Revealing mistake: Right before Einstein is sent to the future, when a very bright light surrounds the DeLorean, not only is the dog gone, but a black bulky bag has appeared on the passenger's seat. Seemingly a hidden stunt driver or a driving mechanism. (00:21:56)
Continuity mistake: After the DeLorean disappears with the dog inside, flames appear underneath Marty and Doc. In the close-up of their legs, a shot later, the road is spotless and the flames reappear a second later.
Continuity mistake: After Goldie Wilson arrives at the manure truck scene, we can see onlookers approaching at the street corner in front of Texaco - one of which is the kid who Marty borrowed a skateboard from. But once the shot changes, that same kid is instantly standing on the sidewalk near Marty holding a crate instead. (01:07:35)
Continuity mistake: Whilst George McFly is pegging out the laundry, Marty is explaining his plan as to how he can make Lorraine fall in love with him. At the start of the scene, both of Marty's breast pocket flaps are untucked. After putting the bag down, one tucks itself in, then they return to normal when Marty says "let's go over the plan again". (01:09:55)
Continuity mistake: As the Delorean accelerates towards Doc and Marty in the car park, in a shot from the car's perspective they're a few feet apart, then we cut to a close up, and they're right next to each other. (00:21:45)
Continuity mistake: While Marty is admiring the new truck, Jennifer walks onscreen. Once the angle changes, Marty's left arm is resting on an entirely different part of the door. (01:49:50)
Trivia: When Marty punches Biff in the diner, if you pause/use slow-mo you can tell it's not Michael J Fox that hits him, but it is actually Eric Stoltz, the original Marty, because he's taller and has more hair than Michael J Fox. The cinematography also shifts-from an initially dull palette to a more pastel-toned one-as does Biff's appearance: fresher during scenes with Stoltz, but more tired and fuller-faced with Fox, reportedly due to the exhausting reshoot schedule, according to several interviews.
Revealing mistake: As the DeLorean's tyres start igniting as it is about to travel back in time, the flames are not coming from the tyres, but from some ignitors attached to the car. (01:40:36)
Continuity mistake: When Marty skates off after knocking over the couple, the car behind him is red and cream, but in the next shot, it turns completely red. A yellow car also appears in the second shot, when it was not present in the first. (01:07:10)
Continuity mistake: When Doc finds Marty's letter in his pocket, the big hook fastened to the DeLorean's passenger side is seen facing the sky. Pretty soon Marty slides across the hood and into the DeLorean, but now at this point it's facing the ground instead. (01:33:35 - 01:35:50)
Revealing mistake: When the DeLorean travels back in time after Marty returns to 1985, the light emitting from the DeLorean does not actually come from the DeLorean, but from the side of the screen instead. (01:44:16)
Continuity mistake: When Marty rides off after borrowing the skateboard, a woman in the background bends over towards the end of the shot, but in the next shot, she is standing upright. (01:06:10)
Continuity mistake: When George is in the school cafeteria talking to Marty about science fiction stories, he holds the notepad differently with each changing shot. (00:58:55)
Continuity mistake: When Doc and Marty are watching the DeLorean burn out from across the vacant Twin Pines Mall parking lot, the radio control unit's antenna is seen lowered one shot then fully raised in the next, despite Doc not having touched it. (00:21:20)
Continuity mistake: When Biff and his friends are chasing Marty on the skateboard, just before they hit the manure truck there is canvas covering the fertilizer which disappears in the next shot. (01:07:45)
Continuity mistake: When George is checking the time at the prom there is a girl in grey behind him that changes to one in pink. (01:18:56)
Continuity mistake: When Marty confronts George as "Darth Vader", after George asks "who are you?" Marty plays the music again, and George presses his hands to his ears. In the shot from behind, his hands are cupped around his ears, in a very different position. Then when Marty says "silence earthling", in the shot from the front his hand is away from his ear entirely. (01:02:35)
Continuity mistake: When Doc takes the photo from Marty, the way he holds it changes between shots. (00:50:07)
Continuity mistake: When the clock tower bell sounds a third time, Doc backs away from the ledge and stares down below in shock. Doc's arms are hanging down at his sides, but once the shot changes he's seen cupping his ears. (01:35:35)
Continuity mistake: When Marty pulls the family picture from his shirt pocket in front of George's house, he holds it with both hands at first. But once the angle changes, only his right hand has a grip on the picture. (01:01:45)
Chosen answer: I think that is *exactly* what he is thinking. He realizes that by standing up to Biff, George may have irrevocably changed his personal future, and therefore affected Marty's future as well. This is exactly the sort of thing Doc was so eager to prevent by refusing to hear any information about the future.
Phil C.