Line #13 YMMV/SupermanIII


1	* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:
2	** It's not clear exactly how much Ross buys into Loreli's [[ObfuscatingStupidity airhead act]]. Most of the time he seems entirely fooled but in one scene she winks at him while Vera isn't looking, suggesting it might be a game the two are playing.
3	*** In the novel, she is fooling Ross while secretly buying lots of stock in his company, and her wink is directed at Gus instead.
4	** Due to how [[MotiveDecay inconsistently written the character's motivations are]], to what degree Gus is a bad guy at heart, and how much genuine complicity he has in Webster's scheme, [[HazyFeelTurn can sometimes feel up in the air]]. On the one hand, Ross entraps him in the first place by threatening him with exposure and prison, and he saves Superman's life at the very end after his conscience takes over; on the other, Gus started embezzling from Webscoe not just because he couldn't live on his salary, but also because he wanted a ''lavish'' lifestyle (as Ross puts it, he wanted to be rich), and he participated in the previous failed plot to kill Superman seemingly without any misgivings. When he reveals that he's figured out Webster wouldn't send him to jail because he was too valuable, Gus uses that leverage to get his dream supercomputer design built (yet expresses surprise that Ross clearly plans to use the thing for further evil purposes), and finally declines a job offer despite Superman personally vouching for him. Is he a kind-hearted dupe who genuinely tried to make the most of a bad situation, or a deeply amoral savant of a man who did one thing right?
5	** In the scene where Gus impresses his programming teacher by "entering two bilateral coordinates at the same time" someone familiar with computers from the time period would have a very different perception of what happens. It ends with the revelation that the screen text came from a BASIC program which just prints what we saw to the screen. So the question is: did Gus do something that was apparently impossible, or did he just write a program that made it LOOK like he had done that? His laughter at the end of the scene could just as well be because he got caught, not because he was being clever.
6	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Composer Ken Thorne returns from Film/SupermanII and does a great job blending all new music cues with the iconic Music/JohnWilliams score. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45Rj12tr-dQ The Struggle Within—Final Victory]] is a notable standout, playing after Clark defeats the evil Superman and becomes the good Superman once again.
7	* BaseBreakingCharacter:
8	** Ross Webster: Either [[ReplacementScrappy a poor man's Lex Luthor]] and a generic CorruptCorporateExecutive or a somewhat decent replacement who's entertaining enough on his own and may have very well helped to ''inspire'' the CorruptCorporateExecutive versions of Luthor fans know and love today.
9	** Gus. Often he's seen as too wacky and inconsistent with an overly abrupt HeelFaceTurn, but he does have those who find him interesting and likable (it helps that, being played by Creator/RichardPryor, he's one of the few comedic elements in the film that usually succeeds in being funny).
10	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
11	** The slapstick opening sequence, as if the reels were switched with one from a ''Film/PoliceAcademy'' movie. None of these events come back into play in the film and this is ''before'' the villains' antics are in full swing.
12	** The scene where the two traffic sign 'walk' and 'don't walk' figures fight each other. It's weird, bizarre, and nonsensical even by this movie's standards, and isn't mentioned again.
13	** As scary as the computer scene turning Vera into a robot is, the fact that this horrific moment is in the same movie as the two above points makes the admittedly random scene [[MoodWhiplash all the more jarring]].
14	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
15	** It's probably inevitable that Lana didn't return for the fourth movie, because too much more time spent with her and the audience would have been seriously questioning what Superman ever saw in Lois.
16	** Secondary villain Lorelei has those who greatly enjoy watching her ObfuscatingStupidity and moments as TheVamp.
17	* EpilepticTrees: Some viewers believe the {{fight scene}} in the junkyard between Superman's good side and bad side is actually meant to be metaphorical; they think that what really happened was a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind.
18	* FridgeBrilliance: It's interesting to see Clark is far less stiff back in Smallville than he is in Metropolis. That's because he's dealing with a girl he knew as a teen, and therefore is more himself around her, even being pixie-ish around Lana. If you wanted to see a midway point between Supes and Clark by Reeve, the picnic scene is it.
19	* HilariousInHindsight:
20	** Ross Webster was Lex Luthor's replacement as a CorruptCorporateExecutive instead of MadScientist. Post-Crisis Lex becomes one himself.
21	** "You can't run two programs at once". TechMarchesOn; almost any computer viewing this page (even a smartphone or tablet) is running probably dozens of programs at once right now.
22	** A meta example is Creator/AnnetteOToole playing Lana Lang here and later playing Martha Kent in ''Series/{{Smallville}}''.
23	** [[Film/BackToTheFuture1 An awkward guy dances to "Earth Angel" at a prom with his original flame.]]
24	** Creator/RobertVaughn was best known for playing the role of [[Series/TheManFromUncle Napoleon Solo]]. [[Film/TheManFromUNCLE2015 Thirty-two years later]] a [[Film/ManOfSteel different]] [[Creator/HenryCavill Superman actor]] goes on to play Napoleon Solo.
25	* HollywoodHomely: Vera. They make her sound like [[Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Quasimodo]], but she's a handsome woman.
26	* JustHereForGodzilla: Many fans watch this movie just for the fight between Clark Kent and the evil Superman at the junkyard, or for the subplot with Lana Lang.
27	* MagnificentBastard: [[ObfuscatingStupidity Lorelei Ambrosia]] presents herself as the unintelligent kept woman of [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Ross Webster]] but posses a calculating and insightful mind beneath her exterior. She reads philosophy books and throughly understands the working of a complex supercomputer. When Superman foils Ross's plan to corner the coffee market through unscrupulous means, Lorelei is the one to suggest that he get kryptonite to use against Superman before their next plan, which involves causing a devastating energy shortage. When the kryptonite only turns Superman amoral, [[TheVamp Lorelei seduces him into doing their bidding, and seems to develop genuine feelings for him]]. She shows concern for both Superman and her SitComArchNemesis Vera when they are in danger in the climax. Throughout the movie, Lorelei acts as an essential part of Ross's schemes, and no one else but Superman even seems to realize it.
28	* MemeticMutation: The scene of the evil Superman with a five o'clock shadow, pounding down drinks in a bar. Because sometimes you want to show that the Man of Steel [[INeedAFreakingDrink just Needs A Freaking Drink]].
29	* PopularityPolynomial: On its initial release it was seen as weaker than the first two films, but still an overall acceptable film despite some tonal issues. Its reputation really sank around the UsefulNotes/TurnOfTheMillennium, as it got caught up the backlash against overly light-hearted DC Comics adaptations such as ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' and ''Film/{{Steel}}'', to the point where many fans considered it the worst of the Creator/ChristopherReeve films. In the decades since, as moviegoers have come around to the consensus that superhero films ''should'' be light-hearted and fun, its reputation has essentially recovered to where it was around the time of its initial release, as a noticeably flawed but still overall decent film.
30	* RetroactiveRecognition:
31	** So Lana Lang [[CastingGag grew up to become]]...[[Series/{{Smallville}} Ma Kent!]] Really, Creator/AnnetteOToole (unbeknownst to the producers of the TV show) played Clark's high school flame Lana Lang here.
32	** A miner is played by Creator/ChristopherMalcolm, who would later be best known for playing Justin in ''Series/AbsolutelyFabulous''.
33	** A Pisa vendor is played by Creator/JohnBluthal, who would later be best known for playing Frank Pickle in ''Series/TheVicarOfDibley''.
34	* {{Sequelitis}}: At the very least it's considered a major step down from the first two ''Superman'' films, and still seen one of the weaker ''Superman'' films by fans, for some even more so than ''Film/SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace''. While ''III'' has a few interesting scenes and concepts, those who dislike it more than ''IV'' will concede that the latter is worse in technical quality, but will gladly accept its whole-hearted (if ''very'' {{Anvilicious}}) attempt at a message over ''III'''s broad comedy and Creator/RichardPryor's spotlight stealing antics. Also, being as loaded with [[{{Narm}} unintentional hilarity]] as it is, it's easy to argue that ''Quest for Peace'' is the funnier movie, too.
35	* SignatureScene:
36	** Clark Kent vs. Superman. It's the one sequence that everyone universally liked about this movie, [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct largely in part to Christopher Reeve, who perfectly pulls off both characters onscreen at once.]]
37	** For better or worse, the scene of [[UnwillingRoboticisation Vera being transformed into a robot]] stuck out to many people due to how jarringly nightmarish it is.
38	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
39	** Superman turning evil. There was ''SO'' much potential there, but despite Christopher Reeve performing it very well, the film leaves little room to really make the Evil Superman a real threat. ([[BewareTheSuperman Though the concept]] [[VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs has been explored]] [[Series/TheBoys plenty since this movie.]])
40	--->'''[[WebVideo/OliverHarpersRetrospectivesAndReviews Oliver Harper:]]''' Evil Superman doesn't really get up to ''too'' much trouble in the grand scheme of things. He's just a bit petty and a bit of a pain in the ass.
41	** The supercomputer being this continuity's counterpart to ComicBook/{{Brainiac}}. There could've been so much more done with that, too. [[NeverTrustATrailer It doesn't help that the trailer built up the supercomputer as the main threating force of the entire movie, when it only comes into play in the last third]].
42	* TookTheBadFilmSeriously:
43	** The late Creator/ChristopherReeve still gives a sincere performance as both Superman and Clark Kent, and very effectively pulls off the former's turn to evil.
44	** Creator/AnnetteOToole also gives a pretty sincere effort as Lana Lang. Many fans find her a love interest more interesting than Lois Lane, and regret that she didn't return for ''Superman IV''.
45	* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Aside from the vintage computers in the office scenes, has a number of other very, very Eighties elements. Jimmy's hair manages to look both geeky at the time of release ''and'' the eighties today, the amount of money Gus steals via PennyShaving would look like a routine clerical error in the 2010s, and a bunch of women at Gus' workplace are seen swapping their high heels for canvas running shoes in preparation for the walk home. It can even be pegged to the ''early'' end of the decade, because every older car is a 1970s model, while Gus's new Ferrari 308 screams '80s.
46	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: For all of the film's faults, the special effects remain mostly on-par with [[Film/SupermanTheMovie its]] [[Film/SupermanII predecessors,]] mostly in the wire-work department. Some larger highlights include the chemical plant fire sequence, the hurricanes caused by the satellite, and of course Clark vs Evil Superman in the junkyard.
47	* TheWoobie: A OneSceneWonder in the opening who is just trying to help, but can't get a break. He helps the salesman gather up his robotic penguin dolls which keep waddling away, and falls into a pit. When he tries to climb out, his head gets stepped on by Clark Kent(!) who doesn't even notice him.
48	** Movie-wise, Lana and Ricky.

Context YMMV / SupermanIII