SUPERMAN III (Theatrical Release USA 1983)

8Ben Meyers’ rating: 3.8|5.0 Starsììì

Superman III—a better film than its two predecessors—makes it to 3.8 Star rating. The new Director Richard Lester seems to perform better in this genre than the previous Director Richard Donner. The opening scenes take on an almost comedic element. Christopher Reeve looks older and more mature for his part as he assumes a more realistic stance for the Superman character. He loses his ‘bashful silliness’ in this film while finally seeming to have understood Superman and how to best portray him. The storyline is a little more complicated which adds interest and the addition of actors Robert Vaughn and Richard Pryor add to the movie.

Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia

Storyline

Superman (Christopher Reeve) is back to attend a high school reunion. Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor) takes a position as a computer programmer and hacks into his employer’s system to give himself a significantly higher paycheck. The CEO of the company, Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn), notices and decides Gus Gorman has high potential to do computer dirty work to destroy the next several years of a Colombian coffee crop. Webster orders Gus to take a satellite and create a tornado to destroy the coffee crop. Superman saves Columbia from the tornado and saves its coffee crop. When Webster finds that his plans didn’t work he wants to rid himself of Superman and tells Gus to get some Kryptonite and kill him. The rest of the story is: DC comic-style good battles evil.

Additional Thanks

Fair Work for Director Richard Lester. Thank you to Executive Producers Alexander Salkind and Ilya Salkind for making the film possible. Additional characters/cast include: Perry White (Jackie Cooper), Jimmy Olsen (Marc McClure), Lana Lang (Annette O’Toole), Vera (Annie Ross), Lorelei (Pamela Stephenson), Lois Lane (Margot Kidder), Brad (Gaven O’Herlihy), Unemployment Clerk (Nancy Roberts), Blind Man (Graham Stark), Penguin Man (Henry Woolf), Man in Cap (Gordon Rollings), and Bank Robber (Peter Wear).

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

Yes. It is better than Superman and Superman II and places it in the watchable category for an easy afternoon watch. 

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers