Plot hole: After Superman has reversed time the Hoover Dam reverts to its previous undamaged state as it should, but Jimmy Olsen should then have been replaced back on the dam. Instead he interrupts the potential kiss between Lois and Superman and complains of being abandoned by Superman in the desert.
Superman (1978)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: Richard Donner
Starring: Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando, Ned Beatty, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder
Superman stops Lex Luthor's plan to send the west coast into the sea by repairing the San Andreas fault, he also puts the Golden Gate bridge back together and stops a town near the Hoover Dam from being destroyed. But Lois Lane gets buried alive by rocks and sand and dies. Superman finds her, goes around the Earth, and ends up going into the past before she was buried. Superman then picks up Lex Luthor and Otis and takes them to the state penitentary. The movie ends with him flying into space with John Williams' brilliant main title playing. [To Credits]
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Suggested correction: Superman is moving at speeds fast enough to turn back time. He can spend 5 seconds to yank Jimmy away from the top of a dam he knows is going to be destroyed just to be safe in case he can't actually stop it all from happening again.
Trivia: Jeff East, who plays teenage Clark Kent, was dubbed over with Christopher Reeves' voice. The only time Jeff's actual voice is heard is when he shouts in excitement after jumping past the speeding train.
Question: When Superman went back in time to save Lois, doesn't that mean that the people that he had originally saved are now doomed to die?
Chosen answer: No. Because the version of him *before* he time-traveled is still out doing those things. The REAL question is, what happens to that Superman, seeing as Lois no longer dies and he has no reason to travel back in time.
Answer: There are generally two methods of time travel. Skip vs Slide. When you slide through time, you are in essence rewinding or fast forwarding a tape. Time will accelerate to the desired moment. This method, the traveler will witness the rewind and will only allow one of them to exist. When skipping, you are plucking yourself from the time stream and placing yourself in the desired moment. This method, travel is instantaneous and can allow for multiples of the traveler to exist at once. Superman rewound time. He used the slide method and went directly to Lois after doing so. This means those he previously saved...died after his reversal.
Or he could have used the skip method. Like you said, it enables a traveler to pluck themself from the time stream and placing them at the desired moment allowing for two Supermen to be able to prevent both missiles from reaching their destinations.
He couldn't have used the skip method if he rewound time.
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