Superman III (1983)

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General		Extras
Category	Science Fiction	Main Menu Audio Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1983
Running Time	119:53
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4,5	Directed By	Richard Lester
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Christopher Reeve Richard Pryor Jackie Cooper Marc McClure Annette O'Toole Annie Ross Pamela Stephenson Robert Vaughn Margot Kidder Gavan O'Herlihy Nancy Roberts Graham Stark Henry Woolf
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Giorgio Moroder Ken Thorne

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English Arabic Bulgarian Dutch French Italian English for the Hearing Impaired Italian for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	Yes, KFC, Camel Ciggies and Pepsi
		Action In or After Credits	No

    When good franchises go bad...

    I have memories of seeing Superman 3 on a plane when I was child. As the film finished I was quite disappointed, as Superman and Superman 2 had been two of my favourite films up until that point. I remember turning to my father and saying that I didn't like it. His reply was essentially the same.

    For fans of Richard Donner's masterpiece and the flawed Donner/Lester sequel, Superman 3 is a deeply unsatisfying film. The franchise had so much potential and yet fans essentially received a Richard Pryor vehicle without the R rating and none of the laughs. Pryor looked uncomfortable a lot of the time, like he knew he couldn't let loose within the confines of a PG movie.

    As usual, Christopher Reeve is fantastic as Superman - it's a shame that he didn't get better material to work with in the later films. He is Superman. Margot Kidder had the presence of mind to pass on this one, so Lois Lane is relegated to the first and last couple of minutes in the film. Jackie Cooper (Perry White) and Marc McClure (Jimmy Olsen) also make brief appearances.

   Pryor plays a computer genius who assists tycoon Robert Vaughn in his attempt to become more powerful. Superman needs to be gotten rid of so they end up trying to off him with tar tainted Kryptonite and a super computer so powerful it can control the weather!! A lot of the film is based in Smallville as Clark Kent goes back to do a story on high school reunions. Here he meets up with the girl he lusted after in his teens, Lana Lang. Re-watching this film for the first time in 20 years Annette O'Toole was the highlight for me. Since watching Smallville (where she plays Clark's mother Martha Kent) I had never seen her this young before. She did a great job in the role.

    This is the first time Warner Home Video has made Superman 3 available in Australia. It has previously been available in the US, but apparently the Salkinds owned the film and there were some legal issues.

    Bryan Singer, who is directing next year's Superman Returns plans on that film picking up where Superman 2 left off. He has said that as far as his Superman vision is concerned that 3 and 4 don't exist.

Video

    I wasn't expecting a great transfer for a 22 year old film, but I have to admit I was surprised at how good Superman 3 looked.

    This PAL disc is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    Not surprisingly for a film this old there is a bit of grain, but nowhere near what I was expecting.

    There are a few film artefacts, but nothing too ugly, however aliasing can be a bit of an issue in some wide angle scenes where the shot has a lot of movement on screen.

    Close up shots were the clearest and for the most part were the scenes where I thought "Dang this looks better than I thought it would." Some scenes had a fuzzy, blurred look to them, especially anything with SFX included.

    Colours came across well, especially in outdoor shots. Skin tones were excellent. Some effect shots have that blurry hue about them from the blue screen process, a nostalgic reminiscence for me!

    Overall, a surprisingly great transfer for a surprisingly disappointing film.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) track is a mixed bag.

    For the most part I found that the track was technically fine, but there were a few things that detracted. A lot of the dialogue has a hollow, almost echoic sound to it. Dialogue wasn't soft like it can be sometimes where dialogue gets lost in the mix, but occasionally it sounded like it was being spoken into a tin can.

    Effects sounded fine and added to the viewing experience.

    The music also came across sounding good.

    There were no sync or drop-out issues.

    There was no surround and no subwoofer use.

    French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) and Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) tracks are also included on the disc.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu Audio

Theatrical Trailer

    The trailer is good for a laugh. They don't make them like this anymore.

    The R1 version is a bare bones release too. Too close to call any difference.

    The video presentation is a pleasant surprise.

    The sound is decent enough, although the dialogue can be a bit tinny.

    There are no real extras except for a great trailer.

    I am not a fan of this film, but I am a fan of this DVD. It's about time PAL fans had the chance to buy this locally.

    An essential purchase for diehard Superman fans and completists who already have 1&2. Most kids will love it.

    For everyone else... a rental will suffice.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall