Superman III Movie Reviews

Superman is undoubtedly the greatest superhero of all times and the recent release of the Superman collection on DVD for the first time makes it even more Super! It contains the first (and so far the only) four Superman movies, featuring the late Christopher Reeve as both the mild mannered Daily Planet reporter and the caped crusader for truth and justice, Gene Hackman as the villainous Lex Luthor and Margot Kidder as the charming Lois Lane.

In Superman: The Movie, more commonly known as Superman I, director Richard Donner does an admirable job by presenting first Jeff East as the teenaged Clark Kent or Kal-El, later to be replaced by the late Christopher Reeve as an adult, with the late actor dubbing voices for both to give the character some credibility. Marlon Brando makes a million-dollar appearance as Jor-El, Superman’s father, in the beginning of the film, and boosts the films to greatness.

Superman II, a movie that was mostly shot by Richard Donner but credited to Richard Lester after the former was sacked in the final stages, is every Superman-fan’s favourite film since it features Superman fight three equally powerful Kryptonian outlaws, convicted at the beginning of Superman I. They land on Earth after they are set loose in space accidentally and threaten the future of the planet Earth. During the course of the movie, Superman abandons his superpowers to be with Lois Lane but in order to save Earth, gets back the powers and rids the planet of the super villains from Krypton.

Superman III might not be as good as its predecessors but certainly was better than part IV because in it, Clark Kent goes back to Smallville and meets his first love Lana Lang (played by Annette O’Toole who plays Martha Kent in TV series Smallville). In one of the most memorable scenes of Superman III, Superman fights his alter ego (meaning Clark Kent). In that scene, Reeve gets to show off his acting skills as he plays the double role with fervour and to perfection. In the last Superman movie, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Superman has a new arch-nemesis, Nuclear Man, courtesy Lex Luthor but mockery prevails as in the scene where the villain drags a human being without a helmet into outer space and she can still breathe! Although the idea for The Quest for Peace was a good one, it wasn’t a face-saving one as the film finished at the bottom in the great comic book movies.

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The Movie: Superman III

Also know as: Superman Vs. Superman

Cast:

Superman/Clark Kent . . . . . Christopher Reeve

Gus Gorman . . . . . Richard Pryor

Perry White . . . . . Jackie Cooper

Jimmy Olsen . . . . . Marc McClure

Lana Lang . . . . . Annette O'Toole

Vera Webster . . . . . Annie Ross

Lorelei Ambrosia . . . . . Pamela Stephenson

Ross Webster . . . . . Robert Vaughn

Lois Lane . . . . . Margot Kidder

Released by Warner Bros

Directed by Richard Lester

If you are a true superman fan you will definitely agree no one else can be superman but Christopher Reeve I really could do with Pierce Brosnan as the new BOND but no other actor will ever replace Christopher Reeve as superman I would like to kill him if he did!

The story follows mild-mannered Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) as he returns to Smallville for a high school reunion. He runs into Lana Lang (Annette O’Toole), and the opportunity for romance is about to present itself. Of course, some major bad guys have to stand in the way, so we get Robert Vaughn as a millionaire hiring computer whiz Richard Pryor to sabotage a weather satellite into working for his favor. Toss in a giant evil supercomputer and some fake Kryptonite, and you’re set for some sheer exciting fun.

“Superman III.” Unlike the other films, which use grand openings to announce themselves as “event” pictures, starts very small - in a Metropolis unemployment office with Richard Pryor.

Richard Pryor plays a funny comical role in this movie a really cool performance.

Superman matches wits with an evil mastermind and a computer genius who discovers the one substance that can harm the Man of Steel. Combining the known ingredients of Kryptonite with a guess at the unknown, the genius invents a new Kryptonite that doesn't kill Superman--it turns him evil. Meanwhile, a giant computer has been built for the mastermind that becomes self-aware and cannot be shut off. This entertaining combination of spectacular special effects and irrepressible comedy.

Overall an entertaining watch please dont get to technical about the movie...

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The opening sequence during the credits is some of the best slapstick comedy I’ve seen for a long while and I had tears of laughter streaming down my face as one incident lead to another.

Mixed in with the opening credits a work shy Gus Gorman played by Richard Prior is refused the American equivalent of the dole money and by chance sees a flyer extolling the virtues of becoming a computer programmer and earning loads of money. He seems to have a flair for programming and soon finds himself a real job. Complaining to a colleague about the deductions in his wage of their equivalent of our NI at IT, Gus discovers that the wages computer doesn’t deal in half cents and that these are floating around in cyberspace.

Helping himself to this loose change changes his life because no sooner has our genius got his hands on the first five-figure expenses cheque, his boss finds out and sends for him. The boss played by Robert Vaughn quickly realises that his genius employee is not to be fired but have his flair with computers put to good use, for himself that is. Gus is put to work where the boss will become king of all.

The adventure begins when Superman as Clark Kent heads for Smallville for the school reunion. En route Superman saves a blazing chemical plant and the surroundings from a disaster by freezing a nearby lake and dumping the huge ice lolly on the blaze.

Once in Smallville Clark, now back in civvies, meets up with Lana Lang and sort of falls for her.

This is a light hearted film not to be taken too seriously, so just sit back and enjoy the spectacle like in a scene at a road junction where our genius’s computer meddling has caused all the traffic lights to malfunction. The little green man is displayed at the same time as the red man above so he climbs up and starts to fight with the red guy. This ‘fight’ is one of many little cameos for the sharp eyed to titter at.

The boss’s attempts to gain world domination are continually thwarted by the caped hero so a plot is hatched to get rid of him by tricking Superman into accepting a chunk of synthetic Kryptonite. This alters the flying hero’s persona so that he becomes a ‘bad’ guy and the ensuing mental tussle between good and bad splits him into two separate people. To avoid confusing the viewer the ‘bad’ Superman’s clothes are a shade darker than the good guy’s.

Not the best of the Superman series but worth letting the film waft over you as you digest your wonderful Sunday lunch slumped in your favourite armchair.

Now if only Superman was here he could do the washing up in double quick time and I could watch Stargate.

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