Rating: 
Summary: Nearly, Oh so nearly!
Review: Its not as bad as all that is our Superman III. An enjoyable dollop of entertainment but for choosing the route of comedy and heaven knows why! It went down the route Richard Donner spoke of avoiding with the first movie and obviously Richard Lester thought he would break away from it all together and try to tickle our funny bones with the use of Richard Pryor (who was hot property at the time) and Robert Vaughn. It takes us back to smallville which is great but one can't help feeling Lois Lane is dreadfully missed as Clarke gets all cosy with his old flame from high school. There are some great moments here esp. the battle between Clarke and Superman which is certainly this movies saving grace because as a sign of things to come it is clearly becoming unhinged from the first two movies. Compared with what was to follow though, number IV made this look like Schindler's List. There is basically enough to keep the Superman fan happy but only just.
Rating: 
Summary: Why 2 stars?
Review: Indeed, why give the movie 2 stars? Because of one of its two saving graces...it was better than the horrible acting and story of Superman IV.It was a movie that might have been better titled "Richard Pryor and Superman, Live" without the cheap, bad humor that is normally found in a Richard Pryor concert. (Aside: I always felt Eddie Murphy was funnier at any rate.) The menace any villain may have had is completely undercut by the humor. In fact, the only menace--its other saving grace--I felt was the evil Superman vs. good Superman. That scene was pretty classic and should have placed in a more serious story. After all, who would have known that cigarettes not only cause cancer but bad Kryptonite, too? What would adding milk instead of tar done? Given Superman an evil Supercow to fight with? Some of the effects were kind of cool--a notable favorite is the bubble that surrounds Superman, depriving him of air. However, it just leads to another fallacy that has disturbed me often...if air is such a problem, then how does Superman manage to hurtle an elevator out into space in Superman II and fight the hideous acting...er...monstrosity called Nuclear Man in Superman IV? Does he hold his breath? Pretty Super Lungs there, pal. Admit one thing though--wouldn't you have loved to have a Superman game on an Atari or Commodore that featured you firing missiles at Superman? Seriously, just watch Superman I and Superman II, two movies that bookend each other nicely and don't leave you hanging for another sequel. Forget that III and IV were ever made and you'll enjoy the "complete" story quite well; the one that Mario Puzo envisioned as complete at any rate.
Rating:
Summary: Superman III: It's not as bad as they say!
Review: Once in a while, a movie comes along that isn't what it was expected to be, and is unfairly criticized for it. "Superman III" is just such a movie. It's not a great film. In fact, it's far from it. But it's not the terrible film it's supposed to be either (that would be "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace" - a complete misfire and total waste of time.) In "Superman III" a computer programmer (Richard Pryor) is hired by a generic villain(Robert Vaughn) to use his vast computer knowledge (the movie is a bit dated - everyone is in awe of these newfangled computers) to make him rich (crashing the stock market, etc.) The only problem: Superman keeps saving the day. So, the villains do what any good villain has to do: try to kill Superman. They do this by generating their own kryptonite, but they get the recipe wrong: their kryptonite makes Superman a mean-spirited, apathetic slob. He straightens the Leaning Tower of Pisa, he makes passes at women, etc. This leads to a truly great scene in which Clark Kent separates himself from the bad Superman and they fight it out at a junkyard. I won't spoil who wins the battle, but keep in mind that they did make a sequel. The movie also has a nice subplot in which Clark Kent goes back to his hometown of Smallville for a high school reunion, where a romance with Lana Lang(Annette O'Toole) ensues. By the way, Margot Kidder does nothing but a cameo in this one as Lois Lane. I'm just guessing, but could this be because she was embarrased about the steamy scenes she did with Pryor in "Some Kind of Hero"? Maybe, maybe not, but it sure makes for interesting speculation. The DVD transfer is decent, and you do get it in widescreen, which is always better than those ...pan-and-scan VHS copies. However, there are no special features save for a trailer. This is troubling because according to Leonard Maltin, several minutes of footage were added when this movie premiered on network television. So where are these extra minutes on the DVD? I would have liked to at least seen them included in a deleted scenes section. But, alas, we are left with nothing but the unspectacular, though far from terrible, third movie in the Superman series.
Rating:
Summary: Today, Coffee...Tomorrow, OIL! A Good Movie? NEVER!
Review: Conceived as a vehicle for comedian Richard Pryor, Superman III is the least successful of the series. Despite a somewhat prescient storyline dealing with the use of computers to manipulate the economy, the script has no depth and very little entertainment value. Margot Kidder's Lois Lane has been reduced to a brief walk-on part, and the rest of the cast appears to be merely going through the motions. Even Christopher Reeve, who was reportedly very angry about the producers treatment of Kidder, is lacking his usual charm. The visual effects are not on the same level as in the previous two movies: models blatantly look miniature, most of the flying sequences look two-dimensional, and there are numerous instances of visible wires... In short, there is none of the epic-scope that marked the first film and most of the second. ...the final confrontation between Superman and the supercomputer is flat out boring--looking as if it has been lifted from a cheap 1950s science-fiction movie. Lester's Metropolis scenes lack the razzmatazz of Richard Donner's scenes in Superman I. The picture quality on the DVD is good but not outstanding. The sound is flat and lacks dynamic range.
Rating: 
Summary: Superman III isn't so super
Review: I bought Superman comic books for a long time, up until they killed him off in the early 1990s. About a year ago, I just happened to pick up a Superman comic and glanced at it. I didn't know what to expect because it had been years since I'd bought one. What I saw shocked me. Superman didn't have his familiar powers; he was some kind of "electric" Superman whose only powers were that he could send out rays of electricity or something. To make matters worse, gone was the familiar red and blue uniform and cape; there was some man in a funny looking blue and white uniform and mask that they were calling Superman. I remember saying to myself "This has got to be the worse thing that they have ever done to the Superman franchise." Well, I was wrong. They once did something just as bad (if not worse) to the Superman character. That horrible thing was Superman III. I really can't say enough bad things about this movie. I've been a huge Superman fan all my life. I used to bore my friends to death explaining every little detail about his origin and powers. As a kid when everybody else was playing baseball or football, I was running around with my arms outstretched pretending to be Superman. I am just as big of a Superman fan as anybody. That's why I think I'm so BITTER against Superman III. For starters: Lois Lane is in this movie for probably 6 minutes at the most. I haven't timed it, but she's in the movie briefly at the beginning and then she comes back briefly at the end of the movie. Without the Lois Lane/Superman/Clark Kent relationship, it's just not the same. The amazing thing is that Lois Lane, the woman in love with Superman, doesn't even comment about the fact that Superman turned evil while she was gone. She never brings it up when she returns from her vacation. Next: this movie is a Richard Pryor movie. Richard Pryor has more scenes in this movie than Christopher Reeve. And the comedy is really just....well, bad. I'm not running down Richard Pryor. He has many fans out there, but he just didn't belong in this movie. There is more emphasis on Richard Pryor's character than the character of Superman. Another horrible thing about this movie is the opening sequences. I suppose they thought it would be cute to do the whole "chain reaction" opening sequences where some guy is looking at a pretty girl and sets off a chain of bad luck events. Well, this is a Superman movie. The opening credits should have been the classic outer space view with the Superman music blaring from my speakers. Instead, it seemed more like I was watching a Three Stooges short. Now if this movie had anything good at all, it was the classic encounter where the evil Superman fights the good Clark Kent. Christopher Reeve shows what a truly great actor he is when he winds up fighting himself in the junkyard scene. But this scene alone, even though it was fantastic, isn't worth purchasing the movie. One other possible good thing about this movie was the Clark Kent/Lana Lang romance. In the comic books of the late 1970s, it was often explained that Lana Lang was in love with Clark Kent while Lois Lane was in love with Superman. I would have liked to have seen this storyline carried into Superman IV. Basically, this movie is just a sad moment in the history of the Superman legacy. Christopher Reeve, bless his heart, did all he could to save this movie, but one man alone can't save a movie full of horrible comedy and a bad plot. Personally, this movie doesn't even exist as far as I'm concerned. I think Superman II should have just jumped straight into Superman IV without Superman III ever existing.
Rating:
Summary: Unless you become like little children...
Review: When you watch any one of the four Superman movies, you have to put yourself in the kind of mood you were in when you were 10 or 11 years old and still reading Comic books, - otherwise, you won't be able to stand it at all. By definition, the Superman character has a lot of muscle and a lot of heart but very little brain: that gives you the measure of the kind of expectations you want to allow yourself to have when watching any of the four movies. As long as you can «psych» yourself down to that sort of mindset, it is still possible to enjoy all of them. - Actually, it's Superman III that I found the most stimulating. There's a lot of meandering around (not very interesting) in Smallville, - echoes of Peyton Place. And then, the Richard Pryor character is quite incredible and seems light years away from the computer genius he's made out to be here. However, the episode where Superman's personality gets split up in two and then when he returns to his original character more than makes up for all that. Even though it would obviously be too much to ask, given the kind of stuff we're dealing with here, I would have liked to see Superman acquire a little more sophistication as a result of his unfortunate experience. But no, even after all the uncharacteristic drinking and carousing, - although that's when he looks the most like a real man and not just like a cardboard figure, - good old Superman still comes out like the nice big «sap» he was before. But when I say that, I know I'm not being fair: you always have to keep yourself «in the spirit» of this kind of thing, otherwise you're missing it completely and you're depriving yourself of a lot of good clean fun.
Rating: 
Summary: Superman's Back!
Review: This is a great sequel simply because of the triple role that Christopher Reeve tackles in this film. Not only does he play Clark Kent and Superman, but he also shows us what Superman would be like if he went bad! Plus, we get to see Clark Kent take on his evil counterpart in a fight scene right out a Superman comic book! Richard Pryor is also on hand to supply a bit more comedy than needed from a Superman movie, but he is likable as the bumbling computer genius. Margot Kidder is not given much screen time but Annette O' Toole's Lana Lang fills the role of the token love interest nicely. The flying scenes are probably the best out of the entire series and Reeve is definitely the most buff he's ever been as Superman. A terrific performance by Christopher Reeve and great special effects make this great fun but not quite as magical as the first two Superman movies.
Rating:
Summary: Stupid Comedy-Even Prior isn't funny. Only one good scene
Review: The worst of the Supermans. I remember when it was released, the choice of the masses was either Return of the Jedi or Superman III. At first, it came as a tough decision, because both Superman II and Empire surpassed their predecessors. Anyway, I saw both, and when I watched Superaman III, I thought the comedy was tailored for numbskulls. I didn't laugh once. Best scene: the fight between the evil Superman and Clark Kent in the scrapyard. That's it. Improved special effects - notable longer "Reeve on a wire" sequences when "Supe" takes off and lands. THAT'S IT... I TOLD ALL MY FRIENDS TO SEE JEDI. No competition. Bon Voyage, Superman.
Rating: 
Summary: Ignore the critics!
Review: I loved this movie when I was little, but I hadn't seen it for almost 10 years. With the DVD release I decided to revisit my youth, expecting to be let down. What a pleasant surprise I recieved! Despite a weak plot and the absence of Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor, I found myself loving this movie. When I was little, I took the "evil-Superman" subplot seriously. Now that I'm an adult, the concept of a drunk Superman picking up on chicks and trashing a bar is just hillarious. Christopher Reeves' portrayals of the evil Superman, good Superman, and Clark Kent are all perfect. Also, I noticed a lot of the flying and blue screen effects in Superman II were really awful and distracting, so I'm happy to say that the effects are much more seemless in Superman III. The first Superman movie is obviously the best, but Superman III is in my opinion slightly better than Superman II, and way better than Superman IV: The Quest For Money...er, I mean Peace.
Rating:
Summary: nh
Review: Ricard Pryor does not belong in a Superman movie. This was one of the worst sequels ever made.
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