Superman III (1983)

Preceded by: Superman II (1980)
Succeeded by: Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

See our full list of films in the Superman franchise.

	Directed by: Richard Lester	COUNTRY UK GENRE Superhero NORWEGIAN TITLE Supermann III RUNNING TIME 125 minutes
	Produced by: llya Salkin Pierre Spengler
	Written by: David Newman Leslie Newman

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Superman/Clark Kent	Christopher Reeve
Gus Gorman	Richard Pryor	½
Ross Webster	Robert Vaughn
Lana Lang	Annette O’Toole	½
Vera Webster	Annie Ross
Lorelei Ambrosia	Pamela Stephenson
Perry White	Jackie Cooper	-
Lois Lane	Margot Kidder	-
Jimmy Olsen	Marc McClure	-
Brad Wilson	Gavan O'Herlihy	-

Review

Ilya and Alexander Salkind wanted to lighten the mood and give the third installment of the Superman movies a comic touch. The way to do that was hiring Richard Pryor in the role of Gus Gorman – a good-guy who gets mixed up with bad-guy Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn) and his scheme to kill Superman. The film kicks off in exactly that playful, amusing manner which the Salkinds were probably after, with a delightfully choreographed opening sequence to set the tone. Unfortunately, it's mostly downhill from there, save a few interesting plot threads. Pryor's overdone character gets far too much screen-time and relevance, and the whole group of villains and their scheme is not worthy of the legacy of the first two films and Christopher Reeve's dedication in the title role. Superman III really only ever gets interesting when Superman is exposed to a chunk of synthetic kryptonite and must fight some unexpected inner demons. There's also a nice subplot involving Annette O'Toole as his high-school friend Lana Lang, but these fine segments ultimately only serve to highlight the silliness of the final battle between Superman and the aforementioned silly villains. The film is only watchable for Reeve's performance. The series would reach a new low with Superman IV a few years later.