- How is Superman able to turn back time by flying around the world? How did he know he had this power and why did he never use it before?
Short answer...he can't! Ever since I first saw this film in the theater, I have never understood why flying around the Earth, no matter how fast you did it, would cause it to change rotation at all. At most, a super-being zipping around in opposition to the directon of rotation
might be able to suck away the atmosphere or even some surface dwellers and structures, but reverse the rotation of the Earth itself? Not a chance. In the comics, he probably would have achieved the same goal by pushing against the Earth. But even there you have the problem of basic physics. With no foothold to push from, how could he push at all?
Second, even assuming you could reverse the direction of the Earth's rotation, or even slow it significantly (in the film, it nearly stops momentarily), in theory everyone on the planet would fly off into space.
And third, why should reversing the Earth physically also cause a temporal reversal. Especially since time is not a local phenomenon unique to Earth, but rather one that applies to the entire Universe. By this logic, I should be able to undo today's mistakes by simply walking backwards to "yesterday."
In short, this scene makes no sense and never has. But you add another twist I'd never thought of...what gives Superman the notion this would work in the first place? Did he think, "Hey, I know! I'll use my time-reversal power!" This is a recurring problem in the films, as we will later see with Superman's "memory-wiping kiss power," his "rebuild the Great Wall with his eye-beams" power, and of course his "make a giant cellophane net out of a chest emblem" power.
In fairness to the movie-makers, though, Superman did time-travel in the early comics by flying around in circles until he disappeared into the time stream (!!). But even then, two rules applied:
one, only Superman himself moved through time and
two, Superman learned repeatedly that
the past cannot be changed, period.
If he could turn back time why didn't he just go back enough to stop Lex from launching the missiles in the first place?
A very good question. This is the problem that plagues many time-travel films, of course, including Star Trek: Generations.
- If Supes went to save Lois after turning back time, what happened to the bus on the Golden Gate Bridge, the train, and the exploding dam?
More good questions. Notice that Jimmy runs up to yell at Superman for leaving him on the side of the road. Which he does
after saving him from the dam, which wouldn't have busted without the missile having exploded. Something is obviously missing here. Note that we don't see Superman picking Lois' car out of the crevice a second time (but with her alive now instead of dead). Rather it appears that in the second go-round she was never threatened by the fissure at all. And while I applaud Valdemar's efforts to explain this away with a "present Superman" and "past Superman," your follow-up question is a good one: why are there not now two Supermen? What would make the "past self" simply disappear?
This segment is what keeps the movie from being truly great, in my book. At least it took the comics several decades to start inventing powers to get Superman out of every jam. It only takes the movie an hour and a half.
-And why did Lois get mad at Supes after he rescued her! That woman is just rude! He should of let her die!
Well, he shouldn't let anyone die, of course, even Lois. But I agree whole-heartedly that there have been very few incarnations of Lois Lane, inside or outside the comics, who were worthy of Superman's love. He could do so much better.
- Why the heck would Lois jump off Niagra Falls to try to prove a suspicion she had the Clark might be Superman?!? That is insane! Isn't she an ivestigative reporter? Why didn't she start investigating Clark? You know, like following him around and such until she could find hard prove that he is Superman?
Well, I can't count this one as a plot hole or mistake. It's entirely consistent with Lois' character in the films. After all, it wasn't too bright to sneak up the Eiffel Tower either, was it? Lois Lane is a nitwit and a constant irritant, plain and simple. In Margot Kidder's version, she's dumber than usual...Perry may call her his "best reporter," but she can't type very well and needs help spelling even the simplest words.
- How did Clark and Lois get a car and drive back to that diner from the North Pole after Clark lost his powers?
Santa Claus runs a Hertz franchise in the off-months between Christmases. :-)
- And for that matter, how did Clark get his powers back?
As the Tootsie Pop commercial says, the world may never know. This is the biggest cheat in a film full of cheats. "After this I can never, never, never get my powers back.....Okay, I've got my powers back!" Considering this dilemma is at the very heart of the film's plot, it's unforgiveable that the writers were too lazy to even try to explain its resolution.
My dream re-make of this film involves a plot lifted from the old Phantom Zone mini-series (and the Supergirl film). Instead of the unbelievable (even offensive) "love story" with Lois, the way to get Superman out of the picture should have been to stick him in the Phantom Zone in place of the villains. Then we could have had two plots going: Superman's struggles to escape the Zone and the villains' evil acts on Earth. And Margot Kidder could have gone off to do an add for super-Polygrip or something.
- How did the Phantom Zone guys(forgot their names) get so strong so fast? Clark powers came from spending years under the yellow sun!
Actually, I think this is an element of the legends that came later. In the pre-Crisis continuity (when this film was made), I think Kryptonians got Superman-level powers pretty much as soon as they showed up under a yellow sun. Notice in the first film that baby Kal-El can lift a truck over his head on day one. I think the movie Clark grows up with super-powers but, unlike the comics version, he keeps them under wraps until adulthood. (In contrast, Byrne's version doesn't really even
have great powers until his late teens)
If Clark was weaker earlier on, it was because he was a boy, but if an adult Kryptonian came to Earth, he'd be immediately near to Superman's levels. Then the thing that would keep Supes on top would be experience and his good physical condition (in the same way that if we all suddenly became super-powerful, Super-Mike Tyson would still be able to beat Super-Roger Ebert!). A line of dialog bears this out: one onlooker says, "the big one's as strong as Superman!" I take this to mean that Zod (a thinker) and Ursa (a girl) are not as powerful as Supes, but Non (a muscleman) is.
- And aliens from another planet speak English?(I only find this a slip-up because General Zod and his friends could speak english. I believe that when we hear the people of Krypton talknig to each other, they are actually speaking in their own language. And whenever somebody hears the Jar-El or Lara in the crystals, I believe that anybody would understand it in any language because there is a physic link)
Well, this is a convention of Sci-Fi from way back. Aliens always understand what we say. Unlikely I grant you, but think of it like Cinderella's glass slipper or Clark Kent's glasses: it may not make sense, but without it, there's no story.
- And how did Clark erase Lois's memory by just kissing her?
Oxygen deprivation.
As stupid as she is, I'm wondering if he hasn't been kissing her
a lot!
And why the heck would Clark go back to that Diner and beat that guy up!
Because bullies need to get their just desserts. What's that? A bully is a powerful guy beating up on a less powerful guy? Oh, then I guess Clark is the bully now, isn't he? Well, he got his just desserts later. He had to come back for Superman III.