Back to the Future (film): Difference between revisions

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[[Back to the Future (game)|A card game]] has also been produced by Looney Labs; essentially a slightly-simplified version of their ''[[Chrononauts]]'' time-travel card game, the players are alternate-timeline descendants of various characters from the movies, who need to change time to make 'their' universes the real one, before stopping Doc from inventing time travel in the first place and thus preventing anyone changing history again. Yes, [[Grandfather Paradox|you need to use time travel to stop time travel from being discovered]]. Roll with it. Adding to the confusion is that Verne Brown, who ''exists'' because of time travel, is a playable character.

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{{tropelist|The ''Back to the Future'' films provide examples of:}}

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* [[All Just a Dream]]: Subverted [[Once an Episode|once in all three films]]. In each one Marty gets knocked out and comes to in a dark room being nursed to health by a woman he thinks is the mother he knows, believing his recent hardships were a nightmare. The woman inevitably reassures him in a way that tells Marty (and the audience) that it actually wasn't a dream.

** Subverted in the opening of the first game, where it actually was a dream.

* [[All There in the Script]]: The names of the goons from Biff and Griff's gangs, as well as Lorraine's friends.

** As well as other info of the characters' backgrounds. Including Doc's mother's side of the family growing up in Hill Valley.

* [[Almost Kiss]]: This happens three times in ''Part I'', between Marty and Jennifer (though they did share a brief kiss before she went home with her dad). Towards the end of ''Part III'', the two are finally able to kiss more definitively.

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* [[Artistic License Nuclear Physics]]: You can't run a fission reactor on pure plutonium.

** You also can't run a fusion reactor on garbage (well, maybe on organic matter and/or water if you have a way to extract the hydrogen, but Doc threw a metal can in there too). It's a good thing that "Mr. Fusion" is just a brand name, and a play on "[[Bland-Name Product|Mr. Coffee]]."

** Although, he does pour [[Booze-Based Buff|Miller]] in there as well.

* [[As Long as It Sounds Foreign]]: The Libyan terrorists in the first film speak vaguely Arabic-sounding gibberish. In the second film, future-Marty works for a "Mr. Fujitsu"; "Fujitsu" is the name of a Japanese company, but it's short for "Fuji Telecommunications Equipment Manufacturing"<ref>''Fuji Tsuushinki Seizou'' if you're wondering, but parsed down to ''Fuji-Tsuu Kabushiki-Kaisha''(Stock Company) nowadays</ref>, not a surname.

* [[Berserk Button]]: "''Nobody''... calls me chicken."

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* [[Convenient Slow Dance]]

* [[Cool Car]]: The DeLorean. Anyone who grew up in [[The Eighties]] and enjoyed the BTTF movies will invariably hold a sort of unrequited love for them, even though in their unmodified form they're underpowered and don't handle too well. (Arguably, that's part of the joke -- getting a real DeLorean up to 88 miles per hour is about as likely as getting it to travel through time.)

** [[The Alleged Car]]: The films don't hide the fact that despite the cool looks the DMC-12 was a troublesome car which broke frequently.

** Other examples: Biff's '46 Ford Super DeLuxe convertible, Marty's tricked-out 1985 Toyota 4x4, and Doc Brown's 1948 Packard Victoria convertible.

* [[Cool Old Guy]]: Doc Brown.

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** Speaking of 1955 extras, the character Lester ("I think he took his wallet") was played by an unnamed extra in Part I, who could be seen crouching over Biff. Obviously, as Lester became a marginally [[Ascended Extra]] thanks to Marty's interference in Part II, he was [[The Other Darrin|Other Darrin'd]] for the sequel.

* [[Fly At the Camera Ending]]: The first ''[[Back to The Future]]'' ends with the DeLorean flying up in the air, turning around, then warping through time just as it hits the camera.

** The third movie [[Call Back|ends the same way]], except with the train in the place of the DeLorean.

* [[Foreshadowing]]: And plenty of it.

* [[Future Loser]]: Everyone at one point, notably Biff and Marty.

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** Also in episode 3 of the Telltale game.

* [[Large Ham]]: Christopher Lloyd in spades.

** Most versions of Biff to a certain degree, but none moreso than his future offspring Griff.

* [[The Law of Conservation of Detail]]: The first twenty minutes or so of ''Part I'', as well as 2015 McFly house portion of ''Part II''.

* [[Lightning Can Do Anything]]

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* [[Model Planning]]: A [[Running Gag]]. Doc Brown builds elaborate models of city blocks or canyons to demonstrate his plans to Marty, then apologizes for "the crudity of the model". It also catches on fire, repeatedly.

{{quote|'''Marty:''' You're really [[This Is Gonna Suck|instilling me with a lot of confidence]], Doc.}}

* [[My Car Hates Me]]: The DeLorean has a tendency to fall into disrepair at the exact moment Marty lands in another time period.

** Sometimes, however, [[Justified Trope|justified]]: in the first movie, the plutonium needed to power the flux capacitor isn't available, and in the third movie, the fuel line is damaged and the gasoline leaks out, which the car needs to accelerate.

** The DeLorean's habit of stalling in the middle of a road has prevented possible time paradoxes: In the original movie, Marty is forced to disguise the car behind a billboard, being unable to drive it openly through 1955 Hill Valley. At the end of the film, the DeLorean stalls ''again'', preventing Marty from interrupting the shootout at Lone Pine Mall (thus avoiding direct contact with his past self).

* [[Newspaper Dating]]: Marty in 1955 and 1985-A, Doc in 2015.

* [[No Communities Were Harmed]]: Aside from the iconic Paramount set, "Hill Valley" is a mix of various [[SoCalization|SoCal]] communities.

* [[No Man Should Have This Power]]: Doc Brown repeatedly promises to himself to destroy his own time-travelling technology, which finally happens at the end of movie 3. {{spoiler|(And then it almost immediately turns out that he had built a new one.)}}

* [[No Pronunciation Guide]]: For "gigawatts." Not so noticeable to the general public at the time, but over 20 years on, the prefix "giga-" (beginning with a hard "g") [[Tech Marches On|has become commonplace]] for computer-related terms<ref>Gigabyte and gigahertz likely being the most commonly known among the average computer user</ref>, so nowadays it's bound to give even non-engineers pause.

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** The look on Doc's face when Buford comes to shoot him on ''Saturday,'' and he realizes that just because he ''died'' in the original timeline on Monday doesn't mean that's when he got ''shot.''

* [[Omnidisciplinary Scientist]]: Doc Brown. He even identifies himself a "student of all sciences" in the third movie.

* [[Once an Episode]]: All films have Marty being chased by a Tannen, a Tannen covered in manure, Marty thinking it was [[All Just a Dream]], a estabilishing shot of Hill Valley...

* [[Our Time Machine Is Different]] because it is a car, and a cool one at that.

* [[The Peeping Tom]]: In ''Back to the Future'', the then-teenage George McFly spies on his future wife, Lorraine, from a tree next to her window. This becomes a crucial plot point as this is the point where Marty alters history. When George falls out of the tree, Marty pushes him out of the way of an oncoming car...accidentally preventing his parents' original meeting.

** He even says, "I'm more of a peeping tom." in the Telltale games.

* [[Pimped-Out Car]]: Doc made a time machine out a car, and later a train, not to mention the flying abilities.

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* [[Prince Charming Wannabe]]: Biff with Lorraine in ''Part I'' and ''Part II''.

* [[The Professor]]: Doc Brown.

* [[Punctuated ~~for~~ Emphasis]]

* [[Punctuated! For! Emphasis!]]

** "Read. My. Fax!"; "Gray's. Sports. Almanac!" (''Part II'')

* [[Race Against the Clock]]: Former Trope Namer - the clock tower finale for ''Part I'' reappears in ''both'' sequels, and ''Part III'' tries to outdo it with its own take.

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* [[Blatant Lies]]: Marty's mother in the beginning of the first movie tells him that she never went chasing after boys. When we see her younger self, it turns out that she was instantly enamored with his dad and, due to Marty taking his dad's place due to an accident, all but attempted to force herself on him.

* [[Blown Across the Room]]/[[Gale Force Sound]]: Marty hooks up an electric guitar to a [[Up to Eleven|ludicrously huge speaker]]. He plays a single chord and is physically hurled backwards by the sound (the speaker is destroyed in the process).

* [[Buffy-Speak]]:

{{quote|'''Marty:''' "Time circuits, on. Flux capacitor....fluxing."}}

* [[Casting Gag]] - Huey Lewis, playing the audition judge in 1985, tells Marty's band that they're "just too darn loud." [[Hypocritical Humor|The band was playing Lewis' own song, "The Power of Love."]]

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** Lorraine also tells the kids that if her father hadn't hit George McFly with his car in 1955 before the dance, none of the kids would've been born. She also says that she and George fell in love after they had their first kiss at the dance. It's all seemingly useless information that parents just say for no reason, right?

* [[Clean Up the Town]]: Goldie Wilson.

* [[Clown Car Base]]: Biff's goons make the mistake of insulting one of The Starlighters outside his Cadillac, causing four others to exit the car.

* [[Common Knowledge]]: In-universe example, when Doc Brown is showing Marty how to set the target date on the time machine: "Say you wanted to see the signing of the Declaration of Independence. (sets date to JUL 04 1776) Or witness the birth of Christ! (sets date to DEC 25 0000)" Not only did neither event take place on the given date, "0000" isn't even a year on any calendar — the year before AD 1 was 1 BC.

* [[Contrived Clumsiness]]: Marty "accidentally" trips Biff when they're in the diner in 1955 Hill Valley.

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** The series has established (among other places in the [[All There in the Manual|DVD commentaries]]) that it's not a paradox (at least not the universe-shattering kaboom type) if it establishes a stable time loop. Thus, Chuck Berry created ''Johnny B. Goode''... because Marty went back in time and played Berry's creation.

*** Which means, of course, that [[Unfortunate Implications|Chuck Berry stole Johnny B. Goode from a white kid in 1955]]. [[Word of God]] says that a group of militant blacks actually had a fit over this, though they shrugged it off, citing [[Rule of Funny]].

* [[Have a Gay Old Time]]: Referenced in a deleted scene:

{{quote|'''Marty:''' "What if I go back to the future and I end up bein' -- gay?"

'''Doc:''' "Why ''shouldn't'' you be happy?" }}

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* [[Title Drop]]: Doc declares he has to send Marty "Back! To the ''future!''"

** And again at the end of the movie when Doc comes back from 2015, to pick up Marty and go back to...you know.

* [[Technology Porn]]: The DeLorean when Doc introduces it.

** Also the opening, showing off various gadgets Doc has at home.

* [[Took a Level In Badass]]: George standing up to Biff is a critical moment thats fill him with self-confidence and changes the destiny of his whole life and family.

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* [[Book and Switch]]: Biff hides a girly magazine inside the dust jacket of the sports almanac, which Marty mistakes for the real thing. An earlier scene in 2015 established the dust jacket for the purpose of this scene.

* [[Bond Villain Stupidity]]: Apparently, Old Biff told his younger self if some kid or some wild-eyed old man who claims to be a scientist shows up asking about the book, he should sit him down, tell him in exacting detail the event of getting the book, and only ''then'' try to shoot him.

** No, this is more of a "spider-to-the-fly" scenario. He's all congenial at first, remembering the events of '55, and WHAM! he turns and pulls the gun.

** [[Incredibly Lame Pun|More like a "spider-to-the-McFly" scenario.]]

* [[Breast Expansion]]: Lorraine-A's implants in the second film:

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** Or that history changes around Doc and Marty as they carry Jennifer back to where they parked the DeLorean (and they just don't notice). Recall this is what happens to Jennifer and Einstein after they're left in 1985-A in Part II; Jennifer wakes up in the right timeline once Marty gets back in Part III.

** While not explicitly canon, there is a deleted scene of Old Biff collapsing painfully and fading away after returning to 2015, the explanation being that Lorraine shot and killed him sometime around 1995. It's plausible that with Biff dead, his empire dissolves and things slowly return to "normal" by 2015 so that Marty and Doc never know the difference. This would go along with the series' convention that time is always trying to "right" itself, get back on track.

** There's a deleted scene where Old Biff fades away. Was the removal of that scene confusing to hardcore fans? Yes. Was it justifiable? [[Nightmare Fuel|Jesus CHRIST, yes]].

* [[Prince Charming Wannabe]]: Again, Biff with Lorraine in 1955.

* [[Product Placement]]: Most are for "future" products. Mattel hasn't gotten around to making hoverboards...yet. The futuristic Pepsi glass makes it look awfully good, though.

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{{quote|'''Marty:''' "Let's land on him, we'll cripple his car."

'''Doc:''' "Marty, he's in a '46 Ford; we're in a DeLorean. He'd rip through us like we were tinfoil." }}

** Absolutely [[Truth in Television]]: DeLoreans feature a fiberglass body overlaid with relatively thin sheet metal (which would sometimes crack during manufacturing). Some of the crash tests show an unbelievable amount of crumpling when hitting a solid wall, so the Doc is quite accurate with his observation.

** Cars were generally made a lot more durable before the modern safety systems like automatic brakes and air bags were invented. Nowadays cars are designed to crumple on impact to absorb some of the kinetic energy and rely on the bags to protect the passengers, when back in the 1950's they tried to simply endure such hits.

*** It would be more accurate to credit the reduction in brute strength in car bodies to computerized engineering aids, that allow the designers to accurately simulate the loads any given piece will experience. Before widespread computer use in design, rough estimates with extremely generous margins (on the order of 200-300%) were used. The notion that a car should try to absorb an impact to protect its passengers, rather than survive as intact as possible (with [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joMK1WZjP7g mixed results]) also didn't exist when the '46 was built.

* [[Time Travel Tense Trouble]]:

{{quote|'''Doc:''' ''(after Marty realises that he's responsible for Biff's actions)'' "Well, it's all in the past."

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* [[Unintentional Period Piece]]: A weird case; the Cafe 80's scene, (remember, this movie was made in 19'''89'''), [[They Plotted a Perfectly Good Waste|invokes this trope directly]]. The result was rather bizarre at the time, and still is.

* [[Unstoppable Mailman]]: The Western Union man at the end manages to arrive at exactly the time he was told to.

* [[Video Phone]]: [[The Future]] McFly household's video phone is connected to the television set. Personal information about the individual on the other end of the line is scrolled through on screen, including name, age, occupation, home address, spouse, children, and assorted hobbies and preferences. Video calling is also [[Product Placement|sponsored by AT&T]].

** Becomes [[Hilarious in Hindsight]] when you note that Needles' favorite sport is Slamball, which didn't exist in 1985, but it does now.

* [[Which Me?]]: A few times.

* [[Women's Mysteries]]: Doc mentions this while musing that he won't get to visit [[The Wild West]].

* [[Worst News Judgment Ever]]: Even though Doc's copy of ''USA Today'' is a localized edition (the joke seems to be that they took over the whole newspaper industry), "Youth Jailed" is not exactly cover story material. Especially when you see the other stories from that day.

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* [[Zeerust]]/[[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]]: Done on purpose; the filmmakers didn't want to try to accurately predict the future, so they just combined Jetsons-esque devices with some obvious jokes (the McFlys have a fax machine in every room of their house, which apparently all print the same message at once). One thing they probably didn't count on, though, was Pontiac no longer existing. As well as Princess Di's death, one newspaper has an article about her becoming Queen.

** Ironically, some of their predictions actually came pretty close. Things like 16:9 flat-screen TVs with the ability to watch multiple shows at once don't sound too crazy in a world with [http://www.google.com/tv/ Google TV]. Hell, think about Marty Jr watching about eight shows at once, then ask yourself: how many tabs do you have open in your browser right now?

*** Also, it's all subverted by the fact that {{spoiler|Marty changes the future in 1985, and the zeerust future became an [[Alternate Timeline]].}}

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* [[Fashions Never Change]]: Spoofed.

* [[Forgotten Phlebotinum]]: Impressively averted. At the film's climax, the hoverboard -- which had been important to the ''previous'' movie -- gets reused.

* [[For Science!]]!:

{{quote|'''Train Engineer:''' "Is this a hold-up?"

'''Doc:''' "It's a science experiment!" }}

* [[For Want of a Nail]]: A non-standard example for a time-travel story; the fuel line being punctured by rough terrain leads to the complex plot of getting the DeLorean up to time-travel velocity. [[Fridge Logic|One would think]] that packing an extra can of gasoline for a trip to pre-petroleum times would be a no-brainer, but 1955 Doc is not as [[Genre Savvy]] about time travel as his 1985 counterpart.

** The Doc didn't intend to go to 1885; he was in the DeLorean when it was struck by lightning and sent him back.

** People do get confused into thinking it was the Indians because Marty pulls an arrow out of the bodywork immediately before noticing the dripping fuel under the car.

* [[Funny Background Event]]: When Doc and Clara return in the time machine train, Doc in the foreground tells Marty and Jennifer to make their future a good one. In the background, for whatever reason, the child playing Verne points to his crotch. It's been hypothesized that the child actor was trying to signal to someone (possibly director Zemeckis) that he needed to pee.

** Marty complains that Clint Eastwood never wore such a ridiculous getup, and Doc doesn't know who that is. They have this conversation in front of a drive-in theater, with a poster for ''Revenge of the Creature'', Eastwood's first film.

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** Well he did mention how the Old West was his favorite time period.

* [[Greek Chorus]]: The three old-timers who hang out at the saloon.

* [[Held Gaze]]: Doc and Clara have one.

* [[Hideous Hangover Cure]]: The "wake up juice."

* [[I Always Wanted to Say That]]: Doc with the train whistle - "I've wanted to do that all my life!"

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** We meet George's family in the novel, and it is implied he is an only child.

** Biff is confirmed to be an only child in the Telltale game, {{spoiler|which ends up foreshadowing the existence of Biff's brothers Cliff and Riff in an alternate timeline where Kid Tannen never went to jail.}}

* [[Politically-Correct History]]:

** Part 1: '''Lou:''' "A colored mayor, that'll be the day."

** Also in Part 1, one of Biff's gang calls one of the band's members a "spook", which is a largely forgotten racial epithet for a black person.

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*** Not averted in the video game, however. Trixie Trotter sings the classic song "I Don't Care," but the lyric "Of a clever race descendent" is changed to "I am my own superintendent."

**** Actually, that's the way [[Judy Garland]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-Q3gd6S1as sings it in In The Good Old Summertime] so it's possible that's the version Telltale happened to use.

* [[San Dimas Time]]:

{{quote|'''Marty:''' "If only I had more time...wait a minute, I have all the time I want; I got a ''time machine!''"}}

** He then proceeds to screw it up by {{spoiler|giving himself only a few extra minutes, thus allowing him to make it back to the mall parking lot just in time to see Doc get shot.}} [[Justified Trope]] in that he was worried about screwing up the ''present'' timeline as badly as he had just screwed up the past (if he prevents himself from going back in time, for example, he would not exist anymore). Doc mentions the implications earlier in the film.