Superman III1983
Superman III (1983)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: When not overusing sight gags, slapstick, and Richard Pryor, Superman III resorts to plot points rehashed from the previous Superman flicks.
Superman III Photos
Movie Info
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Cast
as Superman/Clark Kent
as Gus Gorman
as Ross Webster
as Lana Lang
as Perry White
as Lois Lane
as Vera Webster
as Lorelei Ambrosia
as Jimmy Olsen
as Unemployment Clerk
as Blind Man
as Penguin Man
as Man in Cap
as Bank Robber
as Mime
as Dignified Gent
as Delivery Man
as Data School Instructor
as Miss Henderson
as Fred
as Wages Man
as State Policeman
as Fire Chief
as Dr. McClean
as Minnie Bannister
as D.J.
as Mr. Simpson
as Ricky
as Mr. Stokis
as Mrs. Stokis
as Man at Cash Point
as Husband
as Wife
as Newsreader
as White-Coated Scientist
as Mayor
as Pisa Vendor
as Street Sweeper
as Olympic Runner
as Tanker Captain
as Commuter
as Miner
as Miner
as Brad
News & Interviews for Superman III
Critic Reviews for Superman III
All Critics (44) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (11) | Rotten (33) | DVD (6)
Reeve, the ongoing justification for the series, is no longer contractually obligated after this episode, and his liberation comes not an installment too soon.
Putting its emphasis on broad comedy at the expense of ingenious plotting and technical wizardry, it has virtually none of the mythic or cosmic sensibility that marked its predecessors.
Enjoyable, nevertheless.
It's a cinematic comic book, shallow, silly, filled with stunts and action, without much human interest.
Anyone who has been following the Superman saga will find this installment enjoyable enough, but some of the magic is missing.
Superman is thrown in to the mix somewhere. But he's merely an after thought, and a supporting player in his own film.
Audience Reviews for Superman III
Richard Donner steps out and in comes Richard Lester (A Hard Day's Night), who proceeds to strip the franchise away of any dignity it once had. Donner's close-to-the-chest serious tone is abandoned in favor a cheesy campy one, accompanied by lame sight gags and un-funny slapstick. Having Richard Pryor's scenes (who is playing a PG-version of himself) consist of half the film's runtime is just too much because most of the time he just bumbles like an idiot. Rarely has a comedic genius been so utterly misrepresented. Due to working with a lower budget, the story comes off as a Superman TV episode rather than an epic story like the previous two Donner flicks. The subplot with Clark and Lana Lang could have been interesting but it is rushed and brushed to the wayside to set-up a future Superman love-triangle between Lois and Lana (which is never followed-up upon). The villains are lame (especially there computer scheme that's laughable even for the time) but there is a morbid enjoyment to be had watching Reeve play a corrupted Man of Steel, which he perfectly nails. The 'Army of Darkness'-style fight between Good Supes and Evil Supes yields some impressive special effects. Despite a few decent moments trickled throughout, they are all crushed under a crappy and tedious narrative that feels confused about whether it is catering to kids or adults. Donner one time made audiences believe a man CAN fly. With 'Superman III', Lester proved to audiences that a man can also fall from grace.
Super Reviewer
Dumber, with a less-interesting story and a stupid villain, "Superman 3" is definitely not the return that fans were hoping for. It kind of breaks the back of the series in a way, especially during the first act, where the fact of it being a Superman film is thrown out the window. This time, the film focusses on Richard Pryor's character who is an accountant, stealing money from his firm, but when he get's involved with an evil genius, his plans turn completely around, as he is faced to confront and destroy Superman with them. The most interesting portion of the film is when Superman must face his alternate self, because it is really the soul of the film and the turn-around point which makes the film watchable. I did not hate this film, it does have it's fun moments, but it's just not a good movie. The direction is sloppy, which is odd, because Lester's directing for the second was so great, and the writing here is much more bland. I expected much more from the third film in a series, but oh well, it'll be hard to top the first two anyways. I definitely do not recommend this one!
Super Reviewer
*1/2 Wow, if you want to see how far comic book adaptation movies have come, just watch this. This is the 3rd Superman movie and it is a real stinker(not as bad as four, but it's bad). Here, Superman basically goes against a rich guy who wants to rule the world by using Richard Pryor(yeah, that Richard Rryor) to create a giant computer. Pryor tries to be funny here, and he is the best thing about the movie, but man he has no place in a Superman movie. Could you imagine Chris Rock as the lead villain in "Iron Man"? Me either. At one point he creates a form of kryptonite that turns Superman bad. By bad I mean his outfit is now maroon, he has stuble and he's a dick. Instead of doing anything real bad, he does things like blow the torch out at the Olympics. This movie was lame as lame can get, and I'm sure it was lame when it came out in the theaters. It doesn't hold up at all, and runs at right around 2 hours, which is way too long. Watch if your a die hard Pryor fan(even though you still won't like it), otherwise just skip this one altogether.
Super Reviewer
Superman III Quotes
| Clark Kent/Superman: | I don't know you lady! |