Action-Adventure The 'Back To The Future' Appreciation Thread - Part 2

[Detective Conan]

Weird thing I thought about, in the beginning of the film Strickland says that Marty reminds him of his father George McFly as he “was a slacker too” but how could that be? The film later shows Marty’s father in 1955 to be the total opposite of his much cooler, confident son in just about every way. How is George McFly a slacker again or anything like Marty? He’s shown as a wimpy pushover which serves as a stark contrast to his assertive son from 1985 who plays guitar...and he isn’t tardy or ditching school. Strickland calls George McFly a slacker but the context is a little odd, he calls him a slacker right after he’s been clearly picked on by bullies. Strickland takes the kick me sign off from George’s back, and then calls him a “slacker”...huh? He also seems like he’s a smart guy that you can depend on since meathead Biff is making him do his homework for him.

Heck, Doc even suggests when witnessing George’s being bullied that Marty could be adopted, lol. This is a minor nitpick and isn’t that big a deal; just simply a little thing I noticed.

 

[DarkKnight88]

Slacker means lazy. Avoids work or effort. George is aloof and doesn’t stick up for himself. He avoids any conflict. Thus, to Strickland’s eyes, lazy.

I think Strickland uses it in a broad term anyway. He yells “eat lead slackers!” to a bunch of punks shooting at him in the second film.

 

[fan4stic]

I’m quite curious why in BTTF2 2015 Biff didn’t just kill George McFly in the past in order to prevent any potential threat to his plan from working? After all, he did warn his past 1955 self about Marty and Doc’s threat and we know that the Trump-like alternate 1985 Biff eventually kills George McFly in his timeline. Why not go a step further and prevent Marty from being even born so he wouldn’t even be able to exist to stop him? Why leave it to your past self to do the dirty work for you? We know Marty still exists in the dark alternate 1985 timeline since Biff seems to know Marty and mentions he’s supposed to be overseas somewhere which indicates to me this version of Biff left George alive long enough to conceive Marty before he ultimately killed him...but why doesn’t he consider preventing the existence of his archenemy one of his plans?

Because then there wouldn’t be a movie!

You ain't wrong.

I think it's interesting that fans, like myself, are HAPPY to hand wave away a lot because of the acceptance of plot mechanics etc.

A testament to the overall charm and running on all cylinders entertainment quotient of these movies.

Let’s just remember that Biff isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. Even Old Biff probably didn’t think too deep in his plan beyond getting himself rich young.

...but 2015 Biff was smart enough to anticipate Marty and Doc’s potential interference, and warn his 1955 self about them. He ain’t too bright, sure, but he is ruthless and I don’t know if he would leave a stone unturned like that. The Trump-like version from the dark 1985 timeline eventually kills George anyway. Had he traveled to 1955 and killed him earlier before George could conceive Marty, then in theory Marty would be erased from existence therefore he wouldn’t even be there to stop Biff from realizing his plans. That’s the definition of killing two birds with one stone.

This isn’t a plot hole per se’ and it’s not really a major issue for me since I understand you need Marty alive throughout the entirety of the film, and you don’t want to make Biff too smart, or else you have no movie but it’s just a thing that occurred to me.

Old Biff doesn't really have any weapons or, I'd suggest, the 1950's money that would allow him to buy a weapon. And older man like himself, I think is unlikely to be able to do it on his own.

I think Younger Biff didn't kill George until he became rich and I think, maybe, gotten enough money to think he could get away with it.

 

[antsman41]

Pre-Ordered the Marty NECA figure... my 4x 1990 TMNT figures came last week, so this was a no-brainer.

Wasn't feeling' the Doc figure though, the faces are both odd.

 

[Broseph44]

Coming October 20th

 

[DarkKnight88]

Looks cool, but I assume there isn’t any new extras if you already bought the 30th set.

 

[flickchick85]

Was the 30th anniversary set in 4K?

 

[Drizzle]

Me looking at the levitating hoverboard replica:

 

[Broseph44]

Looks cool, but I assume there isn’t any new extras if you already bought the 30th set.

Well this is 4K... So if anyone would prefer that this would be what to grab.

 

[Detective Conan]

Did anyone here know Elijah Wood is in Back To The Future 2?



That blows my mind.

 

[OutOfBoose]

I didn't watch any of these films for many years - I was waiting for a proper remaster. At last.

 

[Drizzle]

Did anyone here know Elijah Wood is in Back To The Future 2?

View attachment 36116

That blows my mind.

I feel like in recent years that’s become Elijah Wood’s most talked about role after Frodo just based on the enduring popularity of BTTF.

 

[samsnee]

This was a great read. Jon Cryer and Ben Stiller both auditioned for Marty. Cryer details how different the original story was, including a certain action sequence that ended up being used years later by Spielberg for a different movie.

 

[DarkKnight88]

Yeah, the original script is online. Back to the Future II is wildly different too - instead of going back to the first movie 1950s, they go to the late 1960s - when it was originally scripted as just a single sequel. It’s online to read as well.

 

[samsnee]

Yeah, the original script is online. Back to the Future II is wildly different too - instead of going back to the first movie 1950s, they go to the late 1960s - when it was originally scripted as just a single sequel. It’s online to read as well.

Interesting. Do you have a link?

I think it made it more fun to go back to 1955 and revisit the first movie from a different angle so it was the right call.

 

[DarkKnight88]

Interesting. Do you have a link?

I think it made it more fun to go back to 1955 and revisit the first movie from a different angle so it was the right call.

Cant seem to find a link presently but I remember it being readily available. I may still have a copy.

In the meantime, here’s the details of it.

Back to the Future Part II first draft screenplay

 

[sueb1863]

I remember reading a paperback copy of the novelization when the movie came out, and it did seem very different in tone from the movie so it must have been based off of an early script. I remember Marty was more of a jerk and not nearly as likable as Fox made him.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Weird thing I thought about, in the beginning of the film Strickland says that Marty reminds him of his father George McFly as he “was a slacker too” but how could that be? The film later shows Marty’s father in 1955 to be the total opposite of his much cooler, confident son in just about every way. How is George McFly a slacker again or anything like Marty? He’s shown as a wimpy pushover which serves as a stark contrast to his assertive son from 1985 who plays guitar...and he isn’t tardy or ditching school. Strickland calls George McFly a slacker but the context is a little odd, he calls him a slacker right after he’s been clearly picked on by bullies. Strickland takes the kick me sign off from George’s back, and then calls him a “slacker”...huh? He also seems like he’s a smart guy that you can depend on since meathead Biff is making him do his homework for him.

Heck, Doc even suggests when witnessing George’s being bullied that Marty could be adopted, lol. This is a minor nitpick and isn’t that big a deal; just simply a little thing I noticed.

Slacker means lazy. Avoids work or effort. George is aloof and doesn’t stick up for himself. He avoids any conflict. Thus, to Strickland’s eyes, lazy.

I think Strickland uses it in a broad term anyway. He yells “eat lead slackers!” to a bunch of punks shooting at him in the second film.

Yeah, he uses it as a pretty broad term.

What I found interesting in a recent rewatch is that Strickland's confrontation with Marty at the start of the film is just so... insane. By today's or yesteryear's standards. A high school senior is late. Ok... I get it. A principal can't have that. I get the personal interest in lighting a fire under repeat offenders' asses to a degree.

But then he starts in with personal invective against Marty, one of his students, but furthers it by deciding, "You know what... Let me insult this kid's father and his whole family too..." which, I get they want to shade an adult authority figure in a film with a teen protagonist with a broad brush. Still though... The visceral anger Strickland shows is so damn disproportionate to the kind of kid Marty is or the environment of Hill Valley.

On the other hand...




Seems the Strickland family had been scarred by tragic events leading to a harsh and cold point of view on the world.

 

[sueb1863]

School principals in 80s movies seem to mostly be depicted as manic tyrants. Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Breakfast Club also featured jerk principals.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Definitely a trope of the era.

 

[Detective Conan]

The Russo Brothers with Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus interview ‘Back To The Future’ Screenwriter Bob Gale.

 

[Gold Samurai]

Interesting. Do you have a link?

I think it made it more fun to go back to 1955 and revisit the first movie from a different angle so it was the right call.

I believe it involved the original refrigerator idea and the time travel experiment 1 was at docs house

Marty and doc went to an atom bomb testing facility to send him home

I believe this is what someone meant by Spielberg eventually doing this type of scene in “kingdom of the crystal skull

 

[antsman41]

We knew most of this information from the Blu-ray release, the 25th anniversary book, or other important articles through the past 5-10 years.

 

[sueb1863]

I remember hearing that the original concern with the refrigerator idea was that kids would get trapped in refrigerators trying to duplicate the scene, so they decided it'd be safer to go another route.

I guess by the time they made Crystal Skull it wasn't as much of a concern...

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

I remember hearing that the original concern with the refrigerator idea was that kids would get trapped in refrigerators trying to duplicate the scene, so they decided it'd be safer to go another route.

I guess by the time they made Crystal Skull it wasn't as much of a concern...

A big thing I think is that there were still older model fridges still available or junked around during that time and many actually had locking mechanisms making it possible to get stuck inside. You could still see some both working or junked even in the 90's.