Minor BTTF Part Two question

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Flying Spaghetti Monster, Dec 24, 2012.

  1. Flying Spaghetti Monster

    Flying Spaghetti Monster Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Of course this movie probably has more questions raised about its plot than any other film in cinema history, but mine is simple.

    Doc and Marty learn that Biff went back to November 5, 1955, so they go back to an early morning time on that day, hoping to arrive first. They hide the DeLorean behind the billboard.

    But if memory serves, isn't the other DeLorean there at that same spot already, or won't it be there by the time dawn comes around, because the Marty from the first film needs a place to hide until he and Doc can get it later the next night to bring it back to the laboratory?
     
  2. marksound

    marksound Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    On that side of the screen: One could infer that a universe-annihilating paradox would occur if two DeLoreans were in the same place at the same time.

    On this side of the screen: It's pure movie fun (or supposed to be, anyway). It doesn't have to make sense.
     
  3. inflatabledalek

    inflatabledalek Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    It's been a while, but is it definite that they move the car on the day of the storm in the first one? Marty1 is there for what, a week? And the DeLoreon is one of the first things he shows Doc, with it then being in his lab in future scenes (like when Loraine visits to ask him to the dance). Either my memory on the timescale is screwed, or the car had already been moved a few days before Marty2 arrived on the morning of the storm.

    l mean, why, once he'd had the machine proven to him, would Doc leave it in the open when he has a garage (plus either ownership or ability to rent a tow truck of some sort to move it about)?
     
  4. tighr

    tighr Commodore Commodore

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    At the end of BTTF:2, there are in fact three DeLoreans present at one time:

    1) The DeLorean that Marty takes to 1955 in the first film
    2) The DeLorean that Marty and Doc hide behind the billboard
    3) The DeLorean that Doc hides in the cave

    All three DeLorean's exist simultaneously.
     
  5. T'Girl

    T'Girl Vice Admiral Admiral

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    But, when it is used to travel to 1955 the second time, the DeLorean is older and therefor not the exact same car.

    Doc did modify it.
     
  6. tighr

    tighr Commodore Commodore

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    Yes, the DeLorean is in Doc's garage for that whole week. When Lorraine comes to ask Marty to the dance, they had to cover it up with a blanket.

    Marty and Doc don't come back to 1955 from the alternate 1985 until November 12th, a week after Marty had already came back the first time.
     
  7. tighr

    tighr Commodore Commodore

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    Plus, we already know from earlier in that film that meeting your future/past self doesn't create a paradox. Jennifer/Old Jennifer simply faint from the shock of meeting each other. Doc is able to hold a conversation with past-Doc with no problems. Actually, to go back even further, Marty sees past Marty at the end of the first Back to the Future when he returns to Lone Pines Mall (although they don't interact).
     
  8. Flying Spaghetti Monster

    Flying Spaghetti Monster Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Well, I just checked.

    I stand corrected on my original post. I falsely remembered that they went to November 5, 1955.

    However, the date was November 12, the day of the clock tower lightning strike. They simply went first thing in the morning. The DeLorean was in the lab so the spot behind the billboard was available.

    However it is intereting to note that, at one point in the trilogy,. there are five versions of the DeLorean (maybe six) that exist all at one time.

    I believe the time is 1955.

    Here:

    The one Marty used in the first Back to the Future.
    The one the old Biff used to give the young Biff the almanac.
    The one Marty used in the Second Back to the Future to fix the alternate timeline.
    The one hidden by Doc in 1885 and fixed by them later.
    Also, considering the law of Thermodynamics, the ray materials for the original DeLorean exist in some form some time in 1955, not assembled,
     
  9. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    And just in case anyone thinks to ask why, when Marty is stuck in 1885 in BTTF III after all the fuel leaks out of his version of the car, he doesn't siphon gas from the version of the car that is stored in the mine. Two things about that:

    - Marty wouldn't want to risk damaging the version of the car that's buried in the mine, because he will one day have to unearth it in 1955. In fact, he's already done this, because he wouldn't even be able to get to 1885 if he hadn't. So logically speaking he can't do anything to change that.

    - There wouldn't BE any gas in the car when Doc buries in in the mine, because everyone knows you have to drain all the fluids when you store a car for extended periods of time.
     
  10. ALF

    ALF Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Marty: "That's right, Doc. November 12th, 1955."
    Doc: "Unbelievable that Old Biff could've chosen that particular date. It could mean that that point in time inherently contains some sort of cosmic significance, almost as if it were the temporal junction point of the entire space-time continuum. On the other hand, it could just be an amazing coincidence."

    http://backtothefuture.wikia.com/wiki/November_12
     
  11. Gotham Central

    Gotham Central Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I always loved this realization that there are in fact 4 Deloreans in Hill Valley at that one point in time. I always figured that given that fact, the fabric of the space time continuum must be fairly weak at that point in time given all of the holes punctured in time at that point.

    Of course one could note that each one of these DeLoreans are technically from a different parallel universe/alternate timeline.

    The raw materials for the first DeLorean in the 1955 that we see in BTTF 2 are from Earth 3.

    Marty's DeLorean is from Earth 1 (which we never see again)

    the Flying DeLorean is technically the version from Earth 2

    The Burried DeLorean is from Earth 2 but on Earth 3


    There is a great old Starlog article on this very subject called "The Other Marty McFly" that touches on all of this.

    Its kind of funny that we technically follow the same Marty in each of the movies, but he NEVER returns to his same world.

    He is originally from Earth 1 but the DeLorean is finally destroyed on Earth 3
     
  12. marksound

    marksound Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I was just franchise-jumping a bit. An attempt at ironic humor. Miniscule. ;)

     
  13. Argus Skyhawk

    Argus Skyhawk Commodore Commodore

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    That is awesome. I don't remember noticing that before. However, what is the possible sixth one?
     
  14. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    Doc and Marty in 2 travel to 1955 on the day of the lightning strike, at which point the Delorean from BTTF1 is in 1955 Doc's garage and has been there for almost a week.
     
  15. Gotham Central

    Gotham Central Vice Admiral Admiral

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    For any one who cares, here is a link to a reprint of all of the versions of Starlog's "The Other Marty McFly"
     
  16. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Anyone ever asked Zemeckis about that?

    The Delorean Marty uses is from the original timeline/universe, just like Marty himself. Doc Brown v2 turns Delorean v1 into the Flying Delorean. Future Biff steals that v1 Flying Delorean and returns it, and eventually v1 gets hit by the lighting, gets buried in 1885, and is then sent back to the future using the train.

    So Marty and the Delorean are the only things that don't change.
     
    Last edited: Dec 26, 2012
  17. Flying Spaghetti Monster

    Flying Spaghetti Monster Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I'm gonna check. I know I've counted six at one point, but I might be mistaken! I'll be posting soon. But it may only be 5
     
  18. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Commodore Commodore

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    I remember those Starlog articles from when they were first published. They completely misunderstand how time travel works in the movies.

    There is no Earth 2 or 3, etc. History is rewritten. That is the theme of the whole Trilogy. There is not another Marty McFly at the beginning of the movie at the Twin Pines. Its not the theory of traveling to a parallel universe. Or how would pictures from the future change? How would the Twin Pines Mall become the Lone Pines Mall?
     
  19. The Borgified Corpse

    The Borgified Corpse Admiral Admiral

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    Ouch! Forgotten already? You were just down ther
    When I realized that, that became my favorite movie revelation ever! (I also keep trying to figure out how to reconcile Biff's alternate 1985 with the universe from Watchmen. After all, in both of those universes, Nixon is still President in 1985.)

    So, at some point, wouldn't there also be a non-flying, non-time traveling Delorean sitting around somewhere in the alternate 1985 because Doc was never able to build a time machine because he was committed to an insane asylum? Or would that have been destroyed/overwritten out of existence alongside the alternate Marty that was at a boarding school in Switzerland?
     
  20. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    ^ Probably the latter.