Back to the Future

Continuity mistake: Before Doc sends Einstein to the future and says "If my calculations are correct...", Marty raises his left arm. When the angle changes it's lowered.

Sacha

Back to the Future mistake picture

Continuity mistake: While Marty is talking with Jennifer in the square he is holding a tape case in his left hand which disappears in the next shots.

oswal13

Continuity mistake: While Doc is explaining to Marty how the machine works, he has a device on his index finger on his right hand that moves in the next shots.

oswal13

Back to the Future mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Biff and his friends are chasing Marty on the skateboard, just before they hit the manure truck there is canvas covering the fertilizer which disappears in the next shot. (01:07:45)

Continuity mistake: After Marty wipes out in front of the town hall, he clutches the hood ornament on Biff's Ford. As the car turns, Marty moves himself towards the fender, but between shots he repositions and is now clutching the hood ornament like before. (01:07:05)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: When Marty is in 1955 observing young Uncle Joey in his playpen, the colored balls on the second rung keep changing their positions from one angle to the next. (00:45:05)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: When Marty is on a skateboard being chased around the town square by Biff and his friends, he grabs the back end of a truck. After the truck makes a right turn, notice how the two kids he initially stopped to get a skateboard from at the beginning of the scene suddenly appear standing at the street corner between shots, holding their wooden crates. (01:06:25)

ryguy_1983

Back to the Future mistake picture

Continuity mistake: While Marty is at Lou's Cafe, Biff and his gang enter. When Biff starts bullying George, note George's haircut with shaved sides, back (above his neck), and sideburns. In the following shots, George's haircut with its shaved areas change length. This happens again, when George is with Marty and then tries to ask Lorraine to the dance. (00:39:00)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: Throughout most of the film, the licence plate on Doc's car reads 8N 39742, but after the DeLorean travels back to 1985, it changes to 7F 42857. (01:41:31)

apikachu68

Back to the Future mistake picture

Revealing mistake: As the DeLorean's tyres start igniting as it is about to travel back in time, the flames are not coming from the tyres, but from some ignitors attached to the car. (01:40:36)

apikachu68

Back to the Future mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Marty skates off after knocking over the couple, the car behind him is red and cream, but in the next shot, it turns completely red. A yellow car also appears in the second shot, when it was not present in the first. (01:07:10)

apikachu68

Continuity mistake: After Marty wakes up at his mother's place, she sits on the bed and leaves her coat that changes position between shots.

oswal13

Continuity mistake: When Marty drives out of the Peabody barn after arriving in 1955, it's night, or certainly pre-dawn - the sky is very dark from every angle when he's fired at while driving away. Next shot he drives past the "Peabody ranch" sign onto the main road and it's significantly brighter, with the sun rising over the horizon. Then when he notices the Lyon Estates sign shortly afterwards it's broad daylight - judging from the length of the shadows the sun's very high in the sky. Lyon Estates isn't that far from Twin/Lone Pine(s) mall.

Continuity mistake: When Marty is on a skateboard being chased around the town square by Biff and his friends, he grabs the back end of a truck. He does with two hands at the same point, then uses one hand in the next shot, then two hands again.

Character mistake: In the parking lot when Marty begins to film, Doc says the date and exact time according to his watch. Marty then looks at his watch. Apparently his is off because he shakes his wrist and puts the watch to his ear to see if it is still working. However, he is wearing a digital watch which wouldn't tick or likely have broken parts to rattle.

Back to the Future mistake picture

Revealing mistake: When the DeLorean travels back in time after Marty returns to 1985, the light emitting from the DeLorean does not actually come from the DeLorean, but from the side of the screen instead. (01:44:16)

apikachu68

Marty McFly: Calvin? Why do you keep calling me Calvin?
Lorraine Baines: Well, that is your name, isn't it? Calvin Klein? It's written all over your underwear.

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Back to the Future trivia picture

Trivia: Eric Stoltz was originally cast as Marty. After filming quite a few scenes they realised his acting style was too dramatic for the humor desired, so they cast Michael J Fox (who they couldn't originally get because he was busy with the TV show Family Ties). Filming was on weekends and nights around his TV schedule and using his double at other times.

Stefanie

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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

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