Question: I actually have two questions. On the commentary for Back to the Future around when Doc breaks the clock tower ledge, Bob Gale mentions that the 4 on the clock is IV and not IIII. I just need a better understanding of how he is talking about it being a mistake. Is it really a mistake? Because I will submit it as a mistake. What kind of mistake would this fall under? Continuity, factorial error, plot hole, or other? If it's not a mistake, then I won't submit it.
raywest
5th Oct 2025
Back to the Future (1985)
24th Mar 2025
Back to the Future (1985)
Question: Did Crispin Glover audition for the role of Marty before being cast as George?
Answer: According to online sources, he did not. Glover was only considered for the role of George McFly. Michael J. Fox was always the first choice, but other actors did audition. Eric Stoltz was cast as Marty when Fox was unavailable due to his TV show commitment. Stoltz was later fired, and Fox was able to take over the role.
16th Mar 2023
Back to the Future (1985)
Question: Near the end of the movie, George and Lorraine say that if it hadn't been for Biff, they never would have fallen in love. Shouldn't they really be thanking "Calvin 'Marty' Kline" for getting them together?
Answer: I agree with you, but the idea is that, if George hadn't rescued Lorraine from Biff in the parking lot, they wouldn't have fallen in love. It's dark as hell to wax nostalgic about an attempted r*pe, but there you go.
Totally agree with your answer. Would add that Lorraine already knew who George was but was unimpressed and had mostly written him off as a goofy nerd. It was George saving her from Biff that totally changed Lorraine's perception. Otherwise, Marty's attempt to push them together probably would have failed.
6th Apr 2022
Back to the Future (1985)
Question: When Marty and Jennifer are sitting in front of the clock tower in the park and Jennifer asks Marty if his mother knows he is taking her up to the lake, during Marty's response, he seems to put something in the inside pocket of his jeans jacket with his left hand. What was he doing or what did he put into his jacket pocket? (00:10:00 - 00:11:00)
Answer: There's a mistake entry about the scene where Marty is holding the tape in his left hand and then disappears in the next shot, so Marty's hand is empty at the point in question. To me, it honestly looks like Michael J. Fox rehearsed the scene so many times when he was putting the tape into his jacket that he did the same movement without the tape to stay consistent.
8th Nov 2004
Back to the Future (1985)
Question: At the beginning of the movie, the brother is a loser who works at Burger King. At the end, he wears a suit and work at an office. As a presumably successful business man, wouldn't he have moved out of his parents' house?
Answer: Who says he didn't? Perhaps he lives close enough to come over for breakfast each morning. There isn't enough information in the scene to show that he still lives there; he is simply sitting at the table.
Answer: Even though the brother now has a steady career and would normally have his own place, this is a movie-plot device using a "suspension of disbelief." The audience needs to be able to see Marty's reaction and surprise as to how every McFly family member has changed for the better. We just accept the premise.
Answer: If we presume he's living at home, wearing a suit to an office job doesn't really reflect on his success or wealth, and he's still just 21 or 22 years old. He may still be in college and just working on the weekend and living at home to save money.
10th Oct 2021
Back to the Future (1985)
Question: In this film, Marty suddenly appears and spends one week in 1955. So, how does Marty freely roam the hallways and cafeteria at Hill Valley High School (even getting into a physical altercation with another student) without challenge from teachers and administrators such as Mr. Strickland? All the kids are talking about Marty, but nobody in authority questions the fact that he's not enrolled, he's completely undocumented, he doesn't attend any classes, and he's apparently a troublemaker.
Answer: High school in the 1950s was different from today, which has tight security and students are more closely scrutinized. Not every teacher, and even Strickland, knows every student, so Marty would not necessarily be immediately suspected as an outsider. And though the students are talking about Marty, that doesn't mean the adults are aware. Teens have their own closed-off society. Being as Marty was only in the past for a week, and he isn't at the school all that much, he could conceivably move about mostly unnoticed. If he was there any longer, the school would eventually wise up about him. Also, it's a movie, and suspension of disbelief is employed here. The audience just accepts the plot's premise.
Thanks. But I also remember (giving away my age) that teachers and administrators back then were very much aware of students "playing hooky" (skipping classes and wandering around the halls and off-campus during school hours). Back then there were even "truant officers" who patrolled the streets looking for school-age kids skipping school. With all of the attention to 1950s detail in this film, I was really kind of surprised that no-one apparently suspected Marty of truancy.
I also remember those days. As I mentioned, since Marty was only briefly at the high school during the one-week period he was in the past, he hadn't yet attracted enough attention to be considered a problem or a truant. It can be seen that Strickland notices Marty, but had not yet considered anything as being amiss.
6th Jul 2005
Back to the Future (1985)
Question: I always wondered: Is there any footage of Eric Stoltz playing Marty McFly available somewhere?
Answer: The release of the DVD was delayed because of legal issues over the Eric Stoltz footage, which was eventually removed. Stoltz can, in fact, be glimpsed in the final film: in the scene where Marty jumps into the DeLorean to escape the Libyans, that's actually Stoltz.
Answer: Director Robert Zemeckis has said that the Eric Stoltz recordings were never deleted or destroyed, even though they had the chance to do so, and intends to have the footage go out in its entirety in the future. However, so far the best we've got is about 30 seconds of footage with no sound. And even if the full footage does make the light of the day, it's not like we have a full movie with Stoltz as Marty. At most, we'll probably have 30 or 45 minutes. And Eric Stoltz DOES actually make it into the final cut of the film. When Marty punches Biff (Thomas F. Wilson) in the cafe, the shot they use is actually Stoltz punching Wilson, not Michael J. Fox.
Answer: There are (or were) clips of the Eric Stoltz footage on YouTube.
Answer: There's also the scene where Marty is driving the Delorean in an attempt to escape from the Libyans. A close look at the driver reveals that it's Eric Stoltz.
8th Mar 2016
Back to the Future (1985)
24th Jul 2010
Back to the Future (1985)
Question: What happened to the original timeline to cause such a dramatic change in Marty's mom? In the original timeline, Marty's mom was 'born a nun' as Marty described her to Jennifer. But when Marty goes back to 1955, Lorraine is a drinking, smoking, parking with boys kind of girl. In the original timeline, what would have made it to where Lorraine thinks it's inappropriate for a girl to make advances on a boy? She seems to already be a boy chaser before Marty even gets there.
Chosen answer: Actually, nothing happened to the original timeline to change Marty's mom. It's Marty, like many children, who had a rather unrealistic view about what Lorraine was actually like when she was a teenager. He always believed (and was deliberately given the impression) that she was extremely shy and proper, when in fact, she was a boy-crazy flirt, though she apparently changed after falling in love with George. Parents are often evasive regarding their own youthful behavior.
17th May 2009
Back to the Future (1985)
Question: What did the cafe server mean when he said to Marty "I can't give you a tab unless you buy something"? I know that Marty was referring to the Tab soda (which didn't exist then), but what was the other guy talking about?
Chosen answer: A tab is the same as a bill. The server guy thinks Marty wants a bill for whatever he's ordered, although because Marty hasn't eaten or drunk anything yet, he can't give him one. Even though a bill for a restaurant meal can be referred to as a "tab", this term is more commonly used in bars. When someone "runs a tab," it means they pay the total cost as they're about to leave, rather than pay for each drink separately.
Answer: Romans used both numerical styles for the number four. Romans used IIII for vertical lists, on stone columns, etc. It was supposedly easier to add the extra "I" rather than IV. For horizontal writing, the IV was used. Bob Gale is apparently referring to how old clock faces typically used the IIII instead of the more familiar IV. The clock tower in the movie was supposed to be 100 years old, so "IIII" is what should have been used in the 1800s instead of "IV," so that appears to be the mistake. As far as the type of mistake, probably "Factual Error."
raywest ★
Fun fact, my mom has a clock that uses Roman numerals, and the 4 is indeed IIII on it, not IV. If it is a mistake, it is one that is common and not unique to the movie. I think it is used in clocks traditionally since the Romans used to use it on their sundials.
lionhead
Most cuckoo clocks use Roman numerals and still have the IIII.
raywest ★