Superman III (1983)

Memorable, crazy movie

Let's be realistic.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Horrible writing. Pathetic special effects even by 1983 standards. This was five years after Star Wars?!? Richard Pryor is literally a joke. An absolutely embarrassing Robert Vaughn performance. An affront to the first two Superman movies. This was the beginning of the end for this group of Superman movies. The TV series that I grew up with had more charm, wit, and passion than this drivel.

quite good ... a bit too much slapstick but that happens when you get the change of a director. personally I love the Clark and Lana parts and Gus redeeming himself but its strange without Hackman or Margot kidder.It's nice that this tome around reeve is fully confident compared to the predecessors.

Superman III (1983) is very extremely underrated bashed hated film and I am going to defend this film today! It is one of my personal favorite Superman movies of all time. Yes you read the title I love Superman III it is my childhood movie, I grew up watching this film and it was the first film I saw as a kid. Since I saw half of the second film Richard Lester version. Christopher Reeve will always be Clark Kent Superman for me no one else can replace him I don't care what anyone says. I kept wining to my parents that I want to see Superman movie and in the video store a lady video store owner gave me Superman III on VHS when I was a kid and it was the only movie she had. Superman III is MILES way better than crappy lame Zack Snyder's Man of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice I hate those movies. I find this film enjoyable, well-done, and extremely underrated. The effects & technology are extremely dated (especially the computers), but this is still a decent, well-done film. Plot: Synthetic kryptonite laced with tobacco tar splits Superman in two: good Clark Kent and bad Man of Steel. Thing's I love in this movie, why I gave the most highest rating in this film and why I am defending it:Christopher Reeve is and always will be the only SUPERMAN! No one could play Clark Kent/Superman like Christopher Reeve, If anyone could be Superman, It is Christopher Reeve! The opening sequence with the "fools of Metropolis" was amusing, in a slap-stick way; this intentionally reminded me of some of the old slap-stick routines from years before (Laurel & Hardy; Three Stooges; etc.). And, sure, a lot of Superman III was comedic, but a lot of this was just in line with the Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor) character. Superman/Clark going back to Smallville for his high school reunion & running into Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole), etc. Very cool sequence, and I liked seeing Superman return to his "roots". Also, based on the reunion you get an idea of the character's ages - i.e., the reunion said "Class of 1965" & since the film came out in 1983 (and supposedly was set in "real time), then Clark & his class-mates were all around 36 years old at that point.This film focus more on Lana Lang, Clark's first love, Lois was Clark's eternal Love but Lana was his first love. Annette O'Toole was perfectly as Lana Lang after long 18 years Annette was cast as Martha Kent in Smallville. In Superman: The Movie Lana Lang was played by actress Diane Sherry and she only had a cameo scene and than she disappeared from the rest of the film. Here we find out more about Clark and Lana's love! I saw Clark and Lois in the first two films but now we see more Clark and Lana's love story. Superman save's Ricky (Paul Kaethler) Lana's son in the corn filed from the tractor that scene was really serious, the kid could have been seriously crushed, it that could have happened in real life. This film was filmed and released in year of 1983 the year that I was born. This was my first Superman movie and it is my childhood film, I love it to death and I will always cherished. The whole sequence where Superman was exposed to the "Red Kryptonite" (though they didn't call it that in the episode) and became dark/somewhat evil. They did a great job of transforming Superman/Clark to look dirty/unshaven/burned out (even his costume was darker!), and not only disinterested in helping others - but also being somewhat malicious as well. I especially liked the battle that Superman had with his good & bad selves in the junkyard; I'm guessing this battle may have been metaphorical. It was also interesting on another level, because we saw what would happen if Superman had been evil instead of good. That scene was also used in Smallville Season 2 Episode 4: Red Clark was exposed to Red kryptonite and he evil. Richard Pryor as the scam artist Gus Gorman was good and hilarious the same time - obviously, because of his inclusion many fans probably dismissed the film as a comedy; however, his presence brought a light-heartiness to the film that was reminiscent of the comedic Ned Beatty character from Superman I & II. Christopher Reeve was perfect as Clark Kent/Superman he acted brilliant his character, he is the only Superman and superhero for me.This is Richard Lester original version film and he didn't had to re shot scenes from Richard Donner. The rest of the actors did a solid job and I really didn't had any problems with them. Robert Vaughn was a great villain I am glad the franchise had a new villain in all films Lex Luthor was five time the villain in all Superman franchise movies.Ross Webster was a great villain and the scene where Vera (Annie Ross) becomes a robot and she becomes evil really scares me. Brad Wilson played by Gavan O'Herlihy: Lana's former boyfriend, the character from the first film also returns in the first film he was played by Brad Flock.Superman III is a 1983 British superhero film directed by Richard Lester, based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the third film in the Superman film series and the last Superman film to be produced by Alexander Salkind and Ilya Salkind. I love this film to death and it is my second favorite and the last good Superman film.

This has got to be one of the most painful, if not the most painful movie to sit through. First, you have the first one which I thought it was a classic. Second, you have the sequel where different directors have their own cut of the movie as Lester's cut did fine, but I much prefer Donner's cut. Now, we have the third movie that had just made this franchise go way overboard. I'm not happy with the direction for what this movie went, because like I said it is painful to watch. Here is my take on it: The movie centers mostly on Gus Gorman, who is nothing more but a bum as he looks for a job by working as a programmer on computers; while that is going on, CEO of the computer company, Ross Webster hires him to do on what he is being told but Superman foils his plan. So they try to make Kryptonite to kill Superman, but instead of that, his personalities has now change. On the other hand, Clark Kent returns to Smallville for a high school reunion with one of his best friends Lana Lang. So, that is what the movie is about. This plot for the third movie isn't as interesting as you thought it would. Heck, I didn't think it was that interesting either. This movie is not only having its camp factors like Lester's cut of "Superman II," but having put too much comedy in it. There is nothing wrong for putting comedy in a superhero movie, but all jokes that were putted in the movie are being forced; its just trying too hard to make something on what is suppose to be funny. None of the jokes ever worked. I hated the opening scene, where instead of the tradition opening credits like the other "Superman" movies, they just show the city of Metropolis for becoming a madhouse as well as having the credits for making it look like the opening text crawl from the "Star Wars" movies. Richard Pryor is not funny in this movie, and doesn't belong here to be in this movie. I've read the movie's trivia on IMDb, where Pryor read the script and thought it was terrible, but agreed to do it for paycheck. I'll forgive Pryor for his involvement, but if he wants to be in this movie then have him play a villain or something, instead of being a comedic sidekick. The villains in this movie are uninspiring, because they couldn't used any villains from the comics but just have to be created for the movie. I honestly don't care for Ken Thorne's music or some of Giorgio Moroder's music that he created for the movie, which I find them nothing to be appealing. The acting is so-so for the cast, except for Christopher Reeve, Annette O'Toole and a small appearance from Margot Kidder. Margot Kidder's look for Lois Lane is okay, but miss the way she look in the first one and the second one in Donner's cut. Her acting is still good, but wish that she had more screen time. As for Annette O'Toole, her performance as Lana Lang is well done, but I don't find her chemistry with Christopher Reeve well enough as much as I enjoy the chemistry between Reeve and Kidder. Now for Christopher Reeve, he is still giving a great performance for playing Clark Kent and Superman, and there is nothing to dislike about him. I love him when he becomes corrupted by a fake Kryptonite as he turns to the dark side; he seems to have a blast for this role for playing such a bad superhero. I do like where evil Superman fights his ego Clark Kent as its pretty much a fight between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. As Clark Kent finishes off his evil self, I love when the Superman theme comes in as he is now fully redeem, while he opens up his shirt by revealing his costume and fixed the damage that he caused. That is where I get the feel of that I'm watching a "Superman" movie, until it goes back to being painful. The child actor who plays Lana Lang's son Ricky is really annoying aside from Pryor's character. Even his acting is very wooden. The special effects are similar to Lester's cut of "Superman II" as there are parts that are good and bad. Lester's direction is terrible, and you still wish if the Salkinds have not fired Richard Donner for making "Superman II" as if this franchise would still be strong. This is not an easy movie to sit through, because at least when you have some bad movies like either "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III," "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," or "X-Men: The Last Stand;" there are at least not as painful as "Superman III." Although, I do thought the third "X-Men" movie is okay, but still not good. I'm sure you're going to disagree with me on one of those movies, but that just me being bias about something. This movie sure does feel like Pryor's movie than Superman's, because Pryor really steals the show. This movie should have more scenes with Superman, than having more scenes with Pryor in it. I don't like "Superman III," and I strongly don't recommend it. I give it a 3 out of 10.