However, then you get to the part where Supes flies around and around the Earth to "turn back time"...sheesh...
Not only wouldn't that affect time in any way, he would be terrorizing the entire planet, altering the magnetic field, melt the polar ice caps likely with all the friction caused, probably cause massive tidal waves, earthquakes and untold numbers of deaths, all to try and save Lois Lane.
No No No No. So many people get this part wrong.
Superman, did NOT "turn back time" by making the EARTH rotate backwards.
Superman flew faster than the speed of light... Remember the one long continuous streak ring seen behind him?
According to real scientists, if someone could travel faster than the speed of light, they would go back in time.
What we saw in the movie was actually a technical misunderstanding of what was really going on, as well as mis-naming the scene: "Turning The World Backwards"
Superman flew faster than the speed of light, while circling the Earth, to keep himself AT EARTH instead of flying off out into space. This also allowed the viewers to see time (EARTH) stop, and reverse. The Earth only appeared to rotate backwards. When Superman reversed course, he was actually "Putting On His Brakes", so HE would start moving forward again. This part is where the misunderstanding takes place. It gives a false impression that Superman is physically affecting the Earth that... YES YOUR RIGHT... Should destroy the planet, and fling people off the planet.
In reality, it was
Superman who went back in time, NOT the
EARTH.
But now if you watch it you realize how lame the story was. Yes, the actors look great and the special effects aren't terrible given the limited things they could pull off back then and the music was superb.
How can you say this story was lame?
Kal-El always comes to Earth when Krypton is destroyed, and Clark is raised in Smallville by the Kents. Then he becomes Superman and fights crime in Metropolis. Out of all nearly 80 years, including the newest film, this is still true.
I thought Superman trying to save everyone at the end was great...
The only thing I really didn't care for was Lex Luthor trying to Destroy California... For a real estate scam. That part was weak.
After almost 40 Years, I am still trying to figure out why Lex wanted to destroy Hackensack, New Jersey, with the second missile... Unless, he really hated Mama Tessmacher.
I did not agree with the original scripted endings that Superman was supposed to go back in time at the end of Superman II to fix what the General Zod did. That makes him too powerful, and cheats the audience. After all, what is the point to watching any Superman film, if in the end, he can just undo all the crime and such, and reset everything to what it was and the beginning of the movie. I think Superman should only being able to break the time barrier to save the woman that he loves from death. Perfect Ending to the first Movie.
"
Put A Little Love In Your Heart, and then Make Your Own Kind Of Music, on the road to Shambala!"
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wordsatplaytoday
9 years ago
The only thing I really didn't care for was Lex Luthor trying to Destroy California... For a real estate scam. That part was weak.
Actually, I like that part and story line.
After almost 40 Years, I am still trying to figure out why Lex wanted to destroy Hackensack, New Jersey, with the second missile... Unless, he really hated Mama Tessmacher.
That was unintentional.
Otis being Otis mistakingly put in the wrong coordinates into the first missile. Lex couldn't stop that convoy again so then they went after the second missile which is where Miss Tessmacher put in the correct info for that one to go into Cal.
Damn, I'm good.
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mh-newressistance
9 years ago
"Superman, did NOT "turn back time" by making the EARTH rotate backwards." - I knew it right away. I don't know why so many people couldn't understand such a simple thing. The earth was shown to visually emphasize the fact that Superman went back in time.
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tbickle84
8 years ago
mcdemuth,
Based on pure visual storytelling, Superman does in fact turn back the earth. He doesn't go back in time. I agree that it makes so much more sense that he go back in time because turning the world backwards and having it be yesterday is totally ridiculous.
Having said that, he CLEARLY turns the earth around lol You're going out on such a limb suggesting that the filmmakers just had to present it this way so we understood he was going back in time. (I think that's what you were implying, correct?).
There are countless movies that show characters time traveling and none of them needed to show the world spinning around to get that point across. All they had to do was show superman flying so fast that he eventually goes into a portal. When he comes out, Lois is still in her car. I think we'd all get the point.
The smoking gun in your argument is the fact that Superman had to start spinning the earth forward again once he spun it backwards so fast. If he went back in time, wouldn't time continue moving forward regardless? There would be no need for him to intervene and begin spinning the earth forward again.
The fact that Superman spins the earth back shows that he literally spun the earth around. If the filmmakers suggest otherwise in commentaries, etc. it is because it's an embarrassing plot device.
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Raja1938
8 years ago
Oh geez.
Let's do this. Let's pretend instead of Superman, we were watching a Dr. Who movie. Dr. Who's police box in this scenario would be floating in orbit over the Earth. It's a time machine, so it doesn't have to physically move in order to time travel. From the perspective of the TARDIS, you'd see the Earth rotating backwards just as it did in the film, the Colorado river unflooding, etc. See? The TARDIS isn't making the Earth spin backwards.
Superman, on the other hand has to move in order to time travel. I suppose he could do a superfast pirouette in the vacuum of space, but instead he circles the Earth so he can see the events on the ground and approximate how far back in time he's going. The purpose in going back is to keep Lois from dying in the quake. Luthor used two missiles aimed at opposite ends of the country because Superman can't be in two places at once. Going back in time allows Superman to do just that. After he's done helping California, he returns back to the present. That's what you saw as him "spinning the earth forward again".
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mcdemuth
8 years ago
After he's done helping California, he returns back to the present. That's what you saw as him "spinning the earth forward again".
That's an interesting interpretation. I never thought of that.
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tbickle84
8 years ago
That's ridiculous. We're NOT watching a Dr. Who movie. We're watching Superman. And if you want to get into physics, if Superman just start flying really fast, he'd fly into the future -- not the past. Face it. It's a bad plot device. It holds no water.
The whole traveling through time aspect is idiotic anyway for superman. He didn't go into a black hole or anything. He flew around the earth. You keep leaving out the fact that he purposely had to start spinning it back forward so it can get back on track. Everything your making up sounds so absurd. Do you really think people were supposed to dig that deep into this scene?
He spun the earth back around. Everyone knows it. Go look on Wikipedia. (oh, wait I know whoever writes the wiki page is a moron who just was too stupid to get it)
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Stratego (30511)
3 years ago
Superman did turn back time, because we actually see events that happened go in reverse, like the dam bursting.
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