Back to the Future
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Visible crew/equipment: When Doc Brown loses his footing on the clock tower as it begins to toll, in the next shot, when he swings about towards the clock the thin black stunt cable attached to his waist, that leads around the neck of the statue, is visible. Do not confuse it with the thick silver electric cable Doc is holding. (01:35:25)

Super Grover

Visible crew/equipment: In the scene in the beginning where Marty meets up with Doc for the first time, Doc shows Marty how the DeLorean works with the remote control with Einstein in the car. In the shot that switches to see Doc put the car in reverse on the remote control, you can clearly see a crew member manually steering the car in a dog costume (You can even see his hands turning the steering wheel). (00:20:30)

Visible crew/equipment: When Marty is riding past the cafe on his skateboard and all the chicks are waving at him, you can see the reflection of the camera lorry and crew behind him. (00:06:25)

AidanN

Back to the Future mistake picture

Visible crew/equipment: At the end of BTTF they all pile into the DeLorean which reverses up to the camera where the matte box and what looks like the top of the cinematographer's head are reflected in the chrome number plate. (01:46:50)

Visible crew/equipment: When Marty arrives at the 1950's town and is about to be run over by a green car, the whole filming crew is reflected on its door. (00:35:40)

Sacha

Visible crew/equipment: In the opening scene, when the TV turns on as the news comes up, you can see a man with a white shirt in the reflection of the TV. (00:01:50)

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.

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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: How is Marty able to play a 1980s videotape on a 1950s television set? Is this just another example of Doc's ahead-of-his-time inventiveness?

Answer: The video camera was in the DeLorean. With the right kind of adapter, which was common enough in the 80s that Doc might've had it on the camera or been able to jury-rig something in the 50s, it would have been possible to connect it into the antenna screws in the back of the TV like an old Atari and play it directly from the camera.

Captain Defenestrator

TVs in the 50s had a two prong antennae connection (two screws in the back that you put a prong antennae into) TVs in the mid 80s also had this. The coax connection (the one wire that screws in) was starting to become common, but, the two prong connection would have been more likely on any given TV at the time, so, whatever wire they used to preview recordings probably had that. very convenient that Marty brought those cords with him.

An old Atari 2600 RF Adapter would be how one would link a video camera to an old-fashioned television. A simple-enough part that Doc could probably make one with 1950s technology.

Captain Defenestrator

Answer: Video tape system back then could output an NTSC video signal, just like broadcast at the time, and up to HD in the 2000s. Usually there was a switch on the video device to change the output frequency between channels 3 or 4. Depending on what was an open channel in your area.

Answer: Doc is smart and eccentric enough to probably have such a thing randomly rattling around in the Delorian as old burger wrappers would rattle around inside a normal car. And Marty could also conceivably have such a thing at his or Doc's domicile for his own video gaming convenience.

dizzyd

More questions & answers from Back to the Future

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