Questions tagged [back-to-the-future]

Back to the Future is the first film (1985) in a trilogy of time travel movies that branched out into an animated TV series, theme rides and video games. This tag can also be used to refer to the Back to the Future franchise as a whole.

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Which 2015 technologies were correctly predicted by Back to the Future II?

This year is not only the 30th anniversary of the Back to the Future franchise as a whole, but is also the year in which Back to the Future II is set. Which technologies that exist in 2015 (at least ...
Praxis's user avatar
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In Back to the Future, why was the speed 88 miles per hour?

Why not use 89, maybe 100 miles per hour? Is 88 the fastest a DeLorean can go? In other metrics, I have: Unit Equivalent Abbreviation Miles per hour 88.00 [mph][mi/h] Miles per second 0.0244 [mps][...
Rodrigo's user avatar
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91 votes
3 answers
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Where is Hill Valley?

Many BTTF fans know that Marty, Doc and Jennifer arrive in Hill Valley on October 21st 2015, and were eagerly awaiting that date. As outlined in this question, they arrive at 4:29PM. However, the ...
Often Right's user avatar
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66 votes
9 answers
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Can the Delorean meet its speed requirement without moving?

Everyone knows that to time travel, the Delorean had to "hit 88 MPH". Watching the movie right now though, got me wondering... When Doc first demonstrates the time machine to Marty, he holds the ...
eidylon's user avatar
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63 votes
12 answers
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Why was Marty present in his jump to 2015 in Back to the Future 2?

I was doing some thinking about the paradoxes that arise during Back to the Future 2 when Marty, Doc and Jennifer travel to 2015 to see their future selves and help Marty's kid. It was shown that ...
OghmaOsiris's user avatar
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56 votes
7 answers
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Back To The Future Flaw - why don't Marty's parents recognize him in the new future?

I believe I've spotted a flaw, and I'd like to know if other fans have noticed it too. In the first BTTF, Marty McFly travels back to 1955 (his parents' high school era). He meets his mother and she ...
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54 votes
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Was the “future” world predicted in Back to the Future 2 intended to be genuinely predictive?

The Back to the Future series of SF films are also arguably somewhat comedic as well. In Back to the Future Part II, Marty travels to the year 2015 and we, the audience, get to enjoy a spectacle of ...
Broklynite's user avatar
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Was the Twin Pines Mall scene at 1:15am for in-universe or out-of-universe reasons?

Was the scene in which Marty travels from Twin Pines Mall in 1985 to the Peabody Farm in 1955 always meant to take place at 1.15 in the morning (1985 time), or was this a consequence of Eric Stoltz ...
Wallnut's user avatar
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47 votes
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What is the science-fiction tradition of flying cars having their wheels turned sideways?

The DeLorean in Back to the Future turns its wheels sideways when it is about to fly. Also, there are many children's toys that feature similar concepts, such as this Lego kit, which features two such ...
Mr. Shiny and New 安宇's user avatar
46 votes
3 answers
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Why didn't Doc believe Marty was from the future?

In Back To The Future, Marty calls to Doc's house to try to get his help, explaining that he's from the future. Doc flat out refuses to believe him, responding with sarcasm and incredulity, laughing ...
komodosp's user avatar
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In Back to the Future Part II, why is old Biff in a lot of pain?

In Back to the Future Part II, there is a scene where old Biff exits the DeLorean. Here he seems to be in a lot of discomfort. He breaks his cane too. He just made himself a rich man, shouldn't he ...
Gomes's user avatar
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How long was the Back to the Future trilogy from Marty's point of view?

The title pretty much says it all. From the start of Back to the Future, how much time passed for Marty by the end of Back to the Future III?
Xantec's user avatar
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Did the two Libyans die at the Twin Pines / Lone Pine Mall in Back to the Future?

In Back to the Future, when Marty escapes the Libyans using the DeLorean and jumps into 1955, we can see at the end of the movie that the van with the Libyans crashes into the photo booth. If they ...
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41 votes
2 answers
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Who invented Darth Vader? George Lucas or George McFly?

In Back to the Future, Marty famously frightens his father into action in 1955 by pretending to be Darth Vader from the planet Vulcan: Presumably, Star Trek and Star ...
Praxis's user avatar
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40 votes
4 answers
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Why did Doc Brown take so long to write to Marty?

At the end of Back to the Future II, Marty receives a letter from the Doc from September 1885, just a few days before his death. He explains in that letter that he had been living in 1885 for the past ...
Often Right's user avatar
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38 votes
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Can Marty McFly ever truly return home?

In the Back to the Future trilogy, the character Marty McFly travels back in time, and meets his own parents. In doing this, he directly changes the outcome of many things including the relationship ...
Jason Hutchinson's user avatar
36 votes
4 answers
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In-universe, why does Doc Brown program the time machine to go to 1955?

The night on the first part at the Two Pine mall and when all the ruckus happened, Doc Brown already programmed the time machine to go to Nov 05 1955. Why so? I mean, I don't recall if there is a ...
riccs_0x's user avatar
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36 votes
16 answers
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What happens to the second Marty at the end of Back to the Future?

In Back to the Future (the original movie), Marty comes back from 1955 10 mins early to prevent Doc from being shot (which he fails at). He then rolls up to the Lone Pine Mall and sees himself hit 88 ...
benhowdle89's user avatar
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Why were all of Doc Brown's clocks slow?

At the start of Back to the Future there is an exchange between Doc Brown (on the phone) and Marty, who is in Doc's lab, during which all of Doctor Brown's clocks start to chime. Doc Brown explains ...
Xantec's user avatar
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35 votes
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Does the DeLorean have any restrictions regarding time travel range?

I'm just wondering whether the DeLorean time machine has any restrictions on how far into the future or how far into the past it can travel. Inspired when I was considering an earlier question of ...
Often Right's user avatar
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34 votes
5 answers
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Why did the writers select the date November 5, 1955 in Back to the Future?

Is there any significance to the date November 5, 1955 that was chosen in Back to the Future? Is it one of the directors birthday or something like that or were there specific real life events that ...
1.21 gigawatts's user avatar
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3 answers
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Clara's lost luggage

When Clara's wagon fell into the ravine, we see clearly that all of her luggage was lost. There was no luggage on her horses or on Doc's horse after he saved her. How does she later have large ...
B Zion's user avatar
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29 votes
4 answers
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Why did Biff not pursue a relationship with Lorraine in the original timeline?

It seems pretty clear to me that Biff was maniacally obsessed with Lorraine, even in the original timeline, and not the kind of guy who takes "no" for an answer. We know that Biff eventually gave up ...
Tronman's user avatar
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Was the locomotive hijacking in Back to the Future III really needed?

So we see Marty eventually travel back to 1885 using the Delorean that Doc hid in the mine, and we also see it being hit in the fuel tank by an arrow, hence crippling its ability to get itself up to ...
Moo's user avatar
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29 votes
3 answers
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Did Marty wipe his children from existence?

At the end of Back to the Future, Part III, Marty declines to enter the drag race that was shown in the previous film to have disastrous consequences for his musical career. The 2015 fax of future-...
John Sensebe's user avatar
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29 votes
3 answers
10k views

Was the joke about Japanese electronics cut from Back to the Future?

I just rewatched Back to the Future the other day. I hadn’t seen it in years, and I swear there was a small scene cut from the movie. It was when Marty was hooking the camcorder to the TV at Doc's ...
user76329's user avatar
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28 votes
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What happens if you exceed 88 miles per hour?

So, we all know that the special speed at which the DeLorean will travel through time is 88 miles per hour (if you didn't already, now you do). Yet, you will only travel through time if the time ...
Often Right's user avatar
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27 votes
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What is the basis for Doc Brown and Marty McFly's friendship?

On the face of it, Doc Emmett Brown and Marty McFly seem to have very little in common. Marty is active in after school activities, has a beautiful girlfriend and his family, friends and educators ...
giacomo casanova's user avatar
27 votes
1 answer
3k views

When does Marty Travel to in the future?

I have seen all sorts of posts on the Internet about when he travels to, but most of them are doctored to make people repost them. I originally saw one picture that showed the deLorean dash showing a ...
Malachi's user avatar
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25 votes
3 answers
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Does Doc Brown sabotage himself in Back to the Future 2?

Back in 1955, Doc Emmet Brown is spotted by his past self as he is working on the cable in the park, at which point, the latter asks the unrecognizable white-haired man to "be a pal and hand my ...
Inferry's user avatar
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25 votes
2 answers
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Why did Doc Brown choose the Delorean DMC-12 as his first time traveling vehicle?

According to wikipedia, the movie makers decided The specific choice of vehicle was a DeLorean DMC-12 for the purposes of it looking like an alien spaceship due to its characteristic gullwing ...
Major Stackings's user avatar
25 votes
2 answers
13k views

Were there two DeLoreans in 1885?

Ok, in November 12, 1955 Marty watches the leap to 1885 of Doc Brown (the lightning bolt), then immediately receives the letter from Doc, and travels back to 1885 to save him. Marty arrives on ...
riccs_0x's user avatar
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25 votes
5 answers
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Why was the DeLorean in Back To The Future not always covered in ice after time travel, and why didn't it fly in 1885?

I have noticed some things that I can't understand in the Back To The Future films about the DeLorean. In part I, when Einstein is sent 1 minute into the future the DeLorean comes back completely ...
SameOldNick's user avatar
25 votes
10 answers
12k views

How did Doc Brown's last time-travel machine power its flux capacitor?

At the end of Back to the Future III... But where did this time machine get the requisite 1.21 Gigawatts of electricity, if the Mr. Fusion was attached to the DeLorean and the Doc had to work with ...
Zibbobz's user avatar
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24 votes
7 answers
4k views

Where did Doc get his money collection from?

In Back to the Future II, Doc pulls out a money suitcase (see image below) in 1955 for Marty to use a time-appropriate currency. Simple question: where did Doc get all that money from in the first ...
Often Right's user avatar
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23 votes
5 answers
5k views

If Marty had faded out, would that have destroyed the universe?

In Back To The Future Part 2, Doc Brown says that if young Jennifer (from 1985) were to meet her older self (from 2015), it could create a paradox that would unravel the fabric of the space-time ...
Wallnut's user avatar
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23 votes
2 answers
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Why don't Marty and Doc Brown use petrol from the Delorean in the mine in BTTF3?

In the third movie Marty finds the Delorean in the mine and travels from 1955 back to 1885 to rescue Doc Brown. However once they establish that petrol hasn't been invented and won't be for a long ...
Pompom78's user avatar
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23 votes
4 answers
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How could the level crossing at the end of Back to the Future 3 know that the locomotive would arrive?

In the end of Back to the Future 3, Marty and Jennifer check the wreckage site of the DeLorean when the railroad level crossing suddenly activates and lowers its barriers without any trains nearby. ...
user35594's user avatar
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23 votes
1 answer
7k views

How many DeLoreans existed at the same time?

How many copies of the DeLorean time machine co-existed in the Back to the Future series?
Major Stackings's user avatar
23 votes
3 answers
5k views

Jennifer from BTTF left behind

In BTTF 2 after Marty and Doc come back from the future (to 1985) where Biff has already gone to 1955 and changed 1985, they stop off at what they think is Jennifer's house and leave her on the porch ...
Garrettfromhp's user avatar
22 votes
7 answers
3k views

Why did Doc need to use a moving car to achieve 88mph?

88mph is an important speed to screw the space-time continuum. But, motion is relative... Hey doc, can you please explain 88mph relative to what? What we see in the movie: it was the speedometer ...
user931's user avatar
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22 votes
8 answers
25k views

How did Clara dedicate Emmett's tombstone in Back to the Future 3?

In Back to the Future 3, Doc Brown is only able to save Clara Clayton because of Marty's presence (as they had to scout that area for the plan). Though if Marty had not traveled back in time, Doc ...
user avatar
22 votes
2 answers
19k views

When did Doc Brown (and family) go at the end of the third movie?

In the third Back To The Future movie, near the very end, Marty asks Doctor Brown Hey, Doc...where ya going now? Back to the future? to which Doc Brown responds with Nope. Already been there! ...
Xantec's user avatar
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20 votes
3 answers
4k views

1955: When Marty couldn't use the time circuits anymore was the car still actually driveable?

If Marty wanted to and threw caution to the wind could he have driven the Delorean around as a regular car somehow bypassing the time circuits in 1955 to get to Doc's house once he had his number from ...
Kyle's user avatar
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20 votes
2 answers
4k views

Why did Dave's head get erased before his body?

We all remember the scene where Marty is playing the guitar and then starts to have difficulty as his hand fades. That got me to thinking: the photograph of the three kids showed that certain parts ...
Often Right's user avatar
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20 votes
2 answers
18k views

How old is Emmett Brown in 1985?

In Back to the Future Doctor Emmett Brown is seen in 1955 and 1985 as appearing roughly the same age. While there are people that age very gracefully like this (William Shatner for example), this ...
Xantec's user avatar
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19 votes
3 answers
7k views

How did Old Biff operate the time machine?

In Back to the Future Part II, Old Biff stole the time machine in 2015 and went back in time to give the Grays Sports Almanac to Young Biff. This journey was successful. The time machine wasn't a ...
user931's user avatar
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19 votes
1 answer
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How is the DeLorean powered in the final trip back in time in Back to the Future III?

When Marty McFly is attempting to time travel to 1885 with the help of the 1955 Doc Brown and the uncovered time machine from the mine, what is used to generate the 1.21 gigawatts of electricity for ...
Ali Akber Rizvi's user avatar
19 votes
4 answers
3k views

How did Doc get into the DeLorean?

(First of all - kudos to WadCheber for inspiring this question) When the DeLorean is first revealed, we see it exiting from Doc's Truck: In the image I've given ...
Often Right's user avatar
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19 votes
5 answers
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What's behind the Enterprise's flux capacitor?

Whoa. In "Hollow Pursuits" we have this dialog (emphasis mine): [Troi's office] BARCLAY: I just didn't know what to say. TROI: What do you wish you had said? BARCLAY: I should have told ...
ThePopMachine's user avatar