Widescreen Panavision: 2:35.1 70mm
Recorded in Dolby Stereo ( six track )
Directed by Richard Lester

Richard Lester returned to direct Superman III (1983), but by this time the series was beginning to slow down. Part of the problem may have been that the scrip, written by David and Leslie Newman alone, placed too much emphasis on comedy. The idea of a lovable bumbler who becomes a computer whiz and falls under the spell of a master criminal was a little light for a 125 - minute movie, no matter how many effects were employed to make a colossal computer come to life.Casting comedian Richard Pryor as Superman's foil was an intresting idea, but he failed to rise the occasion, he was a brillant stand up comedian, Pryor had not fared too well in movies roles; the Newmans had expected him to improvise but to their surprise he stuck closely to the script, perhaps because he was a Superman fan.As a result, the film isn't terribly funny, nor it can be taken seriously.

The main plot threads concerns Pryor's character, Gus Gorman, a computer genius subverted into a life of crime by a corrupt tycoon( Robert Vaughn). By the end of the movie , a huge , sentient computer threatens the world, but Superman handily defeats it and reforms the chatened Gus.Perhaps the most pleasing performance came from Annette O'Toole (apparently the character was in the film only because of a salary dispute between the producers and Margot Kidder, the usual Lois Lane). Christopher Reeve's favourite segment involved a chunk of synthetic Kryptonite that divided Superman into two characters, one good and one bad. "I enjoyed that very much to see this twisted, evil persona come out of the hero," Reeve recalled. "This evil Superman, literally trying to destory the other one in the machinery in the automoblie junkyard, is very good. That was David Newman's idea." The soundtrack was again done by Ken Thorne and he had decided to change the beginning Superman tune with a less dramatic melody which suited the opening scene. He had much improved his Superman tune from the previous film, Thorne instead of copying Williams theme like in the second film he added his touch to it, giving it more bass and speeding up the tempo. The special effects were the best of all the film's, the matte paints and wire work was perfect. Dane Lane the master of wire work was a pro and you can clearly see when Superma flies off after defeating his former self.
MY REVIEW

This was the first Superman film I ever saw on BBC1. I don't think it was the extended version. The film was a bit of mix match really. The producers seemed like they were trying to make a Superman movie revolved around Richard Pryor. The plot concerning Pryor was pretty weak and not very original but the story between Lana and Clark was great but I only wish they went further with it, the chemistry between them just stopped between them and it finishes. if you have watched the film in Pan and Scan then it does spoil the movie. Lester has a great eye for action and framing and it really shows in this film. lester crames so many objects into the frame making it look like a comic. That was the real aim behind Lester and photographer Bob Paynter. They wanted to create a comic in live action. The style of lighting and look of the film is fantastic. It pisses over the Batman films from a great height in terms of resembling the original comics. Alot of my friends like Superman III because you don't have to sit down and take in a massive script but instead sit back and enjoy the ride. Superman III is pure classic blockbuster fodder. It has big names, massive budget, no complicated script, jokes and fat beats. The best of all is watching Christopher Reeve in action as both the evil Superman and Clark Kent.