Question: If Marty goes back to the future and sees a duplicate of himself go back to the past, would the duplicate see the Marty that had just got back to the future watch him (the duplicate that goes to the past), thus 3 Deloreans and infinitely more Deloreans as it continues...and so on and so forth, or is that the the universe rewriting his timeline to prevent this time loop of paradoxical events?
Question: What exactly did Biff do to George McFly's car? It is strongly suggested, but I couldn't understand what caused the accident.
Answer: He mentions spilling beer on his shirt so it's inferred that he was somewhat less than entirely sober, and he also refers to the car having a blind spot. Based on this, my assumption has always been that he was tipping his head back to take a drink from a can of beer, which means his eyes left the road, and he struck another vehicle; most likely at an intersection where the other driver had the right of way.
Question: I heard that at one point during the part where Marty's being sent back to the future, Doctor Brown is seen putting the letter from Marty in his pocket. Is this true?
Chosen answer: In the scene where Doc tears it up, he stuffs the pieces into his jacket, because he is distracted by the tree limb that falls and "unplugs" the cable from the Clock Tower. He was likely going to throw the pieces away, but did not have time. We are then led to realize that when Doc got home after Marty left, he found the pieces in his pocket and became curious, thus taping it back together and following Marty's instructions in 1985. On a side note, since Marty comes back to that spot at the end of BTTF 2 to get Doc's help to go back to 1885, Doc had even more time to spend with Marty in 1955, and even more reason to become curious as to the contents of Marty's letter.
Question: What happened to the original timeline to cause such a dramatic change in Marty's mom? In the original timeline, Marty's mom was 'born a nun' as Marty described her to Jennifer. But when Marty goes back to 1955, Lorraine is a drinking, smoking, parking with boys kind of girl. In the original timeline, what would have made it to where Lorraine thinks it's inappropriate for a girl to make advances on a boy? She seems to already be a boy chaser before Marty even gets there.
Chosen answer: Actually, nothing happened to the original timeline to change Marty's mom. It's Marty, like many children, who had a rather unrealistic view about what Lorraine was actually like when she was a teenager. He always believed (and was deliberately given the impression) that she was extremely shy and proper, when in fact, she was a boy-crazy flirt, though she apparently changed after falling in love with George. Parents are often evasive regarding their own youthful behavior.
Question: What is the principal's problem? Why is he taking it out on a 17 year old?
Question: I have seen a different ending to this film. Every now and then when it airs on TV the movie ends with Doc in 1955, standing at the site where Marty just went back to 1985, and then Marty comes running up to him and says "I'm back" (or something similar). I seem to remember that this is the standard ending to the second film. Why is it occasionally used to end the first one?
Answer: That's actually the beginning scene in Back to the Future 3. It would make no sense to end the first film with that sequence, as at that point Marty hasn't returned to 1955 after getting home the first time.
Correct. Just for completion: This scene, opening part 3, is also shown at the end of part 2.
Question: In the "first timeline", Marty's father is a loser. He has never hit Biff. Marty goes to the past, and when he's going to 1985, he says that to Doc. He returns to the "new" 1985, where his father is successful, and he has hit Biff. He sees himself going to 1955, and that Marty is about to do everything that Marty did in the movie. But here's a question: that Marty lives in the "second timeline", where his father has hit Biff. Why then, in the past, he would say that his father has never hit Biff in his whole life?
Answer: I see two possible explanations. One is simply that the improved George McFly never told Marty the story about how he clocked Biff, perhaps to keep Marty from getting into fights himself. The other explanation is that the 1955 Marty went back to had not yet changed before he came back to the improved 1985. As the slowly-changing photograph illustrates, changes in timelines can be very gradual. Therefore, the only version of 1955 we are able see is the 1955 that the Marty of the original 1985 went back to.
Answer: Another good example for a parallel timeline being created, which the writers/story denies. but while the "second Marty" has no reason to tell Doc that his father never stood up to Biff. His comment is of no significance to the outcome of events. The important change in the past was Marty being in George's spot and then having to fix things.
Chosen answer: It only took me a couple of seconds to find a fan site with a credible answer. Apparently, in an early draft, Marty mentions in passing that Doc hired him to clean out his garage for fifty bucks and total access to his record collection. This scene was presumably never shot, thus the backstory was lost to time. See www.kristensheley.com/bttf/bttfuniverse.html for more extensive info.
Question: At the beginning of the movie, the brother is a loser who works at Burger King. At the end, he wears a suit and work at an office. As a presumably successful business man, wouldn't he have moved out of his parents' house?
Answer: Who says he didn't? Perhaps he lives close enough to come over for breakfast each morning. There isn't enough information in the scene to show that he still lives there; he is simply sitting at the table.
Answer: Even though the brother now has a steady career and would normally have his own place, this is a movie-plot device using a "suspension of disbelief." The audience needs to be able to see Marty's reaction and surprise as to how every McFly family member has changed for the better. We just accept the premise.
Answer: If we presume he's living at home, wearing a suit to an office job doesn't really reflect on his success or wealth, and he's still just 21 or 22 years old. He may still be in college and just working on the weekend and living at home to save money.
Question: In the scene where Marty is being chased around Twin Pines mall by the Libyans why is Marty driving straight towards the 1hr Photo Booth? I'm assuming he doesn't realise the time circuits were on, as he accidentally engaged them when changing gear. If he DID know, why drive 88+ mph knowing you don't have enough plutonium to get back from 1955? (00:30:00)
Question: Why did Crispin Glover disapprove this movie's ending?
Answer: He didn't think it sent a good message, saying that the changes to the McFly family at the end boiled down to "success = wealth." He thought it should have ended with everything going back to normal, to show that there are no magical fixes to problems. Failing that, he just felt the ending should be less materialistic in its message.
Question: Why is it Doc Brown and Principal Strickland both look the exact same age in 1955 and 1985?
Answer: Doc doesn't really look the same age; his hair is shorter/blonder, and he doesn't have as many wrinkles. Christopher Lloyd was only in his mid-40s when the movie was made, so they actually used makeup to age him for the 1985 sequences. As far as Strickland goes, it's a joke in the film... Marty even asks, "Geez, didn't that guy ever have hair?" when he first sees him in 1955.
Answer: Technically you CAN see an age different in Strickland. First seen in 1985, he is FULLY BALD, and has some wrinkles and looks of retirement age. Then seen in 1955, he is mostly bald but still has some hair on the sides and does look younger (like 35 or 40) - no wrinkles.
Question: When Biff and his gang are first chasing Marty on the skateboard in 1955, Marty escapes by grabbing the tailgate of a passing pickup truck which tows him around the corner. The gang jumps into Biff's convertible to continue the pursuit, and Biff's convertible actually has a rear-end collision with the pickup truck, barely missing Marty. How is it that the truck driver doesn't even react to all this insane activity and the rear-end collision? Rather than stopping and demanding an explanation, the truck driver continues away from the scene without even slowing down.
Chosen answer: It's likely any answer would be speculation at best, so it's hard to say. We can start with the fact that Biff barely taps the guy's bumper. He's seen stopping when Marty moves out of the way, although not enough, but I would not call it a "collision." Second, the style of the truck's metal bumper would have absorbed the impact to the point the driver didn't feel anything. In terms of if he actually felt an impact, in an era where you can't just call 9-1-1 on your cell phone to get police help, the man probably thought it prudent not to confront a car full of crazy teenage boys who just wildly rammed him for no reason. And if he did pull over, Biff had already turned the corner and so the man in the truck would have been off camera, so perhaps he does get out and inspect the damage and even sees Biff hit the manure truck, after which we don't know what happened.
Question: When Marty is playing "Johnny B. Goode", he is doing guitar moves from different performers. What performers is he imitating?
Answer: It seems to me that he is imitating the following: Chuck Berry (which makes sense), Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen and Pete Townsend (the kicking the amp bit.)
Also Bruce Springsteen doing the full guitar circle, Angus Young crawling on the floor and Jimi Hendrix with the guitar solo.
Question: Why did they cast Eric Stoltz when they knew they wanted Michael J. Fox? (I know Fox was doing Family Ties)
Answer: Due to his scheduling on Family Ties, Michael J. Fox was not originally available, so they went with their second choice of Eric Stoltz. The studio, however, permitted Fox to film the movie only if it didn't interfere with his obligations to them. So, he filmed Back to the Future at night and on days he wasn't needed at the Family Ties set.
Question: What was the point of changing "Twin Pines Mall" into "Lone Pine Mall"? This change doesn't affect the series' plot at all, so what was the reason behind it?
Answer: Just to show how actions in the past have had a knock on effect on the future, giving audiences a heads up that things have been changed. Alternatively just a fun thing for audiences to notice.
Answer: It's a small but noticeable change in the timeline as a result of Marty's time travel. The first we see when he returns to 1985, confirming that his actions have altered the present. It was originally called "Twin Pines Mall" because there were originally two pine trees; Doc reminisces about "Old Man Peabody" trying to breed pine trees on the land where the mall stood. When Marty travels back to the same place in 1955, it's Peabody's farm, and making his escape, he runs over one of the two pines (and we see the mailbox with the name "Peabody" on it). Therefore, when he returns to 1985 having destroyed one pine, the mall is now "Lone Pine Mall", because in the new, altered present, there was only one pine tree, not two.
Chosen answer: There wouldn't be infinitely more Deloreans, as versions of Marty would keep having to leave in order to appear at a different point in the timeline to watch himself. There's no real limit on how many there could be at once though - at one point on November 12th 1955 there are four Deloreans in Hill Valley at the same time (brought there by Marty from the first film, Marty from the second film, Biff from the second film, and the one Doc buried from 1885). They're all the same car, just travelling from different points in time.
Jon Sandys ★