The film stars Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure, Annette O'Toole, Annie Ross, Pamela Stephenson, Robert Vaughn, and Margot Kidder.
The conglomerate Webscoe Industries hires computer programmer Gus Gorman, who secretly embezzles $85,000 from the company payroll.
A cunning billionaire fixated on using technology for financial domination, Webster sees Gus’s skills as a valuable asset.
Superman extinguishes a fire in a chemical plant, and, as Clark Kent, he returns to Smallville for his high school reunion.
Webster orders Gus to use the weather satellite 'Vulcan' to create a storm that destroys coffee crops in Colombia, aiming to corner the market.
Gus and Vera infiltrate the party and give Superman the synthetic Kryptonite, which corrupts him and causes him to commit acts of vandalism such as straightening the Leaning Tower of Pisa and blowing out the Olympic Flame.
Gus proposes building a supercomputer for Webster in exchange for creating an energy crisis by redirecting oil tankers.
Lois Lane returns from Bermuda with an exposé on corruption, and Superman restores the Leaning Tower of Pisa before flying into space.
Frank Oz had a cameo as a surgeon, but the scene was deleted from the final cut, although it was later included in the TV extended version of the film.
Pamela Mandell, who played a diner waitress in the same film, appears as the hapless wife of a Daily Planet sweepstakes winner.
[9] In December 1980, producer Ilya Salkind wrote a treatment for this film that included Brainiac, Mister Mxyzptlk and Supergirl.
Instead, he said the creative team decided to pursue a different direction for a love interest for Superman, believing the Lois and Clark relationship had been overdone in the first two films.
Superman's drinking was filmed at the St. Louis Hotel in Downtown East Village, Calgary, while other scenes such as the slapstick comedy opening were shot several blocks to the west.
The appearance of the cover of Chuck Berry's song Roll Over Beethoven, by the Beatles acts as an indirect reference and connection with A Hard Day's Night and Help!
"[31] However, writing in Voice of Youth Advocates, Roberta Rogow hoped this would be the final Superman film and said, "Kotzwinkle has done his usual good job of translating the screenplay into a novel, but there are nasty undertones to the film, and there are nasty undertones to the novel as well.
Adults may enjoy the novel on its own merits, as a black comedy of sorts, but it's not written for kids, and most of the under-15 crowd will either be puzzled or revolted by Kotzwinkle's dour humor.
This is followed by a number of scenes, including additional dialogue but not added in any of the official VHS, DVD or Blu-ray cuts of the film.
It is simply overloaded—too many ideas, too many gadgets, too many stars (Pamela Stephenson is completely wasted in a part which would have been too dumb for Goldie Hawn).
[17] Lester made a number of comedies[17] in the 1960s—including the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night—before being hired by the Salkinds in the 1970s for their successful Three Musketeers series, as well as Superman II which, although better received, was also criticized for unnecessary sight gags and slapstick.
Lester broke tradition by setting the opening credits for Superman III during a prolonged slapstick sequence rather than in outer space.
Since Donner and Mankiewicz were no longer attached, the Salkinds were able to bring their version of Superman to the screen and once again hired the Newmans for writing duties.