MovieChat Forums > Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006) Discussion > Lois shooting Clark/Superman using blank...

Lois shooting Clark/Superman using blanks (GOOF!)

posted 10 years ago by FangsMcWolf
15 replies | jump to latest

Okay ever since I had first learned of it (before even seeing the Donner Cut), it always bugged me and I decided to discuss it.

Now, assuming that this would have indeed been in the movie had Donner remained on, this is a major goof of a way to reveal Superman's identity. Here's why...

1. In the first movie, when a gun is pulled on Lois and Clark and the gun is fired, Clark (Superman) demonstrates his ability to intercept the bullet. ie, he can see it and move VERY fast.

2. As shown early on in the Donner Cut of S2, Clark can indeed feel when someone/something makes contact with him. When Lois and Clark were being given the honeymoon assignment, Lois elbows him and he reacts to it instinctively, meaning he felt it.

Combine those two facts together and then when you get to the scene where Lois shoots Clark using blanks, he (with his super powers) should have seen that there was no bullet (fact #1) and also he wouldn't have felt it (fact #2), thus instead of revealing himself, he should have been like, "Hey, I'm not hurt!" or something else, showing surprise that he wasn't hurt and wondering why.

A better way to 'catch' him would have been to do something like swap out his glasses for a pair she KNEW had plain glass for the lenses, so she could point out that he obviously didn't notice a difference (I wear glasses and believe me, you KNOW when your lenses are different). So, if he doesn't NEED to wear glasses, why not just take them off? Swapping them wouldn't be that hard, just pretend to spill something on him and grab the glasses (again, as she did earlier) to clean them but then hand him back the fake pair, perhaps more in a "not really paying you any mind" way so he doesn't feel like she's noticing anything so he just accepts it as being innocent. After a minute of not noticing that the glasses are different, point it out to him and the fact that they look exactly the same (with exception to the glasses) and he's caught.

Granted, it can't be changed, especially now (over 30 years later, RIP Reeves, etc) but just felt it should be brought up.

[–] Bourne1886 9 years ago

It's not a goof,I'll explain it to you one day. Too late now.

[–] FangsMcWolf 9 years ago

Bourne1886 (Tue Jul 14 2015 16:35:38)
It's not a goof,I'll explain it to you one day. Too late now.

Translation, it's a goof but you don't want it to be so you're claiming it's not but you don't have any way to back it up so you're claiming it's too late.

[–] rebwares-730-409664 9 years ago

My take on it was that Lois did a magician's trick of distraction. She distracted him mentally and emotionally so he would be concentrating on *her* and not whether he could actually feel the shot.

[–] FangsMcWolf 9 years ago

Even if that were the case, he would have realized it by the time he got to pointing out that if she had been wrong, Clark would have been dead. Not to mention that the sound of a gun shot would have had people concerned and checking in on them.

A better trick would have been to find a way to try to prick him with a thumbtack or something. He would have felt something but it wouldn't have hurt, then when there is no blood (and the sharp point is dulled or bent), that would be the proof she needed.

[–] rebwares-730-409664 9 years ago

It had to be something major, something showy. I don't think Lois could have felt triumphant over a thumbtack...

[–] FangsMcWolf 9 years ago

rebwares-730-409664 (Sat Jul 18 2015 20:24:33)
It had to be something major, something showy. I don't think Lois could have felt triumphant over a thumbtack...

True, but what was shown is still a goof. Should have had her do something like say that she saw him change into Superman (to save the kid) and so she's not going to believe him denying it. That or something else that wouldn't rely on fake hurting him, since he'd be able to feel that.

[–] Blubonnet_Spearman 8 years ago

The scene is fine and nothing wrong with it.

[–] ccr1633 8 years ago

Nope. Just as humans need to make a concerted effort to concentrate when doing highbrow intellectual work, Superman needs to be focused to see fast moving objects like bullets. He was distracted in multiple ways: (1) His feelings for Lois, (2) Not being sure she'd actually go so far in her test to actually pull the trigger, and (3) Thinking about another cover story should Lois actually shoot. Thus, his super sped up vison wasn't operative.

[–] FangsMcWolf 8 years ago

ccr1633 (Sat Apr 9 2016 00:11:53)
Nope. Just as humans need to make a concerted effort to concentrate when doing highbrow intellectual work, Superman needs to be focused to see fast moving objects like bullets. He was distracted in multiple ways: (1) His feelings for Lois, (2) Not being sure she'd actually go so far in her test to actually pull the trigger, and (3) Thinking about another cover story should Lois actually shoot. Thus, his super sped up vison wasn't operative.

Even though your logic is flawed, let's say for a moment that it's not. It still doesn't explain that he should have felt that nothing had hit him. It has been demonstrated before that he can feel when someone or something comes into contact with him (ie, he's not numb). So when he didn't feel a bullet, he should have been thinking, "Huh?" and acting accordingly, like, "well I didn't get hurt, so must not have any real bullets in there."

However, your logic is flawed. Yes he has feelings for her, but that doesn't inhibit his abilities. Thus, the moment he saw a gun, instinctively he would have been ready for it to go off and to see the bullet. After all, even if you are standing behind a thick window and someone throws a water balloon towards you, when it hits the window, you will instinctively blink, even if you try not to.

It's a goof.

[–] ccr1633 8 years ago

No, what I'm saying is that even Superman's mind can wander. When our minds wander, say during a film or lecture, you lose track of what happened in the movie or what the speaker said. Similarly, Superman's ability to see speeding bullets in "slow motion" isn't completely reflective and may waver.

I don't see any flaw in the logic. Where you could criticize my argument is here: I never read Superman comics religiously enough to know whether this specific aspect of his powers was treated in detail. I have no idea what I'm talking about!

Anyway, I think you have a valid point as well. This is the kind of topic where people often argue endlessly about what's canon and what isn't.

[–] FangsMcWolf 8 years ago

ccr1633 (Sat Apr 9 2016 14:48:45)
No, what I'm saying is that even Superman's mind can wander. When our minds wander, say during a film or lecture, you lose track of what happened in the movie or what the speaker said. Similarly, Superman's ability to see speeding bullets in "slow motion" isn't completely reflective and may waver.

I don't see any flaw in the logic. Where you could criticize my argument is here: I never read Superman comics religiously enough to know whether this specific aspect of his powers was treated in detail. I have no idea what I'm talking about!

Even with a wandering mind, there are certain instinctive pulses that can't be set aside. If you are daydreaming and there is a loud explosion of some sort, you're going to snap out of it and be fully aware of what's going on. As soon as the gun went off (and on a subconscious level, when seeing all the signs of pulling the trigger), he would instinctively have gone into 'speed mode' so to speak. When she jumped out of the window earlier in the film (which isn't a flawed concept for her if she's that certain of who he is), it didn't take him a few seconds to think, "Oh no, I need to go into super-speed mode." No, it was instinctive and he took a very brief moment to come up with a plan (I'm sure he thought over several plans before deciding on what he did). Because of that, he already knew that she doesn't bluff about trying things. So when she pulled out the gun, he would have known that she would likely fire it.

ccr1633 (Sat Apr 9 2016 14:48:45)
I don't see any flaw in the logic. Where you could criticize my argument is here: I never read Superman comics religiously enough to know whether this specific aspect of his powers was treated in detail. I have no idea what I'm talking about!

While I thank you for trying to help me defeat you, the movie provides all the necessary information and also, I doubt that comic canon could be successfully used as any sort of argument. After all, there are differences between the comics and the movies that distance them from each other enough that one can't be used to argue with the other.

For arguments sake though, let's say that he wouldn't have seen a bullet because he was distracted just enough that by the time he would have been able to see it (had there been one), that it would have already hit him. He still would have felt something. Since he didn't feel anything (and it wouldn't have been painful to him, just the feeling of something pushing against him), he should have known instantly that it was a blank. His mind, by that point, would have been in super-speed mode and he would have considered the possibilities and realized she wasn't really taking that risk of putting someone's life on the line just to prove who he was, just in case she was indeed wrong.

[–] murali9395-448-850547 7 years ago

"So when he didn't feel a bullet, he should have been thinking, "Huh?" and acting accordingly, like, "well I didn't get hurt, so must not have any real bullets in there.""

Superman wouldn't say "I didn't get hurt" cause he can't be hurt. He reacts to human stuff like walking into a door or getting shoved as part of his facade - he is not being injured. Superman has been shot at - nothing happens. He is bulletproof. If you have the extended version (or TV/international cut) of the first Superman movie, you'll see that rounds of machine guns don't do anything; he barely feels it.

[–] FangsMcWolf 7 years ago

I meant that from the "I'm Clark Kent" perspective. He wouldn't have felt anything, so he wouldn't have been "hurt."

[–] calcaneus67 8 years ago

Pretty good argument and I agree. However, what if Superman ~wanted~ for Lois to find out that he was pretending to be Clark Kent? Sure he could have told her outright but he may have had some mental block about doing that. Some criminals will do stupid stuff to get caught because they want the attention i.e. Dennis Rader.

[–] millsey72 (9547) 3 years ago

You found a plot hole