BACK TO THE FUTURE series

Does anybody still consider the BACK TO THE FUTURE movies as a real cool timetravel series of the 1980s ? Reckon there were any interesting issues re temporal paradoxes etc associated with such events as Marty's mum in 1955 accidentally knocking him over and having the hots for him (uh- wrong wrong wrong !!!), and the Wild West tombstone with Doc Brown's name on it ?
 
Part 1 was/is one of my all-time top 5 favorite movies. I could watch all three of 'em repeatedly, and they never got boring.
 
I agree. They are my completely favorite timetravel movies. Funny, well acted, and with a fairly sophisticated (if at times inconsistent) take on the concept of branching universes (although the "fading photographs" made no sense). My favorite of the series is actually the "darker" second, with the evil Biff in charge of the alternate Hill Valley.
 
Back To the Future and the Terminator series

What different ways to look at the same phenomena. Completely different atmospheres.
 
I think faded photographs were to demonstrate the changes in the timeline for the younger and intellectually challenged viewer. If the photos immediately change, why not the memories of the time travellers themselves?
 
ljofa said:
I think faded photographs were to demonstrate the changes in the timeline for the younger and intellectually challenged viewer. If the photos immediately change, why not the memories of the time travellers themselves?


Awfully intellectually challenged, I guess. Doc Brown did a great job graphing out the paralell universe concept on his blackboard so the fading pictures made even less sense. My guess is they were added to give a sense of urgency to things. "Ohmygod, If we don't fix things, I'm gonna disappear!"
 
zoomar said:
Awfully intellectually challenged, I guess. Doc Brown did a great job graphing out the paralell universe concept on his blackboard so the fading pictures made even less sense. My guess is they were added to give a sense of urgency to things. "Ohmygod, If we don't fix things, I'm gonna disappear!"

Precisely. They were a story telling tool. I'm not sure people were suppose to think all that hard about that part.
 
If you read the Back to the Future FAQ (written by writer Bob Gale and director Robert Zemeckis, and also present as an extra on the DVD of part III) it is apparent that the movie wasn't using the branching-parallel-universe theory of time travel, but rather something more like a single changeable timeline. For example, consider the fact that when old Biff stole the time machine in 2015 and took it back to 1955 to give the sports almanac to his younger self, he still returned to the same 2015 that Marty and Doc and Jennifer were in, instead of leaving them stranded in the normal 2015 while he ended up in "2015-A" as you'd expect in the parallel universe theory. Here was Gale and Zemeckis' explanation:

Q: When Doc and Marty are in 1955-A, Doc says they can't return to the future to stop Biff from stealing the DeLorean, because it would be the wrong future. But if that's true, how did Old Biff manage to get back to the same future that he left? Shouldn't he have come back to a different future?

A: As should be clear from the answer to the previous question, we believe Old Biff DID indeed return to a different future -- a "2015-A," which would have transformed around Marty, Doc, Jennifer and Einstein (just as Doc explains how 1985-A would change into 1985 and instantly transform around Jennifer and Einstein). This would happen AFTER Old Biff returned with the DeLorean. For this reason, we made sure that Doc had caught Jennifer and exited the McFly Townhouse before Old Biff returned. Thus, by the time Marty and Doc are carrying Jennifer back to the DeLorean, there COULD be other residents in that townhouse -- or perhaps the McFlys still live there. It is just as believable that the physicality of the neighborhood did NOT change as it is to believe that it did -- so we didn't change it. We decided not to make anything of this idea because this is one of those difficult time travel concepts that general audiences have a real hard time understanding. (Try explaining this stuff to your mother and you'll see what we mean.) A detailed explanation of it would have slowed down the story, and most of the audience doesn't ever think about it. That's why we made certain things ambiguous and left various things open for interpretation in hopes that the possibility of at least one or two explanations would be better than a "definitive" explanation that you could find holes in. Let's face it, time travel is fantasy, so there's no way to "prove" anything. As filmmakers, we try to create a set of rule for our stories and stick by them, and stay consistent within the little "universe" that we've created.
 
and if you noticed in the 2nd flim, there is a slight ATL with baseball. In 2015, the Chicago Cubs beat an unnamed Miami baseball team. possibly in the Back to the Future TL, the baseball expantion of the 1990 happened differently(the first expantion (NL) had Colorado and Utah(Salt Lake City) and the 2nd expantion was Miami(AL) and Arizona(NL))

(the Utah team is just my $.02 but how else can you explain a team from Miami losing the world series in 2015 if the team from Miami in OTL is in the NL?)


the other possibilty is in the late 1980, the City of Chicago falied to come to terms with the White Sox and the White Sox left Chicago for Salt Lake City. the expantions occoured as in OTL , however during the 2nd expantion (which resulted with realigement) the Brewers went into the NL along with the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago Cubs was moved into the American Leauge. (in OTL, the Brewers went into the NL Central and the Tigers moved from the American Leauge East to American Leauge Central).
 
Actually, I read recently that if Miami doesn't build a stadium by 2006, the Marlins will move, regardless of success. So, in 2006, the Marlins move to (speculation) Washington (My guess: The Expos have moved to San Juan by 2006). Miami, wanting a team again (Which could be akinned to my Uncle's store, which only does very good Business on Passover and Yom Kippur, and if it were to close they're would be a cry of outrage amongst the locals if he were to close), remorses, builds a stadium, and is granted a new team: The Miami Gators.
 
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