Phixius

27th Jul 2006

Superman Returns (2006)

Corrected entry: On Lex Luthor's Russian-made missile launcher, the second button from the left is labelled "otkaz", which is presumably intended to mean "abort". The correct word would be "otmena". While "otkaz" is a general synonym, in a technological context it means, rather unfortunately, "equipment failure".

Correction: It must be the panel reset in the event of an equipment failure, rather than the abort button. We have such resets on all the machinery I work with.

Phixius

Corrected entry: In the scene where Superman saves the plane from crushing, we can see that both of the plane wings were torn away in the air, but when they land they miracously disappear. No debris of any kind follows.

Correction: Superman guided the plane to a safe location. The wings, and other bits, would have fallen more or less straight down. Of course there's no debris nearby.

Phixius

Corrected entry: Superman's strength and other superpowers seem to oscillate a lot between scenes in the movie, and for no good reason. Towards the end of "Superman Returns", he is shown lifting an entire landmass out of the ocean, and pushing it into outer space, all while being exposed to Kryptonite. He is also capable of showing up anywhere in the world nearly instantly, as a reporter comments. Yet in one of the first action scenes, he struggles trying to catch up with a plummeting airplane, and has a hard time slowing it down, managing it just before the plane hits the ground. This should be a trivial task for someone of his abilities, yet no in-movie explanation is given for such poor performance. Of course, the real reason is obvious - the plot requires that Superman saves the day just in the nick of time, to create cinematic tension and resolution.

Correction: He is able to lift the kryptonite island because he just got supercharged by the sun. There's the "in-movie explanation" for that. As for the airplane: He was simply going only as fast as necessary to catch up with it. Then, while slowing it down, he was being mindful of the people on board. As mere mortals, they are subject to the laws of physics. Specifically: inertia. If Superman had stopped the plane too quickly, those people would have suffered the same fate as if he'd let it crash into the earth. There is an old Chinese proverb which Superman adheres to (as do most superheros): "Never use a cannon to kill a mosquito." In other words, Superman only uses as much of his power as he absolutely must to get the job done.

Phixius

Corrected entry: In the scene where Superman is lifting the newly crated island to space, he stops pushing it, and the island continues into space. Then suddenly, as he looses weight and mass (because the island is gone), Superman falls down towards earth. If he does, so should the island. Alternatively, if the island continues into space, so should Superman.

Correction: Superman didn't simply stop pushing, he gave it a final heave that cleared it of earth's gravitational pull. Superman, however, was not clear of it, and having passed out he was no longer able to maintain flight.

Phixius

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