Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Superman III 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 8, 2023

Note: This version of this film is available as part of Superman I-IV 5-Film Collection 4K.

Both the small screen and big screen adaptations of Superman have had some notable tragedies, two of them rather weirdly involving men with rather similar last names, as has been discussed ad infinitum by some more devoted conspiracy theorists. George Reeves, beloved star of television's Adventures of Superman, met a rather ignominious and some would argue mysterious end which decades later became fodder for its own film, Hollywoodland. Christopher Reeve of course was victim of a horrifying riding accident which left him paralyzed, a situation that probably inarguably led to his own early demise. Part of George Reeves' problem may have been that he was so closely identified with the character of Superman that he felt he couldn't escape (few even remember his film career, which included a memorable bit in the very first scene of Gone with the Wind ). Christopher Reeve was able to evade if not totally elude the formidable shadow cast by the venerable superhero, which perhaps only added to the feeling of melancholy after his accident and later death. But even if Reeve was able to contribute rather memorable performances in any number of non-Superman outings ranging from Deathtrap to Somewhere in Time, in his own way he'll probably be as firmly tethered to the character of Superman as George Reeve is/was, and this new collection of 4K UHD presentations of four or five Christopher Reeve Superman films (depending on how you want to count things) should provide fans with some memories of happier times when things like Kryptonite seemed to be the only threats to safety and well being. Those happy memories may nonetheless be intermittently interrupted by some kind of odd choices Warner has made with this release, which will be discussed in the various individual reviews.

All of the films in this collection have had previous 1080 releases (and in some cases several previous 1080 releases). Anyone interested can find some older individual reviews for some of these in the database, which may (or may not) suffice in terms of providing plot summaries, in case anyone actually needs those by this point. However, they stem from the nascent days of the site and I'd frankly personally recommend those interested in prior reviews and especially technical analyses of the older 1080 releases stick with Ken Brown's The Superman Motion Picture Anthology Blu-ray review, which also has a detailed list of supplements on the 1080 discs. Ken's review is one of our "old style" reviews which combines all the discs from a bundle into one review, and in this particular case, that means citing just one review rather than several, and that may hopefully suffice for many, and maybe most. You may note that my scores for various 1080 presentations and overall films may vary slightly from Ken's, in just the latest example of my mantra "different reviewers means different opinions".

Superman III 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 disc included in this release.

Superman III is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 2.40:1. This is another case where I simply am not as impressed with Warner's old 1080 presentation as Ken was, and this is another case where if I were feeling less charitable, I might even dock it another half point from where I have it set. With that in mind, I found this 4K presentation to be a significant upgrade in both general palette saturation as well as detail, with the latter not always redounding to the viewing experience's benefit as this film, like its siblings in this set, has a lot of old school composited special effects which the increased resolution of this format can't help but show the seams of. That said, I was repeatedly struck by the intense saturation of large swaths of this presentation, even if occasional sequences, like some office material with Clark and Lois, still looks slightly anemic with a much chunkier grain field. The "villain's lair" sequences, which in the 1080 version can look almost monochromatic due to the use of so many gray tones, are quite a bit more colorful in this version, with HDR helping to give a bit of silver highlights to some of the backgrounds. Primaries are especially impressive in this presentation's best moments, with blues and reds looking extremely vibrant. Grain is somewhat variable, once again due at least in part to the surplus of opticals the films offers, but I'd say by and large this has one of the more consistently tight looking grain fields in the Superman set. Our Forum has some comments about this version's brightness fluctuations, but I have to say in revisiting the 1080 version in preparation for writing about this version, I found that older transfer to have much more noticeable variances than this new one.

Superman III 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Superman III offers another Dolby Atmos track in place of the old 1080 disc's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, and this disc, like Superman II 4K, also offers a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 option in place of the older 5.1 track, since my assumption is someone at Warner decided the Atmos track was the "go to" track for most. This is another interesting Atmos experience, in that it at least occasionally shows some increased verticality, as in the very opening clamor of background noise at the DMV, but which may not consistently offer that much of a difference when compared to the old 5.1 track. This still has some really nicely immersive moments, many of course due to Superman's heroics and the sound effects that attend to them, and John Williams' memorable score also regularly engages the surround channels. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional subtitles in several languages are available.

Superman III 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K UHD Disc

• Audio Commentary is the same one from days of yore, as mentioned below.

1080 Disc

See Ken Brown's The Superman Motion Picture Anthology Blu-ray review for a complete list, including information on the commentary.

Superman III 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Superman III can be a lot of fun if it's simply accepted on its own kind of slapsticky, lowbrow comedy, merits. This 4K UHD presentation offers generally secure technical merits, and ports over previously available supplements.