IF THE WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL COMPUTER CAN CONTROL EVEN SUPERMAN… NO ONE ON EARTH IS SAFE.

When he tries to stop a pathetic computer genius (Richard Pryor) from helping a megalomaniacal business tycoon (Robert Vaughn), Superman (Christopher Reeve) ends up fighting an evil incarnation of himself.

With Richard Donner gone and Richard Lester in complete control at the helm, this franchise took one step closer to camp; Pryor’s presence doesn’t exactly lend the film gravitas.

The script deals with a fear of computers in the age of WarGames, but turns too bizarre and stupid in the last act. 

1983-U.S. 123 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Richard Lester. Screenplay: David Newman, Leslie Newman. 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. Reeve initially didn’t want to come back as Superman; at that point, John Travolta, Jeff Bridges and Kurt Russell were considered for the part. O’Toole subsequently played Clark Kent’s mother in the TV series Smallville. Followed by Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987).