Yeah. But you forgot about all of the other times that I bought round, after round; and you guys just let me. That's why I invented the saying "Free Beer Tomorrow". Edit: HAPPY NEW YEAR! 🍻😂
@fjccommish Hey, don't sass the messenger. These inane youtubers are responding to a question raised by dozens upon dozens of commenters... we do not in fact think there's anything noteworthy behind this line of dialog, except for the fact that so many people have asked us about it.
I always thought that he was playing a game, but he rigged the Fortress to do the projections, like he rigged it to remove powers. Jor-El and Lara were projections of a sort.
My take has always been that the Fortress of Solitude gives Superman "Home Court Advantage" The Fortress is generating the illusions of Superman, just like we saw it do with his Mother and Father.
As a child I didn't think much of that scene but you mentioned the time travel scene. As a child I thought he was spinning the earth backwards. It was not until recently that I found he was going back through time and thought oh that is a new way of looking at it and also explained why people didn't just fly off the earth as I remember imagining people flying off the earth due to the earth spinning backwards.
@@cjalexanderjr8811 I wish Donner would've had Reeves/Superman crying, alittle, during his "turning the world backwards" close-up shots. And that after crying look during the "turning the world forward, again" close-ups.
There is a comic by J.Michael Straczynski in which Clark Kent goes to Metropolis and checks out various jobs. Naturally he is offered athletic jobs, such as football, but also intellectual science jobs. He ends up taking the one at the Daily Planet because he is impressed by their ethics.
Jean Luc Picard: “Kalel, otherwise known as Superman, I hereby charge you with violating the Prime Directive of Earth… the tribunal hereby sentences you to DEATH.”
I just think he's talking about tag or hide-and-seek in Smallville elementary. His earth parents forbade him from using his powers in public, so he wasn't very good at games like that. Not sure what the controversy or confusion is.
The better question is about a quote in the first Superman movie when Clark came to pick up Lois for their date, and when she went to get her coat, he takes off his glasses and says, "Lois, there's something I need to tell you. I'm really....I mean I was really nervous about tonight...." So, what was he about to say? I'm really.... Superman? She hadn't named him Superman yet. I'm really.... a friend? I'm really... that guy you just flew around with? Maybe the reason he didn't finish the sentence is because he never told her his name! She asked him his name when she was interviewing him, and he said, "What do you mean, like Ralph or something?" Maybe he was going to say, "I'm really.... RALPH, from Krypton, with a K-R-Y."
Figured the DC comics later tied-in this scene indirectly. Supes trained for the "Man of Steel" issue arc (post death/resurrection 90s era), in a Kryptonian martial art. It was called _Torqasm_ _Vo_ . It was all done on a psychic level, using evasion and illusion between opponents.
I think it was in the seventies Superman could shoot rainbows from his hands. In one issue. Never explained or seen again. Magic plastic emblems and teleportation doesn’t surprise me or live up to rainbow beams.
I just figured he was talking about when he was growing up in Smallville and going to school. He probably got picked on a lot (we see some of that in the first Superman movie with the guys on the football field and in the car), so he probably got back at some of them by showing off his powers (just like when he ran ahead of the car in Superman I), and disappearing and reappearing was probably one of those show-offs/practical jokes. He probably wasn't any good at it because he was young and just discovering his powers before he got his mentoring (and probably training) with Jor-El and the teaching crystals in the Fortress of Solitude, where, as he told Lois, that's where he learned his purpose and what he had to do.
Never had any idea what he was on about but never really cared too much. The first two Chris Reeve Superman films have plenty of headscratchers in them like the Kryptonians talking on the moon which even as a kid I knew was impossible but the movies still work beautifully and are huge fun.
Comic book Supes collected and stored lots of weird alien tech in the Fortress, so I gave the movie scriptwriters a pass for these perceived inconsistencies. Whatever happens in the Fortress stays in the Fortress!
@@bartbrodsky7190 They all have traditional heat vision so why not just use that? Don’t give them powers that are like “we only use the finger rays on other Kryptonians…” that was dumb.
@@mat0018 and that's why you guys can't have nice things nowadays: you overthink it and overanalyze it too much. Sometimes, you just turn off the brain and enjoy the movie...
@seanhardner5842 The laser fingers was simply telekinesis. Zod also uses this power earlier when they attack the small town. It wasn't just a power they used only in the Fortress. This is all of course the Lester cut only.
@ yes I watched the whole movie… but do Kryptonians have telekinetic finger rays? Or can they turn invisible, teleport or make multiple illusionary images of themselves? Why not have them fight with traditional powers they have plenty for a good fight scene? 🤔
I always thought Clark/Superman "played" this in "school" meant that, while he learned about his powers from holographic Jor-El, one lesson (of many that took years of study), was this "game" - a game used to practice this power.
I was never confused by the line. I mean, maybe a quesiton of which game he's talking about, but we did get to see Superman in high school. Safe to assume that he was in grade school at some point.
@@Aerxis yeah overthinking is one of the things I like to do with movies myself. Although to be fair it doesn't take a lot of thinking to think a particular line isn't very good or doesn't make sense.
I think it's good to overthink our favorite media sometimes. As long we leave our egos at the door, it can be a fun way to increase our appreciation for art and entertainment.
With his crazy powers of multiplying himself, I figured that was Super Speed, doing after images. If the power is actually clones, then that night with Lois must have been a reeaaal good one, lol. Which reminds me that the main thing I never liked about the Christopher Reeve Superman films, is that he never actually ends up with Lois. (Unless you count the Brandon Routh appearance in the CW Crisis... And even then, they did the Injustice route, and Joker killed everyone) It was annoying anytime he got close with Lois he would use the dumb mind wipe kiss. Idk why they gave him that power.
To be honest, the way the dialog is written, you would assume that he was talking about a Kryptonian game he played on Krypton that used the same optical illusion he employed to move himself and the others around creating hologram duplicates. That is literally what I thought he meant. It can be argued the screen play writer thought it would be a fun line to insert in the moment and mistakenly overlooked the fact that Superman did not grow up on Krypton. Its an obvious mistake that made it into the script. Luckily it can be explained away with the hide and seek on earth cover.
I always thought the comment didn’t matter because that version of Superman wasn’t real, just a shadow. I like the comment because on the surface it seems fine, but there’s something not quite right, just like the apparition itself.
When I was a kid, I don’t remember thinking anything odd about it. I was also young, so it just was another line in the movie. It wasn’t until now that it did seem a little bit odd.
I always figured it used some speculative time travel concept where travelling faster than the speed of light made you go back in time. People used to say that light could go around earth 6 times a second (which would depend on altitude) and he went faster than that, so it made sense to me at the time. Of course then he reverses the direction to go forward in time, but let's not think too hard about it. lol.
In superman II we had two different directors. Richard Lester known for Hard days night and the Three Musketeers where Lester works with the Salkin brothers, future Producers of Superman movie. The legal consequences of firing Richard Donor meant some footage was available some off limits. Richard Lester had to finish the movie.
He's criticized for some of the dorkiness like what happened to the people in the street while the bad guys were attacking, especially with super-breath. But I kind of liked that and can't see what it might have been replaced with. They say Donner planned to burn models of Tokyo and Moscow, which would make the President more likely to surrender before they did that to Washington, DC.
He's being sarcastic to Lois. Telling her he isn't very good at the game then instantly fooling her as she tries to grab his arm like 'Oh haha I fooled you I AM good at this
He said it to Lois to throw the others off guard thinking he was with Lois. The weird powers could be something special he can do while in the Fortress. They are all illusions generated
Definitely "Hide and Seek" because he'd win every tag game out there. "Hide and Seek" depends on figuring out where to hide, and learning where your opponents would hide, but Kal'El doesn't have to hide from anyone on Earth, so the skill wouldn't be very good for him. Ironically what he did learn of it was enough to take on three Kryptonians that matched his abilities, even if he ultimately did lose the game. That's what the reverse power-deleting mechanism was for; the backup plan. He knew if they beat him, they'd force him to give up his powers, and he played on that knowledge to finally beat them.
I recently came up with a fifth Superman movie with Christopher Reeves back then. Superman vs. Mr. Mxyzptlk. Superman V: Across The Fifth Dimension. with Mr. Mxyzptlk played by Robin Williams.
Cool! Apparently Dudley Moore was favored to play Mr. Mxyzptlk in III before they changed the story. That actually would have been a good choice, I think. But Robin would have been great as well.
Iirc, for flying around the earth to go back in time. from the comic books, or maybe I just made it up to make it make sense, he was going so fast he got back to where he was before he left.
Before all this Clark gets his powers back but by actually becoming one with Jorel as the kryptonian prophecy is fulfilled "The son becomes the father and the father the son". So it's basically Jorel speaking through Clark which makes the statement correct.
It's was when he was a teenager and built the fortuss of solitude with the green crystal 12 years passed when he learned practically everything in his birth planet and the other known galaxys but also about his abilitys One being a simulation on copy's of holograms he would have to test his mental ability To find the one that posed a threat. Under years of combat training he knew the best tactical advantage would be to get near zod.
Whenever Clark is talking to Lois, even if he's in his uniform, she brings out the Clark in him. Deep down Clark is not Kal-El the super baby from Krypton. He's a kid from Smallville Kansas. Being a Krypton baby has no real part of his persona. He rarely ever remembers his biological parents. So when he's talking to Lois in this moment, he's telling her what it was like to play games with other humanoids on Earth, cuz tho it's his adopted home, it's really the only home he knows.
Maybe. But I think of him as being re-educated by Jor-El's A.I. for 10-12 years. If he was overly religious, selfish, Communist or whatever, it would have to deal with that. So he's less Clark and more Kal-El, with Superman being the persona he created from childhood imaginings, vanity and a feeling of rebellion toward Jor-El. I don't think they showed him visiting Ma Kent after that in the Reeve movies. I like imagining a brain-dim version of him going to the Fortress of Solitude with young supervillains trying to ally with him or manipulate him and what Jor-El's A.I. might do to them.
Maybe he did play this game at school, it doesn't mean that the kids he tricked new what he was doing, he was good at it because he couldn't never be found and no one could hide from him, so the other kids didn't want to play with him.
We just didn't overthink movies back then like people do now. In this case, I think it was just a line they thought was funny and didn't put more thought into it than that. Maybe they meant tag or hide and seek, I certainly didn't really put any thought into until just now.
It means Clark does that trick at school so he wouldn’t have to do work at school so while his hologram does work his real self does fun stuff somewhere else
Superman was talking about how he'd played 'Hide N' Seek' with classmates, back when he was in School. "We used to play this game in School". Where he used his super speed to move around to different spots in the Gym, or Locker Room.
I'm pretty sure the belief was, and maybe still is, that, as you approach light speed, time slows down, so it would have to be the case that, if you exceeded light speed, time would have to go backwards to balance the equation.
What I want to know is, When did he have time to make a very realistic stone effigy of himself & place it in full view of everyone without being seen? Did he have one just hanging about?
The problem is we live in a time where everything needs to be deconstructed. I only ask myself one question when watching a movie or show. Am I entertained?
But I think everyone has a red line. If you're just going "that's not possible" or "are you kidding me with this?" Throughout the entire movie, then you won't be entertained.
I always thought of him saying that as being facetious. Like I use to play but was never really good at it…..as obviously he would have been good at tag or hide and seek with his powers. So I believe he was being facetious.
At 1st I thought SM came-up with some hella crazy powers. But later on, my friend, much older & a long time reader, suggested that The Fortress of Solitude was involved. Pre-laid traps, Kryptonian technology (the big S), adding to SMs powers/cloaking SM in force-fields (redirecting eye-beams back at Zod, Ursela, Non).
Superman’s line, ‘We used to play this game at school,’ doesn’t really make sense when you think about it. On Krypton, under the red sun, no one-including kids-would have superpowers like creating mirages of themselves. These abilities only work on Earth because of the yellow sun. So how could kids on Krypton play a game like that? Even if this was something Clark learned from Jor-El’s education crystals, it still wouldn’t involve mirages or superpowers since Kryptonians on Krypton were essentially just like humans without their powers. This seems like a fun line for the scene, but it doesn’t really hold up logically when you consider Superman’s origins.
Agreed. And since Krypton exploded when Kal-El was just a baby and therefore he never went to school on Krypton (even if they DID have powers on Krypton), then that can only mean he played this game in school on Earth...which leads me to ask the question "Who would he have been playing this game with at school, since he was keeping his powers a secret from everyone except his adoptive parents? And I am not going to automatically assume that he was joking with that line to Lois because it seemed like a truthful statement coming from him. Also, I'm not going to automatically assume that he was talking about playing a NORMAL game of tag or hide and seek because in that scene he was NOT playing a normal game of tag or hide and seek. I can only go by what he is actually doing in that scene when he says that line.
@@aram.v I always assumed those were holograms Superman made using the alien technology in the Fortress. Granted, the Fortress wasn't constructed until after Clark finished school and went off on his own. However, it could be assumed that he meant "school" as in Jor-El's training. He probably played around with these holograms to take a break from training or even used these holograms for his training in the Fortress of Solitude.
@@AnansiTheSpider8 Maybe as a little kid on Earth he played that game with his classmates? Of course, if any of them went to their parents about it, the parents would just say "haven't I told you to stop telling lies???" (smack.)
Good morning gentleman. I agree with you that he was playing around and trying to put Lois at ease. It is rare to see Superman make a joke, when he does, he knows he has the upper hand. Remember in the first movie (actually first half of Superman 1 and 2) when he rescued Lois and did all those other rescues as he revealed himself, all of his dialogue had funny remarks (Bad Vibrations, Elevator doesn't work, giving Lois statics of flying as safe way to travel). When I heard this line for the first time, I didn't think much of it. And besides, it is rare to show Kal'El's childhood on Earth, maybe he was too good and the reason why the other kids would not play the game with him. LOL, as always THANK YOU and stay safe!
Great observations. Yes, I agree, it's gotta be just a joke... also another cue is his mischievous smile when she walks through him. Cheers Tyrone, thanks!
Some films leaves u wondering about a certain line or action that happened but most of Superman films I just took it lightly because it was based on a comic book and anything was possible because it’s just imagination anyway.
I think what's confusing people with the line is, they think that he played it with Zod in school but, Zod was an adult when Superman was born and was trapped in the Phantom Zone for years. The line clearly says the HE use to play it in school, not THEY. Zod and his team were playing hide and seek or tag while Superman was playing chess.
The fans are overthinking all of this stuff way more than the writers. The writers thought the cellophane Superman logo would look cool. That's it. They thought the reference to children's games would sound clever. It's a really cool movie but not a lot of deep hidden meanings.
I wish I could agree with the theory of Sup’s just flying back in time. The key problem with that is that after his first speed run, he intentionally reverses course and spins the planet’s rotation, back in the normal direction. For the theory to hold, he should have simply stopped after flying backwards, and watched as the world spun in normal direction on its own.
Maybe he overshot🤔 Maybe in order to synchronise his temporal phase, he needed to go backwards to align with the temporal flux he altered. I've no idea what I've just said😂
Exactly. If goong back in time has nothing to do with the Earth's rotation, why did he fly first one way, then the other? We should just recognize it for what it was: a badly conceived illustration of how Supes would make time run backwards on Earth (and would not just go back in time himself), that doesnt ruin the movie once you realize it isnt hard to get over it.
I actually spent some time coming up with logical reasons for some of these powers but after a while I realized it was a fool's gambit... accomplishing nothing.
You make a great point about the "child mentality". I saw an old kid's show the other day that I had no issue with at the time (Bod, BBC) and there were bits I couldn't get at all as an adult.
Actually my take on it was very different. You remember how Jor el educated him for 12 years about earth culture, galaxies and krypton? I just assumed this was something he learned about krypton and it's past. That's why he made that comment, it was something he learned about krypton from the education crystals.
Superman’s line doesn’t add up-Kryptonians under a red sun wouldn’t have powers like creating mirages of themselves. These abilities come from Earth’s yellow sun, so how could kids on Krypton play this game? Fun line, but it doesn’t really make sense.
In Superman II, during the Fortress of Solitude scene, Superman uses holograms to confuse the villains and tells Lois, "I used to play this game back in school," referencing childhood games like hide-and-seek to explain his clever strategy. Still doesn't make sense?
I always assumed he was talking about splitting himself into after- images (moving so fast he is in multiple places at once). And naturally he's referring to himself as a young boy playing tricks on teachers and students being in one place and then another (pranking them). And this assumption was only further validated in my mind decades later, when I learned what a mess Superman II's script and production was. I still just assume that they literally didn't know that Clark didn't have his powers discovered yet at that age! ...Remember that these are the bright encyclopedia minds who understood Superman so little, that they gave him a magic emblem that wraps people up! lol I mean, they establish that he is fast enough to turn back time/the planet (which is at least comic accurate) - so why not be 10 or twenty feet apart in the same room (or building) in what appears to us in nanoseconds? Honestly, I _STILL_ feel like I'm the only person on the planet whose right about this. The reason it's a confusing line, is because - like most of Superman II - you have to suspend your Superman knowledge and just roll with it for the schlocky popcorn film it is.
never thought about the line and even as a kid I always assumed he was moving so fast that even with their super powers they couldn't keep up, but that cellophane shield even as a kid I was like "what the hell was that?!"😂, and that's coming from someone that loves superman 3&4 and supergirl just as much as the first two and the donner cut!
You may have touched on this, but regarding the various powers i.e. cellophane S, making copies of himself, etc may have all come from the crystals. Krypton's technology was millions of years more advanced and the movies never delved deep into what the Fortress of Solitude was capable of. While it may look a bit absurd, I just think Superman learned to use the technology of the Fortress of Solitude beyond his more common powers of strength, speed, invulnerability, x-ray vision, heat vision and flying. I'm not a comic book aficionado so maybe the comics went deep into what the Fortress of Solitude was capable of.
Never really thought about the game, but it would be nice to see official clarification about the time travel thing. Otherwise it raises a lot of questions like "does that mean Superman doesn't stop the first missile?". It wasn't a very clear way to show Superman breaking the time barrier, which by that point he did in the comics so often it's not surprising.
They had no option but to play this game in school because Clark had kicked all the footballs into orbit.
I want to know what the football was made from to be able take a kick like that.
lol that made me laugh. 😂
I once knew a guy who used to disappear into thin air when it was his turn to buy a round of drinks in the pub.
Yeah. But you forgot about all of the other times that I bought round, after round; and you guys just let me. That's why I invented the saying "Free Beer Tomorrow".
Edit: HAPPY NEW YEAR! 🍻😂
It's not an "S". On my world, it's a kite, lol.
It was a big giant fruit roll-up! 😋
@@nuniobinez4066 Then there’s the James Gunn Superman.
“This not an S. On my world, it’s a backslash.”
I always assumed he was talking about hide and seek
@@sonnywoods6846 nah, he was talking about Super Mario Bros 3
@@DissociatedWomenIncorporated Are you sure it wasn't Halo?
@@davidwuhrer6704 dude, this was the 80s. Everyone thought that Halo sucked.
@@DissociatedWomenIncorporated You're right, I was thinking of Quake. I don't know how I confused those.
I got two things out of that dialogue:
1) He used to play that game in school.
2) He never was very good at it.
Seems pretty simple to me.
🙂
Okay, but what advice would you give to someone who wasn't good at that game in school and still seeks to improve?
Practice
Exactly. These inane youtubers try to make it something it's not.
@fjccommish Hey, don't sass the messenger. These inane youtubers are responding to a question raised by dozens upon dozens of commenters... we do not in fact think there's anything noteworthy behind this line of dialog, except for the fact that so many people have asked us about it.
I always just assumed he said that to calm Lois down in a very strange situation.
That’s my thought as well
I just thought he was making a light-hearted, sparky comment.
Joking with Lois.
I always thought that he was playing a game, but he rigged the Fortress to do the projections, like he rigged it to remove powers. Jor-El and Lara were projections of a sort.
@hoserlu Exactly. I always thought he was playing tag, but using the Fortress' holographic capabilities.
I never thought that line was weird. I just assumed he was joking with her. Just throwing out a line to add some humor for the moment.
My take has always been that the Fortress of Solitude gives Superman "Home Court Advantage" The Fortress is generating the illusions of Superman, just like we saw it do with his Mother and Father.
Brilliant conclusion!
@@restlessbohemian26 Thank you.
As a child I didn't think much of that scene but you mentioned the time travel scene. As a child I thought he was spinning the earth backwards. It was not until recently that I found he was going back through time and thought oh that is a new way of looking at it and also explained why people didn't just fly off the earth as I remember imagining people flying off the earth due to the earth spinning backwards.
"You are forbidden to interfere with human history!"
Then proceeds to save lives which would have butterfly effects on the future.
@@cjalexanderjr8811 I wish Donner would've had Reeves/Superman crying, alittle, during his "turning the world backwards" close-up shots. And that after crying look during the "turning the world forward, again" close-ups.
@@2bituser569 LOL,..maybe but how would anyone know what that was?
My little kid brain understood both going back in time and this. 80s Superman was my first comic book super hero.
There is a comic by J.Michael Straczynski in which Clark Kent goes to Metropolis and checks out various jobs. Naturally he is offered athletic jobs, such as football, but also intellectual science jobs. He ends up taking the one at the Daily Planet because he is impressed by their ethics.
Jean Luc Picard: “Kalel, otherwise known as Superman, I hereby charge you with violating the Prime Directive of Earth… the tribunal hereby sentences you to DEATH.”
@@The_Game_Father Kal-El.
I just think he's talking about tag or hide-and-seek in Smallville elementary. His earth parents forbade him from using his powers in public, so he wasn't very good at games like that. Not sure what the controversy or confusion is.
Oh. I thought he was talking about a game where he made copies of himself and you have to guess which one is the real one.
The better question is about a quote in the first Superman movie when Clark came to pick up Lois for their date, and when she went to get her coat, he takes off his glasses and says, "Lois, there's something I need to tell you. I'm really....I mean I was really nervous about tonight...." So, what was he about to say? I'm really.... Superman? She hadn't named him Superman yet. I'm really.... a friend? I'm really... that guy you just flew around with? Maybe the reason he didn't finish the sentence is because he never told her his name! She asked him his name when she was interviewing him, and he said, "What do you mean, like Ralph or something?" Maybe he was going to say, "I'm really.... RALPH, from Krypton, with a K-R-Y."
The celophane "S" could be from his store in the fortress. The white beams from his hands are not so easily explained away.
@davidsmith5523 I just took it to mean the usual laws of reality didn't exist inside the Fortress.
I always assumed that either in the rocket or during his training he "experienced" a simulated childhood on Krypton.
Figured the DC comics later tied-in this scene indirectly. Supes trained for the "Man of Steel" issue arc (post death/resurrection 90s era), in a Kryptonian martial art. It was called _Torqasm_ _Vo_ . It was all done on a psychic level, using evasion and illusion between opponents.
Interesting! I'm gonna have to look into that. Thanks for that, cheers 👊
I think it was in the seventies Superman could shoot rainbows from his hands. In one issue. Never explained or seen again. Magic plastic emblems and teleportation doesn’t surprise me or live up to rainbow beams.
I just figured he was talking about when he was growing up in Smallville and going to school. He probably got picked on a lot (we see some of that in the first Superman movie with the guys on the football field and in the car), so he probably got back at some of them by showing off his powers (just like when he ran ahead of the car in Superman I), and disappearing and reappearing was probably one of those show-offs/practical jokes. He probably wasn't any good at it because he was young and just discovering his powers before he got his mentoring (and probably training) with Jor-El and the teaching crystals in the Fortress of Solitude, where, as he told Lois, that's where he learned his purpose and what he had to do.
Never had any idea what he was on about but never really cared too much. The first two Chris Reeve Superman films have plenty of headscratchers in them like the Kryptonians talking on the moon which even as a kid I knew was impossible but the movies still work beautifully and are huge fun.
Comic book Supes collected and stored lots of weird alien tech in the Fortress, so I gave the movie scriptwriters a pass for these perceived inconsistencies. Whatever happens in the Fortress stays in the Fortress!
Nope. Those were silly powers. The laser fingers was originally just heat vision in the revised script. Lester just went full Silver Age power set.
@@bartbrodsky7190 They all have traditional heat vision so why not just use that? Don’t give them powers that are like “we only use the finger rays on other Kryptonians…” that was dumb.
@@mat0018 and that's why you guys can't have nice things nowadays: you overthink it and overanalyze it too much. Sometimes, you just turn off the brain and enjoy the movie...
@seanhardner5842 The laser fingers was simply telekinesis. Zod also uses this power earlier when they attack the small town. It wasn't just a power they used only in the Fortress. This is all of course the Lester cut only.
@ yes I watched the whole movie… but do Kryptonians have telekinetic finger rays? Or can they turn invisible, teleport or make multiple illusionary images of themselves? Why not have them fight with traditional powers they have plenty for a good fight scene? 🤔
I always thought Clark/Superman "played" this in "school" meant that, while he learned about his powers from holographic Jor-El, one lesson (of many that took years of study), was this "game" - a game used to practice this power.
I was never confused by the line. I mean, maybe a quesiton of which game he's talking about, but we did get to see Superman in high school. Safe to assume that he was in grade school at some point.
Another answer: when he was growing up, he studied a lot in the Fortress of Solitude. That could be considered school where he learned this game.
I’m so glad this video/channel was randomly in my feed! Now subscribed!
Hide and Seek. He wasn’t good at it because he didn’t use his powers in school.
Superman’s basically saying it’s child’s play
I am glad I can watch movies and enjoy them without overthinking scenes.
But what if overthinking is precisely what let's you enjoy movies?
@@Aerxis yeah overthinking is one of the things I like to do with movies myself. Although to be fair it doesn't take a lot of thinking to think a particular line isn't very good or doesn't make sense.
I think it's good to overthink our favorite media sometimes. As long we leave our egos at the door, it can be a fun way to increase our appreciation for art and entertainment.
I always just shrugged my shoulders at that line and kept paying attention to the movie.
With his crazy powers of multiplying himself, I figured that was Super Speed, doing after images.
If the power is actually clones, then that night with Lois must have been a reeaaal good one, lol.
Which reminds me that the main thing I never liked about the Christopher Reeve Superman films, is that he never actually ends up with Lois. (Unless you count the Brandon Routh appearance in the CW Crisis... And even then, they did the Injustice route, and Joker killed everyone)
It was annoying anytime he got close with Lois he would use the dumb mind wipe kiss.
Idk why they gave him that power.
To be honest, the way the dialog is written, you would assume that he was talking about a Kryptonian game he played on Krypton that used the same optical illusion he employed to move himself and the others around creating hologram duplicates. That is literally what I thought he meant. It can be argued the screen play writer thought it would be a fun line to insert in the moment and mistakenly overlooked the fact that Superman did not grow up on Krypton. Its an obvious mistake that made it into the script. Luckily it can be explained away with the hide and seek on earth cover.
I always thought the comment didn’t matter because that version of Superman wasn’t real, just a shadow. I like the comment because on the surface it seems fine, but there’s something not quite right, just like the apparition itself.
When I was a kid, I don’t remember thinking anything odd about it. I was also young, so it just was another line in the movie. It wasn’t until now that it did seem a little bit odd.
Up until 2 minutes ago, I thought that if you turn the Earth backwards, time goes backwards.
I always figured it used some speculative time travel concept where travelling faster than the speed of light made you go back in time. People used to say that light could go around earth 6 times a second (which would depend on altitude) and he went faster than that, so it made sense to me at the time. Of course then he reverses the direction to go forward in time, but let's not think too hard about it. lol.
In superman II we had two different directors. Richard Lester known for Hard days night and the Three Musketeers where Lester works with the Salkin brothers, future Producers of Superman movie. The legal consequences of firing Richard Donor meant some footage was available some off limits. Richard Lester had to finish the movie.
He's criticized for some of the dorkiness like what happened to the people in the street while the bad guys were attacking, especially with super-breath. But I kind of liked that and can't see what it might have been replaced with. They say Donner planned to burn models of Tokyo and Moscow, which would make the President more likely to surrender before they did that to Washington, DC.
The bit that gets me is ‘we used to play’. Who’s ‘we’? He grew up on a farm in Kansas, no one else could do what he did.
@@roddyalcivar The other hims? Never really thought about that line either. Strangely fun to unpack.
I don't think he actually says "we", though. I think it's "Used to play this game in school", with "I" being implied.
He's being sarcastic to Lois. Telling her he isn't very good at the game then instantly fooling her as she tries to grab his arm like 'Oh haha I fooled you I AM good at this
He said it to Lois to throw the others off guard thinking he was with Lois. The weird powers could be something special he can do while in the Fortress. They are all illusions generated
Its like the "i remember when I drank my first beer"
Ha, that actually would have been a much better line.
Definitely "Hide and Seek" because he'd win every tag game out there. "Hide and Seek" depends on figuring out where to hide, and learning where your opponents would hide, but Kal'El doesn't have to hide from anyone on Earth, so the skill wouldn't be very good for him. Ironically what he did learn of it was enough to take on three Kryptonians that matched his abilities, even if he ultimately did lose the game. That's what the reverse power-deleting mechanism was for; the backup plan. He knew if they beat him, they'd force him to give up his powers, and he played on that knowledge to finally beat them.
I recently came up with a fifth Superman movie with Christopher Reeves back then. Superman vs. Mr. Mxyzptlk. Superman V: Across The Fifth Dimension.
with Mr. Mxyzptlk played by Robin Williams.
@@davidcave5426 Yeah I can see that, that could be awesome
I still say retcon it to establish that Jessie Eisenberg is playing Mxyzptlk and he's merely impersonating Luthor.
Cool! Apparently Dudley Moore was favored to play Mr. Mxyzptlk in III before they changed the story. That actually would have been a good choice, I think. But Robin would have been great as well.
would have been fun to see as Chris and Robin were best friends.
@qaskhan1067 Yes! Man, good point that would have been magic seeing them together.
Iirc, for flying around the earth to go back in time. from the comic books, or maybe I just made it up to make it make sense, he was going so fast he got back to where he was before he left.
He is speaking as Clark since Lois knew he was Superman at that point LOL!🦸♂🤗🙏🕵
It never threw me. I always assumed he meant playing hide & seek or tag (tig here in the UK) at school, growing up in Smallville.
How can he not be good a tag or hide and seek if he can do that?
This is why I think he’s just joking.
Before all this Clark gets his powers back but by actually becoming one with Jorel as the kryptonian prophecy is fulfilled "The son becomes the father and the father the son". So it's basically Jorel speaking through Clark which makes the statement correct.
That's an interesting take! Hadn't heard that one before, but I like it. Cheers
It's was when he was a teenager and built the fortuss of solitude with the green crystal 12 years passed when he learned practically everything in his birth planet and the other known galaxys
but also about his abilitys
One being a simulation on copy's of holograms he would have to test his mental ability
To find the one that posed a threat.
Under years of combat training he knew the best tactical advantage would be to get near zod.
Whenever Clark is talking to Lois, even if he's in his uniform, she brings out the Clark in him. Deep down Clark is not Kal-El the super baby from Krypton. He's a kid from Smallville Kansas. Being a Krypton baby has no real part of his persona. He rarely ever remembers his biological parents. So when he's talking to Lois in this moment, he's telling her what it was like to play games with other humanoids on Earth, cuz tho it's his adopted home, it's really the only home he knows.
Maybe. But I think of him as being re-educated by Jor-El's A.I. for 10-12 years. If he was overly religious, selfish, Communist or whatever, it would have to deal with that. So he's less Clark and more Kal-El, with Superman being the persona he created from childhood imaginings, vanity and a feeling of rebellion toward Jor-El. I don't think they showed him visiting Ma Kent after that in the Reeve movies.
I like imagining a brain-dim version of him going to the Fortress of Solitude with young supervillains trying to ally with him or manipulate him and what Jor-El's A.I. might do to them.
Maybe he did play this game at school, it doesn't mean that the kids he tricked new what he was doing, he was good at it because he couldn't never be found and no one could hide from him, so the other kids didn't want to play with him.
We just didn't overthink movies back then like people do now. In this case, I think it was just a line they thought was funny and didn't put more thought into it than that. Maybe they meant tag or hide and seek, I certainly didn't really put any thought into until just now.
It means Clark does that trick at school so he wouldn’t have to do work at school so while his hologram does work his real self does fun stuff somewhere else
Superman was talking about how he'd played 'Hide N' Seek' with classmates, back when he was in School. "We used to play this game in School". Where he used his super speed to move around to different spots in the Gym, or Locker Room.
only he "was never really good at it" because he didn't use his powers at school to blend in.
He created an after image.
I'm pretty sure the belief was, and maybe still is, that, as you approach light speed, time slows down, so it would have to be the case that, if you exceeded light speed, time would have to go backwards to balance the equation.
Sounds good to me! Thanks Ash 👊
What I want to know is, When did he have time to make a very realistic stone effigy of himself & place it in full view of everyone without being seen? Did he have one just hanging about?
The problem is we live in a time where everything needs to be deconstructed. I only ask myself one question when watching a movie or show.
Am I entertained?
That's cool, dude. There's no "need" for things to be analyzed, we just enjoy it.
@@prodigioussaps Yep. Even if it's for the wrong reasons (not what the filmmakers intended) as long as I walk away entertained, I'm happy.
But I think everyone has a red line. If you're just going "that's not possible" or "are you kidding me with this?" Throughout the entire movie, then you won't be entertained.
Superman turning time back was a violation of the Prime Directive…
Yep, and the Time Variance Authority!
@ 🤣
The ultimate explanation: Richard Lester was messing around and didn't give a f*ck.
I always thought of him saying that as being facetious. Like I use to play but was never really good at it…..as obviously he would have been good at tag or hide and seek with his powers. So I believe he was being facetious.
I agree. Cheers 👊
I thought clark was just being a wise ass
I know I watched that movie many years ago, but I totally do not remember any of that silliness in the Fortress of Solitude. Wow.
At 1st I thought SM came-up with some hella crazy powers. But later on, my friend, much older & a long time reader, suggested that The Fortress of Solitude was involved. Pre-laid traps, Kryptonian technology (the big S), adding to SMs powers/cloaking SM in force-fields (redirecting eye-beams back at Zod, Ursela, Non).
I'm willing to accept the plastic S is a Kryptonian polymer that like batman's metal spike bats, this is Superman's version.
guess he never used his powers to cheat at tag.
Exactly, just 'Tag'.
Superman’s line, ‘We used to play this game at school,’ doesn’t really make sense when you think about it. On Krypton, under the red sun, no one-including kids-would have superpowers like creating mirages of themselves. These abilities only work on Earth because of the yellow sun. So how could kids on Krypton play a game like that? Even if this was something Clark learned from Jor-El’s education crystals, it still wouldn’t involve mirages or superpowers since Kryptonians on Krypton were essentially just like humans without their powers. This seems like a fun line for the scene, but it doesn’t really hold up logically when you consider Superman’s origins.
Agreed. And since Krypton exploded when Kal-El was just a baby and therefore he never went to school on Krypton (even if they DID have powers on Krypton), then that can only mean he played this game in school on Earth...which leads me to ask the question "Who would he have been playing this game with at school, since he was keeping his powers a secret from everyone except his adoptive parents?
And I am not going to automatically assume that he was joking with that line to Lois because it seemed like a truthful statement coming from him. Also, I'm not going to automatically assume that he was talking about playing a NORMAL game of tag or hide and seek because in that scene he was NOT playing a normal game of tag or hide and seek. I can only go by what he is actually doing in that scene when he says that line.
@@aram.v I always assumed those were holograms Superman made using the alien technology in the Fortress. Granted, the Fortress wasn't constructed until after Clark finished school and went off on his own. However, it could be assumed that he meant "school" as in Jor-El's training. He probably played around with these holograms to take a break from training or even used these holograms for his training in the Fortress of Solitude.
Totally agree, and always believed this was a huge plot mistake that was overlooked in post.
He grew up on Earth and we have games like 4 square and keep away.
@@AnansiTheSpider8 Maybe as a little kid on Earth he played that game with his classmates? Of course, if any of them went to their parents about it, the parents would just say "haven't I told you to stop telling lies???" (smack.)
Good morning gentleman. I agree with you that he was playing around and trying to put Lois at ease. It is rare to see Superman make a joke, when he does, he knows he has the upper hand. Remember in the first movie (actually first half of Superman 1 and 2) when he rescued Lois and did all those other rescues as he revealed himself, all of his dialogue had funny remarks (Bad Vibrations, Elevator doesn't work, giving Lois statics of flying as safe way to travel). When I heard this line for the first time, I didn't think much of it. And besides, it is rare to show Kal'El's childhood on Earth, maybe he was too good and the reason why the other kids would not play the game with him. LOL, as always THANK YOU and stay safe!
Great observations. Yes, I agree, it's gotta be just a joke... also another cue is his mischievous smile when she walks through him. Cheers Tyrone, thanks!
It doesn't make any sense, but it's delivered so charmingly by Christopher Reeve, we just go with it. At least it's not Superman III. Or IV.
@@Terminus_El_Camino I have a tremendous love for 3 because it was my introduction to superman.
@@moc9893 Well, it's OK to love a bad movie. Some of my favorite movies are not technically good at all.
Some films leaves u wondering about a certain line or action that happened but most of Superman films I just took it lightly because it was based on a comic book and anything was possible because it’s just imagination anyway.
I think what's confusing people with the line is, they think that he played it with Zod in school but, Zod was an adult when Superman was born and was trapped in the Phantom Zone for years. The line clearly says the HE use to play it in school, not THEY. Zod and his team were playing hide and seek or tag while Superman was playing chess.
Yeah, a lot of people apparently mishear it as “WE used to play this game” etc. But that’s not what he’s saying. Poorly written line, I think.
The fans are overthinking all of this stuff way more than the writers. The writers thought the cellophane Superman logo would look cool. That's it. They thought the reference to children's games would sound clever. It's a really cool movie but not a lot of deep hidden meanings.
0:56 That's a good explanation. But what about the time he used his heat vision and said "Just a little trick I picked up from my time in the Navy"😛
I wish I could agree with the theory of Sup’s just flying back in time. The key problem with that is that after his first speed run, he intentionally reverses course and spins the planet’s rotation, back in the normal direction. For the theory to hold, he should have simply stopped after flying backwards, and watched as the world spun in normal direction on its own.
@@alikus7 - No, he's got to bring himself back into the correct time stream.
Maybe he overshot🤔
Maybe in order to synchronise his temporal phase, he needed to go backwards to align with the temporal flux he altered.
I've no idea what I've just said😂
@@ejay1118 By...going further back in time?
@@alikus7 That's a good observation.
Exactly. If goong back in time has nothing to do with the Earth's rotation, why did he fly first one way, then the other?
We should just recognize it for what it was: a badly conceived illustration of how Supes would make time run backwards on Earth (and would not just go back in time himself), that doesnt ruin the movie once you realize it isnt hard to get over it.
I actually spent some time coming up with logical reasons for some of these powers but after a while I realized it was a fool's gambit... accomplishing nothing.
Don’t let that stop you! The less we accomplish here, the better. 👊
I always thought that, maybe because I played tagged all the time
It's holograms from the fortresses. Including the famous "S".
I think the line was less to "tease Lois", than to distract Zod, which he does successfully.
Another good point!
You make a great point about the "child mentality". I saw an old kid's show the other day that I had no issue with at the time (Bod, BBC) and there were bits I couldn't get at all as an adult.
Actually my take on it was very different. You remember how Jor el educated him for 12 years about earth culture, galaxies and krypton? I just assumed this was something he learned about krypton and it's past. That's why he made that comment, it was something he learned about krypton from the education crystals.
Superman’s line doesn’t add up-Kryptonians under a red sun wouldn’t have powers like creating mirages of themselves. These abilities come from Earth’s yellow sun, so how could kids on Krypton play this game? Fun line, but it doesn’t really make sense.
In Superman II, during the Fortress of Solitude scene, Superman uses holograms to confuse the villains and tells Lois, "I used to play this game back in school," referencing childhood games like hide-and-seek to explain his clever strategy.
Still doesn't make sense?
@@aram.v fair point!
I always assumed he was talking about splitting himself into after- images (moving so fast he is in multiple places at once). And naturally he's referring to himself as a young boy playing tricks on teachers and students being in one place and then another (pranking them).
And this assumption was only further validated in my mind decades later, when I learned what a mess Superman II's script and production was. I still just assume that they literally didn't know that Clark didn't have his powers discovered yet at that age!
...Remember that these are the bright encyclopedia minds who understood Superman so little, that they gave him a magic emblem that wraps people up! lol
I mean, they establish that he is fast enough to turn back time/the planet (which is at least comic accurate) - so why not be 10 or twenty feet apart in the same room (or building) in what appears to us in nanoseconds?
Honestly, I _STILL_ feel like I'm the only person on the planet whose right about this. The reason it's a confusing line, is because - like most of Superman II - you have to suspend your Superman knowledge and just roll with it for the schlocky popcorn film it is.
He spent ten yearsat the Fortress being trained by Jor El. If he thoufht if it as "School," whats the harm?
never thought about the line and even as a kid I always assumed he was moving so fast that even with their super powers they couldn't keep up, but that cellophane shield even as a kid I was like "what the hell was that?!"😂, and that's coming from someone that loves superman 3&4 and supergirl just as much as the first two and the donner cut!
You may have touched on this, but regarding the various powers i.e. cellophane S, making copies of himself, etc may have all come from the crystals. Krypton's technology was millions of years more advanced and the movies never delved deep into what the Fortress of Solitude was capable of. While it may look a bit absurd, I just think Superman learned to use the technology of the Fortress of Solitude beyond his more common powers of strength, speed, invulnerability, x-ray vision, heat vision and flying.
I'm not a comic book aficionado so maybe the comics went deep into what the Fortress of Solitude was capable of.
I always thought it was hide and seek he was talking about.
I just cant see him playing this with Pete and Lana im wondering if tag in college would be to what hes refering to as he does like footy..
I will always love the first movie. Saw it 23 times in the theater.
Wow! Very cool. Cheers 👊
He was never very good at Xeroxing himself? Okay. Who was the champion of that game, then?
He could appear to be in school while skipping.
In one comic book I read Superman appears to be in several places at once. He says “I learned this trick from my buddy The Flash”
I watched it never really caught on to it
I never thought that line was weird. I think you guys nailed it.
Wasn't he put in the spaceship as an INFANT?
I always assumed he meant Tag
I always assumed it was hide and seek. Never gave it any more thought than that. People really got stuck there?
I actually thought it was a reference to tag as well.
Never really thought about the game, but it would be nice to see official clarification about the time travel thing. Otherwise it raises a lot of questions like "does that mean Superman doesn't stop the first missile?". It wasn't a very clear way to show Superman breaking the time barrier, which by that point he did in the comics so often it's not surprising.