Superman III (1983) - extremely underrated

[ROM Spaceknight]

I just recently re-watched Superman III after many years, and found the film enjoyable, well-done, and extremely underrated. As a kid back in Summer '83, I remember seeing this theatrically at that time & enjoying it then as well - and the years have not diminished this. Sure, the effects & technology are extremely dated (especially the computers), but this is still a decent, well-done film.

Some of my favorite sequences:

The opening sequence with the "fools of Metropolis" was amusing, in a slap-stick way; this intentionally reminded me of some of the old slap-stick routines from years before (Laurel & Hardy; Three Stooges; etc.). And, sure, a lot of Superman III was comedic, but a lot of this was just in line with the Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor) character.

Superman/Clark going back to Smallville for his high school reunion & running into Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole), etc. Very cool sequence, and I liked seeing Superman return to his "roots". Also, based on the reunion you get an idea of the character's ages - i.e., the reunion said "Class of 1965" & since the film came out in 1983 (and supposedly was set in "real time), then Clark & his class-mates were all around 36 years old at that point.

The whole sequence where Superman was exposed to the "Red Kryptonite" (though they didn't call it that in the episode) and became dark/somewhat evil. They did a great job of transforming Superman/Clark to look dirty/unshaven/burned out (even his costume was darker!), and not only disinterested in helping others - but also being somewhat malicious as well. I especially liked the battle that Superman had with his good & bad selves in the junkyard; I'm guessing this battle may have been metaphorical. It was also interesting on another level, because we saw what would happen if Superman had been evil instead of good...

And, of course, Richard Pryor as the scam artist Gus Gorman was hilarious - obviously, because of his inclusion many fans probably dismissed the film as a comedy; however, his presence brought a light-heartedness to the film that was reminiscent of the comedic Ned Beatty character from Superman I & II. One of my favorite Pryor scenes was when Robert Vaughn & his hangers-on (his gf, sister, etc.) were trying to figure out who in their organization was stealing money from them. Vaughn went on to say that anyone who was smart enough to have figured out how to "skim" those extra cents from the system would be intelligent enough to lay low, not make any large purchases, etc. And right after this comment Pryor pulls into the parking lot in an expensive, new sports car - despite the fact that he obviously couldn't afford one on his salary. Perfect comic timing

I also liked how this film was referenced in one of my all-time favorite comedies, Office Space (1999)

And, this film has been homaged (if that's a word) in the modern Superman & Superman-related TV series:

-Obviously, casting Annette O'Toole to play Clark Kent's mother in the great series Smallville had a lot to do with her having played Lana Lang in this film.

- A recent episode of Supergirl involved her being exposed to Red Kryptonite, and turning temporarily "evil/mean". In one scene, she was in a bar & destroyed some bottles by flicking nuts at them - this was taken from a similar scene when an infected Superman did the same thing - nice homage.

[CliffHanger2]

I think some people hate it because Pryor was in it which is kinda crazy.

[brettc1]

Funny how this thread popped up on April 1st

[t hedge coke]

I love the Lana stuff, and O'Toole really sells it. The Pryor stuff is fun. Drunk Superman is a good bit.

Everything else, though, is the worst of the first two in the series, just amplified and watered down simultaneously.

[Angilasman]

Superman III is a bad movie that's worth watching because it has some very nice bits in it.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

The best part was the red kryptonite and we see evil Superman face the good part of himself. The rest of the film....well...even with Pryor its terrible. They should have just let Pryor play the Toyman or Prankster and build a dangerous robot. Instead of what we got.

[Rogue Star]

What are you guys talking about? There are only two Superman movies: Superman and Superman II. What's all this nonsense about red kyrptonite and Richard Pryor?

[FennerMachine]

Superman 3 has its issues but is a fun film. I put it up there with 1 and 2.
Superman 4 is pretty awful.
Superman Returns was Ok, showing how powerful Superman really is, but something was just not right with it. Perhaps instead of trying to carry on from Reeve, Ruth should been allowed to make it his own.
Supergirl was quite good. Not a great film but worth watching at least once.

[Rogue Star]

Superman 3 has its issues but is a fun film. I put it up there with 1 and 2.
Superman 4 is pretty awful.
Superman Returns was Ok, showing how powerful Superman really is, but something was just not right with it. Perhaps instead of trying to carry on from Reeve, Ruth should been allowed to make it his own.
Supergirl was quite good. Not a great film but worth watching at least once.

Count me among those who enjoy Supergirl. >.>

[t hedge coke]

I'll take Supergirl over any of the Superman movies. Period. Two comes a close second, but Supergirl just clicks more with me.

That said, I'm not even that "bothered" by Four. It's goofy. It's movie of the week or episode #12, more than big time theatrical woohoo, but y'know, I was probably watching Adventures of Superboy at the same time that came out, so.

[CliffHanger2]

Superman 4 could have been good it was just extremely low budget. That fight scene could see the rubber props bending...UGH.LOL.

[beetee]

Like all the Superman Donner / Lester era films, Christopher Reeve is the only one acting in a Superman film. The rest of the cast and screenwriters were seemingly told it was a screwball comedy. I will say this about III... When Ugly Sister gets robotized, must've been Nightmare Fuel for you Eighties babies.

[daisetsu100]

most that i usually remember is that their reunion in smallville also had earth angel as background music like in back to the future. must be a really big song back in teh day.

[Surf]

Superman III is not 'extremely underrated'. It's rated all right, appropriately enough as not a particularly good movie. The opening sequence was lame, the Smallville stuff only half worked and overall the movie leaned way too hard on attempting to be funny and only got as far as to be kinda cute. I actually do enjoy it but I'm not such a hard nostalgist to lul myself into saying it's good. Truthfully the hand full of pretty cool scenes just happen to waterdown what is the overal contriteness of too much of the rest of the story.

Actually the only Pryor scene that didn't work was him falling off of the building wearing a pair of ski's. Most everytime he was on screen his Gus character advanced the story better than anyone else not named Superman, an odd pairing at first but it works for it. My favorite joke was Clark Kent busting Gorman's arm with the car door. The sound that's used and the look on Pryor's face crack me up everytime. Clark Kent would have to move around people constantly trying to consider the fragility of his surroundings, more so in live action. Off topic here but thing is there isn't much by the way of subtlety in the live action cape properties anymore, it's all Easter eggs. Take the 1990 Flash show for example, Barry did speedster shit all the time when he wasn't in costume... this CW Flash might as well be a different guy in and out of costume most times. It's the details of it that we miss.

The strength of part III is unquestionably the junkyard scene. The rhythm and the beat of it, the background and the pace of it from the bar to the shirt pop, to this day are right up there- still, with the best individual scenes over the past 40 years of superhero movies. Top 5 easy, what: the Raimi Spidey, Aunt May vs. Dock Ock clock tower fight, X2's mansion invasion by Stryker, the Watchmen's open with the death of the Comedian and the destruction of the Shadow League temple in Batman Begins. There are a few others but not many.

Cut half of the cheeky slapstick and a better executed threat from the supercomputer (soo Supes can't breath inside of a bubble?) would definatley move it from meh to good. As someone who saw it theatrically is does grow on you, I'm fond of it and there's a charm about it but it's a mild stretch to even call it passable.

[t hedge coke]

[Font=georgia]Superman III is not 'extremely underrated'. It's rated all right, appropriately enough as not a particularly good movie. The opening sequence was lame, the Smallville stuff only half worked and overall the movie leaned way too hard on attempting to be funny and only got as far as to be kinda cute. I actually do enjoy it but I'm not such a hard nostalgist to lul myself into saying it's good. Truthfully the hand full of pretty cool scenes just happen to waterdown what is the overal contriteness of too much of the rest of the story.

Actually the only Pryor scene that didn't work was him falling off of the building wearing a pair of ski's.

I think the Smallville stuff is great and that's the best of Pryor's scenes, personally. It's ridiculous, but it's full on ridiculous.