Rating: 
Summary: The Man of Steel Gets a Bit Rusty
Review: Poorly conceived and misguided second sequel to 1978's "Superman" aims towards campy comedy and misses. Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) returns to his hometown of Smallville for his high school reunion and is reunited with his childhood sweetheart Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole). Meanwhile, an unlikely computer genius (Richard Pryor) is recruited by an unscrupulous industrialist (Robert Vaughn) to reprogram a weather satellite so that it can create disastrous weather that will effect commodity prices. When Superman foils their scheme, the bad guys try to synthesize kryptonite to destroy him, but they get the process wrong so it instead splits Superman's personality into good and evil halves.The plot and tone of the film is reminiscent of some of the sillier "Superman" comic books of the 1950s and 60s. Reeve gives another good performance as Superman and Clark Kent, and even gets to stretch as an actor by playing a Man of Steel with a bad streak. As a love interest, O'Toole is a pleasing alternative to Margot Kidder's Lois Lane, who only has a cameo. But they cannot save this disappointing mess of a movie, which suffers from a miscast Pryor, the absence of a compelling story or villains, and too many jokes which are simply unfunny.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the best, but still worth a watch
Review: The best Superman movie was the original from 1978. From there, the films got progressively worse and more corny with each release (Superman II being enjoyable, Superman III being the one where you wonder what the producers were thinking making a third enstallment, and Superman IV being laughably cheesy and cheaply done). Still, Superman III remains somewhat enjoyable because it strayed from the norm. Unlike Superman I, II, or IV, Superman III is nearly Lois Lane-less. Instead, Clark Kent goes back home to Smallville to see if he can't spark something up again with childhood lover Lana Lang. In additon, there is no Lex Luger. The special effects were noticably done with a lesser budget than the ones from the first two movies of the franchise, but they don't completely ruin the film. There's a junkyard fight scene that is particularly engaging. And finally, although Richard Pryor was a questionable choice for this movie, he delivers some great one-liners and actually does a fine job with the role he plays.
The Best Quotation From the Entire Film: "I asked you to kill Superman, and you couldn't even do that one simple thing!"
Rating: 
Summary: "Superman III: Super Bipolar"
Review: "You always wanted to fly, Kent. Here's ya chance." - Superman has a severe identity crisis as he battles his alter ego, Clark Kent, in "Superman III"
The third installment to the "Superman" series is less than stellar (it doesn't compare to the first two films). With the origin story told in "Superman: The Movie" and the romance between Superman & Lois Lane explored and understood in "Superman II", my expectations were high for "III". I expected a thematic story, along the lines of the first two films, but, instead "Superman III" has a weak plot covered in Bob Hope style shtick that only goes so far.
Superman goes up against Ross Webster, a greedy international conglomerate, that wants to control the world by using the world's computer resources. One of the company's new employees, computer genius Gus Gorman, is blackmailed by Webster (after balking at recieving his first paycheck, Gorman hacks into the computer main frame and gives himself a very big raise) and is forced to help destroy Superman by concocting a home made piece of Kryptonite, that instead of killing The Man of Steel, brings out the hellraiser in him. Superman has to get his s*it together & defeat Webster & Gorman in a super computer hideout, hidden in The Grand Canyon.
Compared to the first 2 films, this is a really lame film. But, it is watchable and better than "Superman IV". You can tell the cast is getting a bit old for their britches in this one. Margot Kidder, showing her disgust over the firing of Richard Donnor during the filming of "Superman II", has about 5 minutes of screen time in "III", having Lois Lane vacation in Bermuda. Christopher Reeve is still great as Superman, but this time out, the feeling seems to be, "been there, done that". Richard Pryor seems to be stuck in first gear only generating a few laughs out of the 2 hr. film time.
The high point for the film, for me, was the cool junkyard duel between the bad Superman and the good Clark Kent. The battle in the Grand Canyon wasn't bad either, although quite outdated (Atari graphics!?! Gimmee a break!).
As for the DVD - 2.0 Dolby Digital (ouch), and a trailer for the special features. Save your money and just buy the first two films. Rent "Superman III" on a rainy day. Avoid "Superman IV" like Mytzlplyk (or however he spells it).
Rating:
Summary: Superman can be better
Review: Without Lex Luthor, this film rather suffers. But it was an attempt to create an original story instead of returning to the same old theme, which, let's be honest, can get exhausting. This also got me interested in psychology as a child, because I thought the whole notion of two sides of the same man duking it out was fascinating, to say the least. Besides, Richard Pryor is a scream here, though what he does on the computer intuitively instead seems to be very close to what a skilled hacker can do today. This film has one other great idea: Clarke should forget about Lois and start dating Liana. Liana is much sweeter, and unlike the Superman-obseesed Lois, Liana only wants her old friend, Clarke? And, she's smart enough NOT to put herself into deathtraps.
Rating:
Summary: An old friend visits again.....
Review: I just rented the VHS copy of this movie for my sons, (ages 13 and 15) who have never seen this film before, and what a blast it was. Their comments, aside from their laughter, were, "How cheap was that?" and "That was corny!" referring to the special effects.
However, I know deep down, they actually enjoyed the movie since they stayed in the room the entire time with their eyes glued to the set. Of course they are going to notice and laugh at the special effects, the film was made over 17 years ago. Their comparing the f/x to the latest Hulk, Spiderman, and Star Wars films. Thats what they have come to expect. I would critisize this film too if it was released last year.
I first saw this film on a date with my fiance' and I thought it was far better than Superman II. I didn't like Margot Kidder cast as Lois Lane to begin with. I thought she was much to unattractive for Reeves, and her part much to large in #II. I am probably the only person to think this but, I liked Lana Lang, (Annette O'toole) much better as Clark Kents love interest. For this reason I liked the very small part Kiddder had in this film. Richard Pryor was good as the unsuspecting villian and comic relief.
What super-power should Superman tangle with in this film? He has already battled evil genius, Lex Luther, and 3 former inhabitants of Krypton with physical powers like his own. Why not fight himself? The synthetic Krypton that causes this sickness or multi-personality disorder in Superman is a great idea. Theres no better way to evolve the story line. How many times have any of us struggled with good and evil within ourselves.
The evil super-computer at the end was good too. Can anyone say "Terminator III".
Overall, I love this movie and rank it 2nd in the series with #II and IV battling for last place. Of course the first Superman will remain everyones favorite.
Just to let you know, after the movie was over, my 13 year old asked if we could get a copy of our own. "Sure thing." I said. I thought it was like an old friend coming to visit.
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