in name only.

 

[CmndrSela318]

I voted for Robin Curtis. When ever I read or hear the name Lt. Saavik, I think of Robin's Lt. Saavik. To me, Robin will always be Saavik. Even though Robin may have played Saavik more Vulcan-like, to me, Saavik is still half-Romulan. Maybe between the end of The Wrath Of Khan and the beginning of The Search For Spock, Saavik learned how to control her Romulan half the way Mr. Spock does his human half. I know, Spock's human half has showed itself a few times. 2 times I can think of are in Star Trek 5, the movie William Shatner directed. First was around the campfire towards the beginning when Spock tried McCoy's bean with Bourbon in them. The way Spock said "Mmm. Surprisingly good." sounded very Human, to me. The other was towards the end when Spock, on the bridge of the Enterprise, says to Klingon General Kordd "Damn you, sir." Spock definitely showed some anger and, for a Vulcan, he sounded pretty angry. Well, anyway, like I've done said somewhere in this post: Robin Curtis will always be Saavik, to me.

 

[Trekker4747]

Kirstie Alley, by a long shot. Cuter and just put more "emotion" into the role, which sounds odd but it seemed to fit better than Curtis' take on Vulcan which was just oddly stolid something patterned after with T'Pol.

 

[Chrisisall]

To me, Robin will always be Saavik.

 

[sevenstars]

Kirstie Alley created a fascinating new character in a familiar (if beloved) universe. From what I remember, she made quite an impact even on people who were not regular Trek fans: she looked and acted the part so beautifully. It was a great letdown to find her missing from the next movie, and to have the character played by someone who seemed to be just a generic Vulcan. It should never have been recast.

 

[Admiral Shran]

To me, Robin will always be Saavik.

I'll gladly add another to that!

Robin Curtis by a long, long, long, long shot!

I never cared for the half-Romulan concept for the character. It always struck me as TPTB simply wanting another charcter like Spock. Whereas Spock was half-Human/half-Vulcan, Saavik was half-Romulan/half-Vulcan.

A full Vulcan can be a very interesting character, as they showed with Curtis' Saavik, Russ' Tuvok, and Blalock's T'Pol.

The fact that Alley's Saavik was much more emotional than Curtis' can be explained (as has been done in this thread) by saying that she was simply a young Vulcan still working on her emotional control - Vulcans do have emotions after all, they just keep them repressed as best as they can.

And then there's the fact that I think Robin Curtis is much more attractive than Kirstie Alley. She was one of my earliest crushes. For that alone, she's always be the best in my eyes.