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**Biff's From when he borrowed it in 2015 (Hiding place unknown)
**Biff's From when he borrowed it in 2015 (Hiding place unknown)
**And the one buried in the Mine
**And the one buried in the Mine
*In an arcade, a kid comments that using your hands to play a video game is "like a baby's toy". In fact, the [[Wii]] and [[Nintendo DS]] actually have made it preferable to use your hands and even your body to play video games. The comment probably relates to the hype surrounding the potentiality of voice control.


==Cultural Impact==
==Cultural Impact==

Revision as of 18:24, 13 September 2007

Back to the Future Part II
File:Backfu2.jpg
Back to the Future Part II film poster
Directed byRobert Zemeckis
Written byRobert Zemeckis
Bob Gale
Produced byNeil Canton
Bob Gale
StarringMichael J. Fox
Christopher Lloyd
Lea Thompson
Thomas F. Wilson
CinematographyDean Cundey
Edited byHarry Keramidas
Arthur Schmidt
Music byAlan Silvestri
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release dates
November 22, 1989
Running time
108 min.
Country United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$40,000,000USD

Template:BttfSidebar

Back to the Future Part II is a 1989 film and the first sequel to the 1985 film Back to the Future. Like the previous film, it was directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. Part II and the third installment of the trilogy, Back to the Future Part III, were filmed back-to-back and released six months apart. Although released in 1989 and 1990, both films continued to portray 1985 as the present.

Part II follows the continued adventures of Marty McFly and "Doc" Emmett Brown as they use their time-traveling DeLorean, which is now capable of flight, to travel to a retro-futuristic version of 2015, an alternate 1985 and the principal setting of the first film in 1955. The film ends with a cliffhanger that is resolved in Part III.

Plot

Taking up where the previous film left off, Marty McFly, "Doc" Brown and Jennifer Parker arrive in 2015. Doc tranquilizes Jennifer since she is not necessary for his plan and he believes no one should know too much about the future, explaining that he brought her along since she saw the time machine. Doc explains that Marty's son is about to be approached by Griff Tannen, Biff's grandson, and his gang, who will ask him to take part in a robbery. According to Doc, this event leads to the ruination of the entire McFly family. Marty impersonates his son and tells Griff he will not join in, leading to a hoverboard chase that damages the courthouse. The gang is arrested and, as a result, the robbery never occurs.

Learning the Chicago Cubs have won the World Series and hearing a passerby wish that he could "go back to the beginning of the season and put some money on the Cubbies", Marty purchases a sports almanac covering all sports statistics from 1950 to 2000. Doc discovers the almanac and throws it away, telling Marty that he didn't invent time travel for financial gain. Jennifer, still tranquilized, is found by the police, mistaken for her future self after thumbprint identification and taken to her future home. Hiding in a closet, she witnesses the Marty of 2015 being fired from his job when his boss catches him in an illegal scheme that a colleague goaded him into joining. Doc finally finds Jennifer, sneaking her out of the house after she briefly meets her future-self, causing both to faint in shock.

File:ClockTower1985A.PNG
Biff's casino hotel in 1985A.

While Doc is rescuing Jennifer, the Biff of 2015 recovers the discarded sports almanac and steals the DeLorean. He returns the car to 2015 just as Marty and Doc prepare to leave for their own time. Upon arrival in 1985, Marty and Doc find that Hill Valley has become a dilapidated, crime-ridden slum lorded over by Biff, who is now rich and powerful. Doc deduces that the Biff of 2015 must have given the almanac to his younger self sometime in the past. Marty confronts Biff and finds out that he received the almanac on, of all dates, November 12, 1955, the date which the climax of the previous film took place on. (Doc speculates that this date could be a point that has a special significance to the space-time continuum, or that it might be a huge coincidence.)

Marty and Doc go back to 1955 to prevent the alternate 1985 from coming about. After several failed attempts, Marty manages to steal the almanac from the 1955 Biff. Marty burns the almanac, restoring history to its proper course. As Doc attempts to land the DeLorean, the car is struck by lightning and sent back to 1885 due to a malfunction in the time circuits. A few seconds later a Western Union delivery man appears with a letter, which he explains was given to them seventy years ago with the explicit instructions that it be delivered to Marty "at this exact location, at this exact minute, November 12, 1955." Marty tears open the letter, which is from Doc, now trapped in 1885. Marty tracks down the Doc of 1955, who is at the clock tower sending the other Marty back to 1985 as depicted from Part I. After the time machine vanishes, Marty then appears to Doc who faints when he sees that Marty has come "back from the future". Marty tries to revive Doc in the street as the text TO BE CONCLUDED appears on the screen.

This is followed by a teaser trailer to Back to the Future Part III before the credits.

Release details

File:Back to the future part II Poster B.jpg
Promotional poster of Back to the Future Part II featuring the De Lorean DMC-12.

Back to the Future Part II earned $27 million in its first weekend of U.S. release (November 22, 1989) and $118 million total US gross – $332 million worldwide. However, this was still short of the first film's gross, and the film experienced a drop of over 50% in its second weekend, a steep figure at the time. The same fate occurred in Part III, which came out only six months later. On December 17, 2002 Universal Studios released all three movies in a three disc DVD and three tape VHS boxed set which sold extremely well when it was released.

Home video release history

Main cast

The characters of George McFly and Jennifer Parker were played by actors different from those of the original film, requiring that some previous scenes be reshot.

Note: The DVD features a deleted scene of Marty's brother in the alternate 1985, as a drunken bum on the streets. The scene was cut mainly because it was confusing without showing Marty's sister, as well (who didn't appear because Wendie Jo Sperber was pregnant at the time).

Replacement of Crispin Glover

As Bob Gale states in the DVD commentary, actor Crispin Glover was asked to reprise the role of George McFly in this film. Glover indicated interest, but demanded a salary the producers felt was unreasonable. Glover reportedly refused to budge, so he was dropped from the picture. Glover later insisted in a 1992 interview on The Howard Stern Show that he and Zemeckis had had some "creative disagreements" over the character, and felt that the director simply wanted an actor who was more pliable. He also said that the salary offered was "really low" (reportedly around $50,000), and that he was certain they never really wanted him back.

In the BTTF FAQ, Gale and Zemeckis state that Glover was uninterested in doing the sequels and was asking for the same salary as Michael J. Fox, and therefore was written out of the story.[1]

As a result, the filmmakers found inventive ways of avoiding showing the character's face in the movie, despite the fact that George McFly was in certain key scenes and dialog. During all scenes in which the George McFly character appears in both this film and Back to the Future Part III, he is played by Jeffrey Weissman and seen wearing sunglasses, from the back, upside-down, or out of focus in the background. This was to prevent audiences from realizing that George McFly was played by a different actor. However, producers also recycled unused footage from the original Back to the Future that included Crispin Glover's portrayal of George McFly. Glover sued Universal for compensation, on grounds that his contract for the first film did not allow subsequent uses of his portrayal of George McFly in new films. The day before the lawsuit went before a judge, Universal quietly settled the case, paying the actor an undisclosed sum. Glover would not reveal the amount during his Howard Stern Show appearance, but did suggest the real reason for the settlement was that Universal was reluctant to "open up their accounting books to the public" during the trial. The Screen Actors Guild later rewrote their rules regarding the derivative use of actors' works in films or TV series, requiring the studios and networks to give appropriate payment and credit to the actors.

Replacement of Claudia Wells

Claudia Wells' scene at the end of Back to the Future (top) was reshot with Elisabeth Shue for the beginning of Back to the Future Part II (bottom).

Claudia Wells, who had played Marty McFly's girlfriend Jennifer Parker in the original Back to the Future, reportedly had personal problems and opted to drop out of acting in 1987. The producers reluctantly cast Elisabeth Shue for the part, which required reshooting the closing scenes of Back to the Future for the beginning of Back to the Future Part II. A comparison of both films reveals that Shue appears to be considerably older than Wells (and slightly taller than Michael J. Fox).

It was more than a decade before Claudia Wells returned to Hollywood, with a starring role in the 1996 independent film Still Waters Burn. She is one of the few actors not to make an appearance during the 2002 "behind the scenes" documentaries on the Back to the Future trilogy documentaries on DVD.

Rumors and urban legends

File:Hoverboard.png
Marty, wearing self-fitting sneakers, riding a Hoverboard in 2015

As a joke, Director Robert Zemeckis said during an interview that the hoverboards (flying skateboards) used in the movie were real. A surprising number of people thought he was telling the truth and demanded them at toy stores. After the release of Part III, Zemeckis had the opportunity to explain in another interview that all of the flying scenes were accomplished by a variety of special effects techniques. There was even a high demand for the Nike Sportshoes Marty wears with automatic shoe-laces, which fans thought to be real.

After the Florida Marlins beat the Cleveland Indians in the 1997 World Series, a rumor began to circulate that the movie predicted the Series' result; however, this was not the case. 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 National League Chicago Cubs beat an American League "Miami" team with an alligator logo (not a marlin) in the 2015 World Series (a joke at the Cubs' expense; they had not, and still have not, as of 2007, won the World Series since 1908).

The Cubs' opponent was referred to only as "Miami" because there was no Major League Baseball team in Florida at the time of the movie's filming. Instead, the movie was predicting that a team (most likely in the American League) would be in place there by 2015. The prediction was made because of persistent talk of the relocation or expansion of a team to Florida at the time (which was also part of the plot for the 1989 film Major League). Since then, two expansion teams have been placed in Florida: the Marlins (1993) and the American League Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998).

The rumors started again in 2003 when the Marlins defeated the Cubs in the NLCS. But again this ignores the following facts:

  • The movie was predicting the World Series, not the NLCS.
  • The scene takes place in 2015, not 2003.
  • The movie is a work of fiction and incapable of predicting future events.

Awards

File:28th December 2006 084.jpg
George McFly's tombstone in 1985A.

The movie won a Saturn Award for Best Special Effects for Ken Ralston (the special effects supervisor), a BAFTA Film Award for Ken Ralston, an internet-voted 2003 AOL Movies DVD Premiere Award for the trilogy DVDs, a Golden Screen, and a Young Artist Award. It was nominated in 1990 for an Academy Award for Visual Effects.

Most visual effects nominations were due to the development of a new computer-controlled camera system, called VistaGlide, which was invented specifically for this movie — it enables one actor to play two or even three characters in the same scene while the boundary between the sections of the split screen and the camera itself can be moving.

A closer look at VistaGlide

Trivia

  • When reading a newspaper from the future, one headline refers to Queen Diana (referring to the late Princess Diana) coming to Washington. On the audio commentary Bob Gale said that they wouldn't have predicted anything as unexpected as the 1997 death of Princess Diana.
  • Also, showing on "The Scenery Channel" in the McFly family home, a shot of the New York skyline appears with the World Trade Center twin towers in view. Both towers were destroyed during the September 11, 2001 attacks.
  • The original script for Back to the Future Part II had Marty and Doc Brown go back to 1967 instead of 1955, had Mr. Fusion destroyed, with Marty and Doc Brown having to fly the DeLorean over the Grand Canyon. (See the original draft in External Links).
  • The film ends with a "trailer" for Back to the Future Part III because Zemeckis was so frustrated with the cliffhanger ending of The Empire Strikes Back that he wanted to let the audience know the story would complete in six months, not several years.
  • When Biff is listening to football scores on the radio and checking them against the Sports Almanac, the announced scores are real scores of games played on November 12, 1955.
  • This film is Elijah Wood's film debut. He is one of the kids playing "Wild Gunmen" in the cafe 80's
  • Many shows from the 1980s are shown on the televisions in the Café 80s, including Family Ties and Taxi, which each starred Michael J. Fox, and Christopher Lloyd, respectively.
  • When Doc sees the newspaper changes after reverting Biff's changes in the timeline to normal, a headline at the bottom of the page changes from "Nixon seeks fifth term" to "Reagan seeks second term".
  • The ZIP code of the address on the fax, "11249 Business Center Rd, Hill Valley, CA 95420-4345," which is fictional, is a ZIP code for the city of Caspar, approx. 160 mi north of San Francisco, near Mendocino.
  • The film contains several homages to other films:
    • Apocalypse Now: The "Surf Vietnam" poster (see "correct predictions," below).
    • Midnight Cowboy: When Marty McFly Junior is almost hit by a car while crossing the street, he yells, "I'm walking here, I'm walking here!" just as Dustin Hoffman's character Ratso Rizzo does.
    • Jaws: The Holomax theater in 2015 is showing "Jaws 19," directed by Max Spielberg (Steven Spielberg's son), with the tagline "This time it's really, really, really personal!" Also a self-deprecating joke about sequels. (Marty also adds a subtle jibe at Steven Spielberg when he remarks, "The shark STILL looks fake!")
    • A Fistful of Dollars: A short clip of the film plays in the alternative 1985 in Biff's hotel suite. This sets up a joke and plot device in Back to the Future Part III.
    • It's a Wonderful Life: There are a few references to that film, which has arguably been known as the first film to experiment with an alternate reality. The most obvious being that both Marty and George Bailey create alternate realities, although Marty does it by accident and mistake while George Bailey demands to see his nonexistence. In both alternate realities the film's antagonists of Biff and Mr. Potter both own the lion's share of the community; both communities have been converted from sleepy towns into places of loose morality. The scene where Marty storms into the Hill Valley cemetery in disbelief about his father's homicide is identical to George Bailey's storming into the Bailey Park grounds (which is now a cemetery instead of a housing area), in disbelief that his brother Harry died of drowning instead of being saved by his younger self.
  • Although the "World Series prediction" is an urban legend (see above), the film did make some other more general predictions which have come true or are coming true as we approach 2015:
    • The demise of the laserdisc: In 2015 scenes taking place in an alley, we see bundles of laserdics in and around dumpsters. At this time the DVD was not widely available to consumers, but a format war was looming, and from the early 2000s the more-convenient DVD has clearly won out. [citation needed]
    • Vietnam: An advertising poster on the side of a building in 2015 reads, "Surf Vietnam." When the film was released in 1989, the United States still had no formal relations with Vietnam. But President Clinton established relations, and Vietnam is slowly becoming a more popular tourist destination for Americans. Also, the reference to surfing is an homage to the surfing scene on a Vietnamese beach in Apocalypse Now. See also Step into Liquid.
  • It's safe to assume that in 1955 there are 4 variations of the Delorean around
    • Marty's from BTTF 1 (Hidden in Docs Lab)
    • Marty's from his second trip to 1955 (Hidden behind sign)
    • Biff's From when he borrowed it in 2015 (Hiding place unknown)
    • And the one buried in the Mine
  • In an arcade, a kid comments that using your hands to play a video game is "like a baby's toy". In fact, the Wii and Nintendo DS actually have made it preferable to use your hands and even your body to play video games. The comment probably relates to the hype surrounding the potentiality of voice control.

Cultural Impact

  • A Simpsons episode titled "Bart to the Future" has an Indian sachem showing what Bart's future may look like 30 years from now. The bully Nelson is a nightclub owner with a dark suit, turtleneck, and better styled hair than he had as a child. The future Nelson's appearance and business ownership was a nod to the powerful Biff of 1985A.
  • In the 2007 Doctor Who episode "Blink", minutes after the disappearance of character Cathy Nightingale, her grandson delivers a letter to Sally Sparrow, a letter entrusted to him 20 years previously, explaining Cathy's disappearance to the year 1920 and her subsequent life, despite having only left Sally moments earlier. This is very similar to the scene in Back to the Future Part II, when Marty receives a letter written in 1885 just moments after Doc's departure (see Plot Synopsis).
  • In the Family Guy episode "Meet the Quagmires," Peter goes back in time and ends up not marrying Lois. In the altered timeline, Brian draws a time-line similar to Doc Brown's and adds, among the things different, "for some reason, we now have a chalkboard in the living room."

See also

References

  1. ^ "Back to the Future: Frequently Asked Questions". BTTF.com. Retrieved January 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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