Superman III

Rating:
Summary: Better than the English Patient!
Review: Superman III is a good example of how movies should be made! Every scene is a keeper! A perfect balance of hope, tragedy, drama, awe, and comedy! Why Richard Pryor did not receive an Oscar for best supporting actor is really beyond me! Christopher Reeve is superb, again, and the scene where he freezes the lake and flies with it had me at the edge of my seat! Someone with power and influence, please call the AFI! I implore all of you to add this masterpiece to your collections!

Rating:
Summary: This is the review of the third Superman film.
Review: Sure,it's junk. But it's so downright Saturday mattinayish, it's fun for two hours. The plot is stupid, but it doesnt take itself seriously which makes it work.

Rating:
Summary: Superman as a comedy?
Review: The moment you insert a comedian into a starring role for a film like this, you know what you get? Crap, that's what. My god, even the movie poster for this film is bad. There are a few nice moments in the film, primarily with the scenes of Clark Kent talking with old sweethart Lana Lang, but they last but a few minutes and then the film continues back down the bowels. This film only serves to infuriate you more and make you wonder why no one seems to be able to make a good Superman film. Dreadful.

Rating:
Summary: AN EMBARASSMENT FOR THE SUPERMAN FILM SAGA
Review: SUPERMAN 3 is probably to date the worst of the SUPERMAN movies I mean RICHARD PRYOR as a villian please!!! that is enough to make you wish for GENE HACKMAN 10 times over. Also the diolouge in this film is terrible and just down-right silly. I kinda got the feeling that the writers of SUPERMAN 3 were resting on thier laurels from the last film which was great. In my opinion this film doomed the SUPERMAN movie franchise to the phantom-zone existence it seems to be in nowadays. All in All if you love SUPERMAN don't disgrace him by seeing this mess!!!

Rating:
Summary: Slow, but exciting!!
Review: Superman is back and this time he faces perhaps the most diabolical villain he's ever encountered! Tycoon Ross Webster has found a way to control the weather. To ensure success, Webster uses red kryptonite to make Superman evil.After an exciting battle, Superman returns to normal, only to face a supercomputer with a mind of its own...

Rating:
Summary: You Will Believe Pryor Can Fly ...This Film Into the Ground!
Review: When the movie poster first came out to promote SUPERMAN III with the illustration of Superman flying while carrying a distraught Richard Pryor, it was suspect. When the film was finally released, all suspicions were true. Director Richard Lester (A HARD DAY'S NIGHT)did such a great job on SUPERMAN II making it a straight action adventure film, but SUPERMAN III was just too campy. From the poster, we go to the opening credits. As they roll, a sequence of "Rube Goldberg", slapstick, domino-effect, accidents happen around a clueless Clark Kent walking through the streets of Metropolis. Somehow the audience knows that this is going to be a different Superman film. Richard Pryor (as Gus Gorman) is a computer whiz who is caught electronically embezzling from his conglomerate boss Robert Vaughn (Ross Webster). Instead of turning him in, Webster offers Gorman a job to help him rule the world by controlling a weather satellite (through Gorman's computer skills), and building a super computer. Superman gets in their way and they devise a plan to kill him with a bad batch of Kryptonite. Instead of killing him, the kryptonite turns Superman evil. He mostly flies around neglecting himself, the people of Metropolis (and of the world), and doing juvenile pranks (i.e. straightening out the Leaning Tower of Pisa). Richard Pryor is not bad in the film, but more of a distraction. The movie-going audience is not used to seeing him in this type of film. British comic actress Pamela Stephenson (whose talents were wasted during her one season on Saturday Night Live--was hardly used or seen in any sketches--but she was brilliantly hilarious on BBC's sketch comedy series NOT THE NINE O'CLOCK NEWS) is wasted and miscast in her role as Lorelei Ambrosia, Vaughn's/Webster's mistress. The special effects are decent for the pre-digital age. Some of the action sequences are excellent (i.e. when Superman has to fight the super computer). Also, the Smallville sequences with Clark Kent rekindling his frienship with Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole) are noteworthy. However, most of the film did not work due to the casting of Richard Pryor, other casting decisions, some cheesey sequences (some involving Pryor), and unnecessary humor! As John Lennon's appraisal of the Beatles' film HELP! (also directed by Lester) to paraphrase, "it was a movie about frogs with snakes in it!". That seems to be the case with SUPERMAN III.

Rating:
Summary: Another Really Cheesy 1980s Movie!
Review: Get "Superman III" and "Supergirl" by the Salkind folks and you'll have the cheesiest evening ever! In fact, Superman III nearly beats Supergirl in the "pure cheese" category. And if, like me, you're a fan of such movies, you'll absolutely love this DVD.

The story - Clark Kent/Superman goes back to Smallville for a school-reunion and meets up with a really lovely Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole). Unfortunately, there's this businessman and his bimbo girlfriend and his sister who hires Richard Pryor to mess up the world-weather (and Columbian coffee) with computers. Superman turns evil after touching some green crystal (Kryptonite mixed with tar) and gets drunk, then ends up sleeping with the aforementioned businessman's bimbo girlfriend and even pushes the Tower of Pisa straight. Finally, a supercomputer designed by Richard Pryor turns evil and transforms the aforementioned businessman's sister into an evil, mechanical sister. Superman fights them all with acid and then proceeds to make the Tower of Pisa a leaning tower again before soaring off triumphantly. Movie ends. Roll credit.

I hated this as a kid but watched it again last night and absolutely loved it. It's the nostalgia thing again. I knocked one star off my rating for it because there's this scene where Richard Pryor skies off a skyscraper, lands on the street and DID NOT die!

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing.
Review: Aside from Christopher Reeve's fine performance once again as Clark Kent/Superman, "Superman III" was a major disappointment back in 1983. I remember sitting in the theater as a 10-year-old and thinking, "Is that all there is?" Superman vs. a Supercomputer just cannot compare with him rescuing California from a major tectonic disaster or duking it out above Metropolis with three Kryptonian villains.

I also could never understand why the producers cast Richard Pryor. It's like he bumbled onto the set accidently from a different movie. He's a very talented comedian, yes, but exactly what audience were the Salkinds aiming for? I know I wasn't old enough then to see his concert movies or his vehicles with Gene Wilder. Mind boggling to me.

I missed the magic and awe I felt during the original film. I missed Lex Luthor's scheming ways. But mostly, I missed the witty relationship between Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane. Annette O'Toole is lovely, but her character simply wasn't as fun or interesting as the best girl reporter in Metropolis. With her husky voice and hilarious manic energy, Margot Kidder was absolutely perfect. Two small scenes were not enough.

I really don't like leaving negative reviews, but as a Superman purist, the only REAL Superman movie to see is the orginial. Richard Donner's vision for the film was flawless. The first sequel was fine, but it could have been sooo much better had Donner been allowed to finish (he was unjustly fired after the Salkinds worked him to the bone). Do yourself a favor... preorder SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE on DVD and enjoy!!

Rating:
Summary: This Looks Like A Job For...Richard Pryor??
Review: After getting off to a great start, the Superman film series, got muddled a bit by a director change while filming Superman II. Thanks to the fact that Creative Consultant Tom Mankiewicz's original story for the sequel stayed intact, despite all of the backstage hostility, Superman II still manages to work. Superman III, hovwever, is a whole nother matter entirely, with its own set of problems.

Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor) is a down on his luck computer genius, who is hired by Websco industries, to doa meanial data entry. Soon though Gus learns how to imbezzle large sums of money. When CEO Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn) finds this out, rather than send him to jail, Webster uses Gus and his computer skills to hold other competitors around the world at bay. Soon his plan becomes one of worldwide domination Superman (Christopher Reeve) tries to stop Webter and his cohorts in crime, but is halted by a synthetic chunck of Kryptonite, that turns the Man Of Steel against the planet he had sworn to protect.

Superman III took the series in a more comedic direction. From the farsical oppening credit sequence, to Pryor bumbling his way through one unfunny scene after another, It's sad to see a Superman film depart so drasticaly from what's come before and the comic book. Thanks to yet another dispute with producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind, the character of Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) is all but forgotten, save for a thankless, throwaway of a cameo. The action seems a bit silly, particularly at the end, as a super computer runs amok. For me, Reeve is the only thing about Superman III, that keeps it alive. Clearly director Richard Lester has it in for our hero, running him nearly into the ground. Superman III is more of a paraody, than a superhero flick.

The only extra on the DVD is the theatrical trailer.

I could have done with less comedy and moore of Reeve being...well...for lack of a better word super

Rating:
Summary: What's wrong with you people?!
Review: I am truly startled to see how many fans of the "Superman" anthology undervalue this abundantly fun-filled installment! I remember my family going to see "Superman III" on Father's Day 1983, and I'm still absolutely fond of this sequel's action, special effects, and of course, humor (thanks to Richard Pryor coupled with Richard Lester's direction)! The perils that Superman/Clark Kent contends with this time around are a bit far-fetched (particualrly the synthetic "Jeckyll & Hyde" inducing kryptonite), but they manage to add some color to the canvas. Also, it's nice to see Superman pitted against adversaries other than Lex Luther, this time it's on a more electronic level. I still don't consider Gus Gorman (Pryor) and Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn) as downright malicious malcontents, but that's what makes "Superman III" all the more campy and enjoyable. As far as the action sequences go, everything is a gem from the chemical plant inferno to the oil tanker fiasco to the missle desert battle against Gorman's multi-story supercomputer to Superman/Clark Kent's junkyard brawl scene (kudos to Reeve for playing the simultaneous roles in that scene with great credibility)! This is the only "Superman" sequel I own or ever will own because it's fresh and adventurous with a touch of down-right hilarity! Superman IV...now that's a sequel everyone should be ashamed to enjoy!!!