Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor, Margot Kidder

Here was a case in which the progenitors of this successful comic-book adaptation figured they had to go in a new direction--and chose the wrong one. For starters, they recruited comedian Richard Pryo...( read more  read more... )r, who was the kiss of death for almost every movie he was in except his own concert films. He plays a computer specialist who is hired by a criminal mastermind (Robert Vaughan) to help him take on Superman by exposing him to a new form of Kryptonite: red Kryptonite, which always had unpredictable effects in the comic books. In this film, it splits Superman in two, dividing his good self from his dark side. The special effects had gone about as far as they could, and this movie strains to hold an audience's interest for its full running length. --Marshall Fine

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39% liked it

148,098 ratings

PG, 125 min.

Directed by: Richard Lester

Release Date: June 17, 1983

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DVD Release Date: May 1, 2001

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Stats: 4,047 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (4,047)


  • September 3, 2009
    Come on guys, It was the 80's, films did this kind of thing then. It's a silly film and not as good as the first two but as far as I'm concerned its got Reeve, Pryor and Vaughn in it so it must be great and I love it!
  • December 27, 2008
    If you ever wanted to see what Richard Lester would have done to Superman II then look no further than the pure garbage that is Superman III. What's worse than the slapstick opening credit sequence that makes the Three Stooges roll over in the graves? The fact that this piece of ...( read more)shit is over 2 hours!

    In reality this isn't even a Superman movie. It's a Richard Pryor movie with Christopher Reeve thrown in. It's not even a funny Richard Pryor movie. It's not even Moving! Robert Vaughn enlists Pryor to use a computer to take over a weather satellite and control the weather which is a plot straight out of the old G.I. Joe cartoon. There's a super computer that Superman can't stop, blah, blah, blah.

    What Superman III proves is that the Salkinds have no talent or soul. It's a total piece of trash and I can't imagine them making a Superman film worse than this one...

    (As a post script I just realized that the guy that plays Brad in this film is also the head reverse mohawked gangmember in the classic 1980's flick Death Wish 3. Jesus, can this guy's agent pick 'em or what?)
  • September 23, 2008
    Everyone should have said NO to this one and the one after it.
  • April 19, 2008
    Where to start on this one? Well, this one kinda marked the beginning of the downward spiral of Reeves Superman movies. Considering that it was made in 1983, I guess some of the effects are okay, but with a story this corny and unbelievable, it does become unbearable. The tiresom...( read more)e pratfalls and physical comedy is pretty painful. The Smallville mythology is kinda fun, but just a small joy in an otherwise very cheesy sequel. Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor was sadly absent too. And, if this one was bad, just wait for Superman IV..... ughh.
  • February 3, 2008
    Pending Review...

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  • November 18, 2009
    This doesn't even deserve a review, but easily the worst superhero movie EVER. I think it's terrible mainly because I didn't see it coming at all. Superman and Superman II were both amazing and then they follow with this. I think it's even worse than Batman Forever following up B...( read more)urton's franchise because at least in that you don't have to see Michael Keaton sink down to the lowest of the low. The movie itself is just ridiculous. I think they were sorta trying to do something along the lines of Brainiac but they failed miserably.
  • November 17, 2009
    I quite liked this one. Need to re-watch the others :P
  • November 15, 2009
    not as good as number 1
  • November 14, 2009
    sorry but i am sick of the Superman movies
  • November 12, 2009
    Not to bad pretty weird how there was no lex luthor and Lois Lane was only in it for two mins but she was dog ugly back in the old movies. Its was weird seeing clarks mum from smallville playing Lana Lang in this movie, liked when superman fought the evil superman if that was mad...( read more)e today it would have been more insane but still was pretty cool.

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  • ImmortalDisciple
    August 22, 2007
    Supercrap!!!
  • stopeatingthecheesec
    December 28, 2006
    This is why "Superman Returns" takes place 5 years after "superman 2". Bryan Singer did the right thing to forget about this movie and so should everyone else. I remember watching a marathon of all the superman films on Space Channel a few years ago and the 1st 2 were really good, but # 3 and 4 were garbage. I found that #3 tried too hard to make this film funny and it backfired terribly. Let's not forget the idea of the master villian of takeing a fraction of a penny out of the bank! That is just as bad as the villian in "Die another Day" by trying to steal the power of the sun.
    In a nut shell, avoid this film and #4...just watch #1 and 2 and then skip to "Returns". Pretend that # 3 and 4 don't exist.

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Superman III Trivia


  • Chritopher Reeve fights a duplicate evil version of himself   Answer »
  • In Superman III Richard Pryor's character Gus Gorman tries to figure out the formula to kryptonite but one of the ingredients comes up 'unknown'.. what ingredient found in cigarettes does he decide to replace it w/?  Answer »
  • In which SUPERMAN film (out of the ones starred by Christopher Reeve) does Clark Kent say this line: "If I had a nickel for every time some little kid..."  Answer »
  • in what superman film dose superman suffer from multiple personality disorder  Answer »

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