Back to the Future

Corrected entry: In the speaker explosion scene at the beginning of the film, a horizontal safety line can be seen attached to the waist of the stunt person as he is knocked backwards.

Correction: This is the guitar cable which connects Marty's guitar to the amplifier.

Corrected entry: In the beginning scene, when Doc Brown sends his dog one minute into the future, a minute later, they see the DeLorean again. But the reality is that they wouldn't, because the car would have also still been a minute ahead of them.

Correction: That's not how it works, at least in this movie. Einstein jumped a minute ahead instantly, Doc and Marty "catch up" after a minute of their normal time. Einstein isn't permanently a minute ahead of everyone else on the planet forever.

Corrected entry: In the scene where George is walking into the cafe to talk to Lorraine, in the background someone asks for a Cherry Coke. In 1955, there was no Cherry Coke.

Correction: Pre-made Cherry Coke did not exist, but 'Cherry Coke' (a Coke with a shot of cherry syrup added) was a common soda-fountain item for many years before Coca Cola introduced the 'official' product. See http://www.senior-spectrum.com/columnists/grace_121603/ and http://www.historylink.org/_output.CFM?file_ID=3499.

J I Cohen

Corrected entry: Marty's sister stated at the dinner table that grandma hit his dad with the car, but in the 1955 scene it was the grandfather that hit him.

Correction: She says Grandpa, not Grandma.

Thomas Norris

Corrected entry: In the first scene from 1955, November 6th, where Marty watches the mix of people in Courthouse Square, there is a shot where a boy in mustard yellow pants, standing next to a man, under a tall tree, is "bouncing" down the sidewalk on a pair of spring-laden shoes. These shoes were called "rocket shoes", and were not invented until the late fifties/early sixties, not 1955.

Correction: There were a few different versions of these sprung shoes from different makers, and went by similar names like moon shoes, satellite shows, and rocket shoes. They were all inspired by the space race going on in the 50s and 60s. And they do date from at least 1955, since there is a 1955 pair on display in the Brooklyn Museum.

jimba

This correction slightly contradicts itself. If the ones you could find from 1955 were in New York then they must have been released to the public in the same year in the Northeast States. However, Hill Valley is in California, a western state. This means that the product probably wouldn't be there until 1956 onward.

True, but the fact is that they still existed. We don't know what that character did offscreen before the date shown in the movie. He could have gone on a vacation to New York and bought the shoes there for all we know.

Without you providing a specific company and evidence of a spring shoe sold (either nationwide or California) the mistake is valid since the shoes you mentioned were patented in 1968.

Bishop73

Correction: The original poster claimed the shoes were not invented until well after 1955, so I gave an example of ones from 1955 that demonstrated the claim was wrong. Also, your logic is off since 1) that doesn't mean they were only first invented in 1955, just that they were provably invented BY 1955, and 2) being in a New York museum doesn't mean they were only released in the Northeast in that year. There is no contradiction in my post.

jimba

There's no evidence that any type of spring shoes were invented and sold by 1955. Unfortunately when you just Google things like "satellite shoes" or "rocket shoes", you get results from sellers like on Etsy who claim they're from the 1950's or 1950's inspired, but no date is ever given. And the Brooklyn Museum never makes a claim the shoes they have are from 1955. In fact, they say the shoes that have were patented in 1968. So, no, you didn't actually give an example of a spring shoe from 1955.

Bishop73

Correction: The line Biff says is "You caused $300 damage to my car you son of a bitch", he never addresses him as McFly. The TV-edited version might have changed the line, but that's not a movie mistake.

ctown28

Corrected entry: In the original film Doc rips up Marty's letter and then sellotapes it back together at some point, however at the end of the second film Doc faints, so he wouldn't have picked up the letter and should be dead.

Correction: Doc never picks up the letter because he never let it go in the first place. He rips it up and *puts it in his pocket*. Presumably the pieces are still in the pocket when he faints and subsequently wakes up in his home.

JC Fernandez

Corrected entry: After Marty changes things and returns to 1985, he finds his brother Dave is more successful and now has an office job. So why is Dave still living at home with his parents?

calidude

Correction: This has already been asked. He never says he lives there. He may be just having breakfast with his sister and parents on his way to the office. Also, if he's living with his parents, it wouldn't be a mistake. Many young adults continue to live with their parents, just because they don't have to spend extra money.

Corrected entry: When Marty pushes the car behind the billboard there's a speed limit sign on the road that says 65mph. The national speed limit in 1955 was 55 mph.

Correction: The National Maximum Speed Law (i.e. the national speed limit) which prohibited speed limits higher than 55 mph, wasn't enacted until 1974. Prior to 1974 states had control of setting speed limits.

Bishop73

Corrected entry: When Lorraine follows Marty back to Doc's in 1955 and Doc goes to answer the door, he says to Marty (before opening it) that it's his mum. Lorraine must have heard them through the door yet she never questions it.

Heather Benton

Correction: Two possible reasons she never asks about it. First, she simply did not hear him. You're assuming she did, but there's no evidence of it. Second, asking questions would be tantamount to admitting to eavesdropping. It's rude to eavesdrop and so Lorraine would hardly give herself away by asking questions about something she wasn't supposed to have heard in the first place, and which would have sounded nonsensical anyway.

Phixius

Correction: Besides, even if she did hear him, so what? She knew she obviously wasn't "Calvin's" mum. She would have assumed his mum looked like her and Doc mistakenly thought that was who was at the door. But if she still decided to question it, I just gave an explanation that they would have used.

Corrected entry: The original DeLorean tops out at a measly 80 miles per hour and that is probably with a tail-wind downhill. However, it is likely the Doc heavily modified the engine to reach 88 miles per hour.

Correction: The DeLorean DMC-12 had a listed top speed of 130 MPH, and Road & Track tested the 0-100 MPH acceleration time. While it's performance figures were criticized as being somewhat disappointing, the DMC-12 could easily reach 88 MPH even without any modifications Doc would've done.

Corrected entry: Lorraine thinks Marty's name is Calvin Klein because she said it was written on his underwear. Actually, it's stitched on, which should tip her off that the underwear was made that way when it was manufactured, not written on.

calidude

Correction: Ever heard of embroidery? It's the process of using a needle and thread to put images or letters on cloth by hand. Lorraine undoubtedly assumed "Calvin's" mother had embroidered his underwear.

Phixius

Corrected entry: Marty gives Goldie Wilson the idea to run for mayor before Goldie thought of it himself. Suppose now that Goldie runs for mayor before he is supposed to and loses the election and it ends his political career, thereby disrupting history.

calidude

Correction: So what? Marty changes lots of things during his time in the past, ranging from the very minor - Twin Pines Mall becoming Lone Pine Mall - to the really quite major - his parents' entire personalities and futures. History's already disrupted to a significant degree, one more thing, particularly one that, as far as we know, didn't happen, is hardly mistake-worthy.

Tailkinker

"You're not thinking fourth dimensionally!" We know for a fact that Goldie still becomes Mayor as when Doc and Marty travel to 2015, Goldie Wilson III does an ad for Wilson hover conversion systems and states "When my Grandpa was Mayor of Hill Valley..." So whether or not he won or lost the first time is irrelevant, he eventually becomes Mayor as does his son.

Corrected entry: The lightning bolt hitting the clock tower should not have stopped the clock because the clock is not electrical, it's mechanical.

calidude

Correction: Electricity arcing between metal parts can melt them.

Grumpy Scot

Corrected entry: When Marty shows the video to the 1955 Doc, the 1985 Doc on the video states their location as the "Twin Pines Mall". Since Marty already knocked down one of the pines, the mall should've already been renamed to "Lone Pine Mall" on the video.

Correction: The timestream in the Back To The Future series is demonstrated as being somewhat resistant to changes; when Marty interferes with his parents' first meeting, he doesn't start to fade out for about a week after that happens. When Marty shows Doc the video, not enough time has passed for the effects of the timeline change to appear on the tape.

Tailkinker

When someone time travels, they don't change the timeline they are from, they just create branching timelines every time someone makes a decision. This recording was made in the first timeline, so it would still be Twin Pines Mall.

That's not the case though. The photo Marty brings of his siblings fades out, newspaper headlines brought from the past/future change, etc.

Except he was slowly disappearing at the end of the movie. Which wouldn't happen if he was "branching off." They mix up linear timelines and parallel universes in these movies. They always, always screw up time travel movies.

lionhead

Corrected entry: Even with Marty's brief instructions, it is near impossible that each backing band member (each, and as a whole) could have pulled off a near perfect rendition of Johnny B. Goode, not ever having rehearsed, known or heard the song, etc.

Correction: 1. It is NOT a perfect rendition. 2. "Near impossible" is not impossible. 3. This posting renders every musical ever made impossible.

Also, Johnny B Good is a three-chord song. Any musician, especially one in a professional band, could follow the pattern, knowing the key.

Corrected entry: In 1985, when Marty's mum is talking about Jennifer, she mentions that she's never sat in a parked car with a boy before. But as Marty and his mum are sitting in a car in 1955, she says, "It's not like I've never parked with a boy before", which means she has.

Correction: Lorraine was obviously lying in 1985 about never being in a parked car with a boy, the same way a parent might lie to their kids about when they lost their virginity if they lost it in high school in hopes of deterring their kids from going out and having sex early themselves.

AD

Corrected entry: At the end when George's book is delivered, Lorraine says it is his first novel. If that is the case, what has he been doing for the past 20-30 years to support his family and make them better off than they were at the start?

Correction: His improved self-confidence would have landed him a better job in the meantime. Also, just because it's his first novel doesn't mean he hasn't been writing; he could have published plenty of articles or short stories.

Xofer

Corrected entry: This is also for the other two.When the doc sends Einstein back in time, you see that it is covered in ice, but in the other time travels there is no ice nor is it the slightest bit cold.

Correction: The correction is wrong. Doc did not send Einstein back in time. He sent him to the future. Only then the car gets covered in ice, such as seen at the end of the film when Marty returns to 1985.

Corrected entry: When Marty first goes to Doc Brown's house in 1955, Doc mocks Marty's claim that he has come back in time from 1985. When Marty tells him Ronald Reagan is President in 1985, Doc mocks him again and says "I suppose Jane Wyman is First Lady." Ronald Reagan divorced Jane Wyman in the late 1940s and married Nancy Davis in 1952. The fact was well known to anyone who kept track of movie stars so if Doc knew who Reagan was married to the first time, he would know in 1955 that Reagan had been married to Nancy Davis for three years by the time of the scene.

Correction: He's mocking Marty. He is saying that it would be about as believable for Jane Wyman to be first lady with Ronald Reagan as it would be for Ronald Reagan to become president in the first place.

wolfchild

Back to the Future mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Marty chases after Biff on the borrowed 'skateboard', Marty is wearing a dark grey belt and a red/blue print shirt under his red/beige jacket. However, when Marty is hanging on to the front of Biff's car as they turn a corner (and in another shot), Marty (stunt double) is wearing a light brown belt and solid tan shirt. (01:07:00)

Super Grover

More mistakes in Back to the Future

Dr. Emmett Brown: Don't worry. As long as you hit that wire with the connecting hook at precisely 88mph the instant the lightning strikes the tower... Everything will be fine.

More quotes from Back to the Future
Back to the Future trivia picture

Trivia: In the battle of the bands scene, when Marty introduces The Pinheads, Huey Lewis, who provided "The Power of Love" for the film's soundtrack, plays the second judge from the left, and is the one who eventually says, "You're just too darn loud." (00:07:40)

More trivia for Back to the Future

Question: What does the saying "Why don't you make like a tree, and get out of here", mean?

Answer: It's a way of saying "scram" or "get lost." But Biff is so dim, he doesn't realize he's saying it wrong; the expression is "make like a tree and leaf", with the joke being that "leaf" is meant to sound like "leave."

Cubs Fan

More questions & answers from Back to the Future

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