Great movie but this has always mystified me.
2006-08-16 01:05:03 · 24 answers · asked by Anonymous in Entertainment & Music ➔ Movies
Some of you are missing my point. I accept that it's a fantasy film, but even if he could reverse the spin of the Earth, it wouldn't reverse Time.
2006-08-16 01:13:37 · update #1
Some of your answers are really great. Thanks "diamondkrusher" for your glib contribution; I'll never forget the time I reversed my car and found I had no pubic hair and my virginity had grown back.
2006-08-16 01:25:44 · update #2
The theory is that if you could go faster than the speed of light then time would go backwards.
Does he actually make the Earth spin backwards, or is that he's going back in time so the Earth would appear to be going back in time too.
2006-08-16 01:14:22 · answer #1 · answered by anonymous_dave 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've wondered about that too. i came to the conclusion that the movie makers were too busy to focus on the technicalities of time travel.
Spinning the earth backwards and showing events rewind was just a convenient way to portray time travel to a general audience. Behind the scenes, however, superman traveling beyond the speed of light around the earth created a gravitational singularity (e.g. black hole, worm hole) in which the Earth entered through to another dimension (in this case, Earth in the past). So then he altered some events (which could have been a separate movie altogether) and let time pass normally. The part where he rotates the earth again in the regular direction wasn't really necessary, just another visual cue for the audience.
hope that helps out!
2006-08-16 08:57:09 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is based on Einsteins theory of relativity It is a fundamental element of this that you can not move faster than the speed of light. If you do so you will find yourself moving backwards in time as the vision of what is happening fails to keep pace with you. Hence if you fly faster than light and in doing so you traverse round the Earth you will witness the Earth turning in the "wrong" direction. As it does so the events taking place on Earth will also appear to be moving in the opposite direction and so when you stop flying you will be at a time which is earlier than when you started. Are you still with me??
With our limited understanding of such concepts it is difficult for us to conceive of the possibility of travelling faster than light and hence moving through time but less than 100 years ago how much credibility would have been given to the fact that space travel has now become commonplace.
So all you have to do is invent a way of travelling at speeds which exceed light. If you think about the fact that when I press SEND on an email it can be read on the other side of the world in less than a second so just attach a human body and the problem is loved!!
2006-08-16 08:20:39 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, Richard Donner SHOULD be shot for this particular piece of heroic licensing, if for no other reason than it confused comic book writers for years as to the limits of Superman's powers, which in all honesty were never supposed to include this ability.
As far as I can tell, Superman's reversing of the spin of the Earth was of such an intensity that it approached the speed of light, causing time to reverse itself. Why he couldn't simply find a way for him alone to get back to the necessary point in time is obviously because it would have made more sense, even to a fan-boy.
*sigh*
2006-08-16 08:15:37 · answer #4 · answered by QuackJak 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think the only answer to the question lies within the question itself: "How does he reverse time?.... by making the earth spin backwards". Whoever made the film thought that that was enough of an explanation, and being a movie it doesn't need to match up with reality.
2006-08-16 08:12:42 · answer #5 · answered by Steve-Bob 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes and why doesn't the earthquake that kills Lois Lane start all over again when he turns back time? She's on the road when he finds her and...no earthquake. I guess it would complicate the writing too much. A nice simple ending. Boy brings girl back from dead by turning world backwards and they all live happily ever after!
2006-08-16 08:12:13 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Personaly I think the Earth changing rotation is just a visual aid as apposed to an actual event. Superman himself went so fast that he broke the time barrier.
2006-08-17 07:49:14 · answer #7 · answered by micodecerto 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well i guess the idea is that he could spin the whole world fast enough to turn back time, even though if he did that then everyone would 1. die when they go flying and hiting a wall, and 2. knocking the world off it's axis and send us flying into a planet; it's only there for dramatic effect, and also i can't remember why he did that
2006-08-16 08:17:45 · answer #8 · answered by azrael226 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Does it really matter? the magnificence of Superman would be lost if we tried to nitpick at how he does what he does in the films. Just enjoy the ending as it is, because the director probably has no idea either.
2006-08-16 08:14:03 · answer #9 · answered by grumponit 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Silly as that was, and this Q might be,,, relate it this way. What happens if you reverse the hands of a clock? The hour becomes earlier yes? At least on the face of the clock.
As good as he was, He was only GOOD, not GOD,,, much like me,,, although I retired my blue tights and Reb briefs when I was about 10 years old.
Rev. Steven
2006-08-16 08:14:15 · answer #10 · answered by DIY Doc 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋