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Superman Returns
Wow. Just.. wow. Anything more would be spoilerish.
Great effects, decent acting, and I believed in Superman. Kevin Spacey was deliciously evil as Luthor. Some nice cameos (the George Reeves TV-show Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane show up, as well as Richard Branson as a Virgin Galactic pilot) and enough in-jokes to keep the geeks happy.
Go see it. I give it five penguins.
The way Superman was handled in the film confirmed my theory about Supe's powers. There is no way he could perform the feats we see based on physical strength. To begin with, we are told that Superman is 6'4" and weighs about 225lbs. He doesn't have the muscle density of bone strength to hold up the weights he supports. Secondly, he regularly lifts things that should break due to uneven stresses. Bridges, cars, aircraft carriers, etc, are not designed to be supported at one tiny point.
Therefore, Superman's powers are based on an extremely limited form of telekinesis. He has a force field that hovers a nanometer or so off his skin. He can open this field at will (he needs to do this to breathe, eat, and eliminate waste) but most of the time it is solid. This is the source of his incredible resistance to all forms of damage. Attacks never reach his skin.
When Superman lifts a large object, this field extends over the object. So rather than being lifted from a single point, the object is actually being supported by a large cradle. Punching with super-strength is accomplished by a sudden, rapid extension of the force field in the direction of the punch. Flight is a by-your-bootstraps affair. He picks himself up and pulls himself along. (This could also explain why Superman's cape continues to flutter in vacuum. Superman expects his cape to flutter, so unconsciously diverts a little energy to making himself look good.) We can extend this theory to cover some of Superman's other powers. "Super-breath" is merely his TK at its farthest extension. He uses the breathing as a magician's diversion. The remainder of Supe's array of abilities are left as an exercise for the reader.
Kryptonite emits radiation that disrupts this field. Since the field is such an normal part of Superman's daily life, losing it has the same effect on him that a sudden loss of muscle tone and balance has on us. (Note: I am ignoring gold, red, chartreuse and any other Silver Age Kryptonite variants as silly and non-canonical.)
Great effects, decent acting, and I believed in Superman. Kevin Spacey was deliciously evil as Luthor. Some nice cameos (the George Reeves TV-show Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane show up, as well as Richard Branson as a Virgin Galactic pilot) and enough in-jokes to keep the geeks happy.
Go see it. I give it five penguins.
The way Superman was handled in the film confirmed my theory about Supe's powers. There is no way he could perform the feats we see based on physical strength. To begin with, we are told that Superman is 6'4" and weighs about 225lbs. He doesn't have the muscle density of bone strength to hold up the weights he supports. Secondly, he regularly lifts things that should break due to uneven stresses. Bridges, cars, aircraft carriers, etc, are not designed to be supported at one tiny point.
Therefore, Superman's powers are based on an extremely limited form of telekinesis. He has a force field that hovers a nanometer or so off his skin. He can open this field at will (he needs to do this to breathe, eat, and eliminate waste) but most of the time it is solid. This is the source of his incredible resistance to all forms of damage. Attacks never reach his skin.
When Superman lifts a large object, this field extends over the object. So rather than being lifted from a single point, the object is actually being supported by a large cradle. Punching with super-strength is accomplished by a sudden, rapid extension of the force field in the direction of the punch. Flight is a by-your-bootstraps affair. He picks himself up and pulls himself along. (This could also explain why Superman's cape continues to flutter in vacuum. Superman expects his cape to flutter, so unconsciously diverts a little energy to making himself look good.) We can extend this theory to cover some of Superman's other powers. "Super-breath" is merely his TK at its farthest extension. He uses the breathing as a magician's diversion. The remainder of Supe's array of abilities are left as an exercise for the reader.
Kryptonite emits radiation that disrupts this field. Since the field is such an normal part of Superman's daily life, losing it has the same effect on him that a sudden loss of muscle tone and balance has on us. (Note: I am ignoring gold, red, chartreuse and any other Silver Age Kryptonite variants as silly and non-canonical.)
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The comics recently explained it as a way for Superman's body to release excess solar waste.
That is to say, Krypto-poop. :-)
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The heat vision? He focuses the field and vibrates it rapidly, creating friction in whatever he's looking at.
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Interesting article. Thanks for the link.
How was Her Mouseness' b-day?
Fanwank! He's not using HIS area.
Which, given that he can lift things that appear to be about 50 miles across, gives us (assuming I do my math right) at least 10 Terawatts of power. And of course he can store some amount of it for efforts that are way beyond the constant-flow level. (and that radius is the area over which his field is exerting LOTS of force; he may be able to collect it over a radius ten or a hundred times greater...)
Re: Fanwank! He's not using HIS area.
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The field theory explains so very much, actually, and does it quite well... and it doesn't really detract too much from Superman's super-ness. Much of the appeal of Superman was that he was the Silver Age paladin.
This reminds me, I MUST pick up Red Son...
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Susan
Yeah...
Re: Yeah...
Nice to know that my theory is in line with what others think. Although there are some bricks that could rely on sheer strength. The Thing, for example, or the Hulk.
I think my favorite TK-basedhero has to be The Great and Powerful Turtle from the Wild Cards series.
Re: Yeah...
I always figured the strength and the flying were linked somehow
But no more red kryptonite? Should I go off into a corner & cry?
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