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Superman III Scary Robot Lady
Rob and I arrive at the moment that traumatized a generation in our journey through Superman III on Superman Movie Minute: Vera as Scary Robot Lady! Luckily we have a special guest in therapy this week, some guy you may know named Brian Heiler!
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This moment in the film, where they show the visual up above and kill the soundtrack so there's just an eeiry silence, is the best part of the movie. She becomes a Borg before we knew what Borg were. I also like junkyard scene in the film, the bar, and really anything with Clark. But anything with the villians, including Pryor, is just terrible. And the effects were bad even by 1983 standards. I will say Reeve was in the best shape of the franchise, so he looked more the part than ever. -
I pretty much agree with everything you say, and watching this minute by minute (or five minutes at a time) has only reinforced those thoughts. Reeve is in great shape in this one, and part of the reason is there's no bouncing back to the earliest footage we saw in both the first two films. Any scene with Reeve and Hackman (who Donner only had for a certain window of time), Reeve looks a bit thin, as it was some of the earliest scenes he filmed.This moment in the film, where they show the visual up above and kill the soundtrack so there's just an eeiry silence, is the best part of the movie. She becomes a Borg before we knew what Borg were. I also like junkyard scene in the film, the bar, and really anything with Clark. But anything with the villians, including Pryor, is just terrible. And the effects were bad even by 1983 standards. I will say Reeve was in the best shape of the franchise, so he looked more the part than ever.
ChrisComment
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Superman 3 should have had Brainiac in it instead of a super computer.I never saw Quest for Peace but from stills I thought Reeve was too thin.Comment
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I've always thought the same as well. And not just in appearance -- Reeve really is inhabiting the Superman role at this point, and as good as he is in the first two movies, he feels even more like he's really Superman in this one. With all its flaws, it's a shame the rest of the movie isn't up to Reeve's effort and performance, or it would've been the best of the series.Comment
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Omg. My dad took me to this movie when I was a wee lad.
You’ve reminded me about a deeply buried and effectively forgotten fear. Haha. Crazy.Comment
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Definitely a terrifying moment. And even today, still is creepy as hell even though you know it's face paint and prosthetics and Richard Pryor is doing bad slapstick comedy around it. The whole thing is still freaky.Comment
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^I think the tonal shifts make the horror worse. Christopher Reeve is still in a Superman film. Pryor and Robert Vaughn are doing slapstick. And Annie Ross gets pulled into a Cronenberg picture.
ChrisComment
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I only watched this for the first time a couple of months ago, having gotten through both Superman IV and Supergirl. It’s hard to say which one is the worst, as they are all pretty bad. I think IV had its’ heart in the right place and I probably liked it the best.Comment
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Personally, IV has the better story, and as you said, heart in the right place, but Golan and Globus have run off with the budget, and it's embarassingly bad. III was competently made by most of the same folks from the first two films, but it's heart is out to lunch and it's head buried in the sand.
Supergirl has the perfectly cast Helen Slater, and a Razzy-worthy performance from Faye Dunaway that makes her Mommy Dearest work seem subtle.
Rob and I aren't covering either Supergirl or IV minute-by-minute. III kind of broke us for movies we're not totally into.
ChrisComment
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The extended cut is certainly the more satisfying version of III.
Overall, the movie has some undeniably memorable moments, but its tonal mis-steps ultimately made it a disappointing follow up to the epic Superman II.PUNY HUMANS!Comment
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