The Man of Steel becomes the man of gold

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I couldn't get over the sincerity of this licensing advertisement for Superman from 1983. which states that Superman 3 will "Make box office history for the third time in a row" and "we're expecting the strongest sales ever".


I remember seeing Superman 3 with my best friend, we were both 12 and I remember being really excited for a new Superman movie.


The robot lady gave me awful nightmares and the popcorn had me throwing up all night. So, I don't have fond memories of Superman 3 (Unlike Trading Places, the film we saw the week prior which made men out of us, ahem) and likely didn't buy any merchandise that summer.

I think it's so weird to see a spread of Superman merchandise that doesn't include an action figure but with Mego going out of business that year and one year until Super Powers, this was a weird void.


My kids have never known a world where they couldn't go to a store and see a Superman action figure in some form. That's a weird concept because i certainly remember "the dark times"

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[rykerw1701]

In hindsight, the robot lady and Evil Superman are about the only good parts of that movie. You'll note a lack of Richard Pryor images in that pile of Superman stuff. The movie should have done that, too.

[palitoy]

Actually I'm not surprised it doesn't feature Pryor or Reeve, LCA was selling Superman, not movie Superman. It's a weird bit of separation that simply doesn't happen as much today.

Although I guess FTC is a shining example of it still happening, as far as I know, they don't have ability to touch the movie or TV properties outside of certain animated works.

[Mikey]

Chuck Cunningham (Happy Days) as Lana's abusive boyfriend was weird casting -but he did do a good job.

[palitoy]

Chuck Cunningham (Happy Days) as Lana's abusive boyfriend was weird casting -but he did do a good job.

You've never seen Death Wish 3 have you?

[Hedji]

I like Superman III in a similar way I like Jaws 2. And yes, the Robot Lady seems to be responsible for a lot of kindertrauma and need for therapy.

[huedell]

You've never seen Death Wish 3 have you?

Gavan O'Herlihy.... also had a sizable role in a favorite 'round these parts: WILLOW

[Earth 2 Chris]

Superman III is your average Bronze Age Superman comic about Superman encountering a regular Joe character that gets caught up in extraordinary circumstances. Unfortunately, no one wants an average Superman story in a Superman MOVIE.

That being said, I really love the Smallville stuff with Lana, the chemical fire, and the Superman/Clark battle. The robot lady scared the beejeezus out of me too, especially the pics in Starlog's magazine special!

Chris

[palitoy]

That being said, I really love the Smallville stuff with Lana, the chemical fire, and the Superman/Clark battle. The robot lady scared the beejeezus out of me too, especially the pics in Starlog's magazine special!

True story, the day after seeing the movie and having those nightmares, I tagged along with my dad for some reason to the city.

My dad ended up servicing a store. It left me to sit and wait at the magazine rack. The only title that would interest a kid? That stupid Starlog special and of course, I couldn't not look at those photos. it was torture!

[Earth 2 Chris]

^Ha!

The poster from that issue with Reeve doing the shirt-rip in the junk yard stayed on my walls for YEARS. Somehow it survived, and my son put it up years ago, and it's still there!

Chris

[palitoy]

I think Honeycomb did some vinyl transfers here and I had Christopher Reeve on my aquarium until like 1989....

[Mikey]

You've never seen Death Wish 3 have you?

Wow, I did see DW3 but never realized that was him !!!

[Bruce Banner]

I had the Superman III View-Master reels and the novelization. A few of the Topps cards and a poster magazine... that was about all the S3 merchandise I had.

I remember watching the extended TV version when it was broadcast over here.

[Bruce Banner]

And Gavan O'Herlihy is of course the son of Dan O'Herlihy (Halloween III, The Last Starfighter, Robocop, etc.)

[knight errant00]

Reeve was at his Superman-best in III. He'd built up physically and really looked the part, and he knew the character well enough that it's just . . . Superman . . . we see on screen.

If only the script and the rest of the production was up to his performance . . .