Superman II - The Richard Donner Cut Review "Oh, I'm just super!"

 

 

 

 

 

So, for this post, I've done something a bit different than usual, as I will look at a film I've reviewed before but not in its original version and the film is Superman II, as there is an alternate version that was put together by original film director, Richard Donner. Donner himself worked on Superman II before he was fired by the producers, the Salkinds and was replaed by Richard Lester. 

So, with this reimagning of the sequel, let's take a look and see how it fairs to the original sequel itself...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!! (Plus, the story does alternate from the original film to an extent)  

STORY 

So, the story begins with a recap of the first film and Superman pushing one of Lex's rockets into space that would have destroyed New Jersey, which in this version causes the three Kryptonian criminals lead by General Zod (Terence Stamp) to be freed from their eternal prison, the phantom zone (in the original it was an Eiffel tower elevator that was rigged with explosives).  

So, as a result of the explosion, the three villains from the first film, the ruthless General Zod, his aid Ursa (Sarah Douglas) and the mindless thug Non (Jack O'Halloran) (who appear during the opening trial scene) are released from the phantom zone, and to make matters worse, because they are Kryptonians too, they have the same powers as Superman.  And its not long before they arrive on Earth and wreak absolute havoc, destroying anyone and anything in their way, with their super powers.

However while this is going on, Clark Kent/Superman is oblivious as he is on an assignment with Lois Lane and they are sent by the Daily Planet to Niagra Falls to investigate honeymoon hotel scams.  During their trip, Lois grows suspicious of Clark's behaviour as he conveniently disappears when a young boy falls into the Niagra Falls, only to have Superman fly out seconds later to save him.  Initially Clark manages to bluff Lois, but in this version, she tricks Clark into revelaing his true identity as she fires a gun at him, which was loaded with blanks. Clark finally changes into Superman and leaves with Lois and they fly off to the Fortress of Solitude, where Superman explains his real background to Lois.  

Clearly Superman and Lois are in love with each other, and Superman talks with the image of his father, Kal-El (Marlon Brando) and declares his love for Lois, but he warns Superman if he chooses Lois he must become human.  Superman agrees and steps into a molecule chamber, which removes his powers, on leaving the chamber, Clark and Lois go off to begin their new relationship.

While this is all going on by now, Zod, Ursa and Non invade the Whitehouse and forced the President to surrender his power over to them. So, as the President submits to Zod, he pleads "Oh, God" only for Zod to correct him "Zod!".  

Meanwhile Clark and Lois go off to a diner (driving by car this time!) and Clark soon finds out when he stands up to a crude trucker, Rocky (Pepper Martin) that he is indeed vulnerable, as Rocky beats him up with ease.  At this point, Clark sees Zod on the TV with the President who declares he has given his power over to Zod.  Clark then realises, having made a terrible mistake in giving up his powers, that he must go back, but the process of losing his powers is apparently irreversible.  Nevertheless, Clark goes back to the fortress, and appeals to his father, but receives no response but as he is about to leave, he spots the green crystal that created the fortress embedded in the ground, which he places into a control chamber, bringing the visage of Jor-El to life again. Jor-El tells Clark, that they will never see each other again and uses his power to restore Clark's powers.

Meanwhile Lex Luthor, having escaped prison, makes an uneasy alliance with Zod, who flies to the Daily Planet to take Lois hostage to force Superman out in the open.  And pretty soon the caped wonder flies back on the scene and challenges Zod and his two underlings as the four of them proceed to battle it out.....

THOUGHTS 

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut is a curious but still highly enjoyable film, that sees the use of a lot of unused footage that was directed by Donner himself as well as some alternate takes of existing scenes as well as some new effects. Donner however still had to make use of a certain amount of Richard Lester's footage in order to make film somewhat more cohesive but it still has to be said the film is still a bit disjointed feeling at times and the shift in tone between the two directors is still apparent, albeit less so in this version. What Donner does manage to do is cut down on the slapstick that Lester put in the original version, which is good in itself as it was something Lester would go on to abuse in Superman III.

PERFORMANCE AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section is BIG and will contain spoilers!)  

As for the performances well they are pretty much all excellent starting with Christopher Reeve who is once again terrific in his dual role as Superman and Clark Kent and he nicely balances Superman's heroism and Clark's bumbling nature.  

Reeve has plenty of highlights and good scenes in the film that include his opening scene where Clark speaks to his editor and boss Perry White (Jackie Cooper) at the Daily planet, where Lois susses out that Clark is in fact Superman after all, as she looks at a picture of him in the newpaper and draws over it to make it look like Clark. 

So, in the scene, after Perry speaks to both of them and leaves his office for a minute, Clark looks at Lois and says to her "Wow, you look like the cat that caught the canarie this morning!" and Lois teases him and says "The canary?! No, I was thinking of something bigger that flies and in blue". Clark looks puzzled and says "Well, as usual, I'm in the dark with all this" and Lois says "Well, let me turn the lights on for you!" and she shows him the photo of Superman, which Lois has drawn over to make it look like Clark. So, Clark says "You know that's funny, Lois!" and Lois says "I gotta admit, a good reporter never let's a story by them but you had me fooled and I am nobody's fool" and she looks at him and says "Superman". Clark laughs nervously and says "You really think I'm Superman?!" and Lois says "Willing to bet my life on it!" and she throws away her pen and goes over to the open window. Clark then takes the paper and looks at it and tries to laugh it off and says "Lois, you know are a priceless!" but then sees Lois at the window and nervously says "Lois, what are you doing?!" and Lois says "You wouldn't let me die, would you, Superman!" and she jumps out the window. 

Clark then with super speed, runs down outside the Daily Planet and uses his super power breath to slow down Lois's fall and he uses his heat vision to open the Daily Planet canopy, which Lois bounces off and lands face down on a fruit stall outside the DP building. So, Lois dazed looks up and sees Clark back up above and Clark says "Lois, what are you doing?!" and Lois shocked says "Clark..." and she faints. So, at this point, a DP worker walks into Perry's office and asks where Lois is and Clark smiles and says "Oh, she stepped out for a moment".

Then there is the scene where Lois is suspicious of Clark being Superman and challenges him while they are at Niagra falls and to prove the point she jumps into the water below and get's carried off by the rapids.  

Then later there is the scene where Clark and Lois after he has lost his super powers, go to a diner where Clark is beaten up by a rough customer, Rocky.  So, in the scene Clark says to Rocky "Excuse me, sir, I think you are in my seat" and Rocky points to the toilet and says "You're seat is in there, four eyes!". So, Clark, a bit annoyed says "Gee, someone should teach you some manners, sir!" and Rocky says "Really? Let me know when he comes in!". So, Clark, now angered asks Rocky "Excuse me sir, would you care to step outside?  I said would you care to step outside?!".  So, Rocky get's and says to Clark "After you" and as Clark begins to walk out, Rocky punches Clark in the back and he crashes into a window.  And Clark looks and sees that he is bleeding and in shock says "Blood! My blood" and he weakly says "Looks like from now on you'll have to have a bodyguard with you".  And Lois says "I don't want a bodyguard I want the man I fell in love with" and Clark says "I know, Lois, I wish he were here".  So, after Rocky hits Clark again and get's into a scuffle with Lois, he leaves the diner with Clark lying on the ground, Lois helps him back up. 

And when Clark sees General Zod on the TV, ranting and raving and challenging Superman to meet him and bow down before him, he decides he must go back to the fortress to try and get his powers back. 

So, after the diner owner shuts the TV off as Zod yells to Superman to kneel before him, Clark asks the owner "Here? When?" and the owner "Where have you been, Mac? On a desert island?!" and Clark simply nods. Clark then says to Lois "I have to go back" and Lois "But you can't go back now" but Clark insists "I HAVE to! I have to try something damn it! I have to try anything!". Lois however tries to appease him "This isn't your fault! You didn't know this was going to happen!" and Clark says  of Jor-El "He knew, I heard him. I just didn't listen".   

And then after this there is the scene when Clark returns to the fortress of solitude and he makes a desparate attempt to reach out to his father Jor-El.  And Clark says "Father... if you can hear me... I failed... I've failed you, I've failed myself... and all humanity. I've traded my birthright... for a life of submission in a world ruled by your enemies... there's nobody left to help them now... the people of the world... since I... FATHER!". However after no response, Clark is about to leave when he spots the green crystal glowing in the icy ground of the fortress and he picks it up and places it in the burnt out control device, bringing Jor-El's image back to life. 

Then later is the scene where Superman returns with his powers fully restored he flies up to the Daily planet office window just outside White's office where Zod his seized control and Superman challenges Zod.  And in the scene Superman says "General, don't you believe in the freedom of the press?!" and Zod yells "Come to me son of Jor-El!!  KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!!!" and they fly out the window after him and begin their epic battle in Metropolis.

Then there is the scene at the Fortress of Solitude where Superman has his final battle with Zod, Ursa and Non and they are joined by Lois and Lex Luthor.  And in the scene after they fight, Superman is forced to surrender to Zod but then he talks discreetly with Luthor and says " Try and get them all into this molecule chamber. It takes away their powers, see... and turns them into ordinary human beings. Now if you could..." but Zod approaches and Superman shushes Luthor.  But Luthor betrays Superman by telling Zod about the chamber and Superman angrily says "Luthor, you poisonous snake!".  

And Superman is forced to go into the chamber where it activates and apparently makes him human although he still has his cape and instead Superman has in fact turned the tables on Zod and the others to make them human, which he proves by kneeling before Zod and then crushes his hand! Superman then picks up Zod and throws him away and he hits the wall and falls into a deep chasm with Non following suit as he tries to fly and Ursa is knocked into the chasm by Lois's right hook.

So, after this, Lois hugs Superman who asks her if she is alright and she nods and Superman turns to Lex and says "I knew you'd double cross me, Luthor! A lying weasel like you couldn't resist the chance!". Lex however tries to bluff his way out of it and says "You kidding?! That was beautiful! Did you see they way they fell into our trap?!" and he laughs loudly but Superman sees through it and shouts "TOO LATE, LUTHOR! Too late!" and he flies off with Lois and abandons Lex at the fortress.  

And last of all is the amusing scene near the end of the film where Clark returns to the diner to get revenge over Rocky who beat him up earlier on. So, in the scene,  Rocky sits in the diner munching on his meal and he shouts "Get me another plate of your garbage!" which the female worker takes offense to as its her special. So, Clark suddenly appears at the door and says "Gee, that's funny! Never seen garbage eat garbage before!" and Rocky looks over and sees Clark, who moves slowly toward him and says "Excuse me, sir, I think you're sitting in my favourite seat!" and Rocky says "Come and get it, four eyes!".

So, Clark calmly and slowly walks towards Rocky, whom the diner owner warns him that he just got the place fixed up after his last fight with Clark. So, as Clark stands in front of Rocky, who takes a swing and punches Clark in the gut only for it to have no effect and he grasps his hand in great pain. So, as Rocky sits down, Clark spins his seat around really fast, which makes him dizzy and Clark lifts him onto the counter and says to the owner "This order's to go!" and shoves him across the counter and he crashes into a pinball machine at the end of the room. Clark then offers some money to the owner and says "I'm terribly sorry about the damage, sir" and he before he goes, he says "Oh, I've been..." and he mimes lifting weights "...working out!" and he walks out.

Margot Kidder is excellent again as Lois Lane and she plays the part to near perfection as she gives her character the right amount of feistiness and her character is nicely developed as she falls further in love with Superman.

Kidder some good scenes aswell that include her opening scene in the Donner cut, where Lois works out Clark is Superman after drawing over a photo of Superman in the paper and making it look like Clark. So, as Lois and Clark are called into Perry's office, Clark rushes in and says to Lois "How, are you today, Lois?" and she teases and nudges him in his side "Oh, I'm just super! Just super!". So, as Clark apologises for being late as he was caught in traffic, Lois says "Oh, that's a new one! As opposed to being caught in a phone booth or the men's room?!" and Clark surprised asks "Lois, what are you talking about?!".

So, as Perry gives them the assignment to pose as newlyweds to expose a racket scam, Lois ladels it on thick for Clark. 

So, in the scene, after Perry speaks to both of them and leaves his office for a minute, Clark looks at Lois and says to her "Wow, you look like the cat that caught the canarie this morning!" and Lois teases him and says "The canary?! No, I was thinking of something bigger that flies and in blue". Clark looks puzzled and says "Well, as usual, I'm in the dark with all this" and Lois says "Well, let me turn the lights on for you!" and she shows him the photo of Superman, which Lois has drawn over to make it look like Clark. So, Clark says "You know that's funny, Lois!" and Lois says "I gotta admit, a good reporter never let's a story by them but you had me fooled and I am nobody's fool" and she looks at him and says "Superman". Clark laughs nervously and says "You really think I'm Superman?!" and Lois says "Willing to bet my life on it!" and she throws away her pen and goes over to the open window. Clark then takes the paper and looks at it and tries to laugh it off and says "Lois, you know are a priceless!" but then sees Lois at the window and nervously says "Lois, what are you doing?!" and Lois says "You wouldn't let me die, would you, Superman!" and she jumps out the window. 

Then there is the scene where Lois and Clark are at Niagra falls together, so as they walk together, Clark suggests they hold hands and Lois says "Here's my hand, Clark, hold it!" and he takes her hand and they  walk. So, Lois says of a couple off screen "You know why they hold hands, soon as they let go, straight to the lawyer!" and Clark says "I don't know, they look happy to me!" and Lois says "That's because your blind, Clark" and we see Clark's glasses are misted up because they are close to the falls. So, Lois takes off Clark's glasses and cleans them without looking at him and says "You've only got one pair of eyes, so you need to take care of them! So, don't say I'm not good to you..." and she looks up and sees Clark without his glances and suddenly looks surprised. Clark quickly puts his glasses back on and goes over and shouts at a boy, who mucking around on the hand rails over the falls. Lois starts to think about what she saw but then let's it go.

So, as Lois takes a picture, Lois says "You know what I'm hungry!" and Clark shakes his head and says You know, Lois, you're amazing!" and Lois asks "What?" and Clark says "Look, here we are at one of nature's most amazing spectacles and all you can think of is food! I mean, aren't you impressed?!". So, Lois says "You know, Clark, once a girl's seen Superman in action, Niargra Falls kind of leaves you cold, you know what I mean?". Clark then warily says "Him again, huh?" and Lois says "I'm sorry, I got a one track mind, don't I? Well, you know what my one track mind is telling me now, I'm hungry". 

Then there is the scene, which was actually Christopher Reeve's screen test where Lois tricks Clark into revealing that he is Superman. So, in the scene, Lois shoots Clark with the gun and Clark gives in and takes off his glasses and he says "You know if that was Clark Kent, he might have been killed" and Lois holds up the gun and asks "With a blank?!" and Clark looks shocked and Lois smiles and says "Gotcha!".

Last of all is the scene near the end of the film, where after Superman reverses time by flying around the world like he did in the first film to undo the events of the movie. So, then we cut to the next morning where Lois has a weird moment thinking she has missed something and we see Clark come into the office. 

So, in the scene, Lois asks Clark to get her a pizza and Clark a little taken aback looks at his watch and says "A pizza, at this time?" and Lois says "Yeah and you know what? I'll pay half" and Clark gives in and says "OK, I'm going". Clark then stops and says to Lois "You know, its OK Lois, I'll pay for the pizza" and Lois smiles and says "Thanks, Clark" and as he is about to leave she says "You know, you're really super!" and this stops Clark dead in his tracks and he cautiously remains silent and slowly walks out. 

Gene Hackman is also great as Lex Luthor once again and he evidently relishes in playing the character and has his share of fun moments.

And to start off there is the scene where Luthor in jail with Otis, laments over his failure to defeat Superman during the events of the first film. However, Lex has already hatched a plan to try and escape prison and locate a way to travel North to find Superman's fortress of solitude. 

So, in the scene, Otis tells Lex how every time they try and locate Superman, he flies off North and Lex asks "Why?" and Otis suggests "To ski?" and Lex says to him "Every man his vulnerable point. You, Otis, have more than one! I didn't see Superman's in time. But with time, patience and skill...my little black box is almost ready". Otis then says loudly "Oh! That little black box in our cell?!" and Lex loudly sushes him and Otis quietly asks "What does it do?" and Lex tells him "That little black box goes beyond any conventional radar. It tracks alpha waves" and Otis pretending to know what he means says "Ahhh! Alpha waves" and Lex turns away and shakes his head in disbelief. Lex then says "Those alpha waves will take me North to his secret and his secret will give me Superman!". 

Then there is the scene where Lex turns up at the White house after Zod, Ursa and Non have taken it over.  And Luthor turns up waving a handkerchief as a peaceful gesture and he addresses himself to them "Hi, Lex Luthor.  LEX LUTHOR! Possibly you've heard the name? the Greatest Criminal Mind on Earth!".  And as Zod and the others move menacingly toward him Luthor backs away saying "WAIT! I can give you anything! The... the... the... the Brass Ring, unlimited freedom to maim and kill! PLUS! Lex Luthor's keen mind, Lex Luthor's savvy...." and he puts his hand on Ursa's and says "Lex Luthor's school of career guidance.." and she begins to crush it.  And Luthor then reveals a valuable piece of info that might keep him alive as he says to Zod "Oh Great One, what I am bargaining with is what YOU do not have: The Son of Jor-El".  And Zod says "Come!  We will bring him to his knees!" and as they make to walk out Luthor stops them saying "WAIT!  First you must find him... and Lex Baby is the only one who knows where he is".

Zod then waringly asks Lex "What do you want?" and Lex sits in the President's chair in the oval office and lights a cigar and says "Well, General, the word is a big place, thank goodness my needs are small. As it turns out, I have a certain weakness for beachfront property" and Zod walks back in and asks again "What do you want?" and Lex does the Nixon pose and says "Australia!". 

Then there is the scene where Zod, Ursa and Non invade the Daily planet and Non smashes his way into White's office.  And after Luthor arrives and says to himself "Even with all this accumulated knowledge, when will these dummies learn to use a DOOR KNOB?!" and he walks into White's office and says " Hi! You should see the White House; they'll be cleaning it for months!". Zod however is not impressed when he sees that Superman isn't there and says to Lex "You promised me the son of Jor-El!" and Lex awkwardly says "Oh, your grace...what I've given you is the next best thing! All you need to do is hold onto that little lady there and he'll show up. They're the best of friends!" and he laughs furtively and says "You know what I mean?".  

And when Zo threatens to kill Lex once again and orders for the others to be killed, Superman finally shows up outside and challenges Zod. So, at this point, Luthor out of character shows a sign of relief and says to himself "Superman, thank God!" and Zod glares at him and Luthor quickly says "I mean, GET HIM!!".

And lastly is the confrontational scene at the Fortress of Solitude where Superman whispers to Luthor about the molecule chamber and how it can take away the supervillain's powers but Luthor decides to betray Superman by letting him know.  And Luthor says to Zod "Don't go in there, General, its a trap.  That's a molecule chamber. It turns people like you into people like me".  And after Superman has defeated the evil trio he says to Luthor how he knew he would double cross him and Luthor tries to backpedal and says "Are you kidding? That was beautiful! Did you see the way they fell into our trap!" but Superman shouts "Too late, Luthor! Too late!". Lex then tries to make one last ditch attempt to appeal to Superman and says "Look, Superman, I know I owe you one. But if you take me back, I promise I will turn over a whole new leaf!" but Superman leaves Lex behind.  

Marlon Brando next reappears in this Donner version, as his archival footage was approved by Brando's family estate after his death in 2004. So, this footage is interesting and also replaces the Lester footage of Susannah York used in the original film, where Superman speaks to his mother instead of Jor-El. 

So, I will mention two of Brando's scenes starting with the one where Superman tells Jor-El he loves Lois and wishes to be with her despite Jor-El's pleas not to. 

So, in the scene, Jor-El tells Superman that he must become a human if he wishes to live with Lois and says " If you will not be Kal-El... if you will live as one of them... love their kind as one of them... then it follows... that you must become one of them...". So, then a chamber appears and opens and Jor-El tells Superman "This crystal chamber has in it the harnessed rays of the red sun of Krypton... once exposed to them all your great powers on Earth will disappear... forever... once this is done there is no going back... you will feel like an ordinary man... and you can be harmed like an ordinary man...". So, as Superman steps toward the chamber,  Jor-El pleads with him one last time "Kal-el, I beg of you... please think..." but Superman decides to step into the chamber.

Then there is the scene where Clark (or Kal-el) returns to the fortress and after he pleads, he finds the green crystal, which restore the image of Jor-el who speaks with Clark one last time.

So, in the scene Jor-El says to Clark "Listen carefully my son... for we shall never speak again... if you hear me now... then you have used the only means left to you... the crystal source in which our communications begun... the circle is now complete... you have made a dreadful mistake Kal-El... you did this of your own free will... in spite of all I could say to dissuade you...". Now you return to me for one last chance to redeem yourself... this too I have finally anticipated my son... look at me Kal-El... once before when you were small I died while giving you a chance for life and even now though it will exhust the final energy left within me".  Jor-el then finishes by saying "Look at me Kal-El... the Kryptonian prophecy will at last be fulfilled... the son becomes the father... the father becomes the son... farewell forever... Kal-El... remember me my son!". Then Jor-el appears in solid form and puts his hand on Clark, restoring his powers before Clark passes out. 

Terence Stamp is also great as the main villain, General Zod, the ruthless Kyrptonian who leads his group of supervillains and threatens to take over the Earth.

Stamp has a great role and he appears to really revel in it (and why not?!) and he has his fair share of great moments that include the scene where Zod, Ursa and Non kill a NASA space crew on the moon as they talk about their great new powers. 

So, in the scene Ursa says to Zod "Something is happening" and Zod says "Yes, to all of us. The closer we come to a planet with one sun, a yellow sun. The more our molecular density gives us unlimited powers". Ursa then says "They come from there. A place called Houston" and Zod says to her "Then we will go there to rule. Finally to rule!" and they take off and head for Earth. 

Then as the trio arrive in a small town in America and they wreak havoc as the army turn up but they defeat the army easily.  And Zod says after Ursa destroys a helicopter by blowing at it "I win!  I ALWAYS win!  Is there no one even on this planet that will challenge me?!!".  

And then after Zod announces on himself on television and he says to one of the army generals " So you are a General? And who is your superior?!" and the General says "I only answer to the president" and Zod angrily says "And he will answer to ME!  Or else all his cities will end up like this one!" and he rips off the general's star from the shoulder of his uniform and throws it away.

Another good scene for Stamp is when Zod, Ursa and Non invade the White house and they enter the oval office and Zod confronts the president.  And one man steps forward and Zod says to him "Now kneel before Zod" and the man obediently kneels straight away and Zod says "You are not the president.  No one who leads so many would kneel so quickly" and the real president (E.G. Marshall) then reveals himself and says "I will kneel before if it will save lives" and Zod says "It will, starting with your own".  And the president says "What I do now, I do for the sake of the people of Earth. But there is one man on this planet who will NEVER kneel before you" and Zod says the great line "Who is this imbecile?  Where is he?" and the president says "I wish I knew" and he kneels saying "Oh God" and Zod unwittingly corrects him "Zod!".     

Then there is the big fight scene between Zod and Superman in Metropolis and Superman turns up and asks him to step outside and Zod shouts out "Come to me, son of Jor-El!!  KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!!" and he flies smashing through the window as do Ursa and Non.  And in the scene Superman flies to a building site and Zod lands on a building across from him and says "Son of Jor-El, we were beginning to think you were a coward!" and Superman says "I'm not a coward, Zod" and Zod uses his heat vision powers to break off the side of a building and he grabs with both hands and aims to launch it at Superman and shouts "Then die as you deserve to!" and he throws it at Superman who destroys it with his heat vision.

And later there is the final confrontation at the Fortress of Solitude where Zod and the others finally arrive and force Superman to accept defeat. So, after Superman is forced to step into the molecule chamber and it activates, Superman steps out looking weak and he moves toward Zod who says "And now... finally. Take my hand and swear eternal loyalty to Zod" and Superman takes Zod's hand and crushes it and lifts him up and throws him into the chasm below!   

And the last few cast members I will mention include Sarah Douglas who is good as Ursa, Zod's villainous second in command. Interesting enough, Douglas's dialogue was mostly dubbed over by Annie Ross, who appeared in Superman III as the villainous Vera Webster. However in the Donner cut, Douglas's real voice is occasionally used but not often. 

And Douglas has some good moments also that include the scene on the moon where Ursa walks up to one of the US astronauts on a lunar mission. So, Ursa asks the astronaut "You?! What sort of creature are you?" and the astronaut says "Just a man" and Ursa amused asks "A man?" and she suddenly notices the NASA symbol on his spacesuit and she tries to grab it and he suddenly moves away. So, Ursa flies after him and lands in front of him and rips the symbol off, which causes his suit to inflate and Ursa kicks him far away into space.   

Then there is the scene where just after the supervillains arrive on Earth in the woods and Ursa picks up a snake and says "A primitive creature of sorts" and it bites her and she uses her heat vision to kill it and in surprise she says "Did you see that? Did you see what I did? I have powers beyond reason here!" and Zod replies "We all have them, my dear".

Then there is the scene where Zod and Ursa walk into a bar and survey it and notices two men doing an arm wrestle and the winner looks over at Ursa leeringly.  And Ursa walks over to him and sits down and holds out her hand to wrestle and she smiles saying "Let's just hold hands" and the man takes her hand and says "Let me know if this tickles!" and Ursa swiftly twists his arms and knocks him off the table which breaks in half.

And then there is the scene just after where a television crew have arrived to report on the havoc wreaked by Zod and the others but Zod then steps out and tells him to continue his report.  However Ursa quickly get's fed up and says "Enough of this! If the whole planet is watching, cannot we show them something more interesting?!".  And as the army show up and a major orders them to surrender and "This is an order!" Ursa says "General Zod does not take orders!  He gives them!".

And lastly there is the scene where Zod, Ursa and Non invade the Daily planet offices and they find White and Lois and Ursa mockingly says of Superman "What an undemanding male this Superman must be!".  And Lois retorts "Yeah, and you could use a tuck here and there yourself, sister!" and Ursa moves at her but Zod stops her. 

Jackie Cooper is also pretty good in his role as Perry White, the tough no nonsense editor of the Daily planet.

Cooper also has some good moments although they are adjusted from the original version due to Donner removing the sequence where Superman flies to Paris to get rid of the bomb placed in the Eiffel tower. So, instead, there is a scene where Perry calls Lois and Clark into his office and tells them that he is sending on a story to pose as newly weds. 

So, as Lois teases Clark not so subtly about being Superman, Clark irritated asks "Lois, what are you talking about?!" and Perry says "Well since you're bickering, I'm gonna send you on a story as newlyweds to expose a honeyroom racket! You know they squeeze these poor kids for evert cent they've got". Clark however protests but Lois teases him more and says "Oh, that's a GREAT idea, Mr White! I mean we could fly up there and fly down in no time! You know...Superman?" and she looks at Clark again. Perry then unaware of Lois's teasing says "Yeah, if he could give you a ride, maybe we could save a couple of bucks!".  

Jack O'Halloran even though he has no dialogue at all in the film given that his character is mute does well as Non, the not-too-bright supervillain who likes to wreak havoc, chaos and destruction.  And O'Halloran best moments come when he tests out his heat vision against a truck in the small town and he starts to get the hang of using it and he looks pleased with himself and later as the army attack he uses the heat vision to full strength and destroys an army truck with it and he grins and looks to Zod, who looks fairly impressed.

And lastly there is the scene where the supervillains invade the offices of the Daily planet and Non literally smashes his way into Perry White's office.  And Non then walks right up to Perry's desk and Perry makes a feeble attempt to hit Non as he picks up his atlas globe and throws it at Non and it simply bounces off his head and Non smashes Perry's desk in half and he grabs him and lifts him up to the ceiling and puts his head through the roof, knocking Perry out.

And the last few I will mention starts with Ned Beatty who has fun reprising his role as Lex Luthor's dim-witted sidekick, Otis.  

Beatty only really appears early on in the film while Lex is still in prison but he some good moments that include the scene where Otis does laundry and he tells Lex that Superman always travels North.  And Luthor muses "North... Why does he always go north?" and Otis offers a suggestion "To skie?!". Lex then muses "Every man has his vulnerable point, some men like you, Otis, have more than one! But I failed to see Superman's in time, but with time my little black box is almost ready". Otis then says loudly "Oh! That little black box in our cell!" and Lex loudly shushes him and Otis quietly says "That little black box in our cell, Mr Luthor, what does it do?". Lex then quietly tells Otis "That little black box, Otis, goes way beyond any conventional radar. It tracks alpha waves" and Otis, none the wiser nods as if he understands and says "Alpha waves!" and Lex turns his back and shakes his head.  

And later there is the scene where Luthor and Otis try to escape the prison and out in the yeard, Luthor tells Otis "Look out for the signal" and Otis "What signal?" and Luthor says "You'll know it when you see it!". So, as Otis walks out, he passes a ladder, which hits him in the face and he asks Lex "What is it?" and Lex says "Its a ladder, you dummy!". So as Miss Teschmacher turns up in air balloon for them both and Luthor climbs up the ladder but as Otis tries to climb onboard his weight causes the balloon to sink leaving Luthor to kick the ladder off and leaving Otis behind with the guards surrounding him.  

Valerie Perrine is also reprises her role very well as Miss Teschmacher, Luthor's assistant and girlfriend who helps Luthor escape from prison.  And Perrine has a good moment when Luthor and Teschmacher arrive at the Fortress of Solitude and Miss Teschmacher subtly drops the hint that she needs to go to the toilet.  And Luthor says to her "Its beautiful! I has everything!" and Miss Teschmacher says "Wrong!" and she gives him a look that tells him she needs the loo and he asks "Why didn't you go before we left?" and Miss Teschmacher sharply says "That was two days ago!".

Then after Lex tries a few Krypton crystals, he finds one where Jor-El sends a warning meant for Superman about General Zod. So, then Lex sees Miss Teschmacher is nowhere to be seen and he shouts after her and we hear a flushing noise and she shouts off screen "I found it!!! I think!!". 

And last of all is Marc McClure who also reprises his role the young Daily planet photographer, Jimmy Olsen.  

And McClure's role is quite small here but I will mention the one scene where Lois anxiously awaits the return of Superman from the Fortress of Solitude to fight against Zod, Ursa and Non. So, in the scene, Jimmy tries to reassure Perry and Lois that Superman will turn up "I bet he's on his way here now, chief. Lois knows his plays better than anybody!" and Lois, worried, says "Yeah...better than anybody". And then we hear a large rumble as the office shakes violently and Jimmy says "It sounds like an earthquake!".   

Last of all, I will mention a funny scene that was added into the Donner version where during the Superman and Zod trio fight, Jimmy comes in with a coffee that was meant for Perry, however, Lex grabs it off him instead. So, Jimmy says to Lex "That was the chief's" and Lex grins and says "The chief's got it!". 

DIRECTOR(S)

Finally moving onto the direction, unusually this time round there were two involved given that Richard Donner worked originally on the first Superman, he also filmed a large amount of Superman II aswell as the two films were initially to be shot back to back.  However Donner had run into some problems with the film's producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler off screen and he was then replaced by Richard Lester who had previously directed two of the Salkind's films with production being halted during 1977 and restarted again under Lester's direction in 1979.

And it safe to say that you can easily notice the shift in tone of the film due to the change of directors as Donner's scenes have a more grounded and serious tone to them even though they have humour as well.  However Lester's scenes have a more slapstick and comical feel the tone of those scenes are generally more light hearted which can be seen as both a criticism but also in a way plus.  Its difficult to say which director provides the better effort here as both of them brought something valuable to the film despite their different styles so overall Donner and Lester both did a commendable job in putting Superman II together.

As for the Donner cut itself, directorial wise, Donner still had to use some of Lester's original film footage in order to keep it more cohesive overall but he heavily removed much of slapstick that was in Lester's version. Donner was also able to obtain archived footage of Marlon Brando from Brando's family estate after his death in 2004 that allowed him to expand on the fortress of solitude scenes involving Superman and Clark Kent. So, overall this is a solid effort from Donner to restore his vision of the film even if it still feels a bit uneven at times in terms of its mix of his own footage and Lester's. 

MUSIC 

Also as for the music score, which here is both composed by John Williams and Ken Thorne, who was the original composer for Superman II. However, Donner was keen to use Williams to compose a new score for his version but Williams turned him down as he was busy working on the Star Wars prequel, The Revenge of the Sith at the time. Donner instead re-used Williams's original score with some alternate tracks that were never used but he also used some of Thorne's tracks as well but only gave him credit at the end of the film and Williams was given the main title credit for the soundtrack.

So, overall, its a good score in a collective sense with much of the originial movie's score (i.e. Superman: the Movie that is) that we can all identify with and either way, its great to hear Williams's actual score than Ken Thorne's (no offence to Ken as his was not bad!). 

FLAWS 

As for the film's flaws.....yes the Donner cut has some worth mentioning.

So to start off, I think one problem is to do with how disjointed the Donner cut feels at times, especially with the use of Christopher Reeve's screen test for the scene where Lois tricks Clark into revealing his identity. The fact is they are both dressed so differently in the scene as well, although it does somehow manage to refer to a previous scene in Superman II where Superman rescues the boy at Niagra falls, which is handy! However, it just looks completely out of place from the rest of the film and as such it doesn't fit right. 

Its also worth noting you can clearly see the difference in footage between Donner and Lester's footage as they were two years apart and Margot Kidder in particular looks quite different throughout both sets of footage. So, again it does highlight a somewhat jarring difference between the two that looks quite odd and feels again a bit out of place.

Another issue is to do with some of the dialogue overdubs, as they can be pretty inconsistent and in some scenes they really feel off. One prime example is the scene where Clark rescues Lois without turning into Superman at the Daily Planet as she jumps out the window to force Clark to change into Superman. So, as Lois lands in a fruit stand, she looks up and we see a clearly fake looking Clark says to Lois "Lois, what have you done?!" which just looks really weird and out of place. To be honest, I think they shouldn't have bothered with that scene but I guess they must have not filmed Clark originally for that part.

Another odd change is where Superman returns to Metropolis to fight Zod, Ursa and Non and rather than show Supe fly up to the window outside Perry's office, they show him standing on a flagpole instead. Plus, they change Superman's much better line "General, would you care to step outside" to "General, have you not heard of the freedom of the press?!" which is really lame by comparison and definitely not one of the better changes.  

Further to this, I also felt this scene where Clark rescues Lois without turning into Superman was a bit silly, as he is seen on the street using his breath to keep Lois afloat and also using his heat vision powers IN FULL VIEW OF THE PUBLIC!! So, Clark here uses his heat vision (which somehow never seems to melt his glasses!) and there clearly are a few bystanders that can see him and never think anything of it! So, yeah this was a bit daft to say the least, the scene itself is good but that last bit is just a bit dumb.  

Then we have the scene, which appears in both versions, so I might as well mention it here, which is  where Lois starts to suspect that Clark is in fact Superman after he conveniently disappears when the boy falls into the Niagara falls.  And despite the fact that the boy fell into the falls some 15 or 20 seconds before Clark managed to change into Superman suggests that the kid would hit the water before Superman realistically would have been able to change and fly in to rescue him!  So basically the boy should have been dead by the time Superman would have got to him!   

Another daft moment for me was just how did Zod and his underlings know how to get to the White house?!  I don't image they stopped to ask anyone for directions!  Its just like they have a built-in GPS or its part of their super powers to know just where to find it!  But again its just something that is taken for granted in these superhero films that the villains always just know where to go without a single hint or clue!   It would have been fun if Zod stopped and asked one of the generals or soldiers "How do you get to this White house?!" it might have been daft but it would have been a bit more logical.  

Its also a bit strange that Miss Teschmacher suddenly disappears from the film later on as she only appears in the earlier scenes at the prison breakout and the FOS and it makes you wonder what happened to her????  Also its strange how Luthor decided to trust Miss Teschmacher again after she betrayed him in the first film by saving Superman from drowning in the pool after Luthor put the chain of Kryptonite around his neck.  But I guess at this point he had little choice and decided he needed her help to break out anyway.

I also thought there was a weird inconsistency in the display of the supervillains strengths and this particularly notable in the scene where Non smashes his way into the Daily Planet and some office staff try to stop him but he just brushes them aside. However, earlier we saw Zod do this as he pushed aside a man in a diner and he went right through the wall but in Non's scene, he merely brushes the office staffers to the side and they DON'T go through the wall, which you really think given Non's strength they should have! 

Then we hae the scene that raises a rather morally dubious point about Superman killing people as he clearly kills off Zod at the end as he crushes his hand, picks him up and throws him into the chasm of nothingness below in the fortress.  And Lois Lane does the exact same to Ursa as she punches her into the chasm as well, making her a murdered aswell but its something that never causes a problem for her and she never questions herself after (well Superman reverses time anyway, which undoes her action). However, there was apparently a deleted scene where Zod, Ursa and Non did survive and where arrested by the arctic police. 

Further to this there is also the issue of Superman in the Donner version destroying the fortress of solitude with his heat vision, now having left Lex behind, does that mean Lex was still in there and was killed?? Its seems a bit strange that Superman would do that but then he has effectively just killed Zod, so why not Lex too? However, he does his time reversal trick later on, so none of this really matters. 

And last of all we come to what maybe the film's most daft and illogical moment, where Superman reuses the trick to reverse time before the events of the film even happened and Zod, Ursa and Non all end up back in the phantom zone again. Now, this creates quite a few narrative problems, first off, the rocket used to free the trio was frome the FIRST film, so this would undo all the events prior to Superman II in the first place, which is REALLY taking things much further back, which makes no sense. Plus by this happening, it suggests, Superman still has to deal with the other rocket that deals damage in California, so did he reverse that too! Basically, Donner is reverting the series of events to where before or around Lex uses his high frequency signal message to lure Superman to his underground layer.  

Also further to this, it also raises another big continuity error, where Clark returns to the diner to get revenge on Rocky for beating him up earlier. Now, if Superman reverses time to before this ever happened, he would never have even met Rocky in the first place, so how does this make ANY sense at all?! Basically that final scene should never have been in the film in the first place by that rationale, unless Clark went to the diner BEFORE he reversed time, but its not shown in that way timeline wise. So, yeah using the time reversal trick again is hugely flawed here. Plus, surely time reversal does not undo the actions, it just means its reversed to BEFORE IT HAPPENS! So, surely these actions WILL happen again! Time reversal surely isn't the same as action prevention!  

Oh and one last note on all this time reversal stuff, then we have the stupid moment where Perry is about to brush his teeth and put tooth paste on his tooth brush only for it to go slowly back in the tube. So, this is obviously metaphorical and refers to the saying of putting the tooth paste back in the tube, which means that such an action is impossible and cannot be reversed (unless you ARE Superman!!). So, yep, this is definitely a silly moment in the film. 

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, the Donner cut is an interesting re-imagining of the film and its alternate footage is great to see and also includes some good scenes, particularly the beginning and end scenes for Lois and Clark and the restored footage of Jor-el is good to see as well. This also gives Clark's restoration of his powers a more full and satisfying conclusion rather than him picking up the green crystal and cut away. The cut however does have some issues with some weird voice over dubs as well as the use of Reeve's screen test, which feels out of place not to mention the time reversal trick making no sense whatsoever again! 

However with that all said, the Donner cut is still worth a look and while I prefer the original Lester version as a film, its still an interesting look at what Superman II could have been had Donner not been fired from the project. 

So, I will rate the Donner Cut:

8 out of 10 

Right, so I will be back hopefully soon another post.

Until then its bye for now!  

Superman III Review (Revisited Part 2!) "You always wanted to fly, Kent, now's your chance!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right, since I've just done an update on my Superman IV post, I thought I would take another look at my post for Superman III (as I recently watched Reeve films on 4K Bluray). So, Superman III also received mixed reviews from critics in the past and even today audiences have mixed feeling on it but let's take another look and see how it fairs.  

So, there will be usual bits of expansion here and there to the previous review and I will see how the film fairs 43 years on from its release...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS WILL BE AHEAD!!!

STORY 

So, the film starts with Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor) who is unemployed and down on his luck when the social security cut off his money after 35 months of unemployment.  However he soon finds out he has a knack for computers, as he takes a job with the firm Webscoe and manages to embezzle $85,000 in half cents from the organisation.  After Gus unintentionally draws attention to himself by buying a fancy sports car with his money, the CEO Ross Webster (Robert Vaughan) brings him up and decides to use his talents for hacking for his own ends.

Meanwhile Clark Kent (Reeve) gets permission from Perry White (Jackie Cooper) to do a story on his hometown school reunion in Smallville.  Enroute to Smallville however, Clark and Jimmy's bus is stopped by the police due to a series of fires at a nearby chemical plant but Jimmy and Clark sneak off the bus.  Jimmy runs off to take pictures at the plant whereas Clark changes into Superman and he helps put out the fires by freezing a nearby lake and dropping it over the plant itself.  Jimmy while taking pictures however gets injured at the plant but he is soon rescued by Superman. 

After this Clark returns to Smallville and rekindles his friendship with his childhood friend Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole, lovely).  Lana is now single and a divorcee with a young son Ricky (Paul Kaethler) however she is still pestered by her ex-boyfriend from high school, Brad Wilson (Gavin O'Herlihy).

Meanwhile Gus, is being manipulated by Webster into doing his dirty work as he makes him hack into one of Webscoe's small computer offices (coincidentally also in Smallville) where he contacts the Vulcan satellite, which controls the weather, and makes it create a tornado to destroy Colombia's coffee crop, as a result of the country refusing to do business with Webster.  However Superman intervenes and stops the tornado and dries up the crops, which incenses Webster.

So, after that, Webster now decides to try and get rid of Superman with Webster's busty blonde nutritionist Lorelei (Pamela Stephenson) tells Webster that kryptonite is the only thing that can hurt Superman.  Wesbter then gets Gus to use the Vulcan satellite to track the whereabouts of Krypton's former location in hopes to find a chunk of Kryptonite.  The computer scans show up an unknown element in the kryptonite, which Gus substitutes as tar (taken from the content of his cigarette packet).

Superman on Ricky's birthday turns up, and the event is turned into a parade, where Gus and Webster's sister Vera (Annie Ross) drive up, dressed in an army uniforms, Gus gives a speech to the audience and hands Superman the chunk of synthetic kryptonite, which was made up from the elements scanned by the Vulcan satellite.  However the kryptonite appears to have no effect on him, at first that is, but soon after, the kryptonite starts to make Superman behave strangely, as he becomes moody, apathetic, and commits some petty acts of vandalism, such as straightening the learning tower of Pisa and blowing out an Olympic runner's torch just at the crucial moment of lighting the Olympic flame.

Webster also takes advantage of Superman's immoral behaviour as he get Lorelei to lure Superman into helping them with their oil scam, as they get all the oil tankers to go to a certain destination, except one, which Superman flies to and punctures the hull, to bleed the oil out into the sea.  This also causes chaos in Metropolis as the oil pumps stop pumping after Gus hacks the computer systems controlling them.

Meanwhile Superman's mood worsens, as his sinks into depression, which culminates with him sitting in a bar getting drunk, smashes bottles of alcohol, simply by flicking peanuts at them.  With Lana and Ricky arriving in Metropolis, they witness the drunken Superman walk out of the bar, shouting at the spectators, he flies off, while Ricky calls out after him, with his words echoing in his head, Superman's torment reaches its limit, as he flies into a junkyard and suffers a breakdown. 

In the junkyard Superman persona splits into two, as Clark Kent emerges from himself, as the two of them fight it out,and after repeated attempts to kill off Clark, the bad Superman puts Clark in a grinder, but Clark bursts out of it and strangles the bad Superman, who vanishes.  At this point Clark opens his shirt, revealing his Superman suit, as he flies off and repairs the damage he did to the tanker and goes off to find Webster.

Meanwhile this has been going on, Gus has ideas to build a supercomputer, which he has written out blueprints for and the computer is essentially an invincible machine that can counter attack and find their weaknesses and wipe out them out.  Intrigued by the possibilities of what the computer can do for him, Webster agrees to have the computer built.  The supercomputer once fully built, is ready in time for Superman arriving as the man of steel must try and find a way to defeat Webster and his formidable machine....

THOUGHTS 

Despite the mixed reviews that Superman III got at the time, it has to be said there is still much to enjoy in it despite its overly comedic tones.  And one of the things that really works in the film is Clark's development as a character, as he no longer is as bumbling and awkward as he was before and now he is more confident and self assured (although he still does make a fool of himself in a couple of scenes).  Clark's scenes with Lana are also nicely played, especially the way they keep talking at cross purposes.  The idea of Superman turning evil is also a good one and his fight with himself in the junkyard is one of the film's highlights. Even though Gus Gorman wasn't well received as a character given I think his own story of going from rags to riches and eventually back to rags again makes for an amusing plot development in itself.    

As for the cast members opinion of the film, Christopher Reeve himself was disappointed by the film and the campy comedic tone that Lester took over the previous two films. Richard Pryor also was said to be disappointed by the end result and went as far as to call it a "piece of shit" despite being paid 5 million dollars for the role, which Reeve himself only got 1 million! This surely must have been a bone of contention surely given that Reeve is the main star of the film (unless Reeve was big enough not to mind). Reeve however would go on to get more money for Superman IV and wrestled for more creative control of the film as well (although we all know what to think of that film!). 

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: may contain spoilers!!) 

As for the performances well things are pretty good overall here as the cast do pretty well with their respective roles.

And to kick off Christopher Reeve once again is great as Superman and his alter-ego Clark Kent. Reeve has quite a few highlights in the film that include the scene where Superman arrives at the chemical plant to help out put out a series of fires there.

So, in the scene Superman says to the firemen after learning from one of the plant scientists that there are jars of acid on the plant that could deal devastating damage to the area. So, Superman shouts to the fire chief "Look, Chief, we gotta get this fire out, or your going to have a cloud of acid over the eastern seaboard!".  However, the fire trucks water supply suddenly runs out and the Chief shouts "We've GOT to have water!" and one of his men says "How?! Lake Camooga is five miles from here and we've haven't got a five mile hose!".  Superman then asks "Where is this lake?!" and the fireman points to the right "That way!". So, Supe then flies off to the lake and freezes it with his breath, lifting up the top layer of the frozen lake, he flies it over the plant and drops it and it melts and turns it a big wave of rain that puts out of the fires. So, as he flies over the plant, the fire crew celebrate and the chief says "I tell you, that man is a miracle!". 

Then there is the scene where Clark is with Lana and her son, Ricky, at a bowling alley but Rick is terrible at bowling and Lana's ex, Brad turns up to try and help the boy bowl properly but Clark interrupts. So, in the scene Clark says to Brad "Look, I think Ricky would be better doing it on his own" and Brad says to him "For a guy who was lucky to be water boy in the team, you've got a big mouth, Kent!" and Clark says "I just don't think Ricky needs a bowling lesson in front of the other kids" and he sets Ricky up in position to bowl and he says "OK, Ricky, there you go, now give it your best shot".  However as Clark walks back to sit down, he trips into a cigarette ash stand and the ash from the stand causes Clark to sneeze just as Ricky bowls and the ball speeds along at a super fast rate and it destroys the bowling pins, leaving Ricky and everyone else amazed.  And Lana amazed says "Gesundheit!" and Clark says awkwardly "Thank you".

Another good scene is when after Superman is given the synthesized Kryptonite, he is at Lana's home and he starts to feel the effects of it and begins to behave strangely.  And in the scene Lana tells Superman there is an accident on a bridge and can he help but instead of Supe going to help he simply says to Lana "Well, there's no rush.  Don't worry I always get there on time.  Come on, let's relax a little".  And they both sit down with Lana looking very awkward as Superman stares at her saying "You know its unusual to find a pretty girl like you all by yourself".  So, Lana feeling very uncomfortable says "Look, shouldn't you be doing something about that bridge?" and Superman unaware says "What bridge?" but then he takes a moment and realises what she means and he gets up "You're right.  I have to get going".   

Then comes the scene where the now evil Superman flies to the Statue of Liberty where Lorelei is sitting on the top of it in a fake plea for help but is there to lure and seduce him.  And he says to Lorelei "Well I hope you don't expect me to save you because I don't do that anymore!" and Lorelei says "Oh, I'm long past saving!".  And Lorelei looks up at Superman and says "Well don't let me keep you from anything" and Superman says "I'm not in a rush.  What did you have in mind?" and she says "Lots of things!" and Superman grabs her by the arm and picks her up saying "Oh yeah?".  And Lorelei says "If you just do me one little favour first!" and Supe says "What's that?" and she tells him "Well. See, there's this little boat, and its not going where it's supposed to go and....".

And then there is one of the film's main highlights, the confrontation in the junkyard between the evil Superman and Clark Kent.  And the scene has some good moments that include the evil Superman goading Clark into fighting him and Clark says "I can give as good as I get!" so the evil Superman angrily yells "Well!!  Come on!!  Come on!!" as Clark charges at him and pushes him into a bath of acid, but the evil Supe simply emerges from it unscathed and blows some acid onto Clark's jacket, runing it.  And then there is the moment where the evil Superman grabs Clark as they stand near the top of a crumble car heap and evil Supe says "You always wanted to fly, Kent, now's your chance!" and he throws him off the heap down into a hydraulic press.

Another good moment in the film comes when after Superman turns good again he flies off to confront Webster at the Grand Canyon, who uses the supercomputer to lunch some aerial missile assaults at him, which Superman survives and then he heads inside a cave where Webster is.  And in the Superman says to Webster "Alright, Webster, the game's over!" and Webster says to him "Never underestimate the power of computers!  What do you think?".  And Superman says "I think its typical of people like you, Webster!  All the four of you want to do is help yourselves!" and Gus who is there awkwardly says "Four... of us?  Hey, man!  I'm not with them, Superman!" and Superman says "You could have fooled me, Mister!" and walks toward them only for Vera to launch a couple of the computer's attacks at him.

Then there is the scene where Superman having defeated Webster and his computer, flies with Gus back to Metropolis.  And Gus says to him of the computer "I'm not gonna argue with you!  A man that can tricky my machine can do anything!  How did you beat my defenses?!" and Superman says "Well your defenses were pretty good as long as the machine didn't know it was in trouble.  All I did was go in there with a plain old can of acid and it didn't know when that stuff hots it'll eat through anything".  And as they fly on Superman quips to Gus "I guess it died of acid indigestion!" and Gus groans at Supe's corny joke and Gus asks what of Webster and his two ladies and Superman says "Well they'll have to deal with the police now, its not your problem anymore".  And Gus nervously asks "Are we in Metropolis yet?" and Superman says "Nope, we're just gonna make a quick stop right over there!" and they land in a coal mine in West Virginia where Superman finds a diamond for Lana.        

And last off all when Superman lands at the coal mine with Gus, he looks a lump coal that might conceal a diamond and crushes it open and fines one and says to himself "Just right". So, Superman goes back to Gus and asks him "You ready, Gus?" and Gus says "No, I think I'm gonna take the bus from here". So, Superman says "Well, you suit yourself?" and he then asks one of the coal mine workers "Hey, does your boss have a computer in this operation?" and one of the workers says "Yeah, a little bitty one" and Superman says "Well, you tell your boss, he could do a lot worse than to give Gus Gorman here a job". And Gus looks touched by Superman's kindness and says "Why, thank you, Supe!" and shakes his hand and Superman says "I'll see you around" and he flies off.

Moving onto Richard Pryor who plays the neurotic Gus Gorman and his casting was criticised at the time and to this day many people think that Pryor was horrible miscast in the film.  However I think Pryor wasn't given anywhere near enough credit for his performance as Gus Gorman and he plays the part with some nice comic neurosis and bumbling awkwardness.

Pryor has some good scenes and as a few examples for starters there is the film's first scene where he gets his unemployment benefits cut off because of his frequent unsuccessful attempts to hold down a job.  And the clerk (played by Nancy Roberts) Gus talks to at the labour exchange says to him "Mr Gorman, the city of Metropolis is generous to a fault" and Gus says "I'm not the fault!".  And the clerks says to him "You know what you are, Mr Gorman?" and Gus says "Don't call me a bum!  I'm not a bum!" and she says to him "I was going to say...you are no longer eligible!".

Then there is the scene where when Gus has just started his job with Webscoe he talks with one of the employees about how the computers when they divide up the wages for employees that there are half cents just floating out there, which gives Gus the idea to embezzle the company's half cents.  And as the two of them go to get their lunch, the employee asks Gus "How many sugars do you want, Gus?" and Gus says "One and a half!".

Another good scene is when Gus is orderd to go and see Webster after he pulls the embezzlement stunt and gives himself away by buying a fancy sports car.  And Gus says to Webster "I don't want to go to jail because there are robbers and rapists and rapists who rape robbers!".  And in the scene Webster reassures Gus he won't having him put in jail and instead wants him to use his hacking skills for his own ends.  And in the scene Webster introduces his sister, Vera but he first says to Gus "Gus, have you ever heard of Vulcan" and Gus says to Vera "Hi, Miss Vulcan!".

Another noteworthy scene comes when Gus arrives at one of Webscoe's computer offices in Smallville and we see Brad is a security guard there and Gus turns up wearing a ridiculous cowboy type suit (complete with an oversized cowboy hat!) and he opens a case filled with drinks and the two of them get drunk together until Brad passes out.  And in the scene Gus goes to use the office computer but it requires two security cards to be slotted in by two people to activate it and Gus, very drunk, looks at a sign which Gus reads "Both keys at the same time?!".  And he stands up and says drunkenly to the computer "You think you've won, don't you?!  The Philly flash!" and he goes off to get unconscious Brad and sits him down and ties string around his hand and puts the key in his hand and pulls the string at the same time and they slot both keys in.  And Gus then sits down ready to hack and says to himself "Now we'll see what we'll see!".    

Then later there is the scene when Gus and Vera turn up at Superman's welcome parade in Smallville and they are both dressed in military uniforms.  And Gus addresses the crowd using a loud drill sergeant type voice and he says to them "Now we all know last week half of this great nation of ours almost bit the bullet, if it wasn't for this man right here!" and he points to Superman and the crowd applaud.  And Gus says "And all I can say is thank the lord for Superman!" and he continues after moe applause "Superman, you saved our bacon and I want to show our gratitude".  And he takes out the synthetic piece of kryptonite and hands it Supe saying "This is a token of our appreciation for you saving us from a chemical plant disaster!".

And another good scene comes when Webster presents his plan to Gus for him to hack the computers so he can carry out his scheme to control all the oil but Gus starts to make some demands of his own.  And Gus says to Webster "You know you get your way all the time and its not right!  I wanna know when I get a taste".  And Webster says to him "Well you've already had a taste of freedom, unless you prefer jail?" and Gus asserts himself saying "No you can't run that jail number on me anymore, cos you know I'm more use to you out here doing things for you then being in jail doing nothing for nobody!".  And Webster asks him "What do you want?" and Gus takes some rough drawings out of his pockets and he says to Webster "There are plans, blueprints!" and Webster says "For what?" and Lorelei looking at the prints says "A computer".  And Webster says "We already have computers" and Gus says "No, not like this.  There isn't a computer like this anywhere.  You see we have to build it!".  And Webster intrigued by the idea says to Gus "Tell me" and Gus says "Well first of all, anyone that attacks this machine or anything, the computer counter-attacks it, I mean it finds their weaknesses and wipes them out!".

Then there is the scene when Gus finally arrives at the cave where his supercomputer is and he looks at it, amazed and he says "Baby!  Its daddy!" and he goes up to join them.  But when Superman arrives and Vera uses the computer to try and kill him with a kryptonite ray, Gus has a change of heart and says "Superman!  No!" and he goes off to pull the screw out to deactivate it.  And when he does, Webster goes after him and Gus says triumphantly as he has switched it off "I GOT IT!!" and Webster angrily says "Give me that screw!" and Gus says "THIS screw?!" and Webster says "THAT screw!" and Gus says "Never!" and puts it in his mouth.  And the two of them struggle but Gus manages to punch Webster but he ends up swallowing the screw himself but it is shortlived as the computer turns on again and feeds off the powerline across the country to keep itself going.  And Gus says "Its feeding itself.  It wants to live!".

And lastly there is the scene near the end where Superman drops off Gus at a coal mine but he offers him to go to Metropolis but Gus, terrified of flying says "No I think I'll walk from here".  And Superman asks a couple of mine workers if their boss has a computer and one of them says he has a little one and Superman then says "Well you tell him he could do alot worse than to give Gus Gorman here a job".  And Gus looks touched and says "Why, thank you, Supe" and Superman says "Take care" and flies off leaving Gus amazed and impessed at Superman's generosity and he says "Take it easy, man!".

So, one of the coal miners ask Gus "Well you have pretty good references if you want that job" and Gus takes a moment but turns it down and says "Nah, this isn't for me". So, one of the coal miners asks "So, you really flew with him?" and Gus says "Yeah. Haven't you seen Superman before?" and the miner says "No". So, Gus brags "You don't know about me and him? Superman?!" and he opens shirt as if he had a Superman outfit underneath but it jsut reveals he is wearing a vest, leaving Gus looking embarrassed. So, he says sheepishly "Yeah me and Superman..." and he mimics flying and says "Well, usually..." and then asks "Is there a bus stop nearby?" and one of the miners says "Yeah, there's maybe 9 or 10 miles that way" and Gus, taken aback asks "9 or 10 miles?!" and the miners nod. So, Gus says "OK! I'll walk. I think I'll walk!" and he walks off.    

Robert Vaughan is also great in his role as the main villain, Ross Webster, the CEO of Webscoe who is out to destroy Superman so he can carry on his nefarious plans.

Vaughan has some good scenes as well that include his first scene where Webster talks to one of his employees, Simpson, and he tells him "My friend, you are yesterday. Whomever pulled off this caper, is tomorrow!".  And then Webster says "No he won't slip up at all. He'll just go on quietly taking the bread from our mouths and he'll keep a low profile and won't do a thing to call attention to himself.  Unless he is a complete and utter moron!".  And then we hear loud screeching from outside and Webster looks down below from his office window and we see Gus pull up in a Red Ferrari sports car.    

Then there is the scene when Webster has Gus brought up to him and Webster smiles slyly at him saying "You've been a little bit naughty, haven't you?".  And Gus tries to bluff him but Webster let's him off the hook saying "Oh don't worry, how is it you say these days "dig where your comin' from, brother!".  And then Webster tells Gus his plan to teach Colombia a lesson for not dealing with him regarding the coffee supplies.  And Webster says to Gus "You see there is one country that refuses to play ball and you know how that can bug a guy!" and Gus asks "What country?" and Webster expression darkens and he says with contempt "Colombia!".  And Webster says "Oh, I have tried reasoning with them, believe me I've tried.  But this one miserable PISS-ANT little country has the gall to think they can dictate the economy of the open market!".  And when Webster introduces Gus to Vera he tells him about the Vulcan satellite and how it can "create" weather and Gus says "How can it do that?" and Webster says "Like everything else in the 20th century, Gus, you push buttons!".

Another good scene is just after Gus hacks into the Vulcan satellite and makes it create a tornado over Colombia and Webster up on the roof of his apartment building, which has a large ski slope attached, laughs his head off watching the news of Colombia.  And he says "Turn it off!  If I laugh any harder I'll split my sides!" and he skis down the slope and says "Poor little Colombia!".  But then Gus not long after comes in and tells Webster, Vera and Lorelei that Superman saved Colombia and Gus says "Superman was bad!" and Webster angrily says "I'd say he was" and he angrily looks down, sitting in his deckchair "No! No! NO!" and he angrily hits the rests of the chair and it collapses on him.  And Webster gets up and says "He ruined it!  The lousy do-gooder ruined it!  I've got to get rid of him!".

And when they start talking about how Superman can be hurt and about Kryptonite, Webster says "You know what happens when a planet explodes?  Derbis!  Pieces floating in space.  So all we need to do is find out where in heaven Krypton used to be and get good ol' Gus to contact the Vulcan satellite!".  And as Gus says to Webster "I don't think I'm making enough money for this gig!" Webster wearily says to Gus "Gus, if there's one thing I can't stand, that's greed!".

Then there is the scene when Gus calls Webster to let him know that the synthetic piece of kryptonite failed to kill Superman.  And Gus nervously says to him on the phone "Well there was an unknown element in the kryptonite and Superman didn't die".  And Webster says disgusted "I ask you to kill Superman and you can't even do that one simple thing!" and he drops the phone, leaving Gus on the other end hanging.  

And lastly there is the scene where Superman shows up to stop Webster using the supercomputer and Vera switches on a ray that emits a beam of kryptonite, which devastates Superman, weakening him.  And Gus looks on in horror saying "That's Kryptonite!" and Webster says to him "You're a genius!  You've invented a machine that can find anybody's weak spot!  Congratulations, old buddy. You'll go down in history as the man who killed Superman!".

Annette O'Toole also does very well in her role as Lana Lang, Clark's love interest in the film but she also has her ex-boyfriend, Brad as a rival for her affections too.

Annette too has some good moments that include the scene where Lana cleans up the leftovers at the school reunion party and Clark helps her out.  And Lana says to Clark "Thanks for helping me out.  You'd be surprised how many offers I didn't get!" and she continues saying "Its just I feel like I can talk to you".  And Clark who is far away from her says "What?" and Lana yells out louder "I feel like I can talk to you!".  And at the end of the scene Lana looks at an old high school photo of Clark on the wall and she says to herself "You know years later you can look at someone and say "well that's the one that got away".

Then there is the scene where Lana and Clark go out for a picnic in a field with her son, Ricky, and Clark starts taking tubs of food out for the picnic and Clark opens one of them thinking it is pate but Lana then says "Oh no, Clark, that's Buster's dog food!" and Clark takes a beat but continues to eat it saying "That's good!  When does the dog eat?!".  And as the scene continues the two of the comfortably talk with one another and as Lana appears to move closer to Clark she says "Clark, may I tell you something..." and Clark nods but then Lana looks over his shoulder and notices something and she says "My oil pain is leaking!".

And lastly there is the scene when Brad keeps pestering Lana and he calls her up looking to rekindle their former relationship but she is not interested.  And Lana says wearily on the phone to Brad "Brad, please stop calling me!" and Brad says "You better start appreciating old Brad!  What else have you got in Smallville!" and Lana then hangs up angrily and says to herself "What else have I got in Smallville?!".  And as Ricky is trying to do his homework and he shows to Lana, who is pre-occupied with her thoughts and Ricky says "Mum, I think I've got the answer" and Lana resolutely says to herself "So have I" and she calls to book a flight to Metropolis.

Annie Ross also does well her in role as Vera, Webster's obnoxious and bossy sister and she has some good comical moments in her performance of which I'll only mention a few.

And to start off there is Ross's first scene when Vera walks angrily into the room when Webster meets with Simpson over the embezzlement of Webscoe's money.  And Vera walks in demanding who embezzled the money "By WHOM?!  That's what I want to know!  WHOM??!!".  And Webster then says "Vera, get ahold of yourself!" and to himself he says "Nobody else ever will".  And then during the scene Lorelei, Webster's nutrionist turns up for an appointment with Webster and she argues with Vera who says "Pay attention people, I'm about to take a human life!" as she lunges at Loerlei.

Another good one is when Webster unveils his plan to control the oil to Gus and Vera readies herself to give a presentation of the plan to Gus.  And Vera starts by saying "Every pump in America is run by....." and Gus interrupts excitedly "Computers I know!" prompting Vera to explode "WILL YOU STOP INTERRUPTING?!!!" and she then calmly continues "you will order the pumps to stop pumping".

And lastly there is the scene when Webster, Vera and Lorelei arrive at the cave where the supercomputer is and they go inside it and climb the stairs to the computer control console.  And Vera starts to take control and arrogantly says "I know enough about computer to put a PHD to shame!  Come now, dear brother, you didn't think I was going to let that little man run the show now, did you?!".  Vera then says to Webster "Bubba, engage those levers on your right to activate the alpha circuits and lock the modular grid" and she turn to Lorelei "YOU!  Activate circuits 29 through W7 and start full-power coordinates on exterior defensive systems!".  And Lorelei then bursts Vera's bubble and says to Webster "In otherwords push this red button" and she winks at Webster leaving Vera amazed "How did you know that?".

Pamela Stevenson even though her character is a bit annoying also does well with her role as the sexy and busty blonde bombshell, Lorelei who is part of Webster's dastardly schemes.  Lorelei pretends to be just a ditsy blonde however she really is quite intellectual and she likes to just conceal it from the others, which is also a source of some amusement in the film.   

Stevenson has some good moments that include her first scene where Lorelei enters Webster's office to give him a massage but she ends up arguing with Vera.  And Lorelei says to Vera "Why don't you try holding your breath and maybe you'll turn blue!  Improvement!".  And as they continue to squabble at each other, Webster says "Mouths closed...eyes open!" and Lorelei says "She's a big pig!".

Then there is the scene where Superman has just foiled Webster's scheme with the crops in Colombia and Lorelei tells him Kryptonite is what can kill Superman.  And Lorelei says "Kryptonite!" and Webster, Vera and Gus all look at her and Lorelei then feigns her ditziness again and says "Kryptonham....or Kryptonheimer....I forget what its called but its the stuff that can hurt Superman".  And Vera cynically says "How would you?" and Lorelei says "Oh, I know a few things!" and Vera says "So I understand from the graffiti I've seen!".

And later on there is the scene where Webster launches his missiles at Superman when he is behind the control console of the supercomputer.  And as Webster grabs the controls for the missiles, Lorelei says "Don't tense up now, honey!" but as Superman tries to evade the missiles, Lorelei looks on concerned at the video screen and says "Come on, Superman!" and Webster glares at her and she then nervously says "Emm, let him have it, Ross!".

And last of all is the scene where the supercomputer becomes self aware and Lorelei finally drops her ditzy act to Vera and shows her intelligence by looking up at the computer saying "Oh I get it, the coaxial energy shaft is engaging the source grid factor!  We're through, frogface!  I'm splitting!".    
      
And last few I will mention are Gavin O'Heilhry who is good as Brad Wilson once a former high school jock and sports star but now a drunk who stalks Lana to try and get back into her life.

Gav has some good scene as well but I won't mention too many of them as this post is already long enough as it is!  

So, I will mention the scene where Brad while working as a night watchmen for Webscoe in Smallville, sees Gus at the front door, who pretends to be working for the company. So, Gus tells Brad "So, I got this order and I need to get in and set it up tonight!" and Brad asks "Get what set up?!" and Gus open his suitcase, which is filled with bottles of alcoholic spirits and Brad looks stunned and opens the door to let him in. So, Gus says "Pal, your lifesaver, a real lifesaver! Where's the office?" and Brad says "Straight on ahead!" and Gus says "Follow me, huh!" and Brad grins and says "I'm right behind ya!". So, as the two men get pretty drunk, Brad asks for more Vodka to put in his Singapore sling drink and Gus adds it in and says "There's Vodka in it now, buddy!". So, Brad sips and says "Yep, perfect!" and Gus asks him "You don't ever pass out, do you?" and Brad says "Nope!" but he drinks up and falls off the chair unconscious. 

But instead I will mention his last scene which is fun when Brad tracks Lana down to Metropolis and he walks into her hotel room to find Clark on his knee having just given Lana a new diamond ring and Brad reads into the scene, furious.  And he says angrily "Son of a bitch!  Kent, I hate you!  I've always hated you!  You know why?  Because your nice!  And nice guys finish last!" and he aims to hit Clark but misses and he then lunges at him but Clark ducks and as Brad runs at him he jumps onto foldable bed, which Clark lifts up, sending Brad flying onto a trolley cart, which rolls into a lift.

Marc McClure is also good again as he reprises his role as Jimmy Olsen, the Daily Planet photographer and he has a slightly bigger part than usual as Jimmy travels to Smallville with Clark but they stop off at a chemical plant where several fires have broken out.

And in that scene Jimmy sneaks off the bus taking them to Smallville, which is stopped by the police and Clark goes along with him.  And Jimmy says to Clark "You know what the chief says, a photographer always goes after a good story" but Clark warns him "that could be dangerous, Jimmy" and Jimmy smiles saying "Goes with the territory, Mr Kent!" and he gives him the thumbs up and he runs off to get some pics.

And second to last is Jackie Cooper also reprises his role very well as the editor of the Daily Planet, Perry White and he has an amusing scene where a woman, Miss Henderson walks with a tumble drum to do a bingo raffle and he also complains to Jimmy about how he took some boring pictures at Webster's banquet. 

So, in the scene, Perry says to Jimmy "I don't understand you Olsen. A boring banquet and you bring me three thousand boring pictures. Yet Superman saves a man from drowning on 3rd Avenue this morning while you stand there watching the whole thing and you don't even bring me one picture!". So, Jimmy says "I didn't have my camera with me" and Perry lectures Jimmy and says "A photographer EATS with his camera, a photographer SLEEPS with his camera!" and Jimmy mouths along with the words.   

And last of all is Margot Kidder who only appears briefly in the film as Lois Lane as she goes off on holiday at the start.  And as Clark asks Lois if she is going away, Lois says to him "Oh well, Clark, some of us get to go all the way to Smallville.  And some of us just have to settle for...." and she holds up a tiny bikini and she says "Bermuda!".

And later on at the end of the film, Lois comes back with a hefty tan and also with a top story from her antics there.  And White says to her "Lois, I've got to hand it to you, you're amazing!  I mean you turn a three week tropical vacation into a front page story that's going to blow the lid off the corruption in the Carribean!".  And Lois says to White "You know, I just knew I was onto something when that taxi driver kidnapped me!".    

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC 

So FINALLY moving onto the director, Richard Lester, who had already previously directed Superman II (well partly anyway) and here he does a pretty good job although he is guilty adding a liberal dose of slapstick to the film.  And in this respect it does kind of harm the film at times given that there are some truly stupid moments in the film but I will get to them more in the flaws section of the review.  

But for the most part Lester does well with the film and he keeps the pacing pretty tight and it rarely lags and the film itself rarely boring thanks to him keeping the tone light.  And Lester does add some pretty good action scenes as well particularly Webster's missile attack on Superman and the evil Supe's confrontation in the junkyard with Clark Kent.     

As for the music, Ken Thorne once again provides the score, and he again incorporates some of John Williams original themes but this time around the score features more original work of his own.  And the score itself is actually quite good and it has some good tracks in it especially the music used in the scene where Superman is attacked by the supercomputer's missiles as well as the music during the evil Supeman and Clark Kent's junkyard confrontation.  It does however lack the quality and caliber of John Williams music to the original film and there are times where the score does feel like it belongs more to a TV film than a cinematic one but overall its a good effort from Thorne.

The film also features additional tracks by Italian composer and songwriter Giorgio Moroder however they are sparsely used in the film but one of them features in the scene where Gus gets drunk with Brad at the Webscoe office in Smallville.  Moroder's music is nothing special but it doesn't really detract from the film either and it is so rarely used its almost pointless that it was included but it still has its own charm even if it sounds very dated as it is mainly just 80s synth stuff. 

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

As for Superman III's flaws.....yes there are quite a few. 

So, to kick off I think as I said earlier in the review that part of the film's problem is the fact that the tone of it is overly comedic at times and is a bit too heavy handed when it comes to the slapstick.  This is especially notable in the film's opening scene where Lorelei's alluring qualities sparks off a series of accidents that has one onlooker crash into another creating a domino type series of calamities.  Its a really daft opening to the film and it really doesn't belong to the Superman universe and would be more suited to some goofy comedy.

And this brings me onto another stupid scene where Gus hacks into various computers systems causing chaos everywhere such as people crossing the street only to have the green and red traffic light men symbols fighting each other.  It is about as stupid and as silly as the Superman series got up until that point (well until Superman IV came along that is, which took stupid to a whole new level!) and really have been cut out.

Then there are some plot holes of course and the first one that comes to mind is why didn't Webster put two and two together sooner regarding Gus embezzling Webscoe's money???  And he could have figured this out easy because Gus was given an expenses pay cheque with his name on it, which has the figure of 85,000 dollars also written on it!  So all Webster needed to do is have his staff check the accounts of their employees and they could have found Gus out easy without him unintentionally giving himself away in the first place! 

Another daft one is how would Webster and Vera know that Superman would eventually be able to snap out his evil personae as after he defeats the evil Supe, he flies off to find the video message of Vera saying "So you finally have shown your true colours".  And this makes you wonder, do they know he turned back to being a good guy at this point or not???  It doesn't make much sense as you can know for sure they didn't have any info on just how long the affects of the synthetic kryptonite would last on Superman!  Its not like in that episode of Family Guy where Peter takes a drug that turns him gay, which is revealed by a doctor to have a time limit, so the same can't be said with the effects of the synthetic kryptonite with Superman (well it didn't turn Superman gay for starters!).

I also felt that character wise, Lorelei, Webster's busty blonde nutritionist, was all over the place in terms of her moral compass. I mean one minute she is giving Webster the info he needs to kill Superman by telling him about Kyrptonite and the next minute she is rooting for Superman III when Webster tries to kill him by launching the supercomputer's missiles at him! So, yeah she is a bit of a mixed character to say the least.   

Another thing that bugged me is to do with the scene where Gus turns up at the parade for Superman in Smallville and gives him the synthetic chunk of Kryptonite where Superman feels no ill effects when he takes it. However, isn't it a bit of a stupid idea to try and kill off Superman in front of a FULL CROWD OF PEOPLE??!! Surely it would be better if they could have tried to figure out something else as it is just a bit of high risk idea to try kill off the man of steel in such a public way!

The film also due to some of its deleted scenes being omitted from the theatrical cut also contributes to one or two moments in the film not making sense.  And as a couple of examples there is the scene when Gus gets Brad drunk and Brad says to Gus that his nickname in high school was "the Smallville flash".  And in the next scene after Brad passes out and Gus tries to use the computer but requires another person to insert the key card to do so, he says to the machine "The Philly flash!" which doesn't make sense without having seen the deleted scene itself.

And another example is during the fight between the evil Superman and Clark Kent when the bad Superman goads Clark and Clark says "I can give as good as I get" but prior to that Superman says something to him to provoke that response and again it was omitted from the theatrical release.  And I actually remember seeing the version with these scenes left in years ago on TV and with that they made alot more sense than without.  So for me that highlights a problem with the theatrical cut itself.

Its also a bit silly how we are lead to believe that they could build Gus's supercomputer could be built from his hastily put together blueprints, which were on loose pieces of paper and even a cigarette packet! Perhaps he drew them up again on a better presentation but if not, its pretty stupid to think that they could work out how to build it from Gus's shoddy blueprints. However, later on in the film, when the Webscoe engineers are assembling the computer, we see they are STILL consulting Gus's rough blueprints that he wrote out himself on the scraps of paper and his old ciggie packet! Its just ridiculous to think, they couldn't have gotten as I said a drafted blueprint to make it easier to work with! 

Lastly I thought it was a bit stupid as to how the supercomputer did NOT know that the container of acid Superman brought back from the plant would be dangerous?!  It is a supercomputer after all with I'd imagine a genius computerised intellect and you even see it analyse the contents of the container but its analysis reads "Danger level: ZERO" but surely it must know that acid IS dangerous!  Also I find it silly that even a small container of acid could cause such a massive amount of damage to a giant supercomputer, which is the size of a very big house!  But hey it is just a plot device used to kill off the machine after all. 

In reality however, just add further detail, the production crew used a mixture of pyrotechnics, miniature models and practical effects (according to Google AI) to destroy the supercomputer as opposed to just a small container of acid. 

Anyways that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up Superman III for me is an underrated sequel, which got a lot of unfair negative criticism  as well as for the casting of Richard Pryor but I think the film is a lot better than its given credit for as even today its get's alot of hate from fans.  And by no means do I think the casting of Pryor hurts the film in anyway and his comedic skills are used well in the film.  The rest of the cast also perform very well particularly Reeve, Vaughan and O'Toole.   

It also nicely develops Clark's character and shows him to be more assertive and confident than before and Reeve and O'Toole both share a nice chemistry together onscreen.  In fact the American film critic, Roger Ebert in his review at the time said the film was missing a big love story like Superman's romance with Lois.  But for me I think Clark's romance with Lana is a subtler one which doesn't feature stupid moments like that crap "Can you read my mind?" song in the original film when Superman flies Lois over Metropolis.

The film also features some excellent optical effects even if some of them look better than others but I for one still enjoy watching the missile attack scene on Superman, which is one of the film's highlights.  Also the effect of Superman lifting the frozen lake up and flying it over the chemical plant is another impressive special effect worth mentioning as well. The film's 39 million dollar budget certainly shows well on the screen and it stands head and shoulders over Superman IV's cheap looking effects.

So, yeah OK it does have some flaws as I mentioned above and it has its fair share of comedic slapstick, which is a bit out of place for a Superman film and it does harm the film's credibility.  However if you are willing to forgive all that then there is still a lot to enjoy in Superman III and I personally think its a film that deserves a second look.

So, I will give Superman III a rating of:

8 out of 10

So, that's it for this one guys and I'll be back soon with another post.

Until then its bye for now!