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Back to the Future

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Works in this franchise with their own pages:

The main trilogy

Other works


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    Series-Wide 
  • Adorkable: George McFly is a scrawny, spineless nerd who takes notes on what to say to the girl he likes, and then gets the words wrong ("Lorraine, my density has popped me to you!" "... What?").
  • Aluminum Christmas Trees:
    • The DeLorean. The DeLorean Motor Company went bankrupt in 1982, well before the film was made, and Robert Zemeckis had to argue with Universal to use the car since DMC wouldn't be able to give them any commercial endorsements. At the time the car was considered a failure—underpowered, unreliable, generally just a crappy car, which is why DMC went out of business. Indeed this joke is played on in the film as the DeLorean has a habit of stalling on Marty at the worst possible time. It's now entirely thanks to this series that anyone remembers it.
    • Back then in 1885, "dude" was an insult pretty much equivalent to "City slicker" or "Dandy", and meant someone with no experience of horses or cattle trying to play cowboy. (It is still used this way when referring to a "dude ranch.") Its use as a term of affection only goes back as far as The '60s and the rise of surfer culture.
    • The director's commentary notes that they were unaware that "gigawatt" is pronounced with a hard "g" sound, hence the use of the pronunciation "jiggawatt" in the film. However, they didn't just make it up; a real professor used that pronunciation in a lecture they attended in preparation for the film.
  • Anvilicious: The "Don't let your pride get the best of you" aesop is drilled into your head in Parts II and III through the character's dialogue.
  • Better on DVD: Parts II and III make greater sense when watched back-to-back, as you'll see signs of Foreshadowing and other details between the two parts. For instance, as Doc and Marty discuss their plan at the train station, you'll see that Clara Clayton was standing in the background waiting for someone to pick her up.
  • Broken Base: Debate on if there should be a fourth movie rages on to this day. Some fans are down for a fourth film set in the modern day, given how much things have changed since the 1980s. Others, however, including Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, find a fourth film to be unnecessary and prefer to just keep it as a trilogy. And then you have fans who argue Back to the Future Part IV already technically exists in the form of Back to the Future: The Game.
  • Common Knowledge:
    • Marty never flew the DeLorean during the movies; only Doc and Old Biff were seen flying it, with Marty always being in the passenger's seat whenever the car flew with him in it. However, Marty drove it around on the ground pretty frequently.note 
    • Because Biff, Lorraine and Doc himself are present in both the past and present, and Biff and Lorraine even in the future, people tend to confuse which one they are, sometimes mistakenly believing that Doc and Marty travel together from the start, when in fact the only trips Doc and Marty take together are to 2015 and back, and then to 1955 a second time, and all those trips are from Part II. Every other time one of them travels in the films, they each do it alone (though they do travel together more times in spin off material). In fact, in the first movie, the version of Doc that gets the most screen time is the 1955 Doc who just met Marty and hasn't invented time travel yet, while the 1985 Doc who knew Marty for some time and invented the time machine was shot dead by the terrorists whom he ripped off to get the plutonium to power the Time Machine from, which leads to Marty accidentally traveling back in time while trying to escape. It's actually a subplot that Marty tries to warn the 1955 Doc, whom he seeks out to help fix the Time Machine, about his future demise, with Doc being too stubborn about not knowing about the future to listen. The 1985 Doc is not the most predominantly featured version until the sequels. As for Biff, he only time travels twice offscreen, when his elderly self in 2015 steals the DeLorean for a trip to and from 1955 to deliver the sports almanac to his past self.note 
    • A lot of people confuse Biff and Griff, his grandson in 2015. Several also think that Biff is Marty's school bully, when he was actually Marty's father's school bully, with Biff being a middle aged man in Marty's present time, though, depending on the timeline, no less immature.
    • Lorraine never actually travels in time herself (and is completely unaware of the existence of time travel), and Jennifer only does so technically twice, going to the future (and back) with Marty (and being unconscious for the entire return trip). The confusion seems to derive from people getting Marty's mother and girlfriend's names confused.
    • Many cosplays of Marty include his iconic "life preserver" vest and jean jacket with the pink hoverboard as a prop. Marty only wore the vest and jacket in Part I, and the hoverboard only ever appeared in the sequels, meaning there was no crossover between the two.
  • Diagnosed by the Audience: Some fans believe that between many instances of impulsiveness, tendency to be distracted, possible executive dysfunction (sleeping in his clothes is not a rare thing, according to Dave), and time blindness, Marty has ADD/ADHD.
  • Ensemble Dark Horse:
    • Goldie Wilson —Only appearing in the first film— is a fan favorite for encouraging young George to stand up to Biff and his gang and being the first black mayor of Hill Valley.
    • "CPR Guy" aka "Wallet Guy" from Part II. And for a short time in the fandom, the scarecrow that Marty runs over in Part I.
    • Red the bum, who calls Marty a "crazy drunk driver" upon his return to 1985 in Part I, and a "crazy drunk pedestrian" in 1985-A in Part II.
    • Strickland only appears in a handful of scenes in the first two movies, but he proves to be one of the more memorable characters.
    • Biff, Griff, and Buford's respective trios of henchmen may be Jerkass Satellite Characters, but they are all fondly remembered by the fans. The standouts of each gang are probably 3-D (for his Iconic Item glasses), Spike (for being a Sexy Sweater Girl with menacing fingernails), and Stubble (for being Buford's Token Competent Minion and still getting some funny lines).
    • The barbed wire salesman, three saloon old-timers, and the bartender who makes "wake up juice" may not be in much of the third movie, but add a lot of color and heart to it that fans appreciate.
  • First Installment Wins: The first is iconic. The second and third are good, but definitely not remembered like number one.
  • Genius Bonus: 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.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
    • Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg's first concept for the time machine was not a DeLorean. Originally, the idea was that it would be a highly-scientific laser array that sent Marty back to the past. To get him back to the future, Doc Brown originally was going to put him in a refrigerator during an A-Bomb test. Spielberg vetoed the concept back then out of fear that kids would climb into abandoned refrigerators and become trapped, not to mention it was incredibly expensive. A couple of decades later, however...
    • Also, Marty helps his parents realize their love for each other and get together while they were still teenagers, while they have no idea who he is, which leads to them naming him after himself. This wouldn't be the last time this happened. Timey-Wimey Ball indeed.
  • Love to Hate: Biff Tannen is a massive bully and complete jerk, but he's so hilariously dumb and over the top that he's extremely entertaining to watch as a result.
  • Most Wonderful Sound:
    • The little "twinkle" musical cue that plays at various points throughout the trilogy, most notably at the very beginning of parts 2 and 3.
    • Any of the sounds associated with the DeLorean such as the time circuits powering on, the gear-shifting and acceleration, the gull-wing doors opening, and the crackling and whooshing when making the jump between times.
  • One-Scene Wonder: Flea as Needles in the sequels only has one scene each in both movies, but he proves memorable with how his actions directly impact how Marty’s life turns out.
  • Narm Charm: Biff's go-to-insult, "Butthead," would typically appear juvenile, but the over the top way he says it makes it sound hilarious.
  • Poor Man's Substitute: Secrets of the Back to the Future Trilogy is hosted by Kirk Cameron, presumably due to Michael J. Fox being unavailable. Cameron was a similar "teen idol" actor at the time.
  • The Problem with Licensed Games:
    • The infamously awful games released for the NES and Genesis. The first one, which has its own page, was a tedious Point A to Point B walking game minus four levels that involved goals, the last of which only gave you one chance to beat it. The second one that combined Part II and III, released the next year, quickly became one of the most infamous pieces of programming on the NES, with an incredibly confusing platforming mechanic which involved retrieving items; the fastest speed-run of this game still took at least an hour, and there's no save feature. The Genesis game was done by Acclaim, and only had four levels, but this led to the programming choice of making it Nintendo Hard to an insane degree.
    • The LEGO Dimensions Back to the Future Level Pack's Story Mode has received complaints of It's Short, So It Sucks!, consisting only of four areasnote  that take 30 minutes to run through. Mitigated by the automatic addition of Marty McFly (who can use his guitar to break open certain boxes and doors with SONAR waves), the DeLorean, and the Hoverboard to the player's party, and the ability to freely explore Hill Valley's town square in 1985, 2015, and 1885.note 
  • Realism-Induced Horror: Biff Tannen's obsessive crush on Lorraine is never portrayed in a positive light
    • In the movie shows a drunk Biff going so far as rape Lorraine, before George comes to save her.
    • Then in an alternate timeline the second film, it shows her being forced into a loveless marriage by Biff, after George's death. It is only made worse when it shows that he is quite abusive to her and keeps her in line by threatening her children if she tries to leave him.
  • Signature Scene: The climax of the first movie, with Marty barreling the DeLorean down the street as Doc desperately attempts to reconnect the wire that will funnel the lightening bolt into the Flux Capacitor and send Marty back to the future. It's such an epic and exciting scene that it ended up being featured in every movie of the trilogy.
  • What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?:
    • Remember the joy of watching these films when you were a kid? Remember the scene where the second lead is gunned down by Libyan terrorists? They sure don't make 'em like they used to. On the other hand, when Marty found himself in 1955, he made it a point to try and save Doc from his future fate... and succeeds; it was more of an extremely delayed Disney Death. There's also Marty's plan to get George and Lorraine together at the dance involving him faking a rape attempt on his own mother, which was then broken up by a real rape attempt from Biff. And the fact that George was peeping at Lorraine with a set of binoculars when her father ran over him with his car. Don't even get us started on the Parental Incest Lorraine gives to her future son Marty. It is generally believed that the movie most definitely would've received a PG-13 rating had it been released today, much like another Zemeckis film that came out later in the decade.
      "If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious shit!"
    • The first sequel isn't much better, starting with a Groin Attack on Marty Junior. Of course, the cherry on top is the alternate 1985 where Biff is a Corrupt Corporate Executive who murdered George in cold blood, forced Lorraine into marriage and breast implants, sits in a jacuzzi with naked women, and has turned Hill Valley into a hellhole.
    • Part III has Buford hanging Marty, threatening Clara with rape, and attempting a slow death by bullet on Doc. Plus there's Doc's (implied) one night stand with Clara.
    • Amusingly, this trope was why Disney turned down the first film, as they thought it was too raunchy (primarily the subplot with Lorraine being infatuated with Marty), whereas many other studios thought it wasn't raunchy enough (this was the era of teen sex comedies like Porky's and Revenge of the Nerds).
  • The Woobie:
    • George McFly, before he Took a Level in Badass. The poor guy has been getting pushed around by Biff his whole life. He's always unsure of himself and ready to give up his ambitions because he can't stand even the thought of rejection.
    • In the comics, Marty, due to a serious dose of despair after the films. He sinks into a depression when his time-traveling days appear to be over, and his unfamiliarity with his life in the current timeline due to Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory eventually results in a full-blown existential crisis. He's verging on Death Seeker territory before he snaps out of it.
    • Clara Clayton, perhaps more so in the original timeline. In her backstory from the comics, Clara is raised in New Jersey with a passion for the sciences, thanks to her entomologist father and the works of Jules Verne. But her interests are shunned by the social norms of the time, and she even notes how domestic life has negatively affected her once-spitfire mother. Both of her parents have passed away by 1885, so with no other ties keeping her in New Jersey, she heads west to Hill Valley in search of a better life through educating children — only to die in a freak buckboard accident and spend a century as a punchline amongst Hill Valley's schoolchildren.
      • It's also terrible for Clara in the timeline with Doc (but no Marty) present. Clara meets and falls in love with a man who shares her interests and doesn't judge her for hers, only to watch him get shot and die a prolonged, agonizing death at the hands of a cruel, boorish outlaw. It's very telling how her fate in this timeline is left as an intentional Shrug of God.

    The comic book 
  • Alternate Aesop Interpretation: From the last comics. Every outgoing U.S. president has fans who wish that pesky 22nd Amendment didn't stop him from running after only two terms, up to and including members of Congress sincerely suggesting that maybe that term limit rule is unnecessary. It might be prudent to pass a rule that anyone considering repealing the 22nd Amendment should read Biff to the Future...
  • Older Than They Think:
    • Doc's steam trike time machine isn't far-fetched compared to other BTTF media, as the animated series episodes "Witchcraft" and "Gone Fishin'" showed that it's possible to successfully connect and use a small flux capacitor with something as simple as a remote control car, or a barrel going over a waterfall.
    • Similarly, the idea of a time travel suit — which Doc cobbles together from an old timey diving suit — was originally seen in blueprints for a "Timeman" time travel suit in the Ride's pre-ride queue.
  • Salvaged Story: The stories attempt to reconcile a few dangling plot threads from the movies.
    • "Emmett Brown Visits the Future" shows that the internet does exist in the BTTF universe's 2015 alongside all the Zeerust. It also shows how Doc uses time travel to grab some copies of Action Comics #1 in 1938 to sell for a multi-million dollar profit in 2015, in order to finance the Mr. Fusion and hover conversion upgrades for the DeLorean.
    • "Clara's Story" shows that Clara's interests in science and the future — stymied by the cultural norms of the 19th Century — are the reasons why Doc changes his mind about destroying the time machine.

    The Pinball Machine 

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