Back to the Future Part II

Corrected entry: When Marty confronts Biff in 2015 and asks when, where, and how he got the sports almanac, Biff retrieves it from a safe and a lock box and carefully shows it to Marty. Because the almanac contained results from sporting events through the end of the century (the year 2000), it would have been rendered worthless 15 years before and would therefore no longer need to be kept in a safe, if even at all.

jds122567

Correction: No, this scene takes place in 1985 (Marty and Doc were trying to return home from 2015 and discovered the "bad" 1985 instead of theirs), so the almanac still contains fifteen years' worth of future information.

Tailkinker

Corrected entry: When Marty gets the Western Union letter from 1885 Doc it is raining but if this is at the same moment we get the recap of the 1955 Doc from the first film on the clock tower it wouldn't be raining, just thunder and lightning.

jbrbbt

Correction: A great observation, but rain can last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours so a rain shower at this time is not impossible.

Correction: Also, different areas. It can be pouring rain in 1 spot, while sunny just a few feet away.

lartaker1975

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).

Bishop73

The Cubs are from Chicago, not Cincinnati.

Further extension of same joke. A) The Cubs have moved and B) they can now win games.

dizzyd

There's no indication the Cubs moved to Cincinnati in the film, so it's not part of any joke. I didn't bother mentioning the wrong name in the correction since the mistake was about Marty putting money on Miami.

Bishop73

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?"

Corrected entry: In the year 2015, Marty's daughter Marlene is telling Lorraine that the reason the scenery channel isn't working is because the scene screen repairman called Marty a chicken and Marty threw him out of the house. Why would the repairman call Marty a chicken? Nothing at all makes sense about this, what could possibly provoke a repairman to call the owner of the home he was working in a chicken ? Even if Marty was rude to him, it would make more sense to just call him a jerk, not a chicken. Calling him a chicken likely means he was goading him into a fight and there is no logical reason for some repairman to want to pick a fight with someone he is servicing.

calidude

Correction: As we have no information regarding what happened, it is somewhat absurd to attempt to base a mistake on personal speculation regarding a trivial conversation that took place off-screen. It is unlikely, yes, that a repairman would call a client a chicken, however, as we are not made aware of any other details of the incident, it certainly cannot be said that it could not have happened.

Tailkinker

Correction: It is a play on Marty's peculiar personality trait of being easily provoked to take unreasonable action when being called a chicken. A habit he cannot kick and probably has become known for ever since breaking his wrist in 1985. We even see Needles push his buttons with it. Apparently, the repair man tried the same.

Corrected entry: When Doc opens his case full of currency, it's sorted by decades, and Doc explains that it's purpose is to be ready for all monetary situations. He pulls some currency from the stack labeled 1950's and tells Marty to use it to buy some clothes. However, since the year they are in is 1955, there's a chance that he may be giving Marty money dated anywhere from 1956-1959. Wouldn't it have made more sense to take the currency from the stack labeled 1940's instead, thereby not running the risk of drawing attention to themselves with money printed with 'future' dates?

Correction: Doc probably thought about that; his stack of money for the 50s is probably comprised of bills for the 40s, his stack for the 40s of bills from the 30s, and so on.

Sereenie

Corrected entry: A rather obvious one: when Marty is paddling furiously on his hoverboard to escape Biff's gang, the paddling leg changes repeatedly between right and left.

Correction: No it doesn't, I just watched this scene and Marty is using his right foot in every shot.

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.

calidude

Correction: He used his thumb. We see Future Biff use his thumb to pay for the taxi.

People who use their thumbs have a recognised fingerprint with an account in which you add money onto. I use my own at school. Since Marty isn't from 2015, he doesn't have one.

But there is a Marty in 2015 with the same thumbprint that would be recognized by the reader, so yes, 1985 Marty could use it.

jimba

Correction: The Store also buys money, so he pays with money from his pocket the novel states this exact thing.

Kevin l Habershaw

Corrected entry: Marty sees himself talking to his parents one last time before his other self goes to meet Doc at the clock tower. At this point Biff steps up to Marty and comments on his disguise. The problem here is that in the first movie Biff is never seen again after George punches him. If he had woken up he would have been there to confront the first Marty at the door after telling his parents about the burned carpet, or even George for hitting him. So what happened to Biff the first time if he wasn't there when '55 Marty walked out the door?

Correction: The simple answer is 'because in the first movie things didn't happen that way'. By turning up in 1955, the versions of Marty and Doc from this movie changed the way events played out in very minor ways. A big plot point in this section of the film is Doc's instruction to Marty to stay out of the way as much as possible and ensure events eventually play out the same way as in the first film, so that George knocks out Biff then kisses Lorraine at the dance, and the 'original' Marty makes it to the clock tower none-the-wiser. Biff only went looking for the 'second' Marty because he noticed him after he came around from being knocked out by George (when he stole the almanac). This didn't have happen in the first movie's timeline, likewise Marty didn't stop and notice three unconscious members of Biff's gang when he left the stage. This is entirely consistent with the BTTF trilogy's depiction of how time travel works.

Corrected entry: After Doc and Marty leave the cafe 80's to get Jennifer back from her 2015 house, you see old Biff retrieve the sports almanac from the trash can, he then audibly says "so Doc Brown invented a time machine!" Next scene in the DeLorean, Doc says he thought he saw something in his rear display, a shot of a yellow cab is then displayed. No way for old to Biff get a cab and catch up so fast, as the DeLorean had been parked in an alleyway, with no cab in sight.

John D 619

Correction: Yes but he knew exactly where they were going because he was listening to their conversation. He could have told the cab driver where to go and when he saw the DeLorean told the driver to follow it.

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).

JC Fernandez

It also happens really quickly. The metal wouldn't have enough time to collect heat.

Corrected entry: You'll need slow-mo and pause for this one. When Griff's three mates throw down their hover boards they actually throw them beyond the camera, then digital super-imposed ones land in front of them. Watch closely at the girl's board (on the right) it's transparent, then the guy in the middle jumps beyond the camera and again super-imposed legs land on the hover board. (00:18:00)

Paul Andrews

Correction: Slow-mo AND pause? This is so difficult to see even when using slow-motion that this certainly does not class as a mistake.

Corrected entry: After Marty talks to his parents after playing on stage he casually strolls out the door just opening the door a fraction, but in Back to the Future 2 he knocks his other self unconscious by flinging the door open. That shot was seemingly done again for the second movie so Marty could be knocked unconscious. (01:28:47)

Correction: The second movie Marty changes the past so that the first movie Marty sees Biff's bullies knocked out. He therefore opened the door more because he was in a hurry to get out, so that they wouldn't wake up and make him miss the lightning bolt at the clock tower(in the first movie Biff's friends wouldn't have been there).

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.

Brian Katcher

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.

Corrected entry: When Marty's son walks by young Jennifer in the hallway of his home, he thinks is the older Jennifer and says "Hi mom, nice pants". Later at dinner, Marty Sr. and Lorraine are talking about how Jennifer is late coming home. Marty Jr. is sitting right there and doesn't even mention how he just saw his mom in the hallway.

calidude

Correction: He is occupied with the retractable fruit plate and glasses phone.

Correction: He's a teenage boy. Not always the most observant or helpful.

shortdanzr

Corrected entry: When Marty first uses his talkie talkie he is holding it backwards. Microphone slats are at the back not front, and the antenna is on the left not right. In later scenes he is holding it correctly.

Correction: It's a running gag in the BTTF movies that Marty is comically ignorant of operating both past and future technology; he futilely attempts to twist the cap off a pop bottle in 1955, for one example, and he has no idea how "one size fits all" clothing works in 2015. His mishandling of the walkie-talkie may also be attributed to this ignorance; however, his walkie-talkie should function properly no matter how he holds it, as long as he pushes the transmit button with the microphone a few inches from his mouth.

Charles Austin Miller

Corrected entry: At the end of BTTF, Doc, Marty and Jennifer take off for the future. In BTTF2, they arrive 30 years later and see themselves. Impossible! They would have been inside the time machine (as far as those left behind are concerned) for 30 years. Marty and Jennifer were gone from 1985 to 2015 as far as he and everyone else knows. I can prove this by using the first movie. When Einstein goes into the future one minute, he was gone for a minute as far as Doc and Marty were concerned, even though the trip was instantaneous to Einstein.

Correction: Wrong - the reason Einstein is completely gone for that minute is because he never goes back to the time he left. While Marty, etc. go 30 years into the future, they will eventually go back to 1985 and live the rest of their lives, therefore he can exist in the future.

The whole point and premise of BTTF is that Time is very surely linear, such that altering the past changes the future in such a way that time travellers can even erase themselves from existence. The BTTF story is not about alternate timelines, it's about the pitfalls of travelling in linear Time.

Charles Austin Miller

The way time travel works in the BTTF trilogy is that time jumps don't happen until we actually see them happen. Marty and Jennifer have not yet returned to 1985, so they obviously could not yet have lived out their lives to 2015. Also, the Marty we see in 2015 had his accident with the Rolls Royce, and when Marty finally does return to 1985 he avoids that accident, meaning that the Marty we see in 2015 can't possibly be from the timeline where Marty returned to 1985.

The original correction is correct. Everything happens simultaneously, for the time machine time doesn't matter whether it's the past of future. So the fact that Marty and Jen go back is important. Because going back makes it likes the travel to the future never happened. Because, and I want to make this absolutely clear, them returning means they travelled back in time again and that has more impact than only going to the future (which is what we are all doing all the time).

lionhead

Corrected entry: When Marty first enters the Cafe 80's you can see behind him the two kids playing the working video game. The next scene that shows them the kids are still playing the game. However the third time you see the game it is now off with no kids in front of it. The next time it is shown the kids proclaim "they got it working" and walk from behind the machine and start playing.

Correction: The screen of the video game is off all the time and the kids are playing around with the guns to understand how the game would work.

Corrected entry: In the McFly house in 2015, there is an invention where a thumbprint is needed to get in or out of the house (instead of a doorknob). Although a great invention for the outside so no criminals or such get into the house, but it makes no sense to have it inside to get out, That would not be a factor for safety if any unwanted people were already inside, any different from a simple doorknob to leave.

Correction: You're over thinking the technology. If there's no doorknob, there has to be some way to open the door. Using your thumb isn't about security, it's just a way to leave.

Bishop73

Corrected entry: When Marty kicks the amplifier over when onstage at the dance in the first BTTF film the amp was sitting on an upside down Pepsi Cola crate. In BTTF 2 there is no crate then the amp is on the floor.

Correction: At no point in the first movie is the amplifier on a crate.

lionhead

Corrected entry: When Doc and Marty are in the altered 1985 where Biff is in charge we find out that Doc Brown has been in jail for quite a while. Shouldn't the Delorian have started to fade because Doc never built it? That's what happened to Marty in the first movie.

Correction: The series establishes that it takes several days to a week or more before changes start to retroactively impact the timeline. Just like when Marty and Jennifer went to the future, they would have to be in the alternate 1985 for quite some time before the DeLorean began to fade out of existence.

Back to the Future Part II mistake picture

Revealing mistake: In the scene where Doc Brown is following Biff into the tunnel, as Marty starts to pass between the cars on his hoverboard, one of the wheels on the rig supporting the hovering DeLorean is visible. (01:30:30)

More mistakes in Back to the Future Part II

Biff: Go ahead, kid. Jump. A suicide will be nice and neat.
Marty: What if I don't?
Biff: [raising gun] Lead poisoning.
Marty: What about the police, Biff? They're gonna match up the bullet with that gun.
Biff: Kid, I own the police. Besides, they couldn't match up the bullet that killed your old man.
Marty: You son of a...
[Biff pulls back on the gun's hammer.]
Biff: Suppose it's poetic justice. Two McFlys with the same gun.

More quotes from Back to the Future Part II

Trivia: The reason that Marty McFly Jr. was arrested was because of stealing an unsubstantiated amount of money from the Hill Valley Payroll Substation.

More trivia for Back to the Future Part II

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.

More questions & answers from Back to the Future Part II

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