Superman III (1983)

[HeroesUnlimited]

The best part of this movie (for me) was the Superman vs. Clark fight in the junk yard. Overall, this is probably the weakest entry in the series.

[Kryppy]

Superman III was mixed.

All the ideas based on comic books (Lana Lang, Red Kryptonite, etc) were a lot of fun. But all the made up ideas (Gus Gorman) were pretty stupid.

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Also,by the time Superman III was made,Martha Kent had already died so how she is alive in the Superman Returns movie??

I believe Bryan Singer intended for SR to be in continuity with Superman I & II, but to ignore III and IV.

Personally, I choose to ignore SR. I mean, part IV was bad. But SR was so bad that I don't even count it as a Superman movie!

[moviefan2k4]

In my personal opinion, "Superman III" is the worst of the original four films made during the '70s and '80s. The only good moments that I liked in that movie were the stuff between Chris Reeve & Annette O'Toole, and the junkyard fight. While the whole Donner/Lester/Salkind fiasco ripped "Superman II" to shreds, "Superman III" only served to make it worse. By casting Richard Pryor, the film was turned into a very campy comedy, which was a far cry from the original film. Reeve tried to restore the franchise with "Superman IV", but the studio slashed the budget at the last second, and the film was doomed as a result. If the Salkinds had simply left the franchise to Donner & Mankiewicz, it's more than likely the last two films would've turned out much better.

[jon-el87]

Originally, this film was going to feature Brainiac, Mister Myxpltk and introduce Supergirl. Sadly, they dropped that in favor of a comedy with Richard Pryor. Having seen a lot of Not the Nine O'Clock News sketches, I don't think they used Pamela Stephenson's talent right.

They really dialed up the humor on this one. In the first film, they went for an authentic feeling. If the villain is going to have an underground lair, it has to be an abandoned subway station. Here two traffic signals starts fighting each other. And a guy survives a fall from a skyscraper.

I like that the film contains scene where you can see the average day for Superman. These days, these sorts of things only get presented through montages (if shown at all).

This film was Anette O'Toole's first involvement in a Superman adaptation. In highsight, her character's line "Why do I stay in Smallville?" becomes funny. Similar to Dan Aykroyd's remark about Robert Downey, Jr. in Chaplin ("What is he putting on in there? A suit of armor?"). I really like that they have her be interested in Clark, instead of Superman.

A minor side fact about the reunion scene. Some of the music playing is the Beatles. No doubt a reference to this film's director, who also directed the first two of the Beatles' movies. Also, a sign of Lana's ex-husband gives his name as "Donald White". Which means that Ricky's full name is Richard White (same as James Marsden in Superman Returns).

This movie doesn't use any of the villains from the comics. Instead we've got Ross Webster, who I guess you could see as a prototype for what Lex Luthor became a few years after this. It also uses an advanced computer, which shows up at the end of the film. They really should've introduced it much earlier and had it be the main antagonist.

[nate-dog1701d]

Mxyzptlk in live action in the eighties? That would have been a spectacle.