Superman III (1983)

Director:

Richard Lester

Writers:

Jerry Siegel (characters) &
Joe Shuster (characters) ...

Release Date:

17 June 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

If the world's most powerful computer can control even Superman...no one on earth is safe.

Plot:

Synthetic kryptonite laced with tobacco tar splits Superman in two: good Clark Kent and bad Man of Steel.

Plot Keywords:

Falling From The Sky | Picnic | Buddy Comedy | Explosive | Laser Beam

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Christopher Reeve	...	Superman / Clark Kent
Richard Pryor	...	Gus Gorman
Jackie Cooper	...	Perry White
Marc McClure	...	Jimmy Olsen
Annette O'Toole	...	Lana Lang
Annie Ross	...	Vera Webster
Pamela Stephenson	...	Lorelei Ambrosia
Robert Vaughn	...	Ross Webster
Margot Kidder	...	Lois Lane
Gavan O'Herlihy	...	Brad
Nancy Roberts	...	Unemployment Clerk
Graham Stark	...	Blind Man
Henry Woolf	...	Penguin Man
Gordon Rollings	...	Man in Cap (as Gordon Rawlings)
Peter Wear	...	Bank Robber

Also Known As:

Superman vs. Superman (USA) (original script title)

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

South Korea:All | Iceland:L | Australia:PG | Canada:PG | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Norway:12 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Company:

Cantharaus Productions N.V.

Trivia:

The little boy who appears waiting by the photo-booth while Clark Kent changes into Superman was actually the same little boy who played baby Kal-El (Superman) in Superman (1978).

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): At the end of the movie when Lois returns from vacation in Bermuda, Perry said that only she could get a story about "Corruption in the Caribbean". Bermuda isn't in the Caribbean.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Unemployment Clerk: Next. Name.
Gus Gorman: Gus Gorman.

Movie Connections:

References Royal Flash (1975)

Soundtrack:

Rock On

The first of two extremely weak sequels

I'll be frank: SUPERMAN III is NOT a good film. Having heard both from people who loved the movie and hated the movie, I watched it with an open mind, but in the end it was clear to me that this movie is weak. Very weak.

Half of the movie revolves around Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor!), a dim-witted computer programmer who becomes involved in crime when he begins working for millionaire Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn). The other half of the film revolves around Superman (Christopher Reeve), as he is reunited with high school sweetheart Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole) and becomes evil when exposed to synthetic kryptonite.

One can't help but wonder what David and Leslie Newman, who co-wrote the previous two SUPERMAN films, were thinking when they wrote this film. It opens with a cringe-worthy slapstick sequence, and gets worse from there. Any and all scenes involving Richard Pryor are completely out of place in this film, making it seem more like an unfunny comedy than a superhero film. Director Richard Lester tries his best to make the movie work, but ultimately, it doesn't, thanks in part to the absence of Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor and the near-absence of Margot Kidder as Lois Lane (Kidder has a total of about three minutes on-screen). Christopher Reeve, however, is excellent as always, and Annette O'Toole is a good fit for the part of Lana Lang; interestingly, she portrayed Clark's mother, Martha Kent, on the hit Superman TV series SMALLVILLE.

SUPERMAN III is mediocre at best, a failed attempt to continue an excellent series. While it couldn't hold my attention for the 125 minute runtime, I can think of worse movies to watch late at night with a bowl of popcorn and a Coke. Superman fans may want to check it out; all others, steer clear.