Minor BTTF Part Two question

[Trekker4747]

My DVD's were scratched. A buddy was nice enough to get me the blu-rays for Christmas!

I bought the DVDs the day they came out.

I bought the Blu-Rays the day they came out.

Bar none, my favorite film trilogy.

Same here. I loved the trailer/teaser for the Back to the Future DVD set. Really gets one pumped for the series!

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGeEbDTNzos[/yt]

One thing I've always found interesting about the movie is how it seemed Zemeckis knew to "over-do" the 1980s in the same manner he "over-did" the 1950s. The '50s are shown pretty much in that over idyllic way, much how people claim to remember it (when reality it was likely less Wally and the Beaver and High Schools being out of Grease.) With over-obvious nods to the time in advertisements and set dressings and such. But even the 1980s were a bit "overdone." Showing the aerobics studio, the blight of "Reaganomics" around the town square, Marty's clothing involving a lot of denim and a goose down vest, hell, even with the use of the DeLorean.

It's humorous just how 80s the movie is.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

2015 was even worse.

 

[Trekker4747]

2015 was even worse.

Well, in Zemeckis' defense he didn't really want to do a movie in the future but his hands were tied based on the joke-ending he made for the original movie (where no sequel was intended otherwise he wouldn't have had Jennifer in the car.) So he went over the top with the future which, obviously, will be nothing like the real 2015 even if we overlook things like portable fusion devices and flying machines.

 

[GalaxyX]

2015 was even worse.

Well, in Zemeckis' defense he didn't really want to do a movie in the future but his hands were tied based on the joke-ending he made for the original movie (where no sequel was intended otherwise he wouldn't have had Jennifer in the car.) So he went over the top with the future which, obviously, will be nothing like the real 2015 even if we overlook things like portable fusion devices and flying machines.

The 2015 sequences were my favorite part of all 3 movies. The movie really bogs down with the Alternate 1985 though, and retreads in the 1955 sequences horribly.

As for FX, there are literally like 20 seconds worth of FX I would say need fixing, particularly scenes which are clearly badly done model shots. Practically any CGI would do better today, and would cost them thousands. Pocket change compared to how much they would sell the enhanced Blu-Rays.

 

[Trekker4747]

There are a few poorly done (by today's standards, at least) compositing shots between the models and the live-action shots. There's also some well done shots. But, really, if they fix just one thing I'd like it to be seeing the "real wheels" you can see driving the "hovering" DeLorean in pursuit of Biff's car in 1955.

 

[theenglish]

One thing I've always found interesting about the movie is how it seemed Zemeckis knew to "over-do" the 1980s in the same manner he "over-did" the 1950s. With over-obvious nods to the time in advertisements and set dressings and such. But even the 1980s were a bit "overdone." Showing the aerobics studio, the blight of "Reaganomics" around the town square, Marty's clothing involving a lot of denim and a goose down vest, hell, even with the use of the DeLorean.

It's humorous just how 80s the movie is.

I don't know about this. I remember watching the movie in the theatre and not even thinking that it was out of place compared to the other teen movies of the time. Really, look at the eighties parts of BTTF and compare them to the Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, Once Bitten, Drive My Car or other teen movies from the era. Are they really that different in tone and visuals?

 

[JarodRussell]

Quite frankly, I prefer the non-CGI stuff that's in the movies, since a lot of times the CGI that's in movies tends to look rushed and just doesn't hold up to real models. Real models just tend to add a depth of dimension to the movies that CGI tends to lack.

So fix up the scenes with real models then!

If they want to keep repackaging the same 3 movies over and over again, at the least fix the stuff that was wrong with them.

I buy blu rays for higher definition, and not because they fucked with the originals.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I'm sick to hear of CGI used for the sake of it, especially to change mistakes excessively. Movies are relics of the time and place they were made. I give tribute to the idea that they clever with all of the techniques to make the car fly, that it wasn't one single technique, and that makes me almost happy to be able to see the "flaws" mentioned now, some years on. I'm not against a minimal of mistake correcting in films (like digitally removing the pane of glass separating Harrison Ford from deadly snake in Raiders) but I love how films back then required a mixture of techniques instead of the CGI one solution fixes all panacea!

 

[tighr]

Practical effects are definitely the way to go. Far superior than CGI. Alwyas appreciate when a director goes the extra mile these days and actually films something rather than let a computer do it.

 

[Ethros]

Maybe while they're at it they should CGI out Marty's cassette walkman and replace it with an iPhone, because hey that looks a bit dated too

 

[tighr]

Maybe while they're at it they should CGI out Marty's cassette walkman and replace it with an iPhone, because hey that looks a bit dated too

And in Part III, they can CGI out all the guns and replace them with walkie-talkies.

 

[Trekker4747]

Maybe while they're at it they should CGI out Marty's cassette walkman and replace it with an iPhone, because hey that looks a bit dated too

I know you're joking, but this sort of "advertising" has been suggested and proposed before by companies. Adding in modern day products to reruns of old shows, for example.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

Of course they can always say that Doc Brown will eventually go to the future and introduce these devices (like iPhones) into the 80's and the 50's.

Oh wait, in order for that to work, we'd have go with the Bill and Ted theory of time travel where all future interference happens in one single timeline!

 

[Trekker4747]

Of course they can always say that Doc Brown will eventually go to the future and introduce these devices (like iPhones) into the 80's and the 50's.

Oh wait, in order for that to work, we'd have go with the Bill and Ted theory of time travel where all future interference happens in one single timeline!

Which, really, is how it'd probably "really work" because we ARE in one timeline. Anything that's happened in the past has already happened even if it involved stuff that HASN'T happened yet. Which actually can fuck with the mind when it comes to free-will. Of course this brings into some question about the future's motivations for "saving" Bill and Ted since they'd likely know how time travel works, unless they knew Rufus had to go back to help them to ensure things, but... Bah!

Anyway, the key to how Bill and Ted treated this comes both with the stuff with Ted's father's keys and the stuff at the Circle-K. There's a minor plot thread in the beginning of the movie with Ted's father looking for his keys, we later discovered that Ted stole them by going into the past at some point in the future, stealing them, and hiding them for him and Bill to use to save the historical figures. Then, of course, we see Bill and Ted arrive at the Circle-K and the interaction there before Bill and Ted have left, or even realize what is going on.

It's really a very, very, beautiful use of time-travel.

 

[tighr]

Which, really, is how it'd probably "really work" because we ARE in one timeline.

I respectfully disagree. What proof do you have that there is and always will be only "one" timeline?

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

Anyway, the key to how Bill and Ted treated this comes both with the stuff with Ted's father's keys and the stuff at the Circle-K. There's a minor plot thread in the beginning of the movie with Ted's father looking for his keys, we later discovered that Ted stole them by going into the past at some point in the future, stealing them, and hiding them for him and Bill to use to save the historical figures. Then, of course, we see Bill and Ted arrive at the Circle-K and the interaction there before Bill and Ted have left, or even realize what is going on.

Good stuff here. I followed you perfectly through all of this, and was thinking about the keys when I wrote about the "Bill and Ted theory of Time Travel" (which was also used in the sequel, and I agree that Bill and Ted is only time travel story I can think of that used this "single timeline" idea. I also agree that, for some reason I can't describe, it seems the most sensible "logic" to me.

My question is: can you add more context to it's use at the Circle- K? I don't quite remember how this logic is sued there. I haven't seen the film in a while.

 

[theenglish]

Anyway, the key to how Bill and Ted treated this comes both with the stuff with Ted's father's keys and the stuff at the Circle-K. There's a minor plot thread in the beginning of the movie with Ted's father looking for his keys, we later discovered that Ted stole them by going into the past at some point in the future, stealing them, and hiding them for him and Bill to use to save the historical figures. Then, of course, we see Bill and Ted arrive at the Circle-K and the interaction there before Bill and Ted have left, or even realize what is going on.

Good stuff here. I followed you perfectly through all of this, and was thinking about the keys when I wrote about the "Bill and Ted theory of Time Travel" (which was also used in the sequel, and I agree that Bill and Ted is only time travel story I can think of that used this "single timeline" idea. I also agree that, for some reason I can't describe, it seems the most sensible "logic" to me.

My question is: can you add more context to it's use at the Circle- K? I don't quite remember how this logic is sued there. I haven't seen the film in a while.

Not exclusively a time travel story, but The Prisoner of Azkaban uses the single time line theory as well.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

My friend told me that Timeline and De'Ja Vu does it as well, but I haven't seen it.

12 Monkeys is another one, but... I can see the pointlessness of the movie because no one gets out of it.

 

[Trekker4747]

My question is: can you add more context to it's use at the Circle- K? I don't quite remember how this logic is sued there. I haven't seen the film in a while.

In the movie Bill and Ted are at the Circle-K working on their report when Rufus and the phone-booth arrive. Rufus is talking to them about the booth and their report when another phone booth arrives. This one is damaged and carrying Bill, Ted and the historical figures. "Future Bill and Ted" come out of it and talk with themselves (the whole, "What number am I thinking of?"/"69!" bit). Rufus leads them away, much to the confusion of our Bill and Ted. "Future Bill" instructs "our" Bill to say "Hi!" to the princesses (much to OB's confusion). As Rufus is talking to Future Bill and Ted our Bill and Ted remain confused.

"Future" Ted shouts to Our Ted to remember to wind his watch (Why Ted owns a watch that needs winding is a mystery) and they depart. Rufus returns to our Bill and Ted and the story begins.

Later in the movie after their adventures through time we see the other end of this encounter ("Our" Bill and Ted now being the "Future" Bill and Ted talking to their past selves.) The scene plays out exactly the same. (Though we skip part of it, for the sake of brevity.) We also get to see the other end of the conversation where Rufus checks in on the boys, they find out it's "already tomorrow" and they need to dial a number higher in order to get back into the present. (Why they can't simply stay there and have all night to work on the report is another mystery.) Ted reminds his past-self to wind his watch (which, obviously, is a pointless exercise because it won't and CANNOT work) then Bill and Ted set off for "tomorrow" and the rest of the movie. Once departed Rufus offers the new booth to Bill and Ted.

It's just a beautiful, beautiful scene showing how I believe time travel works. In a closed loop system. The past comes first so the past HAPPENS first even if that past happens to include events from the future. It's a predestination paradox sort of thing and also says a LOT about free-will (at least in the B&T Universe or a universe with a closed timeline.)

Like I said, no matter what happens Ted will forget to wind his watch! Reminding himself to do it had no impact on anything, he forgot to do it. That cannot be changed. In the B&T universe these historical figures were ALWAYS kidnapped by B&T and taken into the future to do this report and everything that the world is built on is BASED on this. Taking the princesses from the past doesn't change anything, they ALWAYS disappeared from the past even if the time they were taken from happened centuries before Bill and Ted get the time machine which they get centuries before it's even invented!

It's just a beautiful, beautiful use of time travel. The keys thing also being a great point in it as well as other tricks they use to "set-up" events. (Like how they managed to get everyone out of jail.) I need to watch that movie again now.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

My question is: can you add more context to it's use at the Circle- K? I don't quite remember how this logic is sued there. I haven't seen the film in a while.

In the movie Bill and Ted are at the Circle-K working on their report when Rufus and the phone-booth arrive. Rufus is talking to them about the booth and their report when another phone booth arrives. This one is damaged and carrying Bill, Ted and the historical figures. "Future Bill and Ted" come out of it and talk with themselves (the whole, "What number am I thinking of?"/"69!" bit). Rufus leads them away, much to the confusion of our Bill and Ted. "Future Bill" instructs "our" Bill to say "Hi!" to the princesses (much to OB's confusion). As Rufus is talking to Future Bill and Ted our Bill and Ted remain confused.

"Future" Ted shouts to Our Ted to remember to wind his watch (Why Ted owns a watch that needs winding is a mystery) and they depart. Rufus returns to our Bill and Ted and the story begins.

Later in the movie after their adventures through time we see the other end of this encounter ("Our" Bill and Ted now being the "Future" Bill and Ted talking to their past selves.) The scene plays out exactly the same. (Though we skip part of it, for the sake of brevity.) We also get to see the other end of the conversation where Rufus checks in on the boys, they find out it's "already tomorrow" and they need to dial a number higher in order to get back into the present. (Why they can't simply stay there and have all night to work on the report is another mystery.) Ted reminds his past-self to wind his watch (which, obviously, is a pointless exercise because it won't and CANNOT work) then Bill and Ted set off for "tomorrow" and the rest of the movie. Once departed Rufus offers the new booth to Bill and Ted.

It's just a beautiful, beautiful scene showing how I believe time travel works. In a closed loop system. The past comes first so the past HAPPENS first even if that past happens to include events from the future. It's a predestination paradox sort of thing and also says a LOT about free-will (at least in the B&T Universe or a universe with a closed timeline.)

Like I said, no matter what happens Ted will forget to wind his watch! Reminding himself to do it had no impact on anything, he forgot to do it. That cannot be changed. In the B&T universe these historical figures were ALWAYS kidnapped by B&T and taken into the future to do this report and everything that the world is built on is BASED on this. Taking the princesses from the past doesn't change anything, they ALWAYS disappeared from the past even if the time they were taken from happened centuries before Bill and Ted get the time machine which they get centuries before it's even invented!

It's just a beautiful, beautiful use of time travel. The keys thing also being a great point in it as well as other tricks they use to "set-up" events. (Like how they managed to get everyone out of jail.) I need to watch that movie again now.

Thank you for clarifying. I noticed as well that it had a unique yet sensible logic to time travel. Thanks much for helping me recall the Circle-K scene.

I always thought that Future Ted was saying that his younger self should "mind" his watch, as in, not forget about what time it actually is, but Google tells me it was "wind."