Back to the Future Part III questions and answers

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Back to the Future Part III (1990) - 9 questions

Directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Christopher Lloyd, Elizabeth Shue, Lea Thompson, Mary Steenburgen, Michael J. Fox, Thomas F. Wilson

The "questions" section is for any random questions that occurred to you while watching this film, or anything you didn't entirely understand, and which Google or the IMDb can't help with. Submit them as a question, and hopefully someone will answer (the bold comments in brackets) - check back regularly. If the answer is wrong, or missing information, please use the "clarify answer" option. Don't feel limited - want to know what music played in a certain scene? Whether this was the first film to use a certain effect? Here's the place to ask!

When Marty is in the bar at the morning of the showdown, Seamus shows up there saying something told him that he should be there, as if his future depended on it. Was he right? Did what happened that morning affect Seamus' future? [Seeing as how Seamus is one of Marty's ancestors and something significant to Seamus' future DID happen that day (Marty didn't get killed), Seamus was definitely right.] Answered by Guy Brigman

On the movie timeline website it says that on November 6 2012 America elected a female President, and that this fact comes from Back To The Future Part III. Where in the film is this mentioned? [It's actually mentioned in Part II, when Marty and Doc are reading the newspaper. If you look at the headlines on the left side of the page, one of them reads, "President says she's tired of..." As this is in 2015, pending changes to US election dates, she must have been elected on November 6th 2012.]

At the end of the movie, Jennifer asks Doc about the note she got from the future that became erased when Marty did not participate in the race with Needles. Doc's answer to her question is that her future had not been written yet, and he goes on to say that no-one's future has been, but if that is so, then how come in the previous movies he could travel into the future with Marty to see Marty's future? [What they saw was one possible future, not a definitively laid down one - one of the key plot devices in the series is that making changes in the past will affect the future. As such, what Doc's saying is that, while they've seen one possible future, actions that they take in the present can change it for the better (or worse).] Answered by Tailkinker

Why did Doc faint when he drunk the Liquor? [He simply has an absurdly low tolerance for alcohol, and whiskey is not a wise choice if this is the case. It helps set up the joke when Marty asks the bartender, "How many has he had", and he replies be teling Marty, "Just the one", as we are meant to think Doc has been in the bar all night drinking away his sorrows.] Answered by Jazetopher

What is the name of the music that plays right after the mayor gives his speech at the clock dedication? [The song is an acoustic version of the song "Doubleback" by ZZTop. They are also the band playing the song in the movie.]

Why does everyone say that using parts of the DeLorean that Doc had buried in the abandoned mine could create a time paradox? Firstly, that is never stated in the actual movie. Secondly, if say Marty and Doc use the part on the buried DeLorean to fix the DeLorean that broke due to the explosion caused by the extremely strong alcohol and then again try to run the DeLorean using alcohol that's not so strong, the 1955 Doc would be able to obtain the missing piece of the buried DeLorean. So, technically, there's a plot hole. Why then does everyone say that that's not possible? [If they dug up the buried DeLorean and stripped it for parts to repair the other one, then it would become non-functional. As such, with no replacement parts being available in 1955, Marty would not then be able to use it to come back in time to rescue Doc - which he's already done. There's your paradox.] Answered by Tailkinker

On the time traveling train there is the initials E.L.B, does anybody know what this stands for? [ELB are the Doc's initials - his name being Emmett L. Brown. Earlier in the film these initials were also seen on a plank of wood in the mine indicating to Marty where the time machine had been buried for 70 years.] Answered by Chimera

Is "Googolplex" an actual word? [Yes. A "google" is the number 10 raised to the 100th power, or a 1 followed by 100 zeroes. A "googleplex" is an even larger number - 10 raised to the power of a "google", or represented as 1 followed by a "google" zeroes.]

How did Doc power the Flux Capacitor on his new time-traveling train? [Steam, the whole thing is steam powered. He has just modified the train itself, probably making it much more efficient.]