Superman III

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Superman III
Original movie poster
Directed by	Richard Lester
Produced by	Ilya Salkind Pierre Spengler
Written by	Comic Book: Jerry Siegel Joe Shuster Screenplay: David Newman Leslie Newman
Starring	Christopher Reeve Richard Pryor Jackie Cooper Marc McClure Annette O'Toole Annie Ross Pamela Stephenson Robert Vaughn Margot Kidder
Music by	Ken Thorne John Williams (Themes)
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	June 17, 1983
Running time	125 min.
Language	English
Budget	Unknown
Preceded by	Superman II
Followed by	Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
IMDb profile

Superman III is a 1983 movie that was the third of four movies based upon the long-running DC Comics superhero produced in the late 1970s-early 1980s.

The cast includes: Christopher Reeve as Superman/Clark Kent; Richard Pryor as Gus Gorman; Jackie Cooper as Perry White; Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen; Annette O'Toole as Lana Lang; Annie Ross as Vera Webster; Pamela Stephenson as Lorelei Ambrosia; Robert Vaughn as Ross Webster; and Margot Kidder as Lois Lane.

The film was the last Reeve/Superman film produced by Alexander Salkind and Ilya Salkind. It was followed by Supergirl in 1984 and the non-Salkind sequel Superman IV: The Quest For Peace in 1987.

The film was significantly less successful than the first two Superman movies, both financially and critically. Many viewers complained that there was too much emphasis on comedy, the villains were too weak, and that Christopher Reeve essentially played second fiddle to Richard Pryor^[1]. In its favor, Superman III is praised for the performance of Reeve^[2], playing a corrupted version of the Man of Steel, and a spectacular junkyard battle between this newly darkened Superman and Clark Kent.^[3]

Taglines:

• The world's super hero in his toughest adventure yet!
• Superman vs. the king of computerized crime!

Contents 1 Plot 2 Box office 2.1 See also 2.2 Critical reaction 3 Trivia 4 Extra footage 4.1 Broadcast television version 4.2 The theatrical/home video version 5 Cultural references 6 Soundtrack 6.1 External links 7 Goofs 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Plot

In this third installment, a computer genius named Gus Gorman (Pryor) is brought into the employ of Ross Webster (Vaughn), who has designs on ruling the world. However, all of his schemes are thwarted by Superman. Webster then orders Gorman to use his computer knowledge to create synthetic Kryptonite after remembering a Daily Planet story about the last original chunk disappearing years earlier after falling to Earth. (Whether Webster references the Kryptonite robbery in Superman is unclear.) After scanning the coordinates of Krypton's former location via satellite, the results show a small percentage of an unknown component. The substitution of tar (which Gorman used after glancing at a cigarette carton) for a crucial, but unknown, component resulted in the synthetic kryptonite behaving like Red and Black Kryptonite: in this case, turning Superman evil and eventually split him into two people.

The evil Superman and Clark Kent, the embodiment of Superman's remaining good qualities, engage in an epic battle at a deserted junkyard, where Clark emerges victorious and the evil Superman fades from sight.

Later in the film, Gorman's greatest creation, the Ultimate Computer, severely weakens Superman with a Kryptonite ray before Gorman has a change of heart and attacks his own machine. The computer starts to malfunction and Ross, his sister Vera and his girlfriend/assistant, Lorelei Ambrosia realize there's a danger. Ross and Lorelei are able to escape from the control room, but Vera is sucked into the huge circutboard. The computer transforms her into Fembot 2.0. and she attacks the other two. Superman arrives, and destroys the computer, and all the while turns Vera back to normal. He then flies off with Gus in his arms.

There is a subplot in this film detailing Clark Kent's return to Smallville, where he reconnects with Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole), an old childhood friend. Lana is now a divorcee with a son named Ricky (Paul Kaethler). Lana's former boyfriend Brad (Gavan O'Herlihy), a former jock and Clark's childhood bully, is now a security guard and is still vying for her attention.

[edit] Box office

The total domestic box office gross for Superman III was $59,950,623^[4]. It was considered a major financial disappointment since the first two movies each grossed over $100 million. Besides a considerably poor feedback from the audience themselves, what also likely hurt the box office performance was the fact that Superman III was released during the same summer as the Star Wars film Return of the Jedi and the James Bond films Octopussy and Never Say Never Again.

Another problem may have been that the trailer seemed to spoil much of the movie itself.^[5] To put things in perspective, Richard Pryor's character, Gus Gorman, was perceived by many going in to essentially be the comic relief/henchman (while the main villain was Robert Vaughn's character), who tried to use his computer skills to kill Superman. In return, there was meant to be a sense of uncertainty towards whether Pryor was going to succeed or not. Yet at the end of the trailer, Pryor's character was shown shaking hands with Superman. So by the end of the trailer (and subsequently movie itself), the audience realized and/or sensed that Gus Gorman had reformed (thus hampering the element of surprise in the process).

See also: Trailer and Trailer (film) #Criticism of trailers

[edit] See also

• Superman III Original Theatrical Trailer - YouTube
• Trailers for Superman III - IMDb.com

[edit] Critical reaction

A frequent criticism of Superman III is the inclusion of comedian Richard Pryor^[6][7], who wound up getting the second biggest role in the movie behind Christopher Reeve^[8]. Many suspected that Pryor (who was riding off of the heels of smash hits like Stir Crazy and The Toy) helped himself into getting into Superman III after appearing on The Tonight Show and telling Johnny Carson about how much he enjoyed watching Superman II.^[9] Audiences also saw Robert Vaughn's villainous Ross Webster as an uninspired fill-in for the Lex Luthor of Gene Hackman,^[10][11] who sat out Superman III due to his problems with the Salkinds. Hackman along with Margot Kidder, (Lois Lane) was upset with the way the Salkinds treated Superman director Richard Donner, and Hackman retaliated by refusing to reprise the role of Lex Luthor entirely (though he would later be persuaded to come back for Superman IV: The Quest For Peace in 1987 with which the Salkinds had no connection). The Salkinds retaliated against Kidder by severely reducing her role in Superman III.^[12][13]

In his commentary for the 2006 DVD release of Superman III, Ilya Salkind denied any ill will between Margot Kidder and his production team, and refutes the claim her part was cut for retailiation. Instead, he says, the creative team decided to pursue a different direction for a love interest for Superman, believing the Lois & Clark relationship had played out in the first two films (but could be revisited in the future). With the choice to give a more prominent role to Lana Lang, Lois' part was reduced for story reasons. Salkind also denied the reports about Gene Hackman being upset with him, stating he didn't return due to prior commitments.

Fans also placed most of the blame on director Richard Lester,^[14] who unlike with Superman II (when he was brought in by the Salkinds after they fired Richard Donner midway through the production), made Superman III from start to finish. Lester broke tradition by having Superman III opening up with a prolonged slapstick sequence (often compared with silent comedy) with difficult-to-read titles over it (the first two movies opened up in outerspace with big and bold credits). Fans believed that Lester, unlike Donner, had virtually little if any knowledge or more importantly respect^[15] for the Superman legacy and legend. In fact, Richard Donner was supposedly fired because he wouldn't follow the Salkinds' vision of Superman being campy (a la the Batman television series starring Adam West).^{[citation needed]} Superman III is commonly seen as more or less a goofy (albeit uneven) farce than a grandiose adventure picture like the first two movies.^[16] Another problem is the screenplay^[17][18], written by David and Leslie Newman. When Richard Donner was hired to direct the first two films he found the Newman scripts so distasteful that he hired Tom Mankiewicz for heavy rewrites. Since Donnor and Mankiewicz were no longer attached to the franchise, the Salkinds were finally able to bring their "vision" of Superman to the screen and once again hired the Newmans for writing duties.

Film critic Leonard Maltin said of Superman III that it was an "appalling sequel that trashed everything that Superman was about for the sake of cheap laughs and a co-starring role for Richard Pryor." Fans generally agree though that the only redeeming and sincere moments in Superman III were the scenes involving Clark Kent and his childhood sweetheart Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole)^[19], who for all intents and purposes, replaced Lois Lane as the love interest in this movie, and the climactic junkyard fight between Clark Kent and the "Evil Superman." Despite Christopher Reeve's best efforts to portray an intense and violently unstable Man of Steel, "Evil Superman's" acts of assorted mischief (staying near Lana in a suggestive manner and arriving late at a rescue, straightening the Leaning Tower of Pisa, blowing out the Olympic torch, getting drunk and flicking peanuts) gave the movie an even more camp touch though it has failed to become better received in the same way the Adam West Batman film is looked on favorably.

[edit] Trivia

• The original title of the film was Superman Versus Superman.
• 20 years after playing Lana Lang in Superman III, Annette O'Toole went on to play Martha Kent (Superman's adoptive mother) on the television series Smallville.
• The program Gus creates in the beginning that is supposedly impossible is just a series of PRINT statements when Gus lists it.
• The scenes in which Superman straightens the Leaning Tower of Pisa and then leans it back in the end were originally planned to be shot for Superman II, as it was in Richard Donner's original script for the first sequel.
• The technique Gus uses to steal money from his company, salami slicing, is specifically referenced and duplicated in the movie Office Space.
• When Vera, Lorelei, and Ross ride hovercraft down the Grand Canyon to the supercomputer, Gus refuses, riding on a pack mule. Gus then says to himself "I do not believe a man can fly!" This is reference to Superman, with the tagline "You will believe a man can fly".
• The 'little boy' who appears waiting by the photo-booth while 'Clark Kent' changes into Superman -- during the introduction of the film -- was actually the same little boy who played baby Kal-El (Superman) in Superman (Aaron Smolinski).
• Series producer Ilya Salkind claims that he originally wrote a treatment for this film that included Brainiac, Mister Mxyzptlk, and Supergirl, but Warner Bros. did not like it.

[edit] Extra footage

Superman III was released on June 17, 1983 with a running time of 123 minutes in the United States and 117 minutes in the United Kingdom. The extended cut was first shown on ABC in 1985 with an extra 20 minutes of added footage (thus, making the running time 143 minutes). Just like with the previous two Superman movies, the television edition of Superman III was produced by Alexander Salkind's company. This version continues to be shown today in America as part of the Superman syndication package which also features Supergirl and Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. In the United Kingdom, the extended version has been shown about two or three times in the late 1980s.

[edit] Broadcast television version

• The credits on the broadcast version are in space (similar to Superman and Superman II) and accompanied by an adaptation of composer John Williams' Superman theme. The theatrical and home video versions had difficult-to-read titles over an opening slapstick sequence. The main titles for the TV version were tracked in and altered from the end credit march.

• The unemployment office scene comes after the credits, with a few extras in the background.

• The Metropolis scenes are not in widescreen and has two extra scenes:

1. The thief's bag of loot being accidentally lifted by a construction ladder.
2. The thief realizes his newly acquired fortune has disappeared.
3. He spots his bag and can't reach it. He yells "stop thief!"
4. After Superman rescues the man drowning in his car: A mother places her son on a see-saw; The bag of loot falls off a painting rig; it hits the opposite side of the see-saw that the little boy is on, catapulting him into a tree. Superman takes off from the car and flies over to rescue the boy.

• On the bus approaching the chemical plant fire, Jimmy Olsen says "What a sunset!", Clark replies "At three in the afternoon?"

• Extra shots of the chemical fire and more dialogue with Superman and the fire chief.

• There's a shot of Vera and Lorelei "shaking hands."

• In Gus's first pay cheque scene, Theres a longer view of everyone working in the main frame room wheeling themselves around on chairs. Two of them back into each other.

• Before Gus goes into Ross's office, he is greeted by Ross' secretary. Gus tries to escape through the executive washroom, but the secretary sends him in when Ross gets impatient.

• Ross explains to Gus why Vera calls him "Bubba." In this scene Lorelei gives Ross one of the burnt penguins from the beginning.

• A longer conversation between Gus and Brad (Gavan O'Herlihy) outside the Smallville Wheat King office.

• While drinking, Brad reveals that his high school nickname was the "Smallville Flash" and Gus thinks that it's a good name for a drink. This is then referenced a couple of minutes later when Gus is dragging Brad into the computer room.

• Expanded scene of the guy at the ATM.

• Gus Gorman's speech about Superman's feats while wearing skis is longer, accompanied by FX shots of Superman in action. After Gus describes Superman's heroics, the TV is turned back on and the newspaper says , "Well Superman's done it again."

• A longer sequence with Gus walking across the street in his skies.

• The scene involving Gus posing as a general is longer.

• After Gus shuts off the world's oil, there is a shot of two people not getting oil from a cold pipeline.

• The souvenir salesman near the Leaning Tower of Pisa now says "Stupido Superman!"

• Some shots of Ross and Lorelei exercising.

• On some TV/Video versions there is an additional shot of Gus knocking open a utility room and scaring himself in a mirror.

• In the scene where Lorelei is on top of the Statue of Liberty the TV version has the police officer with the megaphone saying "Do not despair. You have everything to live for... I know, I've just seen you.", whereas the video release has him saying "Don't jump... please don't jump."

• A scene showing Vera trying to read a book on computers while Lorelei and "Evil Superman" can be heard fooling around in the next room.

• When Metropolis' power is turned off there is a shot of a surgery room and a little dialogue.

• More shots of the three ballooning down in the Grand Canyon.

• The computer's destruction is longer.

• When Brad sees Clark at the Hotel he says "Kent!"

• Some television broadcasts also have two little extra moments not shown in the theatrical/video release during the scene where Clark gives Lana a diamond ring. Instead of ringing Lana's doorbell, Clark knocks on the door with a "Shave and a Haircut" melody, which is copied by a man knocking on a door behind him. This explains why he's looking behind when Lana opens the door.

• After Clark sends Brad speeding back into an elevator on top of a food trolley, a lady assistant remarks "No wonder they send it back."

[edit] The theatrical/home video version

• A mother says "Say thank you" to her son at the photo-booth.

• Pictures of Lorelei Ambrosia are shown at the Daily Planet.

• A shot where Lana is shown exiting a store.

• A shot of Clark bumping into Gus.

• More reactions from the tractor driver who almost killed Ricky.

• Ricky asks Clark for Superman's autograph, Clark responds "I don't know, if I had a nickel for every time some little kid..."

• A shot of Gus walking down to Wheat King's Smallville office.

• A scene showing the construction of Gus's big powerful computer.

• Lana talks to Brad on the phone and then orders plane tickets to Metropolis.

• Brad says "Son of a bitch" at the hotel when he sees Clark.

• Some of the pan and scan is different from the home video version. In the scene where the Ross, Vera, and Lorelei are ballooning down, Vera says "Out of my way!" In the home video version, both Vera and Lorelei can be seen in the shot, but in the TV version only Vera can be seen at that particular part. And in other bits of the film the tops of peoples' heads are cut off, most noticeable in the scene where Gus is pretending to be the General.

[edit] Cultural references

The computer program that Gus Gorman, which took the fractions of cents left over from financial transactions and interest compounding and transferred them to a dummy account, actually did hit on what had been a flaw in the banking system. Prompted by the film, banks began to set up safeguards into their computer systems to prevent people from mimicking Gorman.

This aspect of the film has been one of the most referenced in popular culture. In the 1999 film Office Space, the characters use the same computer program that Gus Gorman used to make himself rich. They even mention how it's "just like in 'Superman III'." In the Anime series Ghost in the Shell, villains use a program virtually identical to the one in Superman III as well, though the film is not directly referenced.

[edit] Soundtrack

The musical score was composed and conducted by Ken Thorne, using the Superman theme composed by John Williams.

To capitalize on the popularity of synthesizer pop, Giorgio Moroder was hired to create songs for the film (though interestingly enough, their use in the film is minimal.)

1. Main Title (The Streets of Metropolis) 5:23
2. Saving The Factory-The Acid Test 6:09
3. Gus Finds a Way :58
4. The Two Faces of Superman 2:50
5. The Struggle Within-Final Victory 4:16
6. Rock On - Marshall Crenshaw 3:35
7. No See, No Cry - Chaka Khan 3:18
8. They Won't Get Me - Roger Miller 3:20
9. Love Theme - Helen St. John 3:14
10. Main Title March - Giorgio Moroder 4:20

[edit] External links

• Soundtrack Review

• Ken Thorne Interview
  • Ken Thorne Interview Part 2

• Analysis of the music

[edit] Goofs

• At Clark Kent's high school reunion, his class photo is of a young Christopher Reeve. However, when he was at high school, Kent was played by Jeff East (in the first movie). It is also notable if this was there, why would they not recognise his exceptional resemblance to Superman?

• In the scene where Gus is talking to Brad through the glass doors at WEBSCOE, while the camera is on Brad, you can see Gus' reflection. However, while Gus is talking, the reflection does not match up with what he is saying.

• It's not clear when Brad came to Metropolis or how he located Lana.

• Gus humming the Superman theme and making a joke about ripping off his shirt in a Superman-way could be seen as examples of breaking the fourth wall.

• Perry said that Lois got a story about "Corruption in the Caribbean." But Lois was going to Bermuda, which is not in the Caribbean. (Though this could be a comment on the ignorance of the press.)

• When Superman has returned Ricky to Lana after hitting his head on the rock in the wheat field, Lana wipes the blood off his face with her white sweater. In the next scene, the sweater is spotless.

• In one of the Smallville scenes (shot in Calgary, Canada) the logo of a Canadian bank is clearly visible in the background.

• Superman has trouble breathing inside the "bubble" the supercomputer covers him with, but he can still fly in space.

• When Gus has the skis on in the scene on the roof, he is wearing leather shoes. When he is smashing through the railing, he has ski boots on. When he is tumbling downwards along the side of the building toward the ground, he has no skis on at all. He has skis again, with ski boots, on the angled glass ceiling and then skis with the regular leather shoes when he lands on the street.

• When Gus lands on the street, he is nearly run over by a van sporting clearly-identifiable Alberta licence plates (as noted earlier, the film was shot in Calgary).

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Superman III at the Internet Movie Database
• The Superman Sourcebook, at The Thunder Child
• SupermanIII.com
• the agony booth : SUPERMAN III Review
• Superman Cinema - Superman III
• The DVD Journal Quick Reviews: Superman III
• Superman III (1983) - What is it about part 3's?
• http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/fullmonty/706/sf/supermaniii.htm
• 80's Movies Rewind - Superman III
• THE CINEMA LASER DVD REVIEW -- SUPERMAN III
• SUPERHEROES LIVES - Superman III
• Rotten Tomatoes - Superman III
• Movie Reviews (Chrisopther Reeve Homepage) - Superman III
• STARLOG 73 AUGUST 1983: INTERVIEW WITH DAVID AND LESLIE NEWMAN
• THE PRODUCTION/BEHIND THE SCENES
• THE PRODUCTION - SPECIAL EFFECTS
  • THE PRODUCTION - SPECIAL EFFECTS/ATARI
• Superhero: A Biography of Christopher Reeve" by Chris Nickson, St. Martin's Press, 1998
• Retro Junk - Superman III
• Superman Homepage: Superman III - Movie Synopsis/Review/Critique
• Superman III New Fan Made Credits
• louandbud.com: Chris Reeve - Page 3

Superman in popular media
Actors:	Bud Collyer • Kirk Alyn • George Reeves • Danny Dark • Christopher Reeve • Beau Weaver • John Haymes Newton • Gerard Christopher • Dean Cain • Timothy Daly • Tom Welling • George Newbern • Brandon Routh
Film:	Superman (1948) • Atom Man vs. Superman • Superman and the Mole Men • Superman (1978) • Superman II • Superman III • Supergirl • Superman IV: The Quest for Peace • Superman Returns • Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
Television:	Adventures of Superman • Superboy • Lois & Clark • Smallville • Look, Up in the Sky!
Animation:	1940s cartoons • The New Adventures of Superman • Superman • Superman: The Animated Series • Legion of Super Heroes
Other media:	Radio • Broadway Theater • Newspaper Strips