Rated PG
Running Time: 2 Hours & 5 Minutes
Cast:
Christopher
Reeve-Clark Kent/Superman
Margot
Kidder-Lois Lane
Annette
O'Toole-Lana Lang
Richard
Pryor-August ‘Gus’ Gorman
Marc
McClure-Jimmy Olsen
Jackie
Cooper-Perry White
Robert
Vaughn-Ross Webster
Annie
Ross-Vera Webster
Pamela
Stephenson-Lorelei Ambrosia
Gavan
O'Herlihy-Brad Wilson
Paul
Kaethler-Ricky Lang
Directed
by Richard Lester
 |
| This guy tried to kill you and you're letting him go?! |
Note: Part of the "Superman Motion Picture Anthology" Blu-Ray set.
It seems the third time’s not the charm for Superman
as Christopher Reeve reprises his famous role in 1983’s “Superman III.”
Although director Richard Lester received official credit for the
production-troubled “Superman II,” the sequel only managed to live up to the heights of the original thanks to the
efforts of ‘creative consultant’ Tom Mankiewicz and previous director Richard
Donner, who had shot roughly three-quarters of the film before being
unceremoniously fired by the producers, Alexander and his son, Ilya Salkind.
With Donner and Mankiewicz out of the picture, the Salkinds finally had free
rein to adapt their vision of a “Superman” film, which is a campy comedy that
disrespects the source material. Apparently, Lester had not even heard of Superman when he replaced
Donner because comic books were not allowed in his house when he was a child.
Hiring someone who had no experience with the source material just really
boggles the mind. The Salkinds were eager to cast comedian Richard Pryor (who
passed away in 2005 at the age of 65) in the third film after he commented on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson
about how much he enjoyed “Superman II.” As Lester had directed a number of
popular comedies, including the highly successful “The Three Musketeers” series
for the Salkinds, it was believed that “Superman III” would be a sure-fire hit
with its new tone. While it was a
moderate box office success and had a few interesting ideas at work, “Superman
III” is a dull entry in the series, so desperate in its attempts at comedy that
it loses the grandiose quality that made the previous films so good to begin
with. It also does not help that all the characters are depicted as total
morons but despite all these problems, “Superman III” remains surprisingly
watchable thanks to the presence of Christopher Reeve.
August ‘Gus’ Gorman
(Richard Pryor) has his unemployment benefits terminated but discovers his
skill for computer programming after seeing an advertisement on the back of a
matchbox (Call 123-456-789?). Gorman manages to land a job at Webscoe
Industries, owned by wealthy industrialist Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn).
Meanwhile, mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) arrives at The Daily Planet and informs
editor-in-chief Perry White (Jackie Cooper) of his plans of visiting his
hometown, Smallville, for a high-school reunion and writing an article about
how ‘the typical small town has changed in the last fifteen years!’ White gives
him the okay while Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) is going on vacation in Bermuda.
On route to Smallville with Jimmy Olsen (Marc McClure) tagging on, Clark is
forced to change into Superman when a nearby chemical plant catches on fire.
Back at Webscoe, Gorman puts his hacking skills to the test by embezzling money
from the company, bringing him to the attention of Webster, who realizes
Gorman’s potential and decides to use him in his shady schemes to rule the
financial world. At Smallville, Clark is reunited with his childhood friend,
Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole), a recently divorced mother with a son named Ricky
(Paul Kaethler). Webster tasks Gorman with hacking into the weather satellite
‘Vulcan’ to destroy Columbia’s coffee crop as punishment for refusing to do
business with him but Superman arrives to save the day. Determined to get rid
of the Man of Steel, Webster has Gorman discover the chemical composition of kryptonite
in order to synthesize it. Gorman, disguised as an army officer, presents the kryptonite
to Superman as a gift at Ricky’s birthday party but to his dismay, it has no
ill effect on him. However, it does
have an effect as the synthetic kryptonite causes a personality change in
Superman, who begins to shirk his responsibilities and commits petty acts of
vandalism around the world. With Superman out of the way, Webster puts the next
phase of his plan in motion by monopolizing the world’s oil supply, with a
reluctant Gorman in tow.
It’s a bad sign when the film opens to an unfunny
slapstick sequence during the hard-to-read opening credits. The original script
by Ilya Salkind included Mr. Mxyzptlk, a father-daughter relationship between Brainiac
and Supergirl, and a romance between her and Superman, which is kind-of creepy
considering the two were cousins in the comics. It just goes to show you how
much respect the Salknds had for the source material. At least Warner Brothers
wisely rejected it but it’s not like what we got was any better. While comedy
played a part in the previous films, it was restrained and most importantly, funny. “Superman III” comes across as
desperate in its attempts that most of the jokes either fall flat or end up
annoying. One bit had Gorman causing all sorts of mayhem when he hacks into the
Vulcan weather satellite in a drunken stupor, which starts off somewhat funny
when ATM’s start spitting out money or traffic signs going haywire but when the
figures on the walk, don’t-walk sign begin to animate and fight each other, you
just know the filmmakers were on some sort
of drugs! Maybe they were drunk like Gorman. The film also has a dated tone
with its ‘gee-whiz’ attitude with computers as characters repeatedly speak of
their amazement with this new technology and its potential to do everything. An
interesting piece of trivia: when Gorman inputs two bilateral coordinates in a
program, the display is just a series of empty print statements so in reality,
the program does absolutely nothing.
Characters often behave like total morons. I find it hard to believe that a
bumbling dolt like Gorman can program and hack with such skill, and he’s unable
to even explain how he manages to do
it. Even Superman is not immune as he displays no suspicion at all when he is
handed a chunk of rock that resembles kryptonite.
“Superman III” is not a total
loss as the romance between Clark and Lana does end up being sweet and
adorable, although it’s promptly dropped in the second hour. Perhaps the film’s
most memorable moment is the junkyard battle between Evil Superman and Clark
Kent. I’ll admit Lester did do a good job with Evil Superman, with his unkempt
appearance and costume’s darker color scheme. This battle brings up a number of
questions. Are the two really fighting or is it all in Superman’s mind?
Unfortunately, Evil Superman’s ‘destructive’ acts end up being a lost
opportunity. Apparently, bad involves blowing out the Olympic torch,
straightening the Leaning Tower of Pisa, causing an oil spill in the middle of
the Atlantic (okay, that is bad), and
getting drunk while flicking peanuts at the windows. He also has a one-night
stand with Webster’s blond bimbo girlfriend, Lorelei Ambrosia (Pamela
Stephenson). The film ends with Superman facing a sentient computer (Skynet?)
of all things. Hell, Webster even battles Superman through an Atari video game
and his sister Vera (Annie Ross) is transformed into a Borg knock-off. Plenty
of loud explosions ensue and we are left scratching our heads, wondering just
what the heck we watched. Adding to the film’s forgettable nature is Ken
Thorne’s score, which lacks the epic power and volume of the previous films
with John Williams iconic theme rarely used.
Despite its age, the special
effects hold up rather well, although the Salkinds concern with keeping it
within budget is apparent in how little screen-time Superman receives when
compared to the boorish antics of Gorman. Christopher Reeve remains as one of
the few shining bright spots in this film and one of the best scenes is when he
saves an unconscious Ricky before he meets a gory end at the hands of a
threshing machine. Ricky wakes up and asks, ‘Superman?’ and Reeve then gives
his winning smile and replies, ‘That’s me!’ He also does an excellent job
portraying his evil self. Annette O'Toole is another bright spot, capturing the
small-town sweetness and charm of Lana Lang and has some good chemistry with
Reeve, although nothing on the level between him and Kidder. Ironically,
O’Toole would go on to play Superman’s adopted mother, Martha Kent, on the
television series “Smallville.” Margot Kidder only appears in what amounts to a
glorified cameo as punishment for publicly criticizing the Salkinds for their
treatment of Donner, although the producers deny this on the Blu-Ray’s audio
commentary. The less said about Richard Pryor, the better. While he’s a highly
regarded comedian, here he’s just annoying to the point where I wish Superman
would just crush his skull and be done with it. I’ll admit that some of the comedy produced a chuckle
but that’s about it. Robert Vaughn makes for a poor substitute for Gene Hackman
with his uninspired Ross Webster. He comes off as an overly cartoonish James
Bond villain, complete with his own secret lair!
“Superman III” arrives for the
first time on Blu-Ray as part of the “Superman Motion Picture Anthology” box
set. I didn’t expect the film to look amazing given its less-than favorable
reaction but the picture quality makes it look like it was shot yesterday!
Blacks are deep and inky, and textures are highly defined from Evil Superman’s
five-o-clock shadow to the circuit boards on Gorman’s ridiculous
super-computer. Audio is excellent as well and is at its most dynamic during
the climax as all manner of explosions go off. Dialogue and sound effects has a
bit of a dated feel like the previous films in the set but other than that, there
are no complaints. Special features are a bit light compared to “Superman” and
“Superman II” and included is an audio commentary with producers Ilya Salkind
and Pierre Spengler, a 50-minute making-of featurette, eleven deleted scenes
and a theatrical trailer, all presented in standard definition.
Released on
June 17, 1983, “Superman III” received largely negative reviews and currently
has a 24% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics noted that ‘when not overusing sight
gags, slapstick, and Richard Pryor, [the film] resorts to plot points rehashed
from the previous Superman flicks.’ With an estimated production budget of $39
million, the film was a moderate box office success with a domestic total of
$60 million, though it was a far cry from the $100 million grosses of the
previous films. Reeve wasn’t particularly fond of Lester’s penchant for comedy
and remarked that ‘[He] was always looking for a gag—sometimes to the point
where the gags involving Richard Pryor went over the top. I mean, I didn't
think that his going off the top of a building, on skis with a pink tablecloth
around his shoulders, was particularly funny.’ Due to the negative reaction to
the film, Reeve and the producers felt that the “Superman” films had run their
course and after the release of “Supergirl” in 1984 (which also received
negative reviews and was a box office bomb), the Salkinds sold the rights to
the franchise to Golan & Globus of Cannon Films four years later. While
“Superman III” remains watchable, the film’s overreliance on gags and slapstick
ends up grating and is a slap in the face to both the fans and the source
material. Of course, it’s infinitely better to what came after…but that is a
story best left for another day.
Final Rating: 2.5 out of 5
“You're a genius. You've invented a machine that can find anybody's weak spot. Congratulations, old buddy. You'll go down in history as the man who killed Superman!”
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