{"id":7283,"date":"2009-06-18T16:09:33","date_gmt":"2009-06-18T23:09:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=7283"},"modified":"2022-08-13T14:34:23","modified_gmt":"2022-08-13T21:34:23","slug":"superman-iii-1983","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=7283","title":{"rendered":"Superman III (1983)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Superman, you&#8217;re just in a slump &#8212; you&#8217;ll be great again!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/Superman-III-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/Superman-III-Poster-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-63417\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/Superman-III-Poster-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/Superman-III-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/Superman-III-Poster-177x270.jpg 177w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/Superman-III-Poster.jpg 496w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA computer geek (Richard Pryor) working for a nefarious businessman (Robert Vaughn) gives Superman (Christopher Reeve) tar-laced-kryptonite, which turns him from a crime-fighting superhero into an evil prankster.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Christopher Reeve Films<\/li>\n<li>Comics and Comic Strips<\/li>\n<li>Fantasy<\/li>\n<li>Margot Kidder Films<\/li>\n<li>Richard Lester Films<\/li>\n<li>Richard Pryor Films<\/li>\n<li>Robert Vaughn Films<\/li>\n<li>Superheroes<\/li>\n<li>Thieves and Criminals<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nRichard Lester returned to helm this third installment in the <em>Superman<\/em> series, widely acknowledged to be the weakest of the three. The first two films were thematically connected in many ways, but much has changed this time around. Lex Luthor was replaced by evil industrialist &#8220;Ross Webster&#8221; (Robert Vaughn), who&#8217;s appropriately menacing but not nearly as charismatic as Gene Hackman; meanwhile, as a result of open disagreements with the film&#8217;s producers, Margot Kidder (as Lois Lane) only appears in a few minutes of the film, so Superman falls for another &#8220;LL&#8221; woman &#8212; his old high school crush, Lana Lang (Annette O&#8217;Toole) &#8212; instead. O&#8217;Toole does a fine job portraying a small town single mother with a big time crush on Superman, but their burgeoning romance lacks the edgy dynamic that existed between Lane and Superman &#8212; and we never really believe Superman could give up Lane for good, anyway. <\/p>\n<p>The central casting of Richard Pryor as a computer geek working in cahoots with Vaughn is often cited as one of the film&#8217;s main flaws; indeed, near the end of his review of <em>Superman II<\/em>, Peary himself argues that <em>Superman III<\/em> &#8220;was doomed the minute Richard Pryor was cast (or miscast) in a pivotal role&#8221;. But Pryor isn&#8217;t actually all that bad; the main problem is with the script itself. While it&#8217;s fun to see Superman grappling against his &#8220;evil nature&#8221; (the scene in which he malevolently rights the Leaning Tower of Pisa is particularly chuckle-worthy, and his climactic junkyard battle against himself is exciting), we never really feel any sense of urgency about the state of the world. In <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=7293\"><em>Superman<\/em><\/a>, we worried plenty about California falling off the face of the continent, and in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=7254\"><em>Superman II<\/em><\/a>, the three evil villains from Krypton posed a very real threat to the state of humanity. Here, Vaughn&#8217;s plans to monopolize the world&#8217;s oil supplies simply don&#8217;t evoke the same sense of panic. While <em>Superman III<\/em> isn&#8217;t quite as bad as its reputation, it&#8217;s not must-see viewing. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Christopher Reeve as Superman\/Clark Kent<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/superman-iii-reeve.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/superman-iii-reeve.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8737\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Superman&#8217;s junkyard battle against himself<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/superman-iii-junkyard.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/superman-iii-junkyard.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8738\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Annette O&#8217;Toole as Lana Lang<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/superman-iii-otoole.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/superman-iii-otoole.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8739\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though most film fanatics will likely be curious to check it out. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0086393\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1983\/06\/17\/movies\/superman-iii-reeve-joined-by-pryor.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/superman-iii-1983\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/sciencefiction\/superman-iii-1983.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/superman-iii\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.supermanhomepage.com\/movies\/movies.php?topic=m-movie3\">Superman Home Page Plot Overview<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Superman, you&#8217;re just in a slump &#8212; you&#8217;ll be great again!&#8221; Synopsis: A computer geek (Richard Pryor) working for a nefarious businessman (Robert Vaughn) gives Superman (Christopher Reeve) tar-laced-kryptonite, which turns him from a crime-fighting superhero into an evil prankster. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Christopher Reeve Films Comics and Comic Strips Fantasy Margot Kidder Films Richard Lester Films Richard Pryor Films Robert Vaughn Films Superheroes Thieves and Criminals Review: Richard Lester returned to helm this third installment in the&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=7283\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7283"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86139,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7283\/revisions\/86139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}