Superman III

***Superman III*** is a 1983 British superhero film directed by Richard Lester. It is the third film in the *Superman* film series based upon the long-running DC Comicssuperhero. The film is the last *Superman* film to be produced by Alexander Salkind and Ilya Salkind, and stars Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor, Annette O'Toole, Annie Ross, Pamela Stephenson, and Robert Vaughn. This film is followed by *Superman IV: The Quest for Peace*, released on July 24, 1987.

Although the film still managed to recoup its budget of $39 million, it was less successful than the first two Superman movies, both financially and critically. While harsh criticism focused on the film's comedic and campy tone, as well as the casting and performance of Pryor, Reeve was praised for his much darker performance as the corrupted Superman. Following the release of this movie, Pryor signed a five-year contract with Columbia Pictures worth $40 million.

## Plot

Gus Gorman, a chronically unemployed man, discovers he has a knack for computer programming and gets a job at WebsCo. Gorman is unhappy with his pay, and after embezzling from his new employer, Gorman is brought to the attention of CEO Ross Webster. Webster is obsessed with the computer's potential to aid him in his schemes to rule the world financially. Joined by his sister Vera and his "psychic nutritionist" Lorelei Ambrosia, Webster blackmails Gorman into helping him.

Clark Kent has convinced his *Daily Planet* boss Perry White to allow him to return to Smallville for his high school reunion. En route, as Superman, he extinguishes a fire in a chemical plant containing highly-unstable Beltric acid that can produce corrosive vapor when superheated. At the reunion Clark is reunited with childhood friend Lana Lang, a divorcée with a young son named Ricky, and harassed by Brad Wilson, an ex-boyfriend of hers.

Webster schemes to monopolize the world's coffee crop. Infuriated byColombia's refusal to do business with him, he orders Gorman to command a weather satellite named Vulcan to create a storm to decimate Colombia's coffee crop. Gorman uses the Smallville branch of WebsCo to activate the satellite. Webster's scheme is thwarted when Superman saves the harvest. Webster orders Gorman to use his computer knowledge to create Kryptonite, remembering Lois Lane's *Daily Planet* interview with Superman, in which Superman identified it as his only weakness. Gus uses Vulcan to locate Krypton's debris in outer space.

Lana convinces Superman to appear at Ricky's birthday party, but Smallville turns it into a town celebration. Gus and Vera, disguised as United States Army officers, give Superman the Kryptonite as a gift, but it appears ineffective due to an unknown ingredient which Gus used tar as a substitute. However, Superman becomes selfish, focusing on his lust for Lana, causing him to delay rescuing a truck driver. Superman begins questioning his self-worth; he becomes depressed, angry and casually destructive, committing petty acts of vandalism such as blowing out the Olympic Flame and straightening the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Webster orders Gorman to direct all oil tankers to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and have them idle until further notice. Ross makes a deal with Gorman, agreeing to build a supercomputer in return for Gorman's aid. When the captain of one tanker refuses to idle, Superman dumps its oil into the ocean.

Superman goes on a drinking binge, but is overcome by guilt and undergoes a nervous breakdown. After nearly crash-landing in a junkyard, Superman splits into two personas: the immoral, selfish, corrupted Superman and the moral, righteous Clark Kent. They engage in a battle, ending when Clark strangles his evil identity. Restored to his normal self, Superman repairs the damage his evil counterpart caused.

After defending himself from rockets and an MX missile en route to the Grand Canyon and the villains' hideout, Superman confronts Webster, Vera and Lorelei for a final showdown. He is forced to battle Gorman's supercomputer, which weakens him with a beam of pure Kryptonite.

Horrified by the prospect of "going down in history as the man who killed Superman", Gorman destroys the Kryptonite ray with a firefighter's axe, whereupon Superman flees. The computer becomes self-aware and defends itself against Gus's attempts to disable it, draining power from electrical towers. Ross and Lorelei escape from the control room, but Vera is pulled into the computer and transformed into a cyborg. Vera attacks her brother and Lorelei with beams of energy that immobilize them. Superman returns with a canister of the Beltric acid from the chemical plant he saved earlier. Superman places the canister by the supercomputer, which does not resist as it suspects no immediate danger. The intense heat emitted by the machine causes the acid to turn volatile, destroying the supercomputer. Superman flies away with Gus, leaving Webster and his cronies to deal with the authorities. He drops Gus off at a West Virginia coal mine.

Superman returns to Metropolis. As Clark, he pays a visit to Lana, who has relocated to the big city and found employment as the new secretary to Perry White. He is attacked by Brad, who has stalked Lana in Metropolis, and Brad ends up thrown out on a room service cart. The film ends with Superman flying into the sunrise for further adventures.

## Cast

* Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent / Superman: After discovering his origins in the earlier films, he sets himself to helping those on Earth. After beating arch enemy Lex Luthor twice, Superman meets a new villain: Ross Webster, who is determined to control the world's coffee and oil supplies. Superman also battles personal demons after an exposure to a synthetic form of kryptonite that corrupts him.
* Richard Pryor as August "Gus" Gorman: A bumbling computer genius who works for Ross Webster to destroy Superman.
* Robert Vaughn as Ross Webster: A villainous multimillionaire. After Superman prevents him from taking over the world's coffee supply, Ross is determined to destroy Superman before he can stop his plan to control the world's oil supply. He is an original character created for the movie.
* Annette O'Toole as Lana Lang: Clark's high school friend who reconciles with Clark after seeing him during their high school reunion. O'Toole later portrayed Martha Kent on the Superman prequel television series *Smallville*.
* Annie Ross as Vera Webster: Ross' sister and partner in his corporation and villainous plans.
* Pamela Stephenson as Lorelei Ambrosia: Ross' assistant and girlfriend. Lorelei, a voluptuous blonde bombshell, is well-read, articulate and skilled in computers, but conceals her intelligence from Ross and Vera, to whom she adopts the appearance of a superficial fool. As part of Ross' plan, she seduces Superman.
* Jackie Cooper as Perry White: The editor of the *Daily Planet*.
* Margot Kidder as Lois Lane: A reporter at the *Daily Planet* who has a history with both Clark Kent and Superman. She is away from Metropolis on vacation to Bermuda, which put her in the middle of a front-page story.
* Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen: A photographer for the *Daily Planet*.
* Gavan O'Herlihy as Brad Wilson: Lana's former boyfriend.

Film director/puppeteer Frank Oz originally had a cameo in this film as a surgeon, but the scene was ultimately deleted. That scene had been included in the TV extended version of the film.