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: In the first scene, Marty and Jennifer leave 1985 with Doc and arrive in 2015. How is it possible for their older selves to be present in the future when they left in 1985?
Answer: Relates to the "branching timeline" interpretation of time travel. Basically they jump forwards to a future version of the timeline where they never left. When they return they make different choices and that branch doesn't happen any more, taking them on a new path. Alternatively (additionally), given that they do eventually return, that's all that matters. If they left somewhere at 10:00am, had time travelling adventures, but then returned at precisely the moment they left, at any point later they're still there like they never went anywhere.
Question: What was so wrong with Marty and Doc returning to the future and stopping Old Biff from stealing the DeLorean? If they stopped Old Biff from stealing it, he wouldn't be able to go back in time to give his younger self the almanac.
Answer: As Doc explained, they'd be traveling to an alternate future. A future where old Biff already has the almanac, and thus, the alternate old Biff wouldn't have a need to steal the DeLorean to give his younger self the almanac. (I believe there've been discussions on here about why did old Biff then return to the same future Doc and Marty were in instead of the alternate future, and it's implied he basically fades out of existence.)
Answer: To use Doc's example in the film, think of time as a linear straight line. Beginning at the point where the past was changed (i.e. Old Biff giving the almanac to his younger self in 1955), time would then continue linearly; therefore, traveling to the future from 1985-A would result in visiting the future of 1985-A. That's why Doc and Marty had to go back to 1955 to get the almanac back; once the anomaly was corrected (i.e. the almanac removed from where it didn't belong), the 1985-A timeline would vanish and time would resume its course the way it should in the original 1985 timeline.
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: 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: Did Needles know that Marty would get fired if he swiped his card? He seemed to have a huge smirk on his face as he hung up?
Answer: No, he was just happy that he'd goaded Marty into participating in his scheme.
Answer: When Marty is talking to Needles, he mentions that what Needles is asking from him is illegal and that he could get fired especially if the boss was monitoring. This causes Needles to call Marty a chicken, something he hates, and he swipes his card. Needle smirks because of how easy it was for him to push Marty.
Answer: I believe, it's because that Needles made the phone call from "The Jits'" Office and knew that he goaded Marty into doing something that would lead to his termination, which explains why Marty's boss called him immediately afterward and fired him for making the illegal transaction.
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 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: When Doc is writing on the chalkboard he says the alternate 1985 is alternate to him, Marty, and Einstein, but reality to everyone else. What about Jennifer? Wouldn't it be alternate to her as well? That probably wasn't even her porch they left her on.
Answer: Yes, if she had woken up before they fixed everything, she would have been in the same position as Marty and Doc. In the heat of the moment, Doc just neglects to mention Jennifer...although Marty does ask about her just before they travel back to 1955, Doc insists that when they fix the past and re-establish the original 1985 timeline, it will transform around her and when she wakes up she won't notice anything amiss.
Answer: As response to the porch, that was the only known house to Marty that Jennifer lived at. If it was no longer her house, the people living there may not have looked outside to see her there. However, odds are that the same family lived there (as probably most cases there). Remember, the only reason for the different family living in Marty's house is because of the connection to Biff (he married Lorraine and shot George) so that house would have a different owner.
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?
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.
Question: When BTTF Part II was originally released in theaters, was the trailer for Part III part of the original released film, or was the trailer added in later when it was released on VHS like they did with "The be continued..." when Part I was released on VHS?
Answer: It was part of the original theatrical release, because production of Part III was already finished, and the final film was released only six months after Part II. The trailer was included to give audiences a teaser and keep their interest piqued.
Question: When the police pick Jennifer up and start driving her home, Doc says the Skyway is jammed and it's gonna take them forever to get there. 1) Wouldn't the police be sat in the same traffic? Taking Jennifer home isn't an emergency, so they wouldn't be using lights and sirens. 2) If the Skyway is jammed, why not just do it the old fashioned way and drive to Hilldale rather than fly?
Question: When Marty is walking through 2015 Hill Valley, he sees a billboard from Goldie Wilson III in which he is offering a hover conversion from $39,999,95. Where did Doc get the money from to have the DeLorean converted in the first place? This was also the starting price of a hover conversion, it may have even been more than $40,000 depending on how complex it was to fit it to the DeLorean.
Question: Was there any particular reason as to why the taxi cab in 2015 was built upon a Citroën DS? It would've been 60 years old in 2015, so it doesn't scream "futuristic car".
Answer: In real life, it was because the DS looked similar to a drawing one of the artists had come up with. But it does have a unique and futuristic look to it since it wasn't really a popular car or seen that often in the 80s in the UK. Since it wasn't meant to be the star of the show, they built off a working, existing car rather than design and build a working, unique car. If you're talking about in the Back to the Future universe, the taxi was meant to be a brand new model. It's even possible the taxi company retrofitted 60-year-old cars the same way people build hot rods out of old cars. Here's an inside look at the taxi. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb9Gtd-ycto.
Question: Why was Crispin Glover replaced by Jeffrey Weissman?
Answer: A contract dispute. Glover wanted more money, especially for two movies, but producers thought why pay more for what were essentially cameos.
Question: Does the trilogy stick to a coherent time-travel-logic or is it "mix-and-match"? While it purports to adhere to the "one universe, many detours" theory (which is why Jennifer is save in bad 1985), it also delivers proof for the multiverse theory, unless it's "explained away" such as: Doc was never killed. He already wore a vest (and brought a gun to the meeting with a teenager) because he was a bit paranoid. Since he never really died, there's no parallel timeline required for him to stay dead.
Answer: It's fairly consistent. Changes to the past affect the future, although the time travellers themselves are afforded a bit of convenient wriggle room, like time changing around them, changes not immediately taking effect, etc, so as ever some suspension of disbelief is needed. The timeline changes - originally Doc was killed, Marty went back, gave him a letter, Doc took precautions. That's not the multiverse, that's just the future being changed by actions in the past.
Answer: Why wouldn't they exist? This is a serious question (maybe I am missing something). In BttF, Marty was disappearing because his parents weren't going to get together for him to even exist. In BttF II, his parents got together (Biff says so - he calls George Marty's father) and he was born, so it is very consistent between both movies. So even with an erased timeline, Biff did not erase Marty and his siblings being born. As for the linear time or multi universal, I think the movie is consistent - only the time traveler remembers things that happened before the time traveling began.
Answer: It's completely mix-and-match IMHO. The movies constantly switch between linear and parallel timelines, either making changes affect the time traveller or not, depending on plot convenience. For example, in the first movie Marty is in danger of disappearing unless he gets his parents back together, and fixes it before undoing all he had done himself, which causes a paradox. But then, when he gets back, his parents and siblings are completely different, but Marty is the same person that supposed lived that new life, unreplaced. That simply doesn't make sense in a linear timeline. In the second movie it is even worse, with Marty and Doc still existing in a timeline erased by Old Biff with the sports almanac, for plot convenience.
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.
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.