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: Has anyone an idea about what kind of car is this one which almost hits Marty McFly Jr. as he runs out from Cafe 80's? For me it looks like Renault or Mazda, but I'm not sure, though I I can swear it must be some future descendant of the really existing nowadays car. Does anyone recognize any other familiar car in future vehicles? :).
Question: Just before eating the hydrated pizza, Marty says, "I missed that completely," and then nobody seems to want to take a bite. What did he mean by that, and why did nobody want to eat the pizza?
Chosen answer: Bits and pieces were cut out of the dinner scene. When Marty says that, he's referring to a cut scene where Lorraine mentions that Uncle Joey was turned down for parole again. As for the pizza, no one does take a bite but it seems for reasonable enough reasons. Marty Sr appeared as if he was letting the pizza cool off, Marty Jr was trying to get fruit from the overhead fruit holder, and the daughter was answering the phone.
Plus: The pizza looks like a completely inedible prop.
Question: At one point in the film Doc pulls out a case of "emergency money" he's collected from different time periods. When did he have the time to go to all those time periods? Marty went to 1955 and after getting back Doc went to 2015 before coming straight back again to get Marty to go to the future, so when did Doc have the time to go collecting all that money?
Answer: He wouldn't have to travel to the specific time periods to get past money; he could have found ways to procure it in the present (from collectors, museums, banks, etc.) before ever time traveling in the first place.
Answer: He didn't just visit 2015 and came straight back. He had visited more places and spend some time travelling before returning to Marty. He collected all the money in those visits.
Answer: Doc Brown is a resourceful man. Seeing how the bills in his emergency case are pretty crisp and not knowing how many travels he really made, it is only safe to say that he must have found a way to get his hands on those bills. Though his masquerade and "adding of 30 or 40 years to his life" by way of treatment in a rejuvenation clinic may not have been born out of vanity.
Trivia: The voice of Biff's grandmother was provided by Thomas F. Wilson.
Suggested correction: According to The IMDB website, Charles Fleischer who played Terry the Tow Truck Driver and the old man taking donations in 2015, provided the voice of Gertrude Tannen.
And other sites list Wilson as the voice of Gertrude. Neither men are credited for the role and I have yet to see any site list a source for the information.
Https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0281486/otherworks.
IMDB is not considered a good source. Plus, on that site the information is given as trivia without a source, any crackpot could have claimed that.
Well until you can show me a confirmed source stating it was anyone else, my correction stands.
But IMDB isn't a confirmed source. Here's a site that lists Wilson as the voice actor, so by your logic the trivia entry stands. https://backtothefuture.fandom.com/wiki/Gertrude_Tannen.
On the audio commentary it is stated that the voice of Grandma Tannen is Fleischer. This is stated right after we hear "her" voice when the outside of her house is being shown.
Corrected entry: You have to really listen carefully but when the Doc says "Griff's gonna ask you about tonight" he says "Biff" by accident. (00:08:45)
Corrected entry: According to Emmet brown, if someone meet with his alternate ego, it will faint or create a "time paradox" that will destroy time, however Biff talks and interact with his alternate ego with no problem.
Correction: First, Doc says this as a warning to Marty; that it *may* happen, not that it *must*. Second, Biff *does* create a time paradox that destroys time. That's why there is an alternate 1985 when Doc and Marty go back. Biff has destroyed the original timeline.
Young Biff doesn't realise he's interacting with himself. He says Old Biff "Claimed to be a distant relative, but that he doesn't see any resemblance."
Corrected entry: Doc and Marty learn the date when Biff was given the Almanac. It turns out that this is also the date of the events in the first film. Doc then surmises that they will not only have to avoid detection by Old Biff but also by their 'other' selves. All that considered, does it not seem a little reckless to return to that date? They have a Time Machine, and the book is useless to Biff until he turns 21 which would be 1958 at the latest. That's a whole three years and Doc could have chosen from any day he wanted to retrieve the book but he picks the day where they run the greatest risk of screwing up time even more. Given that he's always lecturing on the consequences of messing with time, and that their entire future depends on him succeeding, it seems a little out of character for Doc to not even consider the possibility that they go back to a different day.
Correction: It's a calculated risk on Doc's part. On that day, they know where Biff is, they know that the almanac will be out in the open and far easier to get. If they leave it until later, Biff will have had a chance to hide the book away somewhere, making it potentially impossible to locate. And while Biff might not yet be twenty-one, it wouldn't preclude him doing an illicit deal with somebody over that age to place bets on his behalf, thus altering the future. If they go back to the day when he gets the book, it avoids any possibility of Biff altering the timeline. It does open up the possibility of them causing problems, but given that they're both aware of the situation, plus know precisely where their prior selves will be on that night, the risk is relatively minor compared to allowing Biff to hold onto the book for any extended period of time. As for considering this, Doc undoubtedly did, but showing a long-winded justification on-screen would have been somewhat dull and would simply have broken up the flow of the film.
Corrected entry: We all know that Old Biff stole the time-machine, went back to 1955 and gave the book to himself. He also returned the time-machine to Marty and Doc. WHY? He actually gave them the ability to restore the past. Why didn't Old Biff just keep the time-machine?
Correction: Biff doesn't know how time travel works. Presumably, he assumed that if he were to go back to the future, he'd end up in the alternate future he had just created (which would make sense) and become the 'rich' Biff.
Correction: Character choices are not mistakes.
Corrected entry: We see that George McFly died in 1973 when Marty checks the newspaper; the article on the front page says he was murdered, with a sub headline that reads "Local Author Dies." However as we saw in the original Back to the Future, George didn't get his first book until 1985 when Marty came back from 1955. Therefore George was not an author in 1973 when he was murdered. Even if in the alternate future George wrote earlier, when Doc and Marty fixed the future the newspaper should not say "Local Author Honored" because in the non-alternate future he was not an author until 1985.
Correction: His first novel was published in 1985. That doesn't mean other writings of his weren't published prior to 1985.
Correction: The timelines started to diverge in 1955 - no reason to assume changes that were made didn't lead to George publishing his first novel earlier.
But the 'first novel' timeline is in the divergent path. George hadn't published ANYTHING in the original timeline.
Biff also wasn't a Billionaire, gambling was illegal in California and Biff was George's Supervisor in the original timeline. By having the Almanac, Biff altered the future. Therefore, anything in the original timeline is out the window once Biff alters the future.
Question: When Marty arrives back in the alternate 1985, he's attacked by a black man when he unknowingly breaks into what he thought to be his home. Could this man be former mayor Goldie Wilson?
Answer: No, it's a different character and a different actor. Goldie Wilson is played by Donald Fullilove. The dad with the bat who chases Marty out of the house is played by Al White.
That doesn't necessarily mean that it's two different characters; George McFly, for example, was portrayed by both Crispin Glover using archived footage from the first film and Jeffrey Weissman in newly filmed footage. While the character played by Al White is credited simply as "Dad", there's no confirmation either way whether this was an alternate version of Goldie Wilson.
The answer is correct, the Dad is not meant to be Goldie Wilson. In the novelization of the film, he's given the name "Lewis." And while some characters were recast, Donald Fullilove (the actor that played Goldie) himself already appears in "Back to the Future Part II", so it's not like they recast him.
Unless there's any indication it's the same charector, or at least a clue to point in that direction, then there's no reason at all to assume it "might" be.
While there was no clear-cut answer on whether this was Goldie, I think it is safe to assume it is not him. This franchise has shown to make recurring characters very noticeable, even minor ones, such as the homeless man that Marty recognizes in 2 different timelines. Yes, sometimes actors get recast, as they did with George McFly and Jennifer Parker, but they made it quite clear they were playing the same character. I see absolutely nothing that would even suggest this was Goldie Wilson.
Jeffrey Weissman is credited as "George McFly", Crispin Glover is credited as "George McFly (archive footage) ", Donald Fullilove is uncredited but listed as "Goldie Wilson II" (on imdb). Al White being credited as "Dad" actually confirms to a T that he is not "Goldie Wilson" and nothing in that scene even remotely suggests that the family father portrayed by Al White might be Goldie Wilson from 1985-A (other than a viewer seeing a person of color and drawing conclusions). There also is no cause to question whether or not the "Dad" was supposed to be any other person of color seen in any of the 1985 timelines. (Not that another POC in that timeline would come to mind).
Glover is not credited the same way as Fullilove is since he's credited only as "archive footage" and Fullilove is uncredited. Glover doesn't physically appear in part 2 as Fullilove did.
I stand corrected and have edited my post. Thank you.
Answer: Also, the 1985 Goldie Wilson's picture was shown on a moving vehicle in part 1, and he looked very different from the father with the bat in part 2.
Answer: It could not be Goldie Wilson. In 1955, Goldie Wilson looks to be around in his early 20s in the cafe. This would put him to be early 50s in 1985. The father only looks to be in his 30s.
Question: After old Biff returns to 2015 he appears in pain. I've seen several submissions on this site saying it's because Lorraine shot him in 1995. My question is where do they get that information from? I've seen these movies numerous times and have never seen anything to suggest that.
Answer: But in 2015 George is fine. He brings pizza with Lorrain, when they come and visit. Biff doesn't shoot George until the alternate timeline he creates when he goes back to 1955 with the sports almanac? In 2015, he is still the loser George made him in the first movie.
Corrected entry: When Biff and his gang crash through the windows of the clock tower with their hover boards, Marty goes to give his back to the little girl, but she says "keep it, I've got a pitball now" and shows him Biff's hover board. Only problem is it's still in the clock tower wreckage, attached to the other 3.
Correction: There's a split second shot of the Pitbull leaving Griff's feet and flying away. The direction it went and how far isn't shown. It could easily have gone where the little girl could pick it up.
True. There is a shot of it leaving Griff's feet and landing near the steps of the Courthouse Mall. It's hard to see but I'd say pausing or slo-mo isn't needed.
Corrected entry: In the scene in 2015 where the future Lorraine and George McFly come to eat dinner at Marty and Jennifer's house, Lorraine cooks a pizza in a toaster oven. After cooking for 3-4 seconds, Lorraine removes the pizza, which is sizzling hot. However, Lorraine removes the hot pizza with her bare hands without burning herself.
Correction: This is the future. The technology must exist to create a pan that doesn't absorb heat in the hydrator (not toaster oven).
It also happens really quickly. The metal wouldn't have enough time to collect heat.
Corrected entry: During the scene where Marty has to duck and move past the car with his other self and Lorraine inside the car, he hears his other self ask Lorraine if she smoked too, in which she replied, "You're beginning to sound just like my mother." Then Marty hears his other self say, "Yeah right.". Problem is, in the first Back To The Future, after Lorraine said that, Marty never said "Yeah right."
Correction: We don't know that. In the first movie, after Lorraine says her line, Marty gives her a quick look and it cuts to another scene. He may very well have said "Yeah right" after the cut.
That then creates another problem. You've just mentioned that BTTF1 had Marty give Lorraine a strange look, but in this movie, he is staring out of the window.
Probably because the Marty outside the car hit the back of it enough that it created a slight bump, and the Marty inside is probably now focused on where the sound is coming from instead, and he's even looking to where the sound came from.
Corrected entry: When Marty buys the sports almanac, how does he get the money to do it? Considering a Pepsi costs 50 bucks, the almanac probably costs several hundred dollars. How many teens from the 1980's just happened to have that amount of money in their wallet at any given moment? He didn't get the money from Doc since Doc didn't even know he bought it until after the fact.
Correction: The Store also buys money, so he pays with money from his pocket the novel states this exact thing.
Corrected entry: Towards the beginning, when Marty returns to 1985 and walks up to Biff's hotel he runs into the town drunk and refers to him as "Red." Red was the mayor in 1955, shown in the first movie when a campaign van is driving around the town square saying "Re-elect Mayor Red Wilson".
Correction: He actually says "Brett" - the joke being that Brett from the normal 1985 (the town drunk) is exactly the same in the alternate 1985. Hes the only one who hasn't changed, hence the way Marty says his name.
Correction: This is not trivia, this is part of the plot.
Correction: The names of the mayors are mixed up in this entry. The 1955 mayor was Red Thomas and the 1985 mayor was Goldie Wilson.
No that's the point. Red Thomas has fallen on very hard times in this alternate timeline 30 years later and has become the town drunk.
Bob Gale said this isn't true, the name was improvised.
Corrected entry: When Marty was standing outside the giant TV and the announcement was made about the Chicago Cubs winning over Miami, Marty said he put his money on Miami. He had only been in 2015 for a short time, and before that he was in 1985. There is no way he could have bet on anything in 2015.
Correction: Marty says "I just meant Miami." He never says anything about putting money on Miami. Marty was surprised that Miami had a baseball team and the old man thought Marty was surprised Cubs won. (Point of trivia, Miami didn't have an MLB team in 1985).
The Cubs are from Chicago, not Cincinnati.
Further extension of same joke. A) The Cubs have moved and B) they can now win games.
Correction: You misheard. Marty's lines on seeing the sports flash are "Wait-a-minit... Cubs win world series." (then disbelieving) "Against Miami?" The other guy comments on it and plants the idea of betting in the past. Marty, continuing his original thought, starts to explain "But I just meant, Miami..." and abruptly stops, considering what the guy said and asks "What did you just say?"
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.
Answer: Claudia Wells, the actress who played Jennifer in the first film, dropped out of acting shortly after the film was made, apparently for unspecified medical reasons, only returning to acting in 1996. As such, she was simply not available to play the part.
Tailkinker ★
Claudia Wells was unable to reprise her role because her mother had cancer.