Revealing mistake: In the final scene, Superman is returning the White House's flag to its rightful place, flying over the fountain on the lawn...which is frozen solid in place. Obviously a photo backdrop.
Superman II (1980)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: Richard Donner, Richard Lester
Starring: Gene Hackman, Ned Beatty, Terence Stamp, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Jackie Cooper
Realizing that the battle of the titans in Metropolis will accomplish nothing but death and destruction for the city and its human inhabitants, Superman flies away to his Fortress of Solitude in the far north. The super-villains follow close behind, with Lois Lane and Lex Luthor in tow. After attempting to battle in the Fortress of Solitude, the super-villains threaten to kill Lois unless Superman gives up. He steps into the chamber that removed his powers earlier in the film, but has anticipated this move and so has reversed its effects--the chamber protects him from losing his powers, while the super-villains who are standing outside the chamber instead lose theirs.Superman finally kneels before General Zod, only to crush his hand and throws him into a deep crevasse. Non tries to fly to the rescue of his master, only to fall into another crevasse himself. Finally, Lois punches Ursa, who then falls into yet another crevasse. Superman and Lois fly back to Metropolis, leaving the traitorous Lex Luthor to fend for himself. Back in Metropolis, Superman causes Lois to forget his secret identity with a super-kiss so as to spare her from the despair of knowing that they can never be together. He is again and forever Superman, and ties up a couple of other loose ends as the movie closes.
Steve
More mistakes in Superman II
General Zod: I win. I always win. Is there no-one on this planet to even challenge me?
Trivia: Some of Gene Hackman's scenes were actually filmed with a body double and a voice impersonator. That's because he had already completed all his scenes under Donner's direction and was not obligated to return for Lester's reshoots, either due to unavailability (according to Ilya Salkind) or unwillingness (out of loyalty to Donner). The voice impersonator was also used on a lot of Donner footage for audio consistency.
More questions & answers from Superman II
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Answer: In the theatrical cut, nobody really knows why the green crystal restored his powers. However if you watch the Richard Donner cut, it is explained that the green crystal is a communication device that helps Superman talks to the residual essence/spirit/ghost of his father Jor-El. Before he died, Jor-El gave the crystal to his son. Jor-El anticipated that Kal-El might give up his powers, and he also anticipated that Zod might eventually escape the Phantom Zone, so Jor-El lets his son absorb the leftover energy of his spirit, thus restoring all his Kryptonian powers.
Matt Van Gogh