History YMMV / BacktoTheFuture

* GeniusBonus: The DeLorean was a flop on the marketplace and the DeLorean Motor Company that manufactured it went out of business in 1982. That is a big reason why a DeLorean was chosen as the time machine vehicle, as it not only fit the theme of the movie but allowed the filmmakers to avoid paying a hefty licensing fee or negotiating a product placement deal with an automobile manufacturer since the DeLorean trademark was in the public domain at the time.

* {{Woolseyism}}: Biff's {{catchphrase}} of "How about you make like a tree and [[{{Malaproper}} get out of here]]?" was changed in the French dub to "''Tu fais comme dans l'infanterie, tu t'tires ailleurs''" ("You do like in the infantry, you get lost"). "''Tire ailleurs''" is phonetically very close to "''Tirailleur''" (a skirmisher). Several French military units since the Napoleonic era, especially those drawn from the African colonies, have been called "''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirailleur Tirailleurs]]''".

** The film also shows George being a peeping tom, when modern films would use that to mark a character as a creepy pervert.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: People who are too young to meaningfully remember either the UsefulNotes/ColdWar or Gaddafi’s UsefulNotes/{{Libya}} will be bewildered as to why it is Libyans who are after Doc Brown.

* HilariousInHindsight: One episode has Marty go by alias of Jimmy Olsen, referencing how Marc [=McClure=], who played Jimmy Olsen in the live action ''Superman'' movies, portrayed Marty's brother Dave. David Kaufman, who voices Marty, would later go on to voice ComicBook/JimmyOlsen in [[WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries several]] [[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueDoom animated]] [[WesternAnimation/SupermanVsTheElite productions]]. Years after playing Marty, Kaufman voiced [[Film/StuartLittle another Michael J. Fox character]] for a [[RecycledTheSeries cartoon adaptation]].

* TheAllegedCar: Given the real Delorean's anemic engine and heavy weight, owners of the car have half-jokingly suggested the most unbelievable thing in the series is that a Delorean could attain 88 miles an hour.

** A specific one, that may not be understood by younger viewers, is the significance of the terrorists in BTTF I being {{UsefulNotes/Libya}}ns. In 1985 when the movie came out, Libya (which was under the rule of Muammar Gaddafi) was seen as a big UsefulNotes/ColdWar bogeyman and considered by UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan to be a serious enemy of the United States.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: People who are too young to meaningfully remember either the Cold War or Gaddafi’s UsefulNotes/{{Libya}} may be bewildered as to why it is Libyans after Doc Brown.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/JoshKeaton voiced Jules.

*** Things are slightly better in the final cut where it comes across less like Marty doesn't care about Lorraine's mental health and more like he didn't fully think the plan out. He wants to pretend to try hitting on Lorraine against her will so that George can come in and "rescue" her, but as soon as he parks the car and is alone with her, Marty realizes that he has to actually hit on his own mom, and can't bring himself to do it. There's also the fact that Lorraine reveals that [[OfCourseImNotAVirgin she's not a completely innocent teenager]] and isn't afraid of sex, turning the whole scenario on its head.

** Also to modern audiences, the implication that Music/ChuckBerry was inspired to write his most famous song by hearing a white kid play it ([[NothingButHits Most famous song in *modern times*]] as Berry was an established, popular musician with a history of hit records years before "Johnny B. Goode" was released). Although Marty only knew it because Chuck Berry played it, so it's really a situation of [[StableTimeLoop Chuck Berry influencing Marty influencing Chuck Berry influencing Marty influencing...]]

** Despite an [[FairForItsDay apparently anti-racist message]] in showing Goldie Wilson rise up from being treated as a lowly black laborer to becoming mayor of the town, his [[UncleTomfoolery bug-eyed, exaggerated mannerisms]] look pretty cringey by today's standards. Similarly, we're meant to sympathize with the black musicians at the dance when a member of Biff's gang refers to one of them as a "spook," but ultimately the musicians are a mere [[MagicalNegro plot device to help Marty]].

** Despite an [[FairForItsDay apparently anti-racist message]] in showing Goldie Wilson rise up from being treated as a lowly black laborer to becoming mayor of the town, his [[UncleTomfoolery bug-eyed, exaggerated mannerisms]] look pretty cringey by today's standards. Also, both he and the black musicians at the dance are treated as mere [[MagicalNegro plot devices to help Marty]].

** "Hey, I've seen this one!"[[labelnote:Explanation]]Marty recognizing a rerun of a show, only for his kid uncle to point out this is actually the episode's ''premiere''. Used for when HistoryRepeats or a PopularityPolynomial appears. Gained particular popularity in late August 2020 as part of the meme that 2020 being a TraumaCongaLine is because it is an arc in a show, with Kim Jong-un falling mysteriously ill and his sister taking his place temporarily ''again'' after a similar scare a couple months prior, prompting jokes that this is a rerun or reuse of plot points.[[/labelnote]]

** The Bobs were never thrilled with the effect used to show Marty's hand fading from existence, as upon closer examination, rather than the entire hand fading away, it instead appears that a hole is appearing in it.

** The Bobs were never thrilled with the effect used to show Marty's hand fading from existence.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Barely, since it relies on a coincidence Strickland couldn't have known about. He might be something of a jerkass to Marty at the beginning of the film when claiming he's a slacker who'll never amount to anything, but he is right that Doc Brown is dangerous, in a way - given he's not only willing to perform risky and highly illegal time travel experiments powered by stolen plutonium, but to rip off terrorists for said plutonium who might be out for revenge, and to allow Marty to be dragged into the situation.
** Based on the future Marty we see in Part II, it could be argued that he was somewhat right about the first part, too.

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: The film was passed on by practically all the major studios for not having raunchy enough humor [[note]][[FollowTheLeader This was the era that brought films]] like ''Film/AnimalHouse'' and ''Film/FastTimesAtRidgemontHigh''.[[/note]], while Disney passed it on for being ''too'' raunchy by their standards [[note]]because of the subplot where the young version of Marty's mother is attracted to him.[[/note]]. It was only after the box office success of ''Film/RomancingTheStone'' that Creator/AmblinEntertainment started expressing hope in Creator/RobertZemeckis' and Bob Gale's science fiction comedy...which would later become the highest-grossing movie of its year.

** Anyone catch the name of Marty’s band at the beginning? The [[{{Franchise/Hellraiser}} Pinheads]].

** For the science fiction references, fans tend to forget that while they clearly hear names they are already familiar with, George has just been woken up from a deep sleep (doesn't wake up from a guy putting head phones on him) with screamingly loud music being blasted into his ear drums, and in his state of being partially awake and filled with terror hears an "alien" mention a couple of names he's never heard before. It's not like Marty repeated himself or allowed him to take notes, so, while he is shown remembering the names the following day, he would be unlikely to recognize those names a week later, much less one or two decades later.

** For the science fiction references, fans tend to forget that while they clearly hear names they are already familiar with, George has just been woken up from a deep sleep (doesn't wake up from a guy putting head phones on him) with screamingly loud music being blasted into his ear drums, and in his state of being partially awake and filled with terror hears an "alien" mention a couple of names he's never heard before. It's not like Marty repeated himself or allowed him to take notes, so, while his is shown remembering the names the following day, he would be unlikely to recognize those names a week later, much less one or two decades later.

* FourthWallMyopia: Various internet lists detail "plot holes" such as George McFly not getting suspicious of his son Marty looking just like the Marty he met back in 1955 and/or recognizing the names of the planet "Vulcan" or "Darth Vader" from Star Trek and Star Wars that came out years later.

** For the science fiction references, fans tend to forget that while they clearly hear names they are already familiar with, George has just been woken up from a deep sleep (doesn't wake up from a guy putting head phones on him) with screamingly loud music being blasted into his ear drums, and in his state of being partially awake and filled with terror hears an "alien" mention a couple of names he's never heard before. It's not like Marty repeated himself or allowed him to take notes, so he would be unlikely to recognize those names a week later, much less one or two decades later.