Question: In the scene where Marty's recently purchased sports almanac drops out of its plastic bag, Doc says that he did not invent the time machine for financial gain. In Back to the Future's first Twin Pines Mall scene, Doc says that he'll get to see who wins the next 25 World Series. Can we assume Doc would not have tried to profit from knowing those results in advance?
Answer: He never intended on betting on it, he just wanted to see who won the 25th world series.
Question: Two questions: something I have never understood about Marty traveling into the future to stop his kid from going to jail. In the first movie when Doc. puts his dog into the time machine and sends him 1 min into the future the car disappears for 1 min and arrives back with the dog in the car. Doc explains that as far as the dog is concerned the trip was instantaneous but to Marty and Doc the dog disappears for 1 min. The question is when Marty travels into the future shouldn't he have "disappeared" for 30 years and not had an older self. The second question is, why is it so important for them to travel 30 years into the future to stop his kid from getting arrested, couldn't he have just as easily told Marty "hey on this day and year, don't let your kid leave the house. You have 30 years to figure out a reason or break his leg."
Answer: In the film, that one event sets off a chain reaction that destroys Marty's family, so it's paramount that they stop it from ever happening. Too many things could go wrong just trying to prevent it. Since Marty Jr. looks like 1985 Marty, the plan is to have Marty Sr. Take his place, rather than try to get 2015 Marty Sr. To ground his son or something. Plus, Doc says it's important they don't know too much about their future, so that's why he can't just tell them what to do in 30 years because he could reveal too much. Of course, if you overthink it too much, you can make it all fall apart, or come up with different ways to accomplish the same thing.
Chosen answer: To answer the first question, it's because Marty ultimately returns to the past and therefore does live his normal life for the next 30 years. Had Einstein traveled back that one minute, he would be there as well. As to the second question, Doc needs to be sure Marty's son doesn't go and can't leave it to chance that Marty will take take care of it after 30 years.
Question: In 1985-A, when Biff threatens to shoot Marty, Marty says that the police would match up the bullet with the gun. Biff mentions that he owns the police and that they couldn't match the bullet with Biff's gun. How could the police be unable to match the bullet that murdered George with Biff's gun?
Answer: Because he owns the police, and ensured the forensics were rigged.
Question: Can anyone explain why Crispin Glover was almost completely edited out of this film? True, his character wasn't that important, but even in 2015 (when he was hanging upside down after throwing out his back), his character was played by another actor.
Answer: Crispin Glover is not in the BTTF sequels (except where footage from the first film was recycled). There are some contradictions as to the whys depending on who you talk to (salary dispute, Glover uninterested in reprising the role, Zemeckis uninterested in working with Glover again, etc.).
Answer: To be honest Glover didn't like the end of part I because the McFlys were rich and love was a better reward, however he complained about not getting as much money as Christopher Lloyd and the others, even Fox. He then sued Universal for using unlicensed footage of him.
His lawsuit was for violating his right of publicity, not for using footage of him. Prosthetics were applied to Jeffery Weissman using an old mold of Crispin Glover to make Weissman look like Glover.
Question: How does Biff know how to work the time machine? Why doesn't Doc notice the date on the machine where it shows you where you have been and where you are going to travel to? Why didn't Doc notice the top of old Biff's cane when he first got into the car?
Answer: He would have noticed the huge display in the middle as well as the numbered buttons, it wouldn't take a genius to figure out how to use it. It seems that Doc also labelled everything which would make Biff's job a little easier. When he witnessed the DeLorean flying in 1985, he would have seen Doc accelerate up to a high speed before disappearing (plus, Biff being Biff he'd probably wanna thrash the **** out of it anyway). In regards to the time readouts, they keep flashing and Doc has to hit them to get them to start working right. He says "Damn, gotta fix that thing" so even if he did notice it, he would mostly likely assume it is part of the same fault. In regards to the top of Biff's cane, they were in a really big hurry to get Jennifer back to 1985 before she woke up. We all forget to do things or miss things when we are in a hurry so he probably just didn't see it. You could also argue that he did see it but just thought it was some sort of souvenir that Marty had brought back. Plus: As long as Biff returns the time machine to the right spot in time and space, he can take all the time he needs to figure out how it works.
Question: During the chase scene, Marty jumps into the water at one end to avoid getting hit by Griff. A few seconds later Marty is out of the water at the other end and climbing up stairs. How did he get to the other end so quickly? Why is he climbing up the stairs after being in the water at the other end of the pond?
Answer: While a few seconds of screen time passed, it was just a cut so we don't know how much time actually passed, but enough time for a crowd to gather and the police to show up. Some of the mall shops were located underground and there may have been an entrance/exit tunnel near the courthouse that Marty ran down after getting out of the pond. The movie doesn't explain it though. If there were stairs going underground near the courthouse, it would make sense Marty runs down them to avoid the crowd coming towards him and the courthouse.
No, that would mean we have to assume certain things. And the fact that Marty appeared coming up the steps, well, it just doesn't make sense because A) we did not see him go to the steps and B) there could NOT be any way to get to the steps from the water.
We didn't see him go to the steps because the scene wasn't continuous, but to say he couldn't get to the steps from the water also means you have to assume certain things. My statement that there would be two sets of steps leading underground on either side of the shops isn't an illogical assumption like your assumption.
Answer: After Griff and gang crashed into the courthouse, Marty grabbed the hoverboard and swam to the other side of the pond so he could get out faster.
Question: When Marty suggests (in 1985A) that they go back to 2015 to stop Old Biff from taking the almanac in the first place, Doc says no because it'll be 2015A instead. When Old Biff went from 2015 to 1955 to give himself the almanac, when he came back to 2015 again, it was still the same one he left because Marty and Doc are just getting Jennifer out of the new McFly house when he returns. So what's the difference? If Biff can go from 1955 to 2015, without it becoming 2015A, then why can't Marty and Doc do it from 1985A?
Answer: There is a deleted scene on the DVD that answers this. You will notice that when Biff returns to 2015 it appears as if he is dying, on the deleted scene when Marty and Doc leave 2015 you see Biff vanish which suggests the "ripple effect" of Biff giving the Almanac to his younger self places everyone in an Alternate 2015 which Biff is no alive to see so is erased from existence. I have seen somewhere a suggestion Biff was shot in 1996, chances are with Biff gone by 2015 Hill Valley may have been a more peaceful city again. Hilldale was a run down suburb in the original 2015 and could have been the same in an Alternate 2015, we never saw inside any houses at that point to answer where Marty may have lived in an Alternative 2015 but perhaps in Switzerland.
Answer: The implication is that Biff returned to 2015 before the consequences of his younger self's actions took effect. Biff would have returned to 2015 immediately, as he wouldn't want to risk Marty and Doc discovering that he had stolen the DeLorean. By the time Marty and Doc travel back to 1985, the consequences of Biff's actions have solidified.
Answer: The reason Biff arrives like that is because Lorraine found out that he murdered George and shot him.
Where did you get that from please?
That info is reported to be from the audio commentary to a deleted scene, published on the official DVD. Since the scene has been filmed, it might even be considered canonical (as opposed to ideas from the drafting stage of the script which, ultimately, were abandoned).
Are those tidbits of information, such as this DVD commentary track, considered canonical?
Question: OK, hope I'm articulating this properly: when Marty returns to 1985 from 2015 with Jen and the Doc, he places Jen at the porch of her own home. At this point, he hasn't realised yet that he's actually in an alternate 1985, because old Biff has discovered the time machine, and taken the Sports Almanac to the Biff of 1955. We all know what happens from there: Marty and the Doc now have to go back to 1955 (again) to stop Biff from getting the almanac, thus making the upcoming 1985 timeline "correct." Well, as they are successful...how come Jen is OK? Surely, as she was left in the alternate 1985 and isn't really in the "correct" 1985, she now fails to exist when Marty comes back to the "correct" 1985 to collect her at the porch? She must disappear with the alternate 1985? Or am I over thinking this?
Answer: According to Doc, the timeline fixed itself around her. The best explanation I found online was since she was from the original 1985, when everything reset, it was as if she was still in the original timeline.
Answer: Because when Marty arrived in 1885 and reunited with Doc, he told him "God, Jennifer I hope she is all right Doc, I can't believe we just left her there" to which Doc replies that when Marty burned the Almanac in 1955 the timeline was restored. This is proven when the newspaper reveals that George McFly honored and Doc Brown commended.
Question: When the DeLorean travels through time, it arrives in the same place it leaves from, only in a different time (eg. In BTTF, Marty leaves Twin pines mall in 1985 to arrive on the farmland it was built on in 1955. In BTTF3, Marty leaves 1885 on the train tracks above the ravine and arrives on the completed bridge in 1985) So, at the end of BTTF2 where Doc and the DeLorean are struck by lightning and sent back to the past, the DeLorean would be arriving mid-air. The problem is, Doc states in the letter that the lightning destroyed the flying circuits. So, the DeLorean would have plummeted 50 feet to the ground when it arrived in 1885? Why was it not damaged when Marty found it in mines 70 years later?
Answer: With cars being known to break down, the company that fitted hover conversions probably knew a breakdown would happen at some point. Rather than just letting the car fall out there air, there is probably some sort of emergency backup that will let the car land safely and then shut the entire system down.
Chosen answer: Doc had spent several months in 1885 before Marty came to rescue him, which would have given him quite some time to fix the damage the DeLorean received from the assumed fall and repair it before he went to place the DeLorean in the mines. It could have been a controlled descent rather than a catastrophic plummet.
Answer: To be fair, we don't know if the DeLorean quit working altogether. We just know the time circuits were fried. I would assume he could still at least land it as the hover tech was unaffected.
Question: The mechanic tells Biff the price of Biff's car is $300. Does that include the damage Biff caused to the truck he hit if the first film and also the price of the horse manure that had to be hauled away? I know Biff goes into a store across the street for a few seconds so we don't hear part of the argument. Wouldn't Biff have to pay more than $300, or was the $300 just for the car itself?
Answer: Remember that Biff's car was going very slowly and hit side on to the back of a much larger truck. It didn't damage the truck, it only caused the manure to come out.
Answer: The mechanic does mention the horse manure in the dialog of the $300 but truck is not mentioned so it's unknown.
Question: What song does Marty play on his guitar in 2015 after he gets fired?
Answer: He is attempting to play the song "The Power Of Love" by Huey Lewis and The News. He was first seen playing it very well in the first Back To The Future movie when he was trying out for the school dance. Jennifer recognizes the song and is shocked that Marty who was so good at guitar was suddenly able to hardly play it.
Question: In Biff's casino Marty is escaping Biff and his goons - he goes into the stairwell and jumps from one stair to another. What I don't understand is how this stairwell works as it seems to be double, with 2 sets of stairs ending up on the same floor parallel to each other, one on one end and one at another but on the same floor. Does this even make sense? Can anyone tell me why a big building would have 2 sets of stairs in 1 stairwell going parallel and end up on the same floors? Any special name for this type of stairwell perhaps? I can't find anything on it.
Chosen answer: Your assumption is pretty much correct. There are 2 staircases spiralling around each other like a double helix. It is a fairly common way of constructing fire evacuation staircases as it allows a greater number of people to use them at the same time.
I see, so it's purely for fire escape reasons or more to handle overflow capacity in general?
Answer: It seems that, yes, we can assume that. Doc's very clear on the dangers of meddling with the timeline - it's fair to say that he's intelligent enough not to risk it.
Tailkinker ★