History Film / BacktotheFuture

* BaitAndSwitch: After Marty's plan to stage a rape on his mom [[EngineeredHeroics so his dad can rescue her]] fails, Lorraine notices someone coming to the car. Marty (and the audience) assumes it's George coming to do his part of the plan, only for the door to open and for him to be grabbed by Biff, who's pissed about the $300 damage to his car (which he himself was responsible for).

* BigDamnHeroes: Played with. Marty and George's plan is to make it look like this when [[EngineeredHeroics George comes to Lorraine's "rescue."]] But Biff got there first, had his gang take Marty away, and is actually trying to rape Lorraine when George shows up.

* DateRapeAverted: {{Invoked}} with EngineeredHeroics, then [[DoubleSubversion doubly subverted]]: Marty sets up a plan to pretend to go too far with Lorraine in their car date; cue George stepping in, grabbing Marty off her and being the hero. Two things cause the plan to go awry: 1) Marty very understandably can't go through with it ([[SpringtimeForHitler in fact Lorraine is far more eager to advance things than he is]]), and 2) Biff enters the scene, gets his goons to remove Marty from the picture and then turns back to Lorraine and [[NightmareFuel begins trying to rape her for real]]. Then George steps in and thwarts him, [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome also for real]].

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Marty & Doc's plan to get Lorraine to fall for George involves Marty staging an AttemptedRape with [[EngineeredHeroics George intervening and "saving" her]]. However, once the realization hits Marty that he has to actually hit on Lorraine, he can't bring himself to do it and is only able to nervously ask her if she wants to "[[UnusualEuphemism park]]." Then the plan gets completely derailed when not only does Lorraine say yes, but she reveals that [[OfCourseImNotAVirgin she's a pretty rebellious teenager by 1950s standards]].

* EngineeredHeroics: Subverted: Marty's plan to get George and Lorraine together goes wrong, requiring George to be a real hero. In the {{novelization}}, George worries that Biff was in on the plan and had faked being knocked out, until Marty confirms that Biff was serious.

* RescueRomance: Marty tries to set his parents up by [[EngineeredHeroics engineering a situation]] where George saves Lorraine from sexual assault (namely, by Marty himself). It goes off the rails when Lorraine is more eager than Marty is, only to be set right when Biff intervenes and genuinely tries to assault Lorraine, and George ends up genuinely saving her by punching Biff out.

* TimeSkip: After Marty and George come up with the EngineeredHeroics plan, the film skips ahead three days later to the night of November [=12th=], the night of the lightning storm/HighSchoolDance.

* BloodlessCarnage: There's no blood when Doc is riddled by bullets. [[spoiler:In the changed timeline, it's because he's wearing a BulletproofVest.]]

* BloodlessCarnage: There's no blood when Doc is riddled by bullets. [[spoiler:In the changed timeline, it's because he's wearing a bulletproof vest.]]

* SlowElectricity: Near the end of the film, the lightning crawls down the wire at roughly a walking pace.

* WriteBackToTheFuture: Marty tries to do this with a "Do Not Open Until 1985" letter talking about how Doc gets gunned down. Doc tears it up while proclaiming he can't let it influence the future. [[spoiler: He later tapes it back together and reads it.]]

'''Doc Brown:''' Roads? [[WeDontNeedRoads Where we're going]], [[Film/BackToTheFuturePartII we don't]] ''[[Film/BackToTheFuturePartII need]]'' [[Film/BackToTheFuturePartII roads...]]

** Donwplayed; while the film's portrayal of 1955 is rosier than 1985, the film does a good job in showing both the bright, sunny veneer of TheFifties and the darker, less pleasant aspects underneath, without being totally blinded by rose-tinted glasses.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: As Marty tries to tell George to ask Lorraine to the dance, George objects by saying it would mean missing his favorite TV show ''Science Fiction Theatre''. ''Science Fiction Theatre'' was an actual sci-fi show from the 50s, a spiritual predecessor to ''Series/TheOuterLimits1963'' and ''Series/{{The Twilight Zone|1959}}'' (in the extended version of the "Darth Vader" scene, Marty also name-drops those shows).

* ArtisticLicense: When Doc indicates the birth of Christ as December 25, 0000. Of course, it is now accepted by educated people that Christ was born around 4 BC, but the CriticalResearchFailure is the fact that the Gregorian calendar does not include a year 0, only a 1 BC followed by a 1 AD -- something that the inventor of a time machine should have looked into. In fact, the lack of a way to go back to BC at all is an odd choice on his part.

[[caption-width-right:350: ''He was never in time for his classes... he wasn’t in time for his dinner... then one day... he wasn’t in his time at all.'']]

* AnachronismStew: While the past is set in 1955, the guitar model Marty plays at the prom, a Gibson ES-345TD, was only introduced in 1958. In fact, Gibson didn't even introduce humbucking pickups to their eletric guitar line until 1957 (their lap steel models received the pickup early in '56). Until that point, Gibson's electric guitars usually came equiped with P-90 pickups.

* BeenThereShapedHistory: Back in 1955, Marty [=McFly=] plays Music/ChuckBerry's "Johnny B. Goode" when he steps in for Chuck's cousin, Marvin Berry. While Marty is playing, Marvin calls Chuck up so he can listen in on this "new sound". He also gives the 1985 mayor Goldie Wilson, at that time the black janitor in the malt shop, political aspirations the exact year the Civil Rights Movement started. And of course, Marty ends being responsible for his parents getting together and being a happier and more successful married couple in the future.

* BulletProofVest: [[spoiler: When Marty returns to 1985 and tries to reach Doc before the Libyans shoot him, he arrives too late... although Doc eventually read the letter anyway after taping it back together and was secretly wearing a bullet-proof vest.]]

** At the beginning of the movie, Marty is practicing his guitar playing, and he's also shown to be good at skateboarding and hitching a ride on the back of a car. All of those skills come handy to him in 1955.

* ContrivedCoincidence: Doc types in November 5, 1955 into the time machine, the day he came up with the Flux Capacitor. Marty ends up going back to that day, which also happens to be the exact same day his parents met. It's also lucky for Marty that the dance where his parents first kissed and fell in love happened before lightning hit the clock tower, the only time Marty and Doc knew of when and where lightning would strike, as opposed to after. And they only ''know'' it because Marty happens to have been handed a "Save the Clock Tower" flier that day — that happens to include a copy of a newspaper article from the day the lightning hit; which he happens to have kept only because Jennifer happened to use it to write down her phone number for him, and happens to decide to show to Doc because Doc ''happens'' to bother asking how things are between him and his girlfriend back home...

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: The reason the "Darth Vader" scene was shortened. In the full length scene, "Vader" tells George that he will melt his brain if he doesn't take Lorraine to the dance -- information George relays to Marty in ''the very next scene''. The version in the film has the "Darth Vader from the Planet Vulcan" line before cutting to George telling Marty about it the next day.

** The [=DeLorean=] needs to hit [=88mph=] and then sustain that speed for a few seconds before it travels in time. In all future installments, the time-travelling kicks in the instant the car hits the required speed. This might be due to it using Mr. Fusion as its power source instead of plutonium, also making this the only instance in the franchise where the latter is true.

* EmergencyTemporalShift: After seeing the Libyan terrorists shooting Doc Brown, Marty [=McFly=] finds himself next in the firing line, and is forced to escape via the newly-completed [=DeLorean=] time machine -- travelling from 1985 to 1955.

* FlorenceNightingaleEffect: Lorraine fell in love with George after her dad hit him with his car. Marty accidentally ends up replacing his father in her affections when he pushes George out of the way. Marty is naturally [[{{Squick}} not okay with this]], and inadvertently keeps making himself even more attractive to her. Especially after he defends her from Biff in the school lunch room. Doc [[DiscussedTrope calls out the trope by name]] to explain to Marty what's going on. [[invoked]]

** Biff in 1985 telling Marty to say hi to Lorraine for him may seem like a clumsy attempt to [[PetTheDog be nice]], but it's meant to foreshadow that in her better days, Lorraine was very good looking and that Biff has a VillainousCrush on her.

** The [=McFly=] family are watching the episode of ''The Honeymooners'' where "Ralph dresses up as the man from space". The Baines family in 1955 watch the same episode when Marty is with them. It also sets up Marty being mistaken for a "man from space", first of all in front of the Peabodys when Marty first arrives in 1955 [[spoiler:and later when he turns up in George's bedroom to coerce him to take Lorraine to the dance]].

* HarsherInHindsight: In-Universe. 1955 Doc is very happy to discover that some day he will have the chance to travel to the future. Marty is very troubled when he said that: as far as he knows, the terrorists killed him in the initial sequence, and never had the chance to actually use the machine himself.

* HonkingArrivingCar: Early in the film, Marty and Jennifer are suddenly interrupted pre-kiss by a honking horn and a male voice shouting, "Jennifer!" Jennifer acknowledges her dad has showed up to give her a ride home.

** After his EurekaMoment of setting the [=DeLorean=]'s time circuits to give him a ten minute head start to prevent Doc's shooting, Marty starts doing a final checking over of the [=DeLorean=] before he speeds off to the clocktower... and no sooner does he mention that the engine is running, [[TemptingFate it conks out.]]

* MistakenForAliens: Upon his arrival in 1955, Marty is mistaken for a space alien, something he later takes advantage of in order to convince George to ask Lorraine out. In fact, the filmmakers specifically chose to use a [=DeLorean=] as the time machine because its gull-wing doors would help sell the idea that it could be mistaken for a UFO in the 1950s. This trope's inclusion was also the inspiration for Sid Sheinberg's infamous suggestion that the film be retitled ''Spaceman from Pluto''. You'll notice that in the final film, the ''Tales from Space'' comic book includes a mention of, "Space Zombies from Pluto."

* NewspaperDating: While Marty is staring around in bemusement at the 1955 version of his home town, a man nearby drops a newspaper into a trash can. Marty retrieves it to confirm that he's in the past and learn the exact date.

** Marty after Doc tells him his clocks are twenty-five minutes slow, making him realise he's late for school again.

** Marty gets a huge one at the dance when he starts to fade out of the photograph, and sees his right hand start to fade away.

* ParentalIncest: Parodied, in that whilst Marty knows who Lorraine really is, she has no idea as to his true identity. Marty [[{{squick}} seriously]] [[invoked]] tries to avert this trope, and does everything wrong until the night of the dance; everything he does only makes him more attractive to her. He jumps and flees when she makes a pass at him, defends her from Biff's "meat hooks", trips up Biff when Biff goes after George, and leads Biff on an over-the-top skateboard chase culminating in Biff's comeuppance in manure. By this time, she ''really'' wants to get to know him. Luckily, she ends up feeling the same way as Marty, equating the experience to "kissing my own brother".

* ReliablyUnreliableGuns: Marty is saved repeatedly from being shot by Libyans because their rifle jams. They are shooting an AK-47, which are [[MadeOfIndestructium famed for their reliability even under the harshest conditions]]. However, we do see them simply trying to clear the jam rather than abandoning the gun immediately. Eventually the terrorist does clear the jam and continues firing. You can also overhear them complaining about how the gun and car are cheap off-brands, so the idea that they were intentionally sold defective products (like the fake bomb Doc gave them) isn't too farfetched.

* RescueRomance: Marty tries to set his parents up by [[EngineeredHeroics engineering a situation]] where George saves Lorraine from sexual assault (namely, by Marty himself). It goes off the rails when Lorraine is more eager than Marty is, only to be set right when Biff intervenes, genuinely tries to assault Lorraine, and George ends up genuinely saving her by punching Biff out.

* RunningOverThePlot: Shortly after arriving in 1955 Marty accidentally gets run over by his grandfather's car, which introduces him to his mother (who is instantly smitten with him) and accidentally prevents his parents from meeting. This triggers the main subplot where Marty must work to get his parents back together to stop the GrandfatherParadox obliterating him from existence.

* StoppedClock: The clock tower stopped after being struck by lightning at 10:04pm on November 12, 1955, giving Marty and Doc a precise time to use the lightning to get Marty and the [=DeLorean=] back to 1985.

* ThisIsMyBoomstick: Without revealing himself to be a time traveller, Marty successfully threatens George, using his futuristic technology, to ask Lorraine to the dance, while posing as ‘Darth Vader from Vulcan’.

* UndressingTheUnconscious: 1955 Lorraine removes Marty's pants while he's unconscious in her room, and even thinks [[EntertaininglyWrong his name is Calvin Klein]] at first, because it's "written all over his underwear". He has a minor NakedFreakOut when he notices it.

* UseYourHead: At the climax, when the Delorean wont start, Marty [[PercussiveMaintenance headbutts the steering wheel and the engine roars to life.]]

* WorstAid: Lorraine's parents carry the unconscious Marty inside, remove his clothes, and tuck him into bed, despite the fact that the worst thing you can do for someone with a potential concussion (prolonged unconsciousness after a hard fall is a definite sign of concussion, and Lorraine tells him he's been unconscious for nine hours) is move them. It's also very dangerous to let a severely concussed person fall asleep. They would have been much better off calling an ambulance to move Marty safely via stretcher to a hospital to determine the extent of his injuries...but then, of course, we'd have a very different movie. Although somewhat mitigated by the fact that far less was known about concussion back in the 1950s, especially by the general public.

* ArbitrarySkepticism: Marty was in a ''time machine''. Which he knew worked. And when he reached eighty-eight miles per hour, sparks surrounded the car and the view around him suddenly changed. Yet he takes a ''long'' time to realize he's in the past, and keeps saying it must be a dream.

->'''Marty [=McFly=]''': Wait a minute, wait a minute, Doc... are you telling me you built a '''time machine'''... out of a [=DeLorean=]...?!
->'''Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown''': The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some ''style''?

The first film of the ''Back to the Future'' trilogy released in 1985, starting the ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' franchise.

* GaleForceSound: Marty hooks up an electric guitar to a [[UpToEleven ludicrously huge speaker]]. He plays a single chord and is physically [[BlownAcrossTheRoom hurled backwards]] by the sound (the speaker is destroyed in the process).

->'''Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown''': The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?

* CurseCutShort: Some TV versions invoke this trope when Marty travels back to 1955. When Marty drives out of the barn, Peabody shouts, "Take that, you mutated son of a bitch!" Whereas in some TV prints, Peabody's line is cut short to, "Take that, you mutated son of a--" ''[Marty bursts out of the barn]''

** Moments later when Marty and Jennifer try to kiss again, Jennifer's dad arrives to pick her up.

** When pretending to be an alien to George, Marty references ''Franchise/StarTrek''. Creator/ChristopherLloyd, who played Doc, portrayed Kruge in ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock''. He also references ''Franchise/StarWars''. [[Music/RedHotChiliPeppers Flea]], who played Needles in the sequels, would later appear in ''Series/ObiWanKenobi''.