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 | X Ray Vision | Tornado | Car Crash | 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:

Iceland:L | South Korea:All | 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:

When the villains are preparing to visit the site of the super-computer, Ross, Vera, and Lorelei use helicopter-like devices to float to the canyon floor. Gus prefers to ride his burro, stating, "I don't believe a man can fly!" - a reference to the tagline of the first movie in the series, "You'll believe a man can fly!"

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the Junk yard fight scene, Superman kicks Clark Kent, who's on his knees, in the face. Clark falls to the ground unconscious. Then in the next frame, shot from a distance, Superman picks Clark up in his arms and the stuntman/actor playing Clark noticeably grabs on to Superman's back to help himself up. At the same time, 'Superman' is visibly struggling to pick 'Clark' up.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hackers (1995)

Soundtrack:

No See No Cry

It's not all that bad folks!

Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor) who is a fun-loving computer genius has been hired by a mad rich computer company tycoon named Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn)to help him with his plans along with Ross's sister Vera (Annie Ross) and girlfriend Loreli (Pamela Stephenson) but Superman (Christopher Reeve)interferes with their plans as they must plot to stop Superman for good. Clark Kent revisits his old boyhood town called Smallville, where he is reunited with an old flame named Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole) at a high school reunion during his visit. Gus comes up with a scheme to make a special kryptonite with tobacco tar to make Superman evil including splitting up with his personality so that way Gus and Webster can make their supercomputer that can control the world's energy, can Superman come back to normal or will the computer take over mankind?

Enjoyable sequel but not as awesome as the first two movies, Richard Lester who did his version of "Superman II" just added some unnecessary comedy relief such as the "Three Stooges"-esquire opening sequence that didn't help or that ludicrous video game footage but there was some good special effects and memorable moments like Clark Kent vs. Superman in the junkyard sequence or the part where Vera becomes a Dot Matrix from Spaceballs-like android, although Ms. Stephenson was pretty cute.

All in all it's that bad folks, just relax, enjoy and suspend your disbelief.