Superman III (1983)

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

Director:

Richard Lester

Writers:

Jerry Siegel (character created by: Superman), Joe Shuster (character created by: Superman)

Stars:

Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor, Margot Kidder

2 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Wealthy businessman Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn)discovers the hidden talents of Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor), a mischievous computer genius. Ross decides to abuse his talents, in a way to help Webster with his plans for economic control. When the man of steel interferes, something must be done about Supes. When Gus' synthetic Kryptonite fails to kill Superman, it turns him in an evil incarnation of his former self. The tar-laced Kryptonite pits man against himself, setting up the Clark vs. Superman battle.

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Plot Keywords:

superman character | lana lang character | perry white character | clark kent character | lois lane character | 

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Taglines:

Alexander Salkind Presents Christopher Reeve and Richard Pryor as you never seen them before. With more action, more twists, and more fun than Superman has ever had before!

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

WB Home Entertainment - DVD site

Country:

Netherlands UK USA

Language:

English Italian Spanish

Release Date:

17 June 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Superman vs. Superman

Filming Locations:

Glen Canyon, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$39,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,352,357, 19 June 1983

Gross USA:

$59,950,623

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dovemead Films, Cantharus Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Frank Oz played a brain surgeon in a deleted scene from the montage of the supercomputer causing a nationwide power outage. It's included in the extended television version of the film. He also worked on puppet sequences, which were also deleted, and not included in any version. Director of Photography Robert Paynter, previously shot An American Werewolf in London (1981), in which Oz appeared, and shot The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) (Oz's directorial debut), and Little Shop of Horrors (1986).

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Goofs

When the Olympian carrying the torch that Supes blows out goes up the stairs in the wide shot, the torch is a sparkler-type, sending out sparks instead of flames. In the close up of the torch going out, there are flames instead of sparks.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Featured in Precious Images (1986)

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Soundtracks

No See, No Cry
Performed by Chaka Khan
Music by Giorgio Moroder
Lyrics by Keith Forsey
Produced by Giorgio Moroder

User Reviews

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.