Revealing mistake: In Houston, when a man is thrown through a truck, notice the ground he falls on: The sand is leveled higher than the rest of the road around, obviously to hide a landing mat. Furthermore, after the fall the man turns around and he's got a bulgy square on the back to help for a safe stunt.
Revealing mistake: In the final scene, Superman is returning the White House's flag to its rightful place, flying over the fountain on the lawn...which is frozen solid in place. Obviously a photo backdrop.
Continuity mistake: When Superman starts playing hide and seek with the villains, he stands away from the icicles. When Ursa shows up a frame later, he's leaning against them.
Revealing mistake: When Zod lifts the boy's father with the beam of white energy, watch closely when he raises him up past the telephone pole...he 'clips' right through it, or rather the pole clips through him, as if he is transparent.
Visible crew/equipment: When Superman is fighting Non under the New York Streets (in the sewers), manhole covers start to jet up in the sky. When the first manhole cover shoots up you can quite clearly see the gas tube in the hole and the gas cylinder attached to the cover.
Revealing mistake: There are two external White House shots in the film. The second is a still shot, and should take place at least a few days after the first. However, it is a frame from the earlier shot, with the same person standing in the same spot on the lawn.
Factual error: After Superman accidentally frees the phantom zone villains with the exploding hydrogen bomb, they start flying towards the moon. The sleeves in their clothes can be seen fluttering around. This would be impossible because there is no air in outer space, hence nothing to cause resistance against the clothes.
Other mistake: When Clark and Lois are on their way to the diner, the wide shot of their car driving along looked very familiar. In fact, it was footage used in the first movie, where the car was used as part of Lex Luthor's "real-estate" plan and was run on remote control. If you look closely in part II, no one is driving the car yet you hear Clark say to Lois, "Hey, you seem pretty quiet over there...."
Other mistake: At the end of the film Superman puts the US flag back onto the Whitehouse. Whilst he is speaking to the President through the hole in the roof the flag can clearly be seen flying in the wind, but his cape is completely still.
Revealing mistake: In the beginning, when Superman is flying to the Eiffel Tower, the last scene that shows him flying towards the tower, you can see the wire Christopher Reeve was attached to as he swoops down. The wire stretches all the way across as Superman glides down.
Visible crew/equipment: In the shot where Zod walks on the lake's water, there is a platform visible just under the water's surface.
Continuity mistake: In Niagara, Clark moves to the left to warn a kid from falling and a woman next to him lowers her camera. In next shot the camera is up and she repeats the previous movement.
Revealing mistake: When Zod says to Ursa to "blow them a kiss my dear" to the helicopter that's firing on them watch as the helicopter is indeed a real military helicopter, then when it loses control it's an obvious model and just before it crashes into the house it's a full size helicopter again but is completely different from the first one that was originally shown.
Audio problem: Before the trio crashed into the Daily Planet (just before the battle with Supes), they were heard flying outside the building. For 3 superbeings with the ability to fly unaided, they sure sound heckuva lot like jet-propelled aircrafts. Jet aircrafts are noisy because of their engines, but superpeople?
Continuity mistake: Clark and Lois are undercover in a hotel in Niagara Falls investigating a Honeymoon scam. There is a scene where Clark is removing money from his pocket to tip a porter. You can plainly see that some of the money is falling on the ground. In the next scene the porter walks away with his tip and the falling money has disappeared.
Continuity mistake: In the opening scene where the three villains destroy the energy crystal and the lights go dark and the rings descend upon them, the light that surrounds them is shown coming down from the ceiling. But, when the dome opens, the light surrounding them shines up from the floor. (As also seen in Superman: The Movie.)
Continuity mistake: The corner in the Fortress of Solitude that exploded looks totally different when we see it at the end of the film.
Plot hole: Lois and a friend of hers are watching Non and Superman fight. But this is totally senseless, because Superman had been flying around Metropolis and chances are slim that he appears in the very same spot to let Lois watch him. And, second and most important, should any doubts arise, the panning angles of the camera never show Lois's building, with the big broken window and the flag poles.
Continuity mistake: There must be a barber's shop or a cosmetics shop somewhere in the Phantom Zone. At the beginning of the first Superman film General Zod's hair looks as if it has been blow-dried, but all through Superman II he looks like he uses wet-look gel.
Revealing mistake: Inside the White House, Non throws a pillar at the soldiers. When it lands on the floor, it starts to move by itself like a puppet, revealing the whole structure was attached to a string.
Answer: Superman was well educated regarding his home planet's history. All this information was left for him by his parents at the secret installation at the North Pole.
raywest ★