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Richard Donner, the director of Superman, was originally hired to make Superman II. He had made over half of the movie before being fired. Richard Lester was hired to complete the film. So, Superman II contains footage from both the Richard Donner version and the Richard Lester version. See more...

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Superman II (1980) - 39 revealing errors

Directed by Richard Lester, starring Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, Terence Stamp (add more)

Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-fi

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Updated recently In a close-up shot of the kid falling into the falls, one can notice the kid is just a dummy. Notice how his face is a lot paler than it was before.

Edit Submitted by R. Whit Time
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Updated recently The kid who falls into Niagara Falls acts as if he is falling but grabs onto the bars around the falls. On the attempt where his hand slips off the bar, you can just make out him grabbing back onto the bar and just lets go of it for some strange reason.

Edit Submitted by R. Whit Time
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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.

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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.

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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.

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After Superman saves the kid at Niagara Falls, he lands on a lawn nearby. Then wires holding him are visible.

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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.

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The 3 villains break through the Daily Planet window and fly around the city. Before Zod stops by a beam, Non becomes transparent.

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After the Marlboro truck scene, Superman throws Zod and he goes through an office window. The harness to make him fly is visible on his back.

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The shot of people walking on the street by the Daily Planet is the same one used in Superman I.

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Wires holding Superman are seen when he lands on the island to pick up fruit.

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The fire that comes out of the flame throwers moves at a slow speed though the scene is developing at normal speed.

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When Zod is thrown by Superman and passes by Luthor, the stand in is a guy with fluffy hair who looks nothing like Lex.

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In the ice cave, Superman throws a plastic S at Non. The wires moving it are visible.

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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.

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The hole that Non and Superman go through is already patched, as it's a different colour from the rest of the pavement (either from previous takes or to allow the effect).

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During the Marlboro truck scene, Zod's stunt double has very noticeably longer, darker and bulkier hair, plus a thicker beard.

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After coming out of the Marlboro truck, Superman grabs Zod by his feet. When he sends him flying away, Zod's been replaced by an obvious doll.

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In the first scene when the villains are at the console, you can see Ursa's nose disappear, then reappear when Non walks behind her, then it disappears again.

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In the fight scene in Metropolis, as the villains are blowing every thing around, in shots were you see cars flying through the air you can see that the people are models moving on a conveyor belt.

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There are two times in the New York battle when you can see the actors are being filmed in front of a screen: 1. when Superman kicks Non, Superman in on film and Non is hovering in front of the screen. 2. When Ursa is flying towards Non and Superman with the flagpole, she is hovering in front of the screen.

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When Non and Zod break in through the White House window, a black strap is seen attached to each one's body to help them descend safely.

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When Ursa throws the sewer lid at Superman, watch his logo on the back: It has a bumpy thing underneath and a lot of cables coming out, showing where all the mechanism to pull him back was.

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When Zod throws a man against the wall in East Houston, the man goes through the wall into a truck. Before he crashes against the truck, wires holding him are visible.

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When Zod takes the rifle out of the cop's hand the strings moving the rifle are seen, each by the side of the cop's cowboy hat when the rifle turns red.

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When Ursa blows the helicopter away, the string holding it is visible.

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When Non falls on Superman and breaks the concrete, the hole opens before Non falls on him.

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In the ice cave, when Superman makes himself invisible, watch Zod's head jumping slightly to the back, revealing where the scene was edited to achieve the effect.

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During the big fight in Metropolis, the close-up of the pram shows its empty. It must a very expensive pram for the mother to protect it in such a heroic way.

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When the Empire State antenna falls down the wires holding it are visible.

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In the first confrontation between Superman and the Zod Squad, Superman gets chased out over the water. In the first two shots in this chase, if you look at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen (at least in the letterboxed version) you can see the wake of the boat that they used to make these two pull-back shots.

Edit Submitted by Garlonuss Time
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In the New York battle scene, after Ursa distracts Superman, Non punches him and he goes flying backward into a building. Watch very carefully along the bottom of the screen. You can tell that Superman isn't even matted in from the chest down. Where is the rest of him?

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When Non tries to fly at the end of the film, but falls into the bottom of the Fortress of Solitude, watch closely. He appears to hit some sort of safety pad after he falls, making the fog around him disperse very briefly, which shows him safely land on the pad. The fog quickly comes back and covers him as he ducks his head down.

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When Ursa kicks the astronaut into space, she takes a step back and looks upwards. When this happens you can tell that the film is being shown at double speed. Also, when Clark spins the guy on the chair at the end of the film, he snaps back upright far too quickly.

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When Non goes through the pavement, the hole reveals it's a foam made floor.

Edit Submitted by Sacha
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Before the villains change the faces on Mt. Rushmore, the original ones (which are a matte painting) have a greenish look. Definitely not like the real sculptures.

Edit Submitted by Sacha
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At the beginning of the movie, we see the three villains in front of several backgrounds. In most of these backgrounds, their outlines are fuzzy, indicating that they are actually standing in front of a green screen.

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When there are multiple Superman's in his home, Lois Lane runs to one of the fakes. It seems as if she is the fake because her image becomes slightly transparent as she runs through him.

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When Zod jumps out of Perry's window he falls down, revealing its a stunt from a ground level window. The outside shots however, show Zod flying up and straight.

Edit Submitted by Sacha