Superman III (1983)

Director:

Richard Lester

Writers:

David Newman (screenplay) and
Leslie Newman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

17 June 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | 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:

Kryptonite | Computer | High School Reunion | Smallville | Villain

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
Pamela Stephenson	...	Lorelei
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
Peter Wear	...	Bank Robber

Also Known As:

Superman III (Canada: French title)
Superman vs. Superman (USA) (original script title)

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

UK | Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

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

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Brazil:10 | 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:

According to the producers' commentary on the Superman III: Deluxe Edition DVD, contrary to popular belief, this film was not a flop. While both critics and fans generally expressed disappointment with the third Superman movie, and the fact that its $60 million gross fell short of the previous two movies' $100 million+ box office business, Superman III still yielded an impressive profit; this in the wake of stiff competition during the summer of 1983, with Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) opening three weeks earlier, and Octopussy (1983) opening just ten days earlier.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When Superman has returned Ricky to Lana after hitting his head on the rock in the wheat field, Lana wipes the blood off his face with her white sweater. In the next scene, the sweater is spotless.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Don't Let's Start (2009)

Soundtrack:

On the Streets of Metropolis (Intro to Superman III)

Richard Pryor and Richard Lester and two Supermans... What else could a man want?

I love this movie, for those of you think it's really bad because it's too ridiculous, you must not read too many of the comics. The very first comics I never read were Superman comics, and that was when I hadn't even got into kindergarten, and let me tell you, they could be pretty silly but never boring.

The same could be said for this movie. First of all, I love Richard Pryor and he has a field day in this movie. Secondly, I love Robert Vaughn, and he plays a really juicy villain in this one. And then there's this great fight scene between two Supermen... but I don't want to give away everything from those of you haven't seen the film yet.

There is everything you should expect in this kind of movie. My only complaint was not enough Lois Lane (Margo Kidder) and maybe I'm nitpicking, but continuity with the other two films seems to be ignored completely. According to this entry in the series, Clark graduated from Smallville high in 1962. The problem with that is that in the first film, is clear that when Clark is in high school, it's the late 1940s by the vintage cars and trucks in the scenes. But hey, if we can believe that a man can come from another planet, fly, see through walls, burn through things with his eyes and lift trains into the air then why bitch about little things like continuity?

Not only do I have this baby on video from cable TV, but I also taped the network version just for the outtakes and edited out every single commercial. (The beautifully choreographed opening credits with the blind man, some mechanical penguins on fire and more is even longer and better in the TV version.)

So hate this one if you must, but I will take it over the second film any the day of the week. (That is, the Richard Lester version. I LOVED the Richard Donner cut which recently made it to DVD.)

I give it a 7 out of 10.