If the world’s most powerful computer can control even Superman… no one on Earth is safe.

Superman (Reeve) ends up fighting an evil incarnation of himself when he tries to stop a pathetic computer genius (Pryor) from helping a megalomaniacal business tycoon (Vaughn). With Mr. Lester in complete control at the helm, this franchise took one step closer to camp; comedian Pryor’s presence is just one part of the problem. The script deals with the contemporary fear of computers, but turns too bizarre and stupid in the last act.

1983-U.S. 125 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Richard Lester. Cast: Christopher Reeve (Clark Kent/Superman), Richard Pryor (Gus Gorman), Annette O’Toole (Lana Lang), Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure, Annie Ross… Robert Vaughn, Margot Kidder.

Trivia: Also available in a 20 minute longer version. Alan Alda was allegedly considered for the part that Mr. Vaughn came to play. Ms. O’Toole subsequently played Clark Kent’s mother in the TV series Smallville. Followed by Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987).

Published 2006-07-31 12:47