Back to the Future Trivia One, Two, Three
I haven't finished reading all these. I will as soon as I post them. The ones I've read have fascinated me beyond belief (*wink*). You can skip through one if you finished them!
ONE:
* Michael J. Fox had always been the first choice for Marty, but he turned it down due to scheduling conflicts with his work on "Family Ties" (1982). Eric Stoltz was cast as Marty but he disagreed with the rest of the cast and crew about the tone of the film. After a few weeks of filming, Fox was asked to replace Stoltz. Fox worked out a schedule to fulfill his commitment to both projects. Every day during production, he drove straight to the movie set after taping of the show was finished every day and averaged about one or two hours of sleep. The bulk of the production was filmed from 6pm to 6am, with the daylight scenes filmed on weekends.
* Co-writer Bob Gale confirmed that for wide shots, the wind during the storm at the Clock Tower was created by using a McBride, which was described by the writer as "basically a airplane engine on a huge cherry picker" and was placed a good fifty feet away from the actors. The McBride was so loud that all of the dialog said by actors Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd had to be re-recorded later. However, the McBride also had an effect on Michael J. Fox's health: while filming the sequence where Marty yells up at Doc at the Clock Tower to tell him about the future, he coughed up blood after filming those scenes.
* Musician Mark Campbell did all of 'Michael J Fox (I)' 's singing.
* When Marty McFly leaves Doc Brown's garage because he is late for school, co-writer Bob Gale mentioned in a commentary that the Garage was actually a flat put next to a Burger King restaurant in Burbank. As part of their agreement with Burger King, the studio wasn't given any money from the restaurant for their cameo, but Burger King did allow the crew to film their scenes for free and allowed them to park there.
* Michael J. Fox was allowed by the producer of "Family Ties" (1982) to film this movie on the condition that he kept his full schedule on the TV show - meaning no write-outs or missing episodes - and filmed the (majority) of the movie at night.
* Michael J. Fox had to learn to skateboard for the film.
* Bob Gale explains that, to find a coordinator for the skateboarding scenes, he went to Venice beach and approached two skateboarders. One turned out to be European skate champ, Per Welinder, and the skater he was with became the stunt double for Eric Stoltz, but was recast when they recast the role of Marty McFly in order to match Michael J. Fox's height.
* Doc's distinctive hunched-over look developed when the filmmakers realized the extreme difference in height between Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox; Fox is 5'4 1/2" while Lloyd is 6'1". To compensate for the height difference, director 'Robert Zemekis' used specific blocking where the two often stood far apart at different camera depths. For close ups, Lloyd would have to hunch over to appear in frame with Fox. The same approach was used in the two subsequent sequels.
* The "Back to the Future" series (including Back to the Future (1985), Back to the Future Part II (1989), and Back to the Future Part III (1990)) ranked at #9 on IGN's Top 25 Movie Franchises of All Time (2006).
* The picture of Mayor Red Thomas on the election car in 1955 is set decorator Hal Gausman.
* Michael J. Fox is only ten days younger than Lea Thompson, the actress who plays his mother, and is almost three years older than his on-screen dad, Crispin Glover.
* The time machine has been through several variations. In the first draft of the screenplay the time machine was a laser device that was housed in a room. At the end of the first draft the device was attached to a refrigerator and taken to an atomic bomb test. In the third draft of the film the time machine was a DeLorean, but in order to send Marty back to the future the vehicle had to drive the DeLorean into an atomic bomb test.
* The DeLorean Time Machine has "Good Year" tires. In the real world, "Goodyear" is one word.
* The DeLorean was deliberately selected for its general appearance and gull wing doors, in order to make it plausible that people in 1955 would presume it to be an alien spacecraft.
* When the DeLorean goes back in time for the first time, it stops by crashing into a barn, which we soon learn belongs to a farmer named Peabody. We know this because as the DeLorean speeds off the property to escape being shot, we see buckshot shatter the mailbox bearing his name. Farmer Peabody's son is named Sherman. Sherman was the name of the little boy time traveler in each of the "Peabody's Improbable History" sections of Jay Ward's cartoon show, "The Bullwinkle Show" (1961). The dog who "owned" Sherman and the time machine was named Mr. Peabody. In another reference to that show, the first character to travel through time is the dog, Einstein.
* The device originally considered for use as the time travel machine was a refrigerator. Director Robert Zemeckis said in an interview that the idea was scrapped because he and Steven Spielberg did not want children to start climbing into refrigerators and getting trapped inside.
* According to the Universal Studios back lot tour, the clock tower is the same one that is seen in the movie To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). The area is referred to as Mockingbird Square, and it is a stone's throw away from other famous filming locations, such as the exterior of the Psycho (1960) house and the "Red Sea".
* The "Mr. Fusion Home Energy Converter", which is sitting on the DeLorean when Doc returns from the future, is made from (among other things) a Krups coffee grinder.
* The script never called for Marty to repeatedly bang his head on the gull-wing door of the DeLorean; this was improvised during filming as the door mechanism became faulty.
* The school that served as Hill Valley High was Whittier High School in Whittier, California just outside of Los Angeles. It's Richard Nixon's alma mater.
* The Twin Pines Mall is, in fact, the Puente Hills Mall in City of Industry, California. Today, JCPenney is no longer an anchor there.
* In the film's script the word "gigawatt" is spelt "jigowatt". Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis had been to a science seminar and the speaker had pronounced it "jigowatt".
* The device in Doc Brown's lab that Marty plugs his guitar into is labeled "CRM-114", which was the name of the message decoder on the B-52 in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), and the serial number of the Jupiter explorer in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), both directed by Stanley Kubrick.
* A marketer hoped to get a prominent placement for California Raisins somewhere in the film. He suggested putting a bowl of raisins on a table at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. He had also told the California Raisins board that this would do for raisins what _E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)_ did for Reese's Pieces. Bob Gale informed him that a bowl of raisins would photograph like a bowl of dirt. The only thing that appears in the film is Marty jumping over Red, sleeping on a bench that is advertising California Raisins.
* Wendie Jo Sperber, who played Linda McFly, was in fact three years older than Lea Thompson, who played her mother, and six years older than Crispin Glover, the actor who played her father.
* According to Back to the Future Part III (1990), the clock in the clock tower started running at 8:00 p.m. on September 5, 1885. The date is provided by the caption on the photograph that Doc Brown gives Marty at the end of Back to the Future Part III (1990). The time is provided by the mayor in Back to the Future Part III (1990), who starts it. The lightning strikes the clock tower at 10:04 p.m. on November 12, 1955. This means that the clock tower operated for exactly 70 years, 2 months, 24 days, 2 hours, and 4 minutes.
* The newscaster on TV in the opening sequence is Deborah Harmon, who appeared in director Robert Zemeckis' Used Cars (1980).
* The license plate on a car outside the band audition (which says "FOR MARY") is a tribute to Mary T. Radford, personal assistant to second unit director Frank Marshall.
* Doc Brown's "man hanging off a clock face" depicts the famous scene in Harold Lloyd's The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947)), which itself is a remake of Harold Lloyd's film, Safety Last! (1923).
* Displayed prominently at the head of Marty's bed is a brightly colored magazine named "RQ." This is "Reference Quarterly," of interest only to professional librarians.
* The mall where Marty McFly meets Doc Brown for their time travel experiment is called "Twin Pines Mall". Doc Brown comments that old farmer Peabody used to own all of the land, and he grew pines there. When Marty goes back in time, he runs over and knocks down a pine tree on the Peabody's property. When he comes back to the mall at the end of the film, the sign at the mall identifies the mall as "Lone Pine Mall".
* The dialogue where Lorraine says that when she grows up she'll let her kids do anything they want was cut. That dialogue is re-inserted in Back to the Future Part II (1989) when the second Marty creeps past the car the first Marty and 1955 Lorraine are in. Lorraine states she'll let her kids do anything, Marty replies, "I'd like to have that in writing."
* Another deleted scene shows Marty peeking in on a class in 1955 and seeing his mother cheating on a test.
* The scene where Marty asks if he and Jennifer become "assholes" in the future was re-shot for television.
* Doc Brown's dog Einstein arrives from the world's first time-travel excursion at 1:21am. Coincidentally, the DeLorean requires 1.21 gigawatts of electricity to travel through time.
* The DeLorean time machine is a licensed, registered vehicle in the state of California. While the vanity license plate used in the film says "OUTATIME", the DeLorean's actual license plate reads 3CZV657
* The chime of the Clock Tower in 1955 is intentionally the same as the chime in the 1960 movie The Time Machine (1960) based on the story by H.G. Wells.
* The space alien gag first appeared in the screenplay's third draft, with the primary difference being that it was to be done to Biff.
* When Robert Zemeckis was trying to sell the idea of this film, one of the companies he approached was Disney, who turned it down because they thought that the story of a mother falling in love with her son (albeit by a twist of time travel) was too risqué for a film under their banner. In fact, Disney was the only company to think the first was risqué. All other companies said that the film was not risqué enough, compared to other teen comedies at the time (e.g. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Revenge of the Nerds (1984), etc).
* Character name of Emmett comes from the word "time," spelled backwards and pronounced as syllables (em-it).
* Doc Brown's middle initial is "L" but no name was ever actually given. Bob Gale, the film's writer, was asked about this and gave him the name "Lathrop" (almost "portal" backwards - see above).
* A very brief scene was cut in-between the scenes of the McFly family dinner and Marty being woken up by Doc's phone call. It involved Marty preparing to send his demo tape to a record company. Marty decides not to do it, and leaves the empty manila envelope on his desk. In a scene that remains in the film, he goes to breakfast with the manila envelope sealed, suggesting he decided to send it in.
* The house used for Doc Brown's home is the Gamble House at 3 Westmoreland Ave., Pasadena, California. It was the home of the Gamble family until 1966, when it was turned over to the University of Southern California. It is now a historical museum.
* Earlier versions of the script had the time machine getting the required power from a nuclear test in the Nevada desert. The scene was considered too expensive to film, so the power source was changed to lightning.
* Canadian pop singer Corey Hart was asked to screen test for the part of Marty.
* When Marty is trying to re-start the DeLorean in 1955 as he prepares to return to 1985, the car's headlights flash the Morse Code for "SOS".
* The opening sequence with the ticking clocks is a direct lift from The Time Machine (1960).
* The DeLorean used in the trilogy was a 1981 DMC-12 model, with a 6-cylinder PRV (Peugeot/Renault/Volvo) engine. The base for the nuclear-reactor was made from the hubcap from a Dodge Polaris. In the 2002 Special-Edition DVD of the BTTF Trilogy, it is incorrectly stated that the DeLorean had a standard 4-cylinder engine.
* C. Thomas Howell was considered to play the role of Marty McFly.
* Apparently Ronald Reagan was amused by Doc Brown's disbelief that an actor like him could become president, so much so that he had the projectionist stop and replay the scene. He also seemed to enjoy it so much that he even made a direct reference of the film in his 1986 State of the Union address: "As they said in the film Back to the Future (1985), "Where we're going, we don't need roads."
* In the opening sequence, all of Doc's clocks read 7:53 (25 minutes slow) except for one clock. It is on the floor next to the case of plutonium and it reads 8:20.
* Alan Silvestri's orchestra for the score of the film was the largest ever assembled at that time.
* 'Ron Cobb' was originally hired to design the DeLorean time machine but left for another project and was replaced by Andrew Probert.
* When Lorraine follows Marty back to Doc's house, she and Doc exchange an awkward greeting. This marks the only on-screen dialogue that Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson ever have, though they have appeared together in five movies and one TV movie.
* Billy Zane makes his first on-screen appearance in this film as "Match", one of Biff's cronies.
* Melora Hardin was briefly cast as Jennifer when Claudia Wells initially dropped out due to scheduling conflicts, but was fired because she was taller than Michael J. Fox.
* In the original script, Marty's playing rock and roll at the dance caused a riot which had to be broken up by police. This, combined with Marty accidentally tipping Doc off to the "secret ingredient" that made the time machine work (Coca-Cola) caused history to change. When Marty got back to the 1980s, he found that it was now the 1950s conception of that decade, with air-cars and what-not (all invented by Doc Brown and running on Coca-Cola). Marty also discovers that rock and roll was never invented, and he dedicates himself to starting the delayed cultural revolution. Meanwhile, his dad digs out the newspaper from the day after the dance and sees his son in the picture of the riot.
* The prefix "giga" was formerly more commonly pronounced as jiga, just as Doc Brown pronounces it.
* In the French version, when Marty wakes up in 1955 in his young mother's bed, she calls him Pierre Cardin instead of Calvin Klein. In the Italian version, she calls him Levi Strauss.
* When this movie was previewed for a test audience, Industrial Light and Magic had not completed the final DeLorean-in-flight shot, and the last several minutes of the movie were previewed in black and white. It didn't matter, as the audience roared in approval of the final scene anyway.
* Universal Pictures head Sid Sheinberg did not like the title "Back to the Future", insisting that nobody would see a movie with "future" in the title. In a memo to Robert Zemeckis, he said that the title should be changed to "Spaceman From Pluto", tying in with the Marty-as-alien jokes in the film, and also suggested further changes like replacing the "I'm Darth Vader from planet Vulcan" line with "I am a spaceman from Pluto!" Sid Sheinberg was persuaded to change his mind by a response memo from Steven Spielberg, which thanked him for sending a wonderful "joke memo", and that everyone got a kick out of it. Sid Sheinberg, too proud to admit he was serious, gave in to letting the film retain its title.
* John Lithgow and Jeff Goldblum were considered for the role of Doc Brown.
* The two red labels on the flux capacitor say "Disconnect Capacitor Drive Before Opening" (at the top) and "Shield Eyes From Light"
* When Marty pretends to be Darth Vader from the planet Vulcan, he plays a tape labeled "Van Halen" to scare George out of his sleep. It is an untitled Edward Van Halen original written for a movie called The Wild Life (1984) which featured Lea Thompson.
* Voted number 7 in channel 4's (UK) "Greatest Family Films"
* The inspiration for the film largely stems from Bob Gale discovering his father's high school yearbook and wondering whether he would have been friends with his father as a teenager.
* There are only about 32 special effects shots in the entire film.
* The production ultimately used three real DeLoreans.
* It took three hours in make-up to turn the 23-year-old Lea Thompson into the 47-year-old Lorraine.
* Playing at the Hill Valley cinema is Cattle Queen of Montana (1954) starring Barbara Stanwyck and Ronald Reagan; the latter of course was the President of the United States in 1985, the year the film was made.
* The "Tales From Space" comic book reappeared in at least two episodes of "Oliver Beene" (2003).
* Though the film Marty (1955) won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1955, Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale say in the DVD QandA session that they were not aware of this fact when they named their main character Marty.
* The coincidences with the film Marty (1955) are not limited to the name of the protagonist; note that in both films, the cafe-owner's name is Lou.
* The lion statues in front of the Lyon Estates subdivisions were inspired by two like statues in the University City Loop in St. Louis, where writer Bob Gale grew up.
* Sid Sheinberg, the head of Universal Pictures, requested many changes to be made throughout the movie. Most of these he got, such as having "Professor Brown" changed to "Doc Brown" and his chimp Shemp changed to a dog named Einstein. Marty's mother's name had previously been Meg and then Eileen, but Sid Sheinberg insisted that she be named Lorraine after his wife Lorraine Gary.
* Marty's Guitars used throughout the movie: - Erlewine Chiquita ("big amp" sequence) - Ibanez black Strat copy (scenes of Marty's band performing in the 80s) - Gibson 1963 ES-345TD (Marty performing at the dance)
* Doc's phone number in 1955 is Klondike 54385. The letters "K" and "L" are both on the digit 5; thus, the number still begins with the 555- prefix, indicating a fictional number.
* When the McFly family is sitting down for dinner before Marty travels back in time (early in the movie), Michael J. Fox is seen drinking a can of a very prominent soda that he was a major endorser of back in the '80s and '90s.
* Director Robert Zemeckis used the same beginning as The Time Machine (1960) as a homage to that film. Having the destination timeframe, current timeframe and recently departed timeframe readouts on the panel in red, green and yellow LEDs respectively was a nod to the time machine from that film having red, green and yellow lights on the top of its console.
* Christopher Lloyd based his performance as Doc Brown on a combination of physicist Albert Einstein and conductor Leopold Stokowski.
* Leonard Nimoy was considered for the job as director before Robert Zemeckis took the job. Nimoy was unable to direct Back To The Future because he was starting work on the story for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
* According to the 'Making of... ', in the original script , Marty was sent back to the year 1985, with the radiation of a nuclear bomb. But the scripted sequence was too expensive for the budget so the idea was scrapped.
* In the shot of the clock tower of 1985, after Doc Brown sent Marty into the future (with a flying-by helicopter), you can clearly see that the piece of the ledge under the clock dial is broken off. It was broken off by Doc Brown in 1955.
* In the movie Marty is sent back to 1955, which is the year that Albert Einstein died. Coincidentally, the dog in the movie was named Einstein.
* When Marty is being judged at the band auditions at the beginning, the judge who stands up to say he is "just too darn loud" is Huey Lewis, who did the soundtrack for the movie. Also, the song Marty auditions with was by Huey Lewis.
* "To be continued" was inserted into the end of the VHS release Back to the Future Part I, and was omitted from the 2002 DVD release.
* The sound effect used for the wind-up toy car in Doc's demonstration to Marty was the same sound effect used for the time machine in the 1960 movie "The Time Machine."
* In the opening scene of the movie, as the camera pans across the clocks, one clock in the foreground has a small figure of Doc Brown hanging from the minute hand - a foreshadowing of the story's climax, where the Doc clings to the face of the clock tower while trying to reconnect the cable.
* In the French version, the clothes worn by Marty are not Calvin Klein, but Pierre Cardin. Oddly enough, Pierre Cardin's first collection dates back 1953 (so may have been known even in the US), while Calvin Klein first business started in 1968.
TWO:
* Crispin Glover played George McFly in Back to the Future (1985), but was replaced by Jeffrey Weissman in Part II. Weissman was made up to look like Glover so that this film could incorporate excerpts from the original. All shots of Weissman are either from the back, at an angle, or with Sunglasses so that the audience wouldn't notice that it is a different actor.
* Elisabeth Shue was cast as Jennifer, and all the closing shots of Back to the Future (1985) were re-shot for the beginning of this film. Claudia Wells (Jennifer in Back to the Future (1985)) was unable to reprise her role as she had stopped acting because her mother had been diagnosed with cancer. She returned to acting for the independent film Still Waters Burn (1996).
* Filmed at the same time as Back to the Future Part III (1990). In the five years since the original was made, Michael J. Fox had forgotten how to ride a skateboard.
* The two police officers are named Reese and Foley, which are the names that director Robert Zemeckis and screenwriter Bob Gale use for any police or government agents in the films they have written.
* A movie theatre advertises "Jaws 19", directed by "Max Spielberg". Executive producer Steven Spielberg, who directed Jaws (1975), has a son Max.
* In 2015, when Doc and Marty look at the USA Today newspaper and see the headline change, the following headlines and blurbs are: Across the top: 1. Slamball Playoffs Begin (Slamball would become a televised sport in 2002) 2. Cubs Sweep Series In 5 (a World Series sweep would be in 4 wins thus implying the playoffs have been expanded in the future) 3. Marshall Runs 3min. Mile 4. Washington Prepares For Queen Diana's Visit (the film was released 8 years before Princess Diana's death) On The Side: 1. Thumb Bandits Strike (Reference to an unused concept of Bob Gale's that no one would use paper money but would have their thumbprint to pay for things. Thus leading to crimes of thieves cutting off people's thumbs) 2. Man Killed By Falling Litter 3. Tokyo Stocks Are Up 4. Swiss Terrorist Threat 5. Shredding For Charity 6. President Says She's Tired 7. Queen Diana... (Repeated Headline) 8. Kelp Prices Increase 9. Pitcher Suspended For Bionic Arm Use 10. Slamball Playoffs (Repeated Headline) 11. "Jaws" Without Bite (Movie review of the "Jaws 19" gag in the film) Main Headline of Griff and His Gang's arrest: "Gang Jailed" "Hoverboard Rampage Destroys Courthouse" "Gang Leader: I Was Framed" Caption below Griff's picture: Gang Leader Had Bionic Overload.
* In the "1985A" scene where Marty watches a documentary on the life of Biff in front of the casino, there is a still photo of the part 3 villain, Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen. According to Bob Gale in the DVD Commentary, this was a still of and early make-up test for Mad Dog. The look was changed when part 3 began.
* One scene from Part 3 was filmed during the shooting of Part 2. In the scene where Doc & Marty return from the future to "1985A" and drop Jennifer off on her front porch swing, the cast and crew waited for daylight and film the scene where Marty comes back from 1885 in western dress and wakes up Jennifer. (This is according to Bob Gale in the DVD Commentary)
* When Marty arrives in 2015, he looks in the window of an antique store, where we see the denim jacket that he wore in 1985, a Roger Rabbit doll and a Jaws (1987) (VG) Nintendo game. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) was also directed by Robert Zemeckis. The Jaws (1987) (VG) video game seen in the antique store window was made by LJN for the early releases on the Nintendo Entertainment System. LJN would go on to make video games based on this movie and Back to the Future Part III (1990) LJN also made the NES game based on Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988); a doll of Roger also appears in that same window with the Jaws game.
* In promotional material such as Back to the Future Part II Featurette: A Behind the Scenes Look (1989) (TV) director, Robert Zemeckis explained that "hoverboards float on magnetic energy". He also added, "they've been around for years, it's just that parent groups haven't let toy manufacturers make them. But we got our hands on some and put them in the movie." He was only joking of course but interesting enough, Mattel (whose logo appeared on the hoverboard props) soon found themselves overwhelmed with callers asking where they could buy one. Although they looked pretty convincing in the movie, the hoverboards were simply wooden props attached to the actors feet. To make the boards fly, the actors were suspended by cables.
* The Wild Gunman (1984) (VG) video game in Cafe 80's was specially made for the film. Wild Gunman was an actual light gun game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, but was never a dedicated arcade cabinet. It was, however, included in many of Nintendo's Play Choice 10 machines, hence why a lightgun was on the cabinet. The sound effects heard in the movie are from the game, but, the on screen graphics are entirely new, drawn to resemble what appeared. Ironically, the actual game itself had far better animation.
* The shooting title for the movie was "Paradox". During some special features on the DVD release, it is seen used on the slate during the making of the movie.
* Marty's denim jacket from the first movie is for sale in the antique store in 2015.
* When Doc sees the future newspaper headline change to tell him that he was "commended" instead of "committed", a headline at the bottom of the page changes from "Nixon seeks fifth term" to "Reagan seeks second term". (Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan).
* Crispin Glover had not granted permission to use his likeness, and sued Steven Spielberg. The suit was settled, and the Screen Actors Guild introduced new rules about illicit use of actors.
* The 1990 TV special The Secrets of the Back to the Future Trilogy (1990) (TV) showed some sequences cut from the film:
o Biff fades out of 2015 after stumbling out of the DeLorean and behind some trash cans
o Marty discovers the destroyed Hill Valley High School
* On the fax that tells Marty he's fired, the address, "11249 Business Center Road, Hill Valley, CA 95420-4345," is obviously fictional, but in reality the ZIP code belongs to the city of Caspar, about 500 miles north of Los Angeles on the coast of California.
* In the alternate timeline, George McFly is murdered on March 15th - the ides of March.
* The old man who wishes he had bet on the Cubbies is played by Charles Fleischer, who did Roger Rabbit's voice. He also plays the younger version of his character, Terry the tow truck driver in 1955.
* A scene in which Marty meets his brother, Dave (played by Marc McClure), in the alternate 1985 was eventually cut because Wendie Jo Sperber (who played Linda, Marty's sister) could not reprise her role because at the time, she was pregnant.
* In one scene, Marty McFly Jr. almost gets hit by a taxi. He yells: "I'm walkin' here! I'm walkin' here!" This is a reference to Midnight Cowboy (1969).
* The futuristic looking cab that takes "old Biff" to the DeLorean, while it is parked near Marty and Jennifer's 2015 home, is a Citroen DS. This car went into production in October 1955, so it could, conceivably, have appeared in the original movie. The same car appears as a wreck in the "alternative" 1985.
* In 2015, when Doc discovers Marty has bought the sports almanac, there is poster advertising "Surf Vietnam"; a possible reference to Apocalypse Now (1979).
* In 2015, several cars from other sci-fi movies can be seen, including a Spinner from Blade Runner (1982) and the StarCar from The Last Starfighter (1984). Other cars seen are (highly) modified Ford Probes and Mustangs, as well as concept cars.
* In this movie there is a scene in which Doc Brown holds a conversation his 1955 counterpart (who is unaware of who he is talking to). During this scene Doc is wearing a brown trench coat and hat. If you look carefully in the first movie, you can see a man dressed exactly like this (and therefore, presumably Doc) walking away shortly before the clock-tower scene. In the DVD commentary it is explained that this was not intentional, as the script for the second movie hadn't even been written at the time that they filmed the first one.
* The ledge on the clock tower that Doc broke in the first movie is still broken in 2015.
* Several elaborate sequences were deleted through various revisions of the script, including: -During the 2015 hoverboard chase, Marty grabs on to a flying car that actually pulls him into the sky to a very high altitude. When Marty loses his grip, he is rescued by Doc in a flying van. -Marty and Doc, after learning when Biff received the almanac, have to escape in the DeLorean during a police shootout. When the car's flying circuits are damaged by gunfire, Doc plunges the time machine straight toward the ground in order to reach 88mph. -While Marty and Doc try to recover the almanac, the fusion generator (and in later revisions, the time circuits) is damaged by Farmer Peabody - a character Marty encountered in the first film - who still thinks the DeLorean is a space ship. -With Mr. Fusion and the flight circuits heavily damaged, Marty and Doc fly the DeLorean into an array of power lines over the Grand Canyon to generate enough power to return to 1985.
* Biff's alternate 1985 incarnation was loosely inspired by Donald Trump, while Lorraine's was based upon Tammy Faye Bakker.
* This time travel film takes place on the night where DST (Daylight Savings Time) ends for the year 1985.
* During Marty's introduction to 1985B, the Vegas-ized Hill Valley plays in the background "I Can't Drive 55" by Sammy Hagar. For the fact that Biff Tannen's rise to fortune occurred in the year 1955.
* The closing scenes of the first movie were re-shot as the opening scenes of this film. Several changes were made, especially in Christopher Lloyd's delivery of his lines.
* First film appearance by Elijah Wood.
* One initial idea for the sequel had the first two acts the same, but the third act had Biff giving his younger self the almanac in the 1960s, not in 1955. When Marty went back to stop him, he ran into his parents again (who were now hippies) and almost stopped his own conception. Robert Zemeckis decided that it was too similar an idea to the first film and came up with the idea of revisiting the original film from different angles with the two Martys in 1955.
* The opening cloud shots were originally used for the Clint Eastwood movie Firefox (1982).
* The principal actors committed to the sequels before any scripts were written. Crispin Glover did not return and writer Bob Gale came up with the idea to have George be murdered as a way of writing Crispin Glover out of the script.
* When Marty visits his neighborhood in 2015, a dog can be seen in the background being walked by one of the robots from *batteries not included (1987).
* The football scores Biff hears on the radio while driving are all actual scores from November 12, 1955, and the UCLA/Washington game he and old Biff listen to did indeed end with UCLA kicker Jim Decker hitting a last second field goal to win.
* When "Hill Valley" was created for the original movie they built the town in the pristine 1955 condition and shot the middle of the movie, then damaged it for the 1985 town and shot the beginning and end of the movie. When they decided to shoot BTTF 2 they had to clean the set up and restore it to the same condition it was in 1955. It cost more to rebuild than it cost to build it from scratch.
* The production of this film (and of Back to the Future Part III (1990)) was delayed for three years because Robert Zemeckis was busy making Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).
* When the unconscious Jennifer is taken home by the two officers in 2015, it looks as if great pains were taken to conceal the identity of the one officer (Reese). Her face is kept in the dark and her cap is even kept to where the bill is hiding her eyes. The actress portraying Officer Reese was in fact Mary Ellen Trainor who was Robert Zemeckis' wife at the time.
* Despite the rumor that circulated in 1997, shortly after the Florida Marlins beat the Cleveland Indians for the World Series, the movie does not "spookily" predict the result. No mention is made of "Florida" winning the World Series at all, and the only mention of a Florida-based team is in a news broadcast which announces that the Chicago Cubs beat Miami in the 2015 World Series (a joke at the Cubs' expense - they hadn't won the World Series since 1908). This rumor re-surfaced in 2003, when the Cubs and the Red Sox (both "cursed" teams) were in the playoffs. The rumor in Boston was that the movie said the Sox would win, and the rumor in Chicago was that the movie predicted the Cubs would win. The latter rumor was correct, but the former team went on to win the following year, in 2004.
* Griff Tannens car in 2015 is a modified 6 series BMW
* On his tombstone, George McFly (who was born on 1 April 1938), is revealed to have a middle name: Douglas.
* Cheryl Wheeler-Dixon, stunt double for Darlene Vogel, was injured during filming of the hoverboard sequence when, due to a technical mishap, she careened into the concrete pillar.
* According to the revised $6 USA Today newspaper article (which formerly featured Marty McFly Jr. arrested for theft and now featured Griff Tannen's gang arrested for destruction of the Hill Valley courthouse's window), the real names of Griff's 2015 gang - Data, Spike and Whitey - are Rafe Unger, Leslie O'Malley, and Chester Nogura, respectively.
* Bits and pieces were cut out of the dinner scene. When Marty Sr. says "I missed that whole thing", he's referring to a cut scene where Lorraine mentions that Uncle Joey was turned down for parole again.
* The tagline for Jaws 19 is "This time it's really, REALLY personal".
* Doc mentions that he left Einstein in a suspended animation kennel in 2015. This line was written in to explain why Einstein was not with Doc when he came back to 1985 to pick up Marty and Jennifer, since in Back to the Future (1985), Einstein had gone with Doc into the future, but was not there when Doc came back at the end of the film/beginning of Part II.
* Doc mentions to Marty that he visited a rejuvenation clinic in the future to make him appear younger. This was written so that Christopher Lloyd would not have to constantly wear old-age makeup for the two sequels, since he would primarily be portraying the 1985 incarnation of Doc.
* The casino neon sign incorporating Biff Tannen's signature was modeled after a neon sign that once stood on Bob Stupak's Vegas World Casino (now the Stratosphere) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
* The hotel tower for "Biff's Casino" was actually the hotel tower for the Plaza Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada.
* After Biff gets his cane stuck in the DeLorean after return to 2015, he starts to thrash around in pain, apparently having a hard time from the exertion. However, Robert Zemeckis has stated that Biff was experiencing the same thing that Marty did at the dance in the first movie: fading out of history. The idea was that, by going back in time to give the sports almanac to his younger self, Biff had somehow altered his own future so that he no longer existed in the year 2015. Apparently, Zemeckis said, Biff's wife (Marty's mother) had shot and killed Biff sometime after 1985. A small scene was clipped from the end which made this much clearer as we actually see Biff vanish.
* Originally only one sequel was planned. The script for this sequel, known as "Paradox" included all the elements of both Parts II and III, but compressed to fit into one movie. However, it was revealed with the release of the DVD set that there was an even earlier script which involved Marty meeting up with his parents while they're college students in the sixties. (This was probably dropped because no matter how you cut it, George and Lorraine wouldn't have been in college during the "Protest Era", they were too old.)
* Many shows from the 1980s are featured on the televisions inside the Cafe 80s, including "Family Ties" (1982) and "Taxi" (1978), which originally starred Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, respectively.
* On the 2015 newspaper, a headline reads "Marshall runs 3 minute mile".
* In the DVD extras of Back to the Future part 2, Robert Zemeckis had said that he really did not want the movie to take place in the future. That is because he felt that every time that a movie takes place in the future, it is mis-predicted.
* The movie Biff is watching in the hotel suite hot tub, when Marty confronts him about the sports almanac, is Per un pugno di dollari (1964).
* Griff's 'Pit Bull' Hoverboard was originally to be called 'Mad Dog' to foreshadow his character in part 3.
* According to the sign hung above the front door of Biff's house his grandmother's first name is "Gertrude."
* We learn several bits of information about Needles during his phone call with Marty. In the order they appear on the screen, they are: -Needles, Douglas J. -Occupation: Sys Operations -Age: 47 -Birthday: August 6, 1968 -Address: 88 Oriole Rd, A6t -Wife: Lauren Anne -Children: Roberta, 23 Amy, 20 -Food Prefence: Steak, Mex -Food Dislike: Fish, Tuna -Drinks: Scotch, Beer -Hobbies: Avid Basketball Fan -Sports: Jogging, Slamball, Tennis -Politics: None
* The image of two nude women on the large screen when Marty Jr. says "art off" is "The Gold of Their Bodies (Et l'or de leurs corps)" by Paul Gauguin. The original is in Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.
* Also present in the 2015 antique shop, front and center, is the video game Burgertime for NES. Burgertime which was an arcade game ported to several home video game platforms also including Mattel Intellivision and Atari 2600.
* According to the Animated Annecdotes on the DVD, the expandable baseball bat Griff Tannen uses is a "Kirk Gibson Jr. Slugger 2000."
THREE:
* A horse dealership in 1885 is own by the Statlers. In Back to the Future (1985) there is an ad on the radio for "Statler Toyota" in 1985. In 1955, "Statler Motors Studebaker" is visible near the Town theatre.
* The name on the manure wagon in 1885 reads "A. Jones". In Back to the Future (1985), the name on the manure truck from 1955 reads "D. Jones".
* Filmed at the same time as Back to the Future Part II (1989). In the five years since the original was made, Michael J. Fox had forgotten how to ride a skateboard.
* The editor of Hill Valley's newspaper in 1885 is "M. R. Gale", a tribute to trilogy screenwriter Bob Gale.
* In Back to the Future Part II (1989), Biff watches Per un pugno di dollari (1964) in the alternative 1985, in which Clint Eastwood's character uses steel plating underneath his poncho. Marty (calling himself "Clint Eastwood") uses the hatch from a stove under his poncho in 1885. The sign at the train crossing in 1985 identifies the location as "Eastwood Ravine".
* "Mad Dog" is the name of the chief villain of Wild Gunman (1984) (VG), the western arcade game Marty McFly plays in Back to the Future Part II (1989).
* The train station is near the site of the station built for Pale Rider (1985), another Clint Eastwood movie. The two halves of the "Pale Rider" station became new buildings in "Hill Valley". One can be seen at the north end of town by the corrals and tracks, and the other at the south end by the waterwheel.
* Director Trademark: [Robert Zemeckis] [citation] When Marty walks along the railroad tracks and finally reaches the town, he comes to the railway station. Then he walks into the town, while the camera slowly rises up above the station and finally shows Marty at a large distance walking into the town. This scene is shot exactly the same way as the scene in C'era una volta il West (1968), when Jill arrives at the station.
* ZZ Top has a cameo as the band in 1885. They also wrote some of the music for the movie.
* When Doc and Marty are at the drive-in preparing the DeLorean for the trip to 1885, Marty mentions Clint Eastwood and Doc replies, "Clint who?" In this shot, there is a movie poster on the drive-in's wall showcasing the movie Revenge of the Creature (1955) and Tarantula (1955), both of which feature an appearance by a young Eastwood.
* Executive Producers Trademark (Steven Spielberg):[stars]: When Doc and Clara kiss whilst looking at the stars.
* Before sending Marty back to 1885, Doc mentions that he uses the drive-in theatre so Marty doesn't run into a tree that existed in the past. In the first movie, one of the first things Marty does in 1955 is run into farmer Peabody's pine tree that existed in the past.
* During ZZ Top's cameo, they play a version of the song "Doubleback", which they contributed to the soundtrack.
* Clara can be seen behind Marty and Doc while looking at the map at the train station.
* The DeLorean used in the filming of this movie is on display at the Planet Hollywood restaurant in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is suspended from the ceiling and hung upside down to give restaurant patrons a better view of the vehicle from above.
* This film marks the only time in the trilogy when Doc Brown interacts with a member of the Tannen family.
* The scene where Marty and Jennifer kiss on the porch was the only scene shot while Part II was being made.
* The locomotives that smash the DeLorean at the end of the film belonged to the Ventura County Railway.
* The role of Clara Clayton was written specifically for Mary Steenburgen.
* The clock in the clock tower started running at 8:00 p.m. on September 5, 1885. The date is provided by the caption on the photograph Doc gives Marty at the end of the movie. The lightning strikes the clock tower at 10:04 p.m. on November 12, 1955. This means that the clock tower operated for exactly 70 years, 2 months, 7 days, 2 hours, and 4 minutes.
* There exist enough clues in all three movies to reconstruct the travels of the DeLorean precisely (to within a few minutes at worst, except 2015 Biff's arrival in 1955 and Doc's personal travels). There are a few interesting things to note: Not counting the time Doc traveled by himself, the DeLorean spent nearly 71 years (on its own time scale) from its first time travel to its destruction. By the time Marty made his ultimate return to 1985, he was approx. 14 days, 3 hours, and 27 minutes older than he should have been; Jennifer, on the other hand, is 7 hours and 26 minutes younger than she should have been. Another interesting conclusion is a point of contention. There are two theories, one of which drops the last item. On November 12, 1955, between the time Biff arrived (or 6 am, whichever came later) and 6:38 pm (the time he left), there were four DeLoreans present in Hill Valley (ordered from its point of view): (1) The instance when Marty was trapped in 1955 in the original movie, (2) the instance when Biff came to 1955 to give himself the almanac, (3) the instance when Marty and Doc came back to 1955 to take the almanac back, and (4) the instance when it was waiting in the abandoned mine. Those who do not agree with (4) argue that according to the "ripple effect" timeline as presented in the films, there wouldn't be a DeLorean hidden by Doc in the mine until later that evening, when the lightning blast would accidentally send Doc back to 1885, thereby altering the timeline. It is *entirely true* that *we* do not ever witness a moment in the films where all four instances coexist, but the text "ordered from its point of view" above should hint at a solution. Once the DeLorean is in 1885, consider what it would detect (if it were in a position to witness the comings and goings of its former selves): over 70 years of peace, then (1) arrives, then (2) and (3) arrive in some order; (2) then leaves at 6:38, (3) leaves around 10 pm, and (1) leaves at 10:04. (4) itself leaves soon after that. If we grant that all three of those instances (1-3) continue to exist in the "final" timeline, then there should be no problem accepting this theory. Still not convinced? Consider the 100-year gap near the end of BTTF III when Marty takes the DeLorean on its final journey. 70 years into it, for a few hours, there are 4 instances of the car.
* Throughout the trilogy, the Delorean and its duplicates created via time travel make 14 trips through time. They are:
o 1) Doc's dog, Einstein, is sent one minute into the future to test the machine.
o 2) Marty travels back to 1955 from 1985.
o 3) Marty returns to 1985 from 1955.
o 4) Doc travels to 2015 from 1985.
o 5) Doc returns to 1985 from 2015.
o 6) Doc takes Marty and Jennifer forward to 2015 from 1985.
o 7) Biff travels from 2015 to 1955 to give himself the sports almanac, thus creating an alternate timeline.
o 8) Biff returns to 2015 from 1955.
o 9) Doc, Marty, and Jennifer return to the alternate 1985 from 2015.
o 10) Marty and Doc travel back to 1955 from the alternate 1985 to get the sports almanac from Biff.
o 11) Doc accidentally travels from 1955 to 1885 when the Delorean is hit by lightning.
o 12) Marty travels from 1955 to 1885 to rescue Doc.
o 13) Marty returns to 1985 from 1885. It could be argued that the Delorean made a 14th trip through time: being placed in the mine by Doc in 1885 for Marty and Doc to find in 1955. However, it did not actually time travel (i.e. "skip" any period of time) in that instance.
o 14) Doc and his family travel from the future to 1985 to introduce Marty and Jennifer to Jules and Verne, and to give Marty an undamaged photo of he and Doc Brown in front of the clock. Additional off screen time traveling has occurred as stated by Doc Brown, when he tells Marty that he has "already traveled further ahead into time to see what else happens" in Back to the Future Part II.
* In the scene where "Mad Dog" tries to lynch Marty, Michael J. Fox was accidentally hanged, rendering him unconscious for a short time. He records this in his autobiography "Lucky Man" (2002)
* First movie to use Universal's new 75th Anniversary opening studio logo. The logo ran until 1997.
* The drive-in theater was constructed specifically for this film. It was built in Monument Valley, and demolished immediately after filming. No films were ever screened there.
* The town was in Jamestown, California, and was ironically destroyed by lightning in 1996.
* Clint Eastwood was asked for permission about his name being used for Marty in the film. He consented and was said to be tickled by the homage.
* Each of Needle's henchmen comes from one of the other gangs in the trilogy. J.J. Cohen played Skinhead in Biff's gang in Back to the Future (1985) and Back to the Future Part II (1989). Ricky Dean Logan played Data in Griff's gang in Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Christopher Wynne played an unnamed member of Buford's gang in the third film. Cohen appears in all three movies.
* A bottle of Tabasco sauce is visible at the saloon during the "wake-up juice" scene. It has the design consistent with the time period.
* Originally, Buford Tannen was supposed to shoot Marshall Strickland in the back, killing him. His son was present at the time. This was edited out of the final cut as it was deemed too depressing. This is why Strickland's deputy arrests Buford at the end of the movie rather than Strickland himself. This scene can be seen on the DVD.
* It was originally intended that Buford would be arrested for killing Sheriff Strickland, not for robbing the stage, and that's how the scene was shot. The deputy's words were re-looped when they decided to remove Strickland's murder scene.
* Actor and former President Ronald Reagan was originally approached to play the part of Mayor Hubert because of his fondness for the first film in the trilogy. He reluctantly turned down the role, and the part went to Hugh Gillin instead.
* In Back to the Future (1985), Doc tells Marty that he was inspired to create the Flux Capacitor after hitting his head on the bathroom sink while trying to hang a clock over his toilet. In Part III, when Doc freaks out after seeing Marty in his house and runs into the bathroom, you can just see the clock hanging above the toilet he slipped on.
* Marty uses a Frisbie pie plate to knock a gun out of Mad Dog's hand. In 1871, the Frisbie Pie Company started in Connecticut. Their pie pans were thrown on the campus of Yale and these eventually lead to the invention of Frisbees (tm).
* The second and third Back to the Future movies were shot consecutively over the course of 11 months (with a three week break between Parts II and III).
* For approximately three weeks Robert Zemeckis would fly to L.A. after his day's filming of the train climax of Back to the Future Part III (1990) to approve the sound dub that Bob Gale had been supervising of Back to the Future Part II (1989). He would then get up at 4:30am the next morning to fly back to the Northern California set to continue with his filming for that day.
* In the course of the year that it took to film Back to the Future Part II (1989) & Back to the Future Part III (1990), Michael J. Fox lost his father but gained a son.
* Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis figured that for Back to the Future Part III (1990) they had already done all that they could with Marty's family, so the focus of the film was shifted to Doc Brown.
* Mary Steenburgen's children were the ones who persuaded her to be in the film.
* To demonstrate Doc's fondness for Jules Verne, his locomotive time machine was designed to resemble the Nautilus from the 1954 Disney film 20000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954).
* The death of Michael J. Fox's father delayed filming for two weeks.
* According to the book "Billy Gibbon: Rock & Roll Gearhead", ZZ Top was hanging around the set and was asked to be the town band. During one take, the camera broke. While waiting for the camera to be repaired, Micheal J. Fox asked if they would play "Hey Good Lookin'" which they did. Afterwards, more requests were played. Two hours later, someone inquired if the camera had been repaired. The director replied that it had been fixed for quite a while, he just didn't want to stop the party that had evolved.
* Doc Brown states his German ancestors' surname was "von Braun". This is a reference to Wernher von Braun, one of Germany's leading rocket scientists, who fled to America following World War II and assisted greatly in the NASA program.
* This is the first on screen kiss for Christopher Lloyd
* Mary Steenburgen in Time After Time (1979) also fell in love with a time traveling scientist and joined him on his journey through time.
* The steam locomotive used in this movie is called Sierra No. 3, painted to look like an 1880's steam locomotive. This type of locomotive was actually created in 1896.
ONE:
* Michael J. Fox had always been the first choice for Marty, but he turned it down due to scheduling conflicts with his work on "Family Ties" (1982). Eric Stoltz was cast as Marty but he disagreed with the rest of the cast and crew about the tone of the film. After a few weeks of filming, Fox was asked to replace Stoltz. Fox worked out a schedule to fulfill his commitment to both projects. Every day during production, he drove straight to the movie set after taping of the show was finished every day and averaged about one or two hours of sleep. The bulk of the production was filmed from 6pm to 6am, with the daylight scenes filmed on weekends.
* Co-writer Bob Gale confirmed that for wide shots, the wind during the storm at the Clock Tower was created by using a McBride, which was described by the writer as "basically a airplane engine on a huge cherry picker" and was placed a good fifty feet away from the actors. The McBride was so loud that all of the dialog said by actors Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd had to be re-recorded later. However, the McBride also had an effect on Michael J. Fox's health: while filming the sequence where Marty yells up at Doc at the Clock Tower to tell him about the future, he coughed up blood after filming those scenes.
* Musician Mark Campbell did all of 'Michael J Fox (I)' 's singing.
* When Marty McFly leaves Doc Brown's garage because he is late for school, co-writer Bob Gale mentioned in a commentary that the Garage was actually a flat put next to a Burger King restaurant in Burbank. As part of their agreement with Burger King, the studio wasn't given any money from the restaurant for their cameo, but Burger King did allow the crew to film their scenes for free and allowed them to park there.
* Michael J. Fox was allowed by the producer of "Family Ties" (1982) to film this movie on the condition that he kept his full schedule on the TV show - meaning no write-outs or missing episodes - and filmed the (majority) of the movie at night.
* Michael J. Fox had to learn to skateboard for the film.
* Bob Gale explains that, to find a coordinator for the skateboarding scenes, he went to Venice beach and approached two skateboarders. One turned out to be European skate champ, Per Welinder, and the skater he was with became the stunt double for Eric Stoltz, but was recast when they recast the role of Marty McFly in order to match Michael J. Fox's height.
* Doc's distinctive hunched-over look developed when the filmmakers realized the extreme difference in height between Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox; Fox is 5'4 1/2" while Lloyd is 6'1". To compensate for the height difference, director 'Robert Zemekis' used specific blocking where the two often stood far apart at different camera depths. For close ups, Lloyd would have to hunch over to appear in frame with Fox. The same approach was used in the two subsequent sequels.
* The "Back to the Future" series (including Back to the Future (1985), Back to the Future Part II (1989), and Back to the Future Part III (1990)) ranked at #9 on IGN's Top 25 Movie Franchises of All Time (2006).
* The picture of Mayor Red Thomas on the election car in 1955 is set decorator Hal Gausman.
* Michael J. Fox is only ten days younger than Lea Thompson, the actress who plays his mother, and is almost three years older than his on-screen dad, Crispin Glover.
* The time machine has been through several variations. In the first draft of the screenplay the time machine was a laser device that was housed in a room. At the end of the first draft the device was attached to a refrigerator and taken to an atomic bomb test. In the third draft of the film the time machine was a DeLorean, but in order to send Marty back to the future the vehicle had to drive the DeLorean into an atomic bomb test.
* The DeLorean Time Machine has "Good Year" tires. In the real world, "Goodyear" is one word.
* The DeLorean was deliberately selected for its general appearance and gull wing doors, in order to make it plausible that people in 1955 would presume it to be an alien spacecraft.
* When the DeLorean goes back in time for the first time, it stops by crashing into a barn, which we soon learn belongs to a farmer named Peabody. We know this because as the DeLorean speeds off the property to escape being shot, we see buckshot shatter the mailbox bearing his name. Farmer Peabody's son is named Sherman. Sherman was the name of the little boy time traveler in each of the "Peabody's Improbable History" sections of Jay Ward's cartoon show, "The Bullwinkle Show" (1961). The dog who "owned" Sherman and the time machine was named Mr. Peabody. In another reference to that show, the first character to travel through time is the dog, Einstein.
* The device originally considered for use as the time travel machine was a refrigerator. Director Robert Zemeckis said in an interview that the idea was scrapped because he and Steven Spielberg did not want children to start climbing into refrigerators and getting trapped inside.
* According to the Universal Studios back lot tour, the clock tower is the same one that is seen in the movie To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). The area is referred to as Mockingbird Square, and it is a stone's throw away from other famous filming locations, such as the exterior of the Psycho (1960) house and the "Red Sea".
* The "Mr. Fusion Home Energy Converter", which is sitting on the DeLorean when Doc returns from the future, is made from (among other things) a Krups coffee grinder.
* The script never called for Marty to repeatedly bang his head on the gull-wing door of the DeLorean; this was improvised during filming as the door mechanism became faulty.
* The school that served as Hill Valley High was Whittier High School in Whittier, California just outside of Los Angeles. It's Richard Nixon's alma mater.
* The Twin Pines Mall is, in fact, the Puente Hills Mall in City of Industry, California. Today, JCPenney is no longer an anchor there.
* In the film's script the word "gigawatt" is spelt "jigowatt". Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis had been to a science seminar and the speaker had pronounced it "jigowatt".
* The device in Doc Brown's lab that Marty plugs his guitar into is labeled "CRM-114", which was the name of the message decoder on the B-52 in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), and the serial number of the Jupiter explorer in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), both directed by Stanley Kubrick.
* A marketer hoped to get a prominent placement for California Raisins somewhere in the film. He suggested putting a bowl of raisins on a table at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. He had also told the California Raisins board that this would do for raisins what _E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)_ did for Reese's Pieces. Bob Gale informed him that a bowl of raisins would photograph like a bowl of dirt. The only thing that appears in the film is Marty jumping over Red, sleeping on a bench that is advertising California Raisins.
* Wendie Jo Sperber, who played Linda McFly, was in fact three years older than Lea Thompson, who played her mother, and six years older than Crispin Glover, the actor who played her father.
* According to Back to the Future Part III (1990), the clock in the clock tower started running at 8:00 p.m. on September 5, 1885. The date is provided by the caption on the photograph that Doc Brown gives Marty at the end of Back to the Future Part III (1990). The time is provided by the mayor in Back to the Future Part III (1990), who starts it. The lightning strikes the clock tower at 10:04 p.m. on November 12, 1955. This means that the clock tower operated for exactly 70 years, 2 months, 24 days, 2 hours, and 4 minutes.
* The newscaster on TV in the opening sequence is Deborah Harmon, who appeared in director Robert Zemeckis' Used Cars (1980).
* The license plate on a car outside the band audition (which says "FOR MARY") is a tribute to Mary T. Radford, personal assistant to second unit director Frank Marshall.
* Doc Brown's "man hanging off a clock face" depicts the famous scene in Harold Lloyd's The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947)), which itself is a remake of Harold Lloyd's film, Safety Last! (1923).
* Displayed prominently at the head of Marty's bed is a brightly colored magazine named "RQ." This is "Reference Quarterly," of interest only to professional librarians.
* The mall where Marty McFly meets Doc Brown for their time travel experiment is called "Twin Pines Mall". Doc Brown comments that old farmer Peabody used to own all of the land, and he grew pines there. When Marty goes back in time, he runs over and knocks down a pine tree on the Peabody's property. When he comes back to the mall at the end of the film, the sign at the mall identifies the mall as "Lone Pine Mall".
* The dialogue where Lorraine says that when she grows up she'll let her kids do anything they want was cut. That dialogue is re-inserted in Back to the Future Part II (1989) when the second Marty creeps past the car the first Marty and 1955 Lorraine are in. Lorraine states she'll let her kids do anything, Marty replies, "I'd like to have that in writing."
* Another deleted scene shows Marty peeking in on a class in 1955 and seeing his mother cheating on a test.
* The scene where Marty asks if he and Jennifer become "assholes" in the future was re-shot for television.
* Doc Brown's dog Einstein arrives from the world's first time-travel excursion at 1:21am. Coincidentally, the DeLorean requires 1.21 gigawatts of electricity to travel through time.
* The DeLorean time machine is a licensed, registered vehicle in the state of California. While the vanity license plate used in the film says "OUTATIME", the DeLorean's actual license plate reads 3CZV657
* The chime of the Clock Tower in 1955 is intentionally the same as the chime in the 1960 movie The Time Machine (1960) based on the story by H.G. Wells.
* The space alien gag first appeared in the screenplay's third draft, with the primary difference being that it was to be done to Biff.
* When Robert Zemeckis was trying to sell the idea of this film, one of the companies he approached was Disney, who turned it down because they thought that the story of a mother falling in love with her son (albeit by a twist of time travel) was too risqué for a film under their banner. In fact, Disney was the only company to think the first was risqué. All other companies said that the film was not risqué enough, compared to other teen comedies at the time (e.g. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Revenge of the Nerds (1984), etc).
* Character name of Emmett comes from the word "time," spelled backwards and pronounced as syllables (em-it).
* Doc Brown's middle initial is "L" but no name was ever actually given. Bob Gale, the film's writer, was asked about this and gave him the name "Lathrop" (almost "portal" backwards - see above).
* A very brief scene was cut in-between the scenes of the McFly family dinner and Marty being woken up by Doc's phone call. It involved Marty preparing to send his demo tape to a record company. Marty decides not to do it, and leaves the empty manila envelope on his desk. In a scene that remains in the film, he goes to breakfast with the manila envelope sealed, suggesting he decided to send it in.
* The house used for Doc Brown's home is the Gamble House at 3 Westmoreland Ave., Pasadena, California. It was the home of the Gamble family until 1966, when it was turned over to the University of Southern California. It is now a historical museum.
* Earlier versions of the script had the time machine getting the required power from a nuclear test in the Nevada desert. The scene was considered too expensive to film, so the power source was changed to lightning.
* Canadian pop singer Corey Hart was asked to screen test for the part of Marty.
* When Marty is trying to re-start the DeLorean in 1955 as he prepares to return to 1985, the car's headlights flash the Morse Code for "SOS".
* The opening sequence with the ticking clocks is a direct lift from The Time Machine (1960).
* The DeLorean used in the trilogy was a 1981 DMC-12 model, with a 6-cylinder PRV (Peugeot/Renault/Volvo) engine. The base for the nuclear-reactor was made from the hubcap from a Dodge Polaris. In the 2002 Special-Edition DVD of the BTTF Trilogy, it is incorrectly stated that the DeLorean had a standard 4-cylinder engine.
* C. Thomas Howell was considered to play the role of Marty McFly.
* Apparently Ronald Reagan was amused by Doc Brown's disbelief that an actor like him could become president, so much so that he had the projectionist stop and replay the scene. He also seemed to enjoy it so much that he even made a direct reference of the film in his 1986 State of the Union address: "As they said in the film Back to the Future (1985), "Where we're going, we don't need roads."
* In the opening sequence, all of Doc's clocks read 7:53 (25 minutes slow) except for one clock. It is on the floor next to the case of plutonium and it reads 8:20.
* Alan Silvestri's orchestra for the score of the film was the largest ever assembled at that time.
* 'Ron Cobb' was originally hired to design the DeLorean time machine but left for another project and was replaced by Andrew Probert.
* When Lorraine follows Marty back to Doc's house, she and Doc exchange an awkward greeting. This marks the only on-screen dialogue that Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson ever have, though they have appeared together in five movies and one TV movie.
* Billy Zane makes his first on-screen appearance in this film as "Match", one of Biff's cronies.
* Melora Hardin was briefly cast as Jennifer when Claudia Wells initially dropped out due to scheduling conflicts, but was fired because she was taller than Michael J. Fox.
* In the original script, Marty's playing rock and roll at the dance caused a riot which had to be broken up by police. This, combined with Marty accidentally tipping Doc off to the "secret ingredient" that made the time machine work (Coca-Cola) caused history to change. When Marty got back to the 1980s, he found that it was now the 1950s conception of that decade, with air-cars and what-not (all invented by Doc Brown and running on Coca-Cola). Marty also discovers that rock and roll was never invented, and he dedicates himself to starting the delayed cultural revolution. Meanwhile, his dad digs out the newspaper from the day after the dance and sees his son in the picture of the riot.
* The prefix "giga" was formerly more commonly pronounced as jiga, just as Doc Brown pronounces it.
* In the French version, when Marty wakes up in 1955 in his young mother's bed, she calls him Pierre Cardin instead of Calvin Klein. In the Italian version, she calls him Levi Strauss.
* When this movie was previewed for a test audience, Industrial Light and Magic had not completed the final DeLorean-in-flight shot, and the last several minutes of the movie were previewed in black and white. It didn't matter, as the audience roared in approval of the final scene anyway.
* Universal Pictures head Sid Sheinberg did not like the title "Back to the Future", insisting that nobody would see a movie with "future" in the title. In a memo to Robert Zemeckis, he said that the title should be changed to "Spaceman From Pluto", tying in with the Marty-as-alien jokes in the film, and also suggested further changes like replacing the "I'm Darth Vader from planet Vulcan" line with "I am a spaceman from Pluto!" Sid Sheinberg was persuaded to change his mind by a response memo from Steven Spielberg, which thanked him for sending a wonderful "joke memo", and that everyone got a kick out of it. Sid Sheinberg, too proud to admit he was serious, gave in to letting the film retain its title.
* John Lithgow and Jeff Goldblum were considered for the role of Doc Brown.
* The two red labels on the flux capacitor say "Disconnect Capacitor Drive Before Opening" (at the top) and "Shield Eyes From Light"
* When Marty pretends to be Darth Vader from the planet Vulcan, he plays a tape labeled "Van Halen" to scare George out of his sleep. It is an untitled Edward Van Halen original written for a movie called The Wild Life (1984) which featured Lea Thompson.
* Voted number 7 in channel 4's (UK) "Greatest Family Films"
* The inspiration for the film largely stems from Bob Gale discovering his father's high school yearbook and wondering whether he would have been friends with his father as a teenager.
* There are only about 32 special effects shots in the entire film.
* The production ultimately used three real DeLoreans.
* It took three hours in make-up to turn the 23-year-old Lea Thompson into the 47-year-old Lorraine.
* Playing at the Hill Valley cinema is Cattle Queen of Montana (1954) starring Barbara Stanwyck and Ronald Reagan; the latter of course was the President of the United States in 1985, the year the film was made.
* The "Tales From Space" comic book reappeared in at least two episodes of "Oliver Beene" (2003).
* Though the film Marty (1955) won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1955, Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale say in the DVD QandA session that they were not aware of this fact when they named their main character Marty.
* The coincidences with the film Marty (1955) are not limited to the name of the protagonist; note that in both films, the cafe-owner's name is Lou.
* The lion statues in front of the Lyon Estates subdivisions were inspired by two like statues in the University City Loop in St. Louis, where writer Bob Gale grew up.
* Sid Sheinberg, the head of Universal Pictures, requested many changes to be made throughout the movie. Most of these he got, such as having "Professor Brown" changed to "Doc Brown" and his chimp Shemp changed to a dog named Einstein. Marty's mother's name had previously been Meg and then Eileen, but Sid Sheinberg insisted that she be named Lorraine after his wife Lorraine Gary.
* Marty's Guitars used throughout the movie: - Erlewine Chiquita ("big amp" sequence) - Ibanez black Strat copy (scenes of Marty's band performing in the 80s) - Gibson 1963 ES-345TD (Marty performing at the dance)
* Doc's phone number in 1955 is Klondike 54385. The letters "K" and "L" are both on the digit 5; thus, the number still begins with the 555- prefix, indicating a fictional number.
* When the McFly family is sitting down for dinner before Marty travels back in time (early in the movie), Michael J. Fox is seen drinking a can of a very prominent soda that he was a major endorser of back in the '80s and '90s.
* Director Robert Zemeckis used the same beginning as The Time Machine (1960) as a homage to that film. Having the destination timeframe, current timeframe and recently departed timeframe readouts on the panel in red, green and yellow LEDs respectively was a nod to the time machine from that film having red, green and yellow lights on the top of its console.
* Christopher Lloyd based his performance as Doc Brown on a combination of physicist Albert Einstein and conductor Leopold Stokowski.
* Leonard Nimoy was considered for the job as director before Robert Zemeckis took the job. Nimoy was unable to direct Back To The Future because he was starting work on the story for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
* According to the 'Making of... ', in the original script , Marty was sent back to the year 1985, with the radiation of a nuclear bomb. But the scripted sequence was too expensive for the budget so the idea was scrapped.
* In the shot of the clock tower of 1985, after Doc Brown sent Marty into the future (with a flying-by helicopter), you can clearly see that the piece of the ledge under the clock dial is broken off. It was broken off by Doc Brown in 1955.
* In the movie Marty is sent back to 1955, which is the year that Albert Einstein died. Coincidentally, the dog in the movie was named Einstein.
* When Marty is being judged at the band auditions at the beginning, the judge who stands up to say he is "just too darn loud" is Huey Lewis, who did the soundtrack for the movie. Also, the song Marty auditions with was by Huey Lewis.
* "To be continued" was inserted into the end of the VHS release Back to the Future Part I, and was omitted from the 2002 DVD release.
* The sound effect used for the wind-up toy car in Doc's demonstration to Marty was the same sound effect used for the time machine in the 1960 movie "The Time Machine."
* In the opening scene of the movie, as the camera pans across the clocks, one clock in the foreground has a small figure of Doc Brown hanging from the minute hand - a foreshadowing of the story's climax, where the Doc clings to the face of the clock tower while trying to reconnect the cable.
* In the French version, the clothes worn by Marty are not Calvin Klein, but Pierre Cardin. Oddly enough, Pierre Cardin's first collection dates back 1953 (so may have been known even in the US), while Calvin Klein first business started in 1968.
TWO:
* Crispin Glover played George McFly in Back to the Future (1985), but was replaced by Jeffrey Weissman in Part II. Weissman was made up to look like Glover so that this film could incorporate excerpts from the original. All shots of Weissman are either from the back, at an angle, or with Sunglasses so that the audience wouldn't notice that it is a different actor.
* Elisabeth Shue was cast as Jennifer, and all the closing shots of Back to the Future (1985) were re-shot for the beginning of this film. Claudia Wells (Jennifer in Back to the Future (1985)) was unable to reprise her role as she had stopped acting because her mother had been diagnosed with cancer. She returned to acting for the independent film Still Waters Burn (1996).
* Filmed at the same time as Back to the Future Part III (1990). In the five years since the original was made, Michael J. Fox had forgotten how to ride a skateboard.
* The two police officers are named Reese and Foley, which are the names that director Robert Zemeckis and screenwriter Bob Gale use for any police or government agents in the films they have written.
* A movie theatre advertises "Jaws 19", directed by "Max Spielberg". Executive producer Steven Spielberg, who directed Jaws (1975), has a son Max.
* In 2015, when Doc and Marty look at the USA Today newspaper and see the headline change, the following headlines and blurbs are: Across the top: 1. Slamball Playoffs Begin (Slamball would become a televised sport in 2002) 2. Cubs Sweep Series In 5 (a World Series sweep would be in 4 wins thus implying the playoffs have been expanded in the future) 3. Marshall Runs 3min. Mile 4. Washington Prepares For Queen Diana's Visit (the film was released 8 years before Princess Diana's death) On The Side: 1. Thumb Bandits Strike (Reference to an unused concept of Bob Gale's that no one would use paper money but would have their thumbprint to pay for things. Thus leading to crimes of thieves cutting off people's thumbs) 2. Man Killed By Falling Litter 3. Tokyo Stocks Are Up 4. Swiss Terrorist Threat 5. Shredding For Charity 6. President Says She's Tired 7. Queen Diana... (Repeated Headline) 8. Kelp Prices Increase 9. Pitcher Suspended For Bionic Arm Use 10. Slamball Playoffs (Repeated Headline) 11. "Jaws" Without Bite (Movie review of the "Jaws 19" gag in the film) Main Headline of Griff and His Gang's arrest: "Gang Jailed" "Hoverboard Rampage Destroys Courthouse" "Gang Leader: I Was Framed" Caption below Griff's picture: Gang Leader Had Bionic Overload.
* In the "1985A" scene where Marty watches a documentary on the life of Biff in front of the casino, there is a still photo of the part 3 villain, Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen. According to Bob Gale in the DVD Commentary, this was a still of and early make-up test for Mad Dog. The look was changed when part 3 began.
* One scene from Part 3 was filmed during the shooting of Part 2. In the scene where Doc & Marty return from the future to "1985A" and drop Jennifer off on her front porch swing, the cast and crew waited for daylight and film the scene where Marty comes back from 1885 in western dress and wakes up Jennifer. (This is according to Bob Gale in the DVD Commentary)
* When Marty arrives in 2015, he looks in the window of an antique store, where we see the denim jacket that he wore in 1985, a Roger Rabbit doll and a Jaws (1987) (VG) Nintendo game. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) was also directed by Robert Zemeckis. The Jaws (1987) (VG) video game seen in the antique store window was made by LJN for the early releases on the Nintendo Entertainment System. LJN would go on to make video games based on this movie and Back to the Future Part III (1990) LJN also made the NES game based on Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988); a doll of Roger also appears in that same window with the Jaws game.
* In promotional material such as Back to the Future Part II Featurette: A Behind the Scenes Look (1989) (TV) director, Robert Zemeckis explained that "hoverboards float on magnetic energy". He also added, "they've been around for years, it's just that parent groups haven't let toy manufacturers make them. But we got our hands on some and put them in the movie." He was only joking of course but interesting enough, Mattel (whose logo appeared on the hoverboard props) soon found themselves overwhelmed with callers asking where they could buy one. Although they looked pretty convincing in the movie, the hoverboards were simply wooden props attached to the actors feet. To make the boards fly, the actors were suspended by cables.
* The Wild Gunman (1984) (VG) video game in Cafe 80's was specially made for the film. Wild Gunman was an actual light gun game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, but was never a dedicated arcade cabinet. It was, however, included in many of Nintendo's Play Choice 10 machines, hence why a lightgun was on the cabinet. The sound effects heard in the movie are from the game, but, the on screen graphics are entirely new, drawn to resemble what appeared. Ironically, the actual game itself had far better animation.
* The shooting title for the movie was "Paradox". During some special features on the DVD release, it is seen used on the slate during the making of the movie.
* Marty's denim jacket from the first movie is for sale in the antique store in 2015.
* When Doc sees the future newspaper headline change to tell him that he was "commended" instead of "committed", a headline at the bottom of the page changes from "Nixon seeks fifth term" to "Reagan seeks second term". (Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan).
* Crispin Glover had not granted permission to use his likeness, and sued Steven Spielberg. The suit was settled, and the Screen Actors Guild introduced new rules about illicit use of actors.
* The 1990 TV special The Secrets of the Back to the Future Trilogy (1990) (TV) showed some sequences cut from the film:
o Biff fades out of 2015 after stumbling out of the DeLorean and behind some trash cans
o Marty discovers the destroyed Hill Valley High School
* On the fax that tells Marty he's fired, the address, "11249 Business Center Road, Hill Valley, CA 95420-4345," is obviously fictional, but in reality the ZIP code belongs to the city of Caspar, about 500 miles north of Los Angeles on the coast of California.
* In the alternate timeline, George McFly is murdered on March 15th - the ides of March.
* The old man who wishes he had bet on the Cubbies is played by Charles Fleischer, who did Roger Rabbit's voice. He also plays the younger version of his character, Terry the tow truck driver in 1955.
* A scene in which Marty meets his brother, Dave (played by Marc McClure), in the alternate 1985 was eventually cut because Wendie Jo Sperber (who played Linda, Marty's sister) could not reprise her role because at the time, she was pregnant.
* In one scene, Marty McFly Jr. almost gets hit by a taxi. He yells: "I'm walkin' here! I'm walkin' here!" This is a reference to Midnight Cowboy (1969).
* The futuristic looking cab that takes "old Biff" to the DeLorean, while it is parked near Marty and Jennifer's 2015 home, is a Citroen DS. This car went into production in October 1955, so it could, conceivably, have appeared in the original movie. The same car appears as a wreck in the "alternative" 1985.
* In 2015, when Doc discovers Marty has bought the sports almanac, there is poster advertising "Surf Vietnam"; a possible reference to Apocalypse Now (1979).
* In 2015, several cars from other sci-fi movies can be seen, including a Spinner from Blade Runner (1982) and the StarCar from The Last Starfighter (1984). Other cars seen are (highly) modified Ford Probes and Mustangs, as well as concept cars.
* In this movie there is a scene in which Doc Brown holds a conversation his 1955 counterpart (who is unaware of who he is talking to). During this scene Doc is wearing a brown trench coat and hat. If you look carefully in the first movie, you can see a man dressed exactly like this (and therefore, presumably Doc) walking away shortly before the clock-tower scene. In the DVD commentary it is explained that this was not intentional, as the script for the second movie hadn't even been written at the time that they filmed the first one.
* The ledge on the clock tower that Doc broke in the first movie is still broken in 2015.
* Several elaborate sequences were deleted through various revisions of the script, including: -During the 2015 hoverboard chase, Marty grabs on to a flying car that actually pulls him into the sky to a very high altitude. When Marty loses his grip, he is rescued by Doc in a flying van. -Marty and Doc, after learning when Biff received the almanac, have to escape in the DeLorean during a police shootout. When the car's flying circuits are damaged by gunfire, Doc plunges the time machine straight toward the ground in order to reach 88mph. -While Marty and Doc try to recover the almanac, the fusion generator (and in later revisions, the time circuits) is damaged by Farmer Peabody - a character Marty encountered in the first film - who still thinks the DeLorean is a space ship. -With Mr. Fusion and the flight circuits heavily damaged, Marty and Doc fly the DeLorean into an array of power lines over the Grand Canyon to generate enough power to return to 1985.
* Biff's alternate 1985 incarnation was loosely inspired by Donald Trump, while Lorraine's was based upon Tammy Faye Bakker.
* This time travel film takes place on the night where DST (Daylight Savings Time) ends for the year 1985.
* During Marty's introduction to 1985B, the Vegas-ized Hill Valley plays in the background "I Can't Drive 55" by Sammy Hagar. For the fact that Biff Tannen's rise to fortune occurred in the year 1955.
* The closing scenes of the first movie were re-shot as the opening scenes of this film. Several changes were made, especially in Christopher Lloyd's delivery of his lines.
* First film appearance by Elijah Wood.
* One initial idea for the sequel had the first two acts the same, but the third act had Biff giving his younger self the almanac in the 1960s, not in 1955. When Marty went back to stop him, he ran into his parents again (who were now hippies) and almost stopped his own conception. Robert Zemeckis decided that it was too similar an idea to the first film and came up with the idea of revisiting the original film from different angles with the two Martys in 1955.
* The opening cloud shots were originally used for the Clint Eastwood movie Firefox (1982).
* The principal actors committed to the sequels before any scripts were written. Crispin Glover did not return and writer Bob Gale came up with the idea to have George be murdered as a way of writing Crispin Glover out of the script.
* When Marty visits his neighborhood in 2015, a dog can be seen in the background being walked by one of the robots from *batteries not included (1987).
* The football scores Biff hears on the radio while driving are all actual scores from November 12, 1955, and the UCLA/Washington game he and old Biff listen to did indeed end with UCLA kicker Jim Decker hitting a last second field goal to win.
* When "Hill Valley" was created for the original movie they built the town in the pristine 1955 condition and shot the middle of the movie, then damaged it for the 1985 town and shot the beginning and end of the movie. When they decided to shoot BTTF 2 they had to clean the set up and restore it to the same condition it was in 1955. It cost more to rebuild than it cost to build it from scratch.
* The production of this film (and of Back to the Future Part III (1990)) was delayed for three years because Robert Zemeckis was busy making Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).
* When the unconscious Jennifer is taken home by the two officers in 2015, it looks as if great pains were taken to conceal the identity of the one officer (Reese). Her face is kept in the dark and her cap is even kept to where the bill is hiding her eyes. The actress portraying Officer Reese was in fact Mary Ellen Trainor who was Robert Zemeckis' wife at the time.
* Despite the rumor that circulated in 1997, shortly after the Florida Marlins beat the Cleveland Indians for the World Series, the movie does not "spookily" predict the result. No mention is made of "Florida" winning the World Series at all, and the only mention of a Florida-based team is in a news broadcast which announces that the Chicago Cubs beat Miami in the 2015 World Series (a joke at the Cubs' expense - they hadn't won the World Series since 1908). This rumor re-surfaced in 2003, when the Cubs and the Red Sox (both "cursed" teams) were in the playoffs. The rumor in Boston was that the movie said the Sox would win, and the rumor in Chicago was that the movie predicted the Cubs would win. The latter rumor was correct, but the former team went on to win the following year, in 2004.
* Griff Tannens car in 2015 is a modified 6 series BMW
* On his tombstone, George McFly (who was born on 1 April 1938), is revealed to have a middle name: Douglas.
* Cheryl Wheeler-Dixon, stunt double for Darlene Vogel, was injured during filming of the hoverboard sequence when, due to a technical mishap, she careened into the concrete pillar.
* According to the revised $6 USA Today newspaper article (which formerly featured Marty McFly Jr. arrested for theft and now featured Griff Tannen's gang arrested for destruction of the Hill Valley courthouse's window), the real names of Griff's 2015 gang - Data, Spike and Whitey - are Rafe Unger, Leslie O'Malley, and Chester Nogura, respectively.
* Bits and pieces were cut out of the dinner scene. When Marty Sr. says "I missed that whole thing", he's referring to a cut scene where Lorraine mentions that Uncle Joey was turned down for parole again.
* The tagline for Jaws 19 is "This time it's really, REALLY personal".
* Doc mentions that he left Einstein in a suspended animation kennel in 2015. This line was written in to explain why Einstein was not with Doc when he came back to 1985 to pick up Marty and Jennifer, since in Back to the Future (1985), Einstein had gone with Doc into the future, but was not there when Doc came back at the end of the film/beginning of Part II.
* Doc mentions to Marty that he visited a rejuvenation clinic in the future to make him appear younger. This was written so that Christopher Lloyd would not have to constantly wear old-age makeup for the two sequels, since he would primarily be portraying the 1985 incarnation of Doc.
* The casino neon sign incorporating Biff Tannen's signature was modeled after a neon sign that once stood on Bob Stupak's Vegas World Casino (now the Stratosphere) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
* The hotel tower for "Biff's Casino" was actually the hotel tower for the Plaza Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada.
* After Biff gets his cane stuck in the DeLorean after return to 2015, he starts to thrash around in pain, apparently having a hard time from the exertion. However, Robert Zemeckis has stated that Biff was experiencing the same thing that Marty did at the dance in the first movie: fading out of history. The idea was that, by going back in time to give the sports almanac to his younger self, Biff had somehow altered his own future so that he no longer existed in the year 2015. Apparently, Zemeckis said, Biff's wife (Marty's mother) had shot and killed Biff sometime after 1985. A small scene was clipped from the end which made this much clearer as we actually see Biff vanish.
* Originally only one sequel was planned. The script for this sequel, known as "Paradox" included all the elements of both Parts II and III, but compressed to fit into one movie. However, it was revealed with the release of the DVD set that there was an even earlier script which involved Marty meeting up with his parents while they're college students in the sixties. (This was probably dropped because no matter how you cut it, George and Lorraine wouldn't have been in college during the "Protest Era", they were too old.)
* Many shows from the 1980s are featured on the televisions inside the Cafe 80s, including "Family Ties" (1982) and "Taxi" (1978), which originally starred Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, respectively.
* On the 2015 newspaper, a headline reads "Marshall runs 3 minute mile".
* In the DVD extras of Back to the Future part 2, Robert Zemeckis had said that he really did not want the movie to take place in the future. That is because he felt that every time that a movie takes place in the future, it is mis-predicted.
* The movie Biff is watching in the hotel suite hot tub, when Marty confronts him about the sports almanac, is Per un pugno di dollari (1964).
* Griff's 'Pit Bull' Hoverboard was originally to be called 'Mad Dog' to foreshadow his character in part 3.
* According to the sign hung above the front door of Biff's house his grandmother's first name is "Gertrude."
* We learn several bits of information about Needles during his phone call with Marty. In the order they appear on the screen, they are: -Needles, Douglas J. -Occupation: Sys Operations -Age: 47 -Birthday: August 6, 1968 -Address: 88 Oriole Rd, A6t -Wife: Lauren Anne -Children: Roberta, 23 Amy, 20 -Food Prefence: Steak, Mex -Food Dislike: Fish, Tuna -Drinks: Scotch, Beer -Hobbies: Avid Basketball Fan -Sports: Jogging, Slamball, Tennis -Politics: None
* The image of two nude women on the large screen when Marty Jr. says "art off" is "The Gold of Their Bodies (Et l'or de leurs corps)" by Paul Gauguin. The original is in Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.
* Also present in the 2015 antique shop, front and center, is the video game Burgertime for NES. Burgertime which was an arcade game ported to several home video game platforms also including Mattel Intellivision and Atari 2600.
* According to the Animated Annecdotes on the DVD, the expandable baseball bat Griff Tannen uses is a "Kirk Gibson Jr. Slugger 2000."
THREE:
* A horse dealership in 1885 is own by the Statlers. In Back to the Future (1985) there is an ad on the radio for "Statler Toyota" in 1985. In 1955, "Statler Motors Studebaker" is visible near the Town theatre.
* The name on the manure wagon in 1885 reads "A. Jones". In Back to the Future (1985), the name on the manure truck from 1955 reads "D. Jones".
* Filmed at the same time as Back to the Future Part II (1989). In the five years since the original was made, Michael J. Fox had forgotten how to ride a skateboard.
* The editor of Hill Valley's newspaper in 1885 is "M. R. Gale", a tribute to trilogy screenwriter Bob Gale.
* In Back to the Future Part II (1989), Biff watches Per un pugno di dollari (1964) in the alternative 1985, in which Clint Eastwood's character uses steel plating underneath his poncho. Marty (calling himself "Clint Eastwood") uses the hatch from a stove under his poncho in 1885. The sign at the train crossing in 1985 identifies the location as "Eastwood Ravine".
* "Mad Dog" is the name of the chief villain of Wild Gunman (1984) (VG), the western arcade game Marty McFly plays in Back to the Future Part II (1989).
* The train station is near the site of the station built for Pale Rider (1985), another Clint Eastwood movie. The two halves of the "Pale Rider" station became new buildings in "Hill Valley". One can be seen at the north end of town by the corrals and tracks, and the other at the south end by the waterwheel.
* Director Trademark: [Robert Zemeckis] [citation] When Marty walks along the railroad tracks and finally reaches the town, he comes to the railway station. Then he walks into the town, while the camera slowly rises up above the station and finally shows Marty at a large distance walking into the town. This scene is shot exactly the same way as the scene in C'era una volta il West (1968), when Jill arrives at the station.
* ZZ Top has a cameo as the band in 1885. They also wrote some of the music for the movie.
* When Doc and Marty are at the drive-in preparing the DeLorean for the trip to 1885, Marty mentions Clint Eastwood and Doc replies, "Clint who?" In this shot, there is a movie poster on the drive-in's wall showcasing the movie Revenge of the Creature (1955) and Tarantula (1955), both of which feature an appearance by a young Eastwood.
* Executive Producers Trademark (Steven Spielberg):[stars]: When Doc and Clara kiss whilst looking at the stars.
* Before sending Marty back to 1885, Doc mentions that he uses the drive-in theatre so Marty doesn't run into a tree that existed in the past. In the first movie, one of the first things Marty does in 1955 is run into farmer Peabody's pine tree that existed in the past.
* During ZZ Top's cameo, they play a version of the song "Doubleback", which they contributed to the soundtrack.
* Clara can be seen behind Marty and Doc while looking at the map at the train station.
* The DeLorean used in the filming of this movie is on display at the Planet Hollywood restaurant in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is suspended from the ceiling and hung upside down to give restaurant patrons a better view of the vehicle from above.
* This film marks the only time in the trilogy when Doc Brown interacts with a member of the Tannen family.
* The scene where Marty and Jennifer kiss on the porch was the only scene shot while Part II was being made.
* The locomotives that smash the DeLorean at the end of the film belonged to the Ventura County Railway.
* The role of Clara Clayton was written specifically for Mary Steenburgen.
* The clock in the clock tower started running at 8:00 p.m. on September 5, 1885. The date is provided by the caption on the photograph Doc gives Marty at the end of the movie. The lightning strikes the clock tower at 10:04 p.m. on November 12, 1955. This means that the clock tower operated for exactly 70 years, 2 months, 7 days, 2 hours, and 4 minutes.
* There exist enough clues in all three movies to reconstruct the travels of the DeLorean precisely (to within a few minutes at worst, except 2015 Biff's arrival in 1955 and Doc's personal travels). There are a few interesting things to note: Not counting the time Doc traveled by himself, the DeLorean spent nearly 71 years (on its own time scale) from its first time travel to its destruction. By the time Marty made his ultimate return to 1985, he was approx. 14 days, 3 hours, and 27 minutes older than he should have been; Jennifer, on the other hand, is 7 hours and 26 minutes younger than she should have been. Another interesting conclusion is a point of contention. There are two theories, one of which drops the last item. On November 12, 1955, between the time Biff arrived (or 6 am, whichever came later) and 6:38 pm (the time he left), there were four DeLoreans present in Hill Valley (ordered from its point of view): (1) The instance when Marty was trapped in 1955 in the original movie, (2) the instance when Biff came to 1955 to give himself the almanac, (3) the instance when Marty and Doc came back to 1955 to take the almanac back, and (4) the instance when it was waiting in the abandoned mine. Those who do not agree with (4) argue that according to the "ripple effect" timeline as presented in the films, there wouldn't be a DeLorean hidden by Doc in the mine until later that evening, when the lightning blast would accidentally send Doc back to 1885, thereby altering the timeline. It is *entirely true* that *we* do not ever witness a moment in the films where all four instances coexist, but the text "ordered from its point of view" above should hint at a solution. Once the DeLorean is in 1885, consider what it would detect (if it were in a position to witness the comings and goings of its former selves): over 70 years of peace, then (1) arrives, then (2) and (3) arrive in some order; (2) then leaves at 6:38, (3) leaves around 10 pm, and (1) leaves at 10:04. (4) itself leaves soon after that. If we grant that all three of those instances (1-3) continue to exist in the "final" timeline, then there should be no problem accepting this theory. Still not convinced? Consider the 100-year gap near the end of BTTF III when Marty takes the DeLorean on its final journey. 70 years into it, for a few hours, there are 4 instances of the car.
* Throughout the trilogy, the Delorean and its duplicates created via time travel make 14 trips through time. They are:
o 1) Doc's dog, Einstein, is sent one minute into the future to test the machine.
o 2) Marty travels back to 1955 from 1985.
o 3) Marty returns to 1985 from 1955.
o 4) Doc travels to 2015 from 1985.
o 5) Doc returns to 1985 from 2015.
o 6) Doc takes Marty and Jennifer forward to 2015 from 1985.
o 7) Biff travels from 2015 to 1955 to give himself the sports almanac, thus creating an alternate timeline.
o 8) Biff returns to 2015 from 1955.
o 9) Doc, Marty, and Jennifer return to the alternate 1985 from 2015.
o 10) Marty and Doc travel back to 1955 from the alternate 1985 to get the sports almanac from Biff.
o 11) Doc accidentally travels from 1955 to 1885 when the Delorean is hit by lightning.
o 12) Marty travels from 1955 to 1885 to rescue Doc.
o 13) Marty returns to 1985 from 1885. It could be argued that the Delorean made a 14th trip through time: being placed in the mine by Doc in 1885 for Marty and Doc to find in 1955. However, it did not actually time travel (i.e. "skip" any period of time) in that instance.
o 14) Doc and his family travel from the future to 1985 to introduce Marty and Jennifer to Jules and Verne, and to give Marty an undamaged photo of he and Doc Brown in front of the clock. Additional off screen time traveling has occurred as stated by Doc Brown, when he tells Marty that he has "already traveled further ahead into time to see what else happens" in Back to the Future Part II.
* In the scene where "Mad Dog" tries to lynch Marty, Michael J. Fox was accidentally hanged, rendering him unconscious for a short time. He records this in his autobiography "Lucky Man" (2002)
* First movie to use Universal's new 75th Anniversary opening studio logo. The logo ran until 1997.
* The drive-in theater was constructed specifically for this film. It was built in Monument Valley, and demolished immediately after filming. No films were ever screened there.
* The town was in Jamestown, California, and was ironically destroyed by lightning in 1996.
* Clint Eastwood was asked for permission about his name being used for Marty in the film. He consented and was said to be tickled by the homage.
* Each of Needle's henchmen comes from one of the other gangs in the trilogy. J.J. Cohen played Skinhead in Biff's gang in Back to the Future (1985) and Back to the Future Part II (1989). Ricky Dean Logan played Data in Griff's gang in Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Christopher Wynne played an unnamed member of Buford's gang in the third film. Cohen appears in all three movies.
* A bottle of Tabasco sauce is visible at the saloon during the "wake-up juice" scene. It has the design consistent with the time period.
* Originally, Buford Tannen was supposed to shoot Marshall Strickland in the back, killing him. His son was present at the time. This was edited out of the final cut as it was deemed too depressing. This is why Strickland's deputy arrests Buford at the end of the movie rather than Strickland himself. This scene can be seen on the DVD.
* It was originally intended that Buford would be arrested for killing Sheriff Strickland, not for robbing the stage, and that's how the scene was shot. The deputy's words were re-looped when they decided to remove Strickland's murder scene.
* Actor and former President Ronald Reagan was originally approached to play the part of Mayor Hubert because of his fondness for the first film in the trilogy. He reluctantly turned down the role, and the part went to Hugh Gillin instead.
* In Back to the Future (1985), Doc tells Marty that he was inspired to create the Flux Capacitor after hitting his head on the bathroom sink while trying to hang a clock over his toilet. In Part III, when Doc freaks out after seeing Marty in his house and runs into the bathroom, you can just see the clock hanging above the toilet he slipped on.
* Marty uses a Frisbie pie plate to knock a gun out of Mad Dog's hand. In 1871, the Frisbie Pie Company started in Connecticut. Their pie pans were thrown on the campus of Yale and these eventually lead to the invention of Frisbees (tm).
* The second and third Back to the Future movies were shot consecutively over the course of 11 months (with a three week break between Parts II and III).
* For approximately three weeks Robert Zemeckis would fly to L.A. after his day's filming of the train climax of Back to the Future Part III (1990) to approve the sound dub that Bob Gale had been supervising of Back to the Future Part II (1989). He would then get up at 4:30am the next morning to fly back to the Northern California set to continue with his filming for that day.
* In the course of the year that it took to film Back to the Future Part II (1989) & Back to the Future Part III (1990), Michael J. Fox lost his father but gained a son.
* Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis figured that for Back to the Future Part III (1990) they had already done all that they could with Marty's family, so the focus of the film was shifted to Doc Brown.
* Mary Steenburgen's children were the ones who persuaded her to be in the film.
* To demonstrate Doc's fondness for Jules Verne, his locomotive time machine was designed to resemble the Nautilus from the 1954 Disney film 20000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954).
* The death of Michael J. Fox's father delayed filming for two weeks.
* According to the book "Billy Gibbon: Rock & Roll Gearhead", ZZ Top was hanging around the set and was asked to be the town band. During one take, the camera broke. While waiting for the camera to be repaired, Micheal J. Fox asked if they would play "Hey Good Lookin'" which they did. Afterwards, more requests were played. Two hours later, someone inquired if the camera had been repaired. The director replied that it had been fixed for quite a while, he just didn't want to stop the party that had evolved.
* Doc Brown states his German ancestors' surname was "von Braun". This is a reference to Wernher von Braun, one of Germany's leading rocket scientists, who fled to America following World War II and assisted greatly in the NASA program.
* This is the first on screen kiss for Christopher Lloyd
* Mary Steenburgen in Time After Time (1979) also fell in love with a time traveling scientist and joined him on his journey through time.
* The steam locomotive used in this movie is called Sierra No. 3, painted to look like an 1880's steam locomotive. This type of locomotive was actually created in 1896.