Superman III (1983)

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

I couldn't find a thread dedicated to Superman III; and, with the mention of the film in another recent thread today, decided to dig up one of my old reviews of the film:

I find Superman III enjoyable, well-done, and extremely underrated. As a kid back in Summer '83, I remember seeing this theatrically at that time & enjoying it then as well - and the years have not diminished this. Sure, the effects & technology are extremely dated (especially the computers), but this is still a decent, well-done film.

Some of my favorite sequences:

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.

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...

And, of course, Richard Pryor as the scam artist Gus Gorman was hilarious - obviously, because of his inclusion many fans probably dismissed the film as a comedy; however, his presence brought a light-heartedness to the film that was reminiscent of the comedic Ned Beatty character from Superman I & II. One of my favorite Pryor scenes was when Robert Vaughn & his hangers-on (his gf, sister, etc.) were trying to figure out who in their organization was stealing money from them. Vaughn went on to say that anyone who was smart enough to have figured out how to "skim" those extra cents from the system would be intelligent enough to lay low, not make any large purchases, etc. And right after this comment Pryor pulls into the parking lot in an expensive, new sports car - despite the fact that he obviously couldn't afford one on his salary. Perfect comic timing

I also liked how this film was referenced in one of my all-time favorite comedies, Office Space (1999)

And, this film has been homaged in the modern Superman & Superman-related TV series:

-Obviously, casting Annette O'Toole to play Clark Kent's mother in the great series Smallville had a lot to do with her having played Lana Lang in this film.

- An early episode of Supergirl involved her being exposed to Red Kryptonite, and turning temporarily "evil/mean". In one scene, she was in a bar & destroyed some bottles by flicking nuts at them - this was taken from a similar scene when an infected Superman did the same thing - nice homage.

[trevanian]

Good SUPE choking bad Supe to death just wasn't quite at the level of resolution I hoped for (and he seems to be giving him a massage going by hand position.)

But Annette O'Toole's presence can make nearly anything somewhat watchable (see whatever they wound up retitling AMERICAN DATE with Martin Short as a great example of this.)

[CyberpunkCentral]

[CelluloidPal]

Originally Posted by trevanian

Good SUPE choking bad Supe to death just wasn't quite at the level of resolution I hoped for (and he seems to be giving him a massage going by hand position.)

But Annette O'Toole's presence can make nearly anything somewhat watchable (see whatever they wound up retitling AMERICAN DATE with Martin Short as a great example of this.)

Is this the movie you're referring to?

[levcore]

When she gets sucked into the computer at the end and turned into a robot, man that seriously disturbed me as a kid. Serious nightmare fuel that bit.

[Mister B Gone]

I'm a big fan of this movie and also think it is extremely underrated; its hilarious and has some cool sequences.

The Evil Supes scenes are classic and I love the creepy ending

[shinobipopcorn]

I remember liking the plot of the 4th movie more than the plot of this one, problem was though that the execution of #4 was just plain horrible. So I actually like Returns more than both 3 and 4. But the whole franchise was a mess after 2, so...

I think most can agree that 1 is the superior movie. Maybe they all would have been good if 1 and 2 had played out like originally intended before the drama.

[Rodney-2187]

Superman Returns is effectively Superman III now.

[Bolty]

Best part was when Pryor skied off the building.

[RedHarvest]

Originally Posted by levcore

When she gets sucked into the computer at the end and turned into a robot, man that seriously disturbed me as a kid. Serious nightmare fuel that bit.

Same here. I thought about that bit for years, and it was a recurring nightmare for me.

Superman III is one of those films where you can really see and feel the cocaine-fueled decision-making. There's certain 80's productions where the cocaine power is evident, where it just consumes and becomes the theme of the film, and this is a big one. Maximum Overdrive is another, but there's several.

[urrutiap]

Besides Richard Pryor and the stupid Salkand chain reaction goofball humor in the beginning, Superman III was pretty dark

Good Superman choking the living heck out of "Bizzarro" Superman. Dark and disturbing and scary

the whole junkyard fight pretty much was violent

The sister being turned into a "brainiac" human host was pretty damn scary. Period

[Ggould1975]

I've always liked this film! Definitely underrated in my opinion. I've always been a Richard Pryor fan...The Toy, Moving, See No Evil Hear No Evil.....but yes I agree with others that the scene where Annie Ross is dragged into that computer was terrifying for me as an 8 year old at the time. The 2nd film Theatrical is my favorite of the Reeve franchise. Robert Vaughn was a convincing bad guy. The fight between Clark and Supes was hilarious to me but also good! It's a good film for sure.

[RCRochester]

Too much nostalgia associated with this one for me to offer a truly objective assessment. I fully acknowledge there are lots of terrible parts to this movie, the over-reliance on Richard Pryor and his schtick but I really enjoy the interaction between Clark and Lana. Call it sacrilege but I actually like Annette O'Toole as Lana much more than Margot Kidder as Lois, and I find there's much more genuine warmth between Clark and Lana than there is between Clark and Lois.

Reeve did a fantastic job as the "evil" Superman too.

[ChainsawJedi]

A big thumbs up for this film from me, too. Old enough to see it first time round at the pictures, its brilliance has not dimmed with time. Get me in the right mood, and I get a bit wet-eyed during the scene where "bad Superman" gets drunk and the little kid outside is shouting after him that he can get better, that he's "just in a slump".

[CompleteCount]

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[drush9999]

Originally Posted by rodneyfaile

Superman Returns is effectively Superman III now.

[Dunemoon]

Always liked III. Saw it in the theater in 83 as well as the previous two (1978 & 1981). Weird seeing Calgary so much.

[shinobipopcorn]

Originally Posted by drush9999

Hey man, it's okay. Halloween did it first.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Glad to see other Superman III fans on here - I agree it was extremely underrated. And, though I wasn't a huge Pryor fan when I first saw the film (being too young to have seen many of his films), I've become much more of a RP fan over the years. So, if anything, my appreciation for the movie has increased with each subsequent viewing.

Also agree that Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole) had more chemistry with Clark/Superman than Lois ever did. She definitely had an intentional "girl next door" vibe. I've always been partial to redheads, however

Sad that Reeve, Pryor, and Kidder have all passed at this point.

I thought Superman IV was terrible, and am glad they didn't make any other Reeve films after that - the franchise had really run out of steam at that point.

However, I really hated Superman Returns - one of the worst movies I've ever seen, and I completely ignore this - even though it's supposed to fit into the chronology of the Reeve films.

[levcore]

Originally Posted by AnamorphicWidescreen

Glad to see other Superman III fans on here - I agree it was extremely underrated. And, though I wasn't a huge Pryor fan when I first saw the film (being too young to have seen many of his films), I've become much more of a fan over the years. So, if anything, my appreciation for the movie has increased with each subsequent viewing.

Also agree that Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole) had more chemistry with Clark/Superman than Lois ever did. She definitely had an intentional "girl next door" vibe. I've always been partial to redheads, however

Sad that Reeve, Pryor, and Kidder have all passed at this point.

I thought Superman IV was terrible, and am glad they didn't make any other Reeve films after that - the franchise had really run out of steam at that point.

However, I really hated Superman Returns - one of the worst movies I've ever seen, and I completely ignore this - even though it's supposed to fit into the chronology of the Reeve films.

And Robert Vaughn.