For a book that contains info on every sporting event from 1950 to 2000, isn't that almanac awfully thin?
Originally it was supposed to be a book that was about the size of an unabridged dictionary. (re: Really fucking big) But it's obviously easier for production reasons to make it small book. And no matter how tight the columns are or how small the print is fitting 50-years of sports statistics in a book that sized isn't realistic unless it used some funky shorthand or abbreviating or something. It would've been neat if, back in 1989, The Bobs had decided to make it an iPad-like device. (Something that already "sort-of" was being fooled with in 1989)
Poor Doc Brown. First he tapes together Marty's letter and learns that he will be shot by terrorists in 1985. Then he and Marty find his grave and he learns that he will be shot by Buford Tannen in 1885. Then he has to spend the next thirty years knowing he is destined to die twice.
Well when he read the reassembled letter he already probably started planning on how to avoid getting shot. Now the real question is why not make everything simpler and just say, "Okay, 30 years from now I'll just land the DeLorean earlier and avoid the whole "getting shot by lightning thing" or I'll bring along some extra microchips or I'll avoid in altercation with Tannen that involves $80. When Marty runs into 1885 Doc it's odd that 1885 Doc is
surprised to see Marty! By the movies' logic 1885 Doc should know all of this stuff already.
In 1989, when the Back to the Future sequels were being shot back-to-back, I heard a rumor that their titles would be Back to the Present and Back to the Past. Personally, I think that would have been cool.
No. That would've been lame.
Besides all three movies, mostly, deal with a theme of getting "Back to the Future." (In 1 it's back 1985 from 1955 in 2 it's pretty much the same thing (as the main "action" of the movie occurs in 1955 and in 3 it's 1985.)
My funny problem is when Doc is showing Marty how the time circuits work and how you eneter the date, he punches in 1776 and says you can see the signing of the Declaration of Independence...but they'd have to drive from California to Philadelphia to see it.
Also going to December 25th year 0 would apparently make them miss Jesus' birth by 4 years as well as it not really being on December 25th and it was on the other side of the world!
Not to mention there being no year 0. But in an early draft of the script Doc does lament to Marty, after punching in Jesus' "birthdate," Doc points out they'd then just have to figure out how to get to Bethlehem.
Of course the "big" observation of the movies is what happens to Marty we see disappear in the DeLorean at the end of Part 1? Some may think he just goes back and does what he is "destined to do" but this isn't the way time-travel is presented to us in the BTTF movies. The time-travel has to take place for the change to occur it doesn't "occur because it will occur/had occurred." The key to understanding this is the "Twin Pine Mall" sign. At the beginning of the movie it says "Twin Pines Mall" because in that past the two pines survived causing the origin of the name of the mall. But when Marty gets back to 1985 we see it is now the "Lone Pine Mall" because Marty "killed a pine" in his trip. So the 1985 that exists at the end of the movie is
based on Marty having already been there! Marty could, in theory, go back in time and see "himself" help his parents get together. The "other Marty" doesn't even need to travel back in order for the changes to have occurred they already have happened! There's no loop the time-travel in these movies isn't working that way. It's a branching effect as Doc illustrates.
More than that these time periods are a
physical place whose appearance depends on the nature of the time-line. (Hence the "future changing around Jennifer and Einnie) The "other Marty" should in all "reality" travel back to 1955 and
appear on top of himself! That or he disappears into nothingness or one of the Martys is displaced by the other. But the Marty we see at the end of the movie his
entire past is based on his parents talking about "this guy named Calvin Klein" they had as a friend for a week in high school. Marty should be able to go back and see this guy he doesn't need to become him.
Also, it's a little bit odd that there's phone-booths in the town square in 2015 and you'd think -given Lorraine's aside when Marty leaves her and George in the stairwell- they'd have named Marty's brother (Lorraine and George's first-born son) "Marty" in honor of their high-school friend.
Hilarious.
