Every incredible detail you missed in Robert Zemeckis' legendary Western trilogy.
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00:00Time travel is one of the most fascinating and trippy concepts in sci-fi.
00:04Since H.G. Wells wrote The Time Machine in 1895, everyone has fantasized about what they
00:10would do if they could travel to the past or to the future.
00:13This concept has been explored in many ways, to create your own legacy in Bill & Ted, being
00:18trapped in a time loop in Groundhog Day, or stopping a catastrophe before it occurs in
00:23The Terminator.
00:24But the most celebrated set of time travel movies has got to be the Back to the Future
00:28trilogy.
00:29The premise is genius.
00:31What if you went back in time and stopped your parents from meeting, meaning you were
00:34never born?
00:35The movies didn't just have a great spin on time travel, though.
00:38They had a stellar cast, masterful scripts, and astounding practical stunts.
00:43But those are obvious.
00:44What are the things you didn't know?
00:46Well, with that in mind, I'm Ellie, joined by Josh, to bring you 60 things you somehow
00:51missed in the Back to the Future trilogy.
00:54Let's kick things off with Back to the Future Part 1.
00:5720.
00:58The head producer hated the title
01:00Bob Gale came up with the idea for Back to the Future after seeing an old yearbook photo
01:04of his father and wondered if they would have been friends if they went to school together.
01:08Along with director Robert Zemeckis, they agreed that Back to the Future would be a
01:11great title.
01:12However, Universal Pictures' head producer, Sidney Sheinberg, did not.
01:16He sent a note to Steven Spielberg telling him to change the title to Spaceman from Pluto.
01:21Now, Spielberg knew that it probably wasn't a good idea to tell the most powerful man
01:25in Universal Pictures that his title sucked, so he just pretended that he must have concocted
01:30it as a joke, and Sheinberg was too embarrassed to correct him and just left the name be.
01:34But when the family on the farm look at the DeLorean, the son shows his father a comic
01:38titled Space Zombies from Pluto.
01:4019.
01:41Orgy American Style
01:43When Marty McFly first skates into town, there's a cinema advertising a film called Orgy American
01:48Style.
01:49But that's not a joke, as Orgy American Style is a real rude film, and one of its stars,
01:53George Buck Flower, is in Back to the Future.
01:56In the 1955 timeline, Buck's character, Red Thomas, has posters plastered across the city
02:01to announce his candidacy for the mayor's office.
02:04In the 1985 timeline, he appears as the tramp who calls Marty a crazy drunk driver when
02:09he crashes the DeLorean.
02:1018.
02:11The Name of the Mall Changes
02:13Doc reveals his time machine to Marty outside the Twin Pines Mall.
02:16After Doc is gunned down by terrorists, Marty uses the DeLorean to escape the criminals
02:20and accidentally goes back in time.
02:22He then decides to return a couple of minutes earlier so he can stop Doc from suffering
02:26his grisly fate.
02:27Only this time, the sign says, Lone Pine Mall.
02:31This is because when Marty drove out of the farm in 1955, he crashed through one of two
02:35trees.
02:36After this, the farmer screams, My Pine!
02:39As Doc says, the smallest alterations in the past can cause changes in the future that
02:43you can never imagine.
02:4417.
02:45Mr. Peabody and Sherman
02:47There are many iconic stories where time travel is integral to the plot.
02:51Primer, Avengers Endgame, X-Men Days of Future Past, and, of course, Mr. Peabody and Sherman
02:56from The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends.
02:59In Peabody's Improbable History, a super intelligent dog called Peabody travelled through
03:03time with a young boy called Sherman to teach him about history.
03:07Because the show was so popular, Robert Zemeckis knew he had to reference these characters
03:11in some way.
03:12When Marty travels to 1955, he crashes into a farmer's barn.
03:15The family mistake him for an alien and try to shoot him.
03:18As Marty drives away, the farmer tries to blast the DeLorean, but indirectly hits his
03:22postbox which has the name Peabody written on it.
03:25And as an extra nod to the cartoon, the farmer's son is credited as Sherman.
03:2916.
03:30The First Scene Tells You How The Movie's Going to End
03:32After Marty uses the DeLorean to travel to 1955, he tracks down Doc to find a way to
03:37return to his timeline.
03:39Doc believes the only power source that could allow the DeLorean to time travel is a bolt
03:42of lightning.
03:43But luckily, Marty knows the exact day and time the town's clock tower will be struck
03:47by lightning.
03:48So, Doc climbs the clock tower and iconically recreates an already famous moment from 1923's
03:55comedy Safety Last, where Silent Era star Harry Lloyd, no relation, performed the same
04:00stunt.
04:01But in the opening credits, the camera moves around Doc's office, showcasing his array
04:05of clocks, and on one of the tables, there's a miniature off-the-clock face from Safety
04:09Last with Harold Lloyd, cleverly mirroring the very end of the film.
04:1415.
04:15Redubbing Dialogue
04:16It's well-documented that Crispin Glover didn't have a good relationship with the film's director,
04:20which led to him being recast in the sequels.
04:22But there's one thing you can't take away from Glover with his nervous energy.
04:26He was born to play Marty's wimpy father, George McFly.
04:29But the thing is, Glover was too nervous and stuttered through most of his lines.
04:33He got so worked up before shooting one scene that he lost his voice, forcing him to mime
04:37his dialogue and dub it in later.
04:39While we're on the subject of dubbing, though, the jet engine used to create the storm that
04:43stops Doc from hearing Marty really did stop Doc from hearing Marty.
04:47It was so loud that they had to re-dub their lines afterwards.
04:5014.
04:51Dialogue was altered after 9-11
04:54After the tragic attack on the World Trade Center during 9-11, many programs on television
04:58were altered to remove any mention of terrorism.
05:01In Back to the Future, Libyan terrorists give Doc a batch of plutonium under the impression
05:05he was going to build them a nuclear bomb.
05:07Realizing he's double-crossed them, they shoot him dead instead.
05:10When Marty travels to 1955, he writes a letter to Doc to inform him that he'll be killed
05:14in 1985.
05:15When Doc rips up the letter, Marty shouts out,
05:18"'You'll be shot by terrorists!'
05:20When the film was aired after 9-11, this scene was edited so Marty cries out,
05:24"'You will be shot!'
05:26At any time the letter is shown on screen, the words,
05:28"'By terrorists' was digitally removed.
05:3013.
05:31Doc bribes a cop
05:32As Doc is setting up the power cables at the clock tower, a nosy cop appears from behind,
05:37looking suspiciously at the DeLorean.
05:39When Doc says he's conducting a weather experiment, the police officer requests to see a permit.
05:43As Doc shows him his, air quote, permit, the shot cuts to Marty.
05:47A deleted scene reveals that Doc made the copper stay quiet about this little experiment
05:50by bribing him, but why would you cut that?
05:53Well, because while this is going on, Marty starts worrying that going on a date with
05:56his own mother might turn him gay.
05:59Unsurprisingly, after filming, the director realized this was A, a very weird thing to
06:03say, and B, nope, still just a very weird thing to say, so he hacked it out.
06:0812.
06:09Biff's flunkies
06:10It's common knowledge that a young Elijah Wood appears for a few seconds in Back to
06:13the Future Part 2.
06:14Look, there he is.
06:15How you doing Frodo?
06:16You good?
06:17Cool.
06:18But Biff's flunkies are equally as interesting.
06:21Because while the actors who played Skinhead and 3D went on to have minor success in the
06:25acting world, the actor who plays Match is Billy Zane.
06:29Yet the guy from Twin Peaks, the guy from Titanic, Zoolander, from The Phantom, and
06:35also famous for going out with Kelly Brook.
06:3711.
06:39The entrance doesn't make sense
06:40As Marty arrives at the mall to meet Doc, the DeLorean is unveiled to him and the audience
06:44for the first time.
06:45As the time machine reverses out of the van, the automobile's doors open vertically, revealing
06:50the driver and inventor, Dr. Emmett Brown.
06:53There's just a teeny-weeny tiny little problem with this scene, though.
06:56It doesn't make any sense.
06:58How did Doc get inside the DeLorean if the vehicle could barely fit in the back of the
07:02van?
07:03You would have to roll it in, drive to where you're going, then roll it back out, get
07:07in, drive back into the van, and then reverse it out to impress Marty.
07:11I mean, sure, yeah, he could have done that, but he doesn't even know that Marty's there,
07:16so maybe a bit of a plot hole?
07:1810.
07:19Ronald Reagan, the actor?
07:21When Marty arrives in 1955, he has to convince Doc that he's travelled from the future.
07:25Naturally, Doc challenges Marty's story and asks him who is the US President in 1985.
07:30When Marty correctly answers by saying Ronald Reagan, Doc scoffs at this proclamation because,
07:35well, at the time, he's just some actor you see in westerns.
07:39Speaking of which, when Marty realizes he's gone back in time, he looks up at the Essex
07:42Theatre and notices it's playing Cattle Queen of Montana, a western released in 1954 starring,
07:48you guessed it, Ronald Reagan.
07:50Apparently, the producers and writers were worried that Reagan would be upset by these
07:53little jabs, but, story goes, he absolutely loved them.
07:579.
07:58Huey Lewis plays the too-darn-loud judge
08:01When Marty auditions for the Battle of the Bands, the judge dismisses his band for being
08:05too darn loud.
08:06In case you didn't notice, the judge who says this line is played by the lead singer of
08:10the rock band Huey Lewis and the News.
08:12OK, so, long story, one of the most defining film soundtracks of the 1980s is the theme
08:16song for the 1984 film Ghostbusters, which was played by Ray Parker Jr., but you already
08:21knew that.
08:22What you didn't know is that Huey Lewis and the News sued Parker, stating the track was
08:25a rip-off of his song, I Want a New Drug, which came out earlier that year.
08:29Huey was frustrated his work could be stolen for other projects, since it meant studios
08:33could theoretically rake in millions, or he made absolutely nothing.
08:37This revelation inspired him to work on a blockbuster where he hoped to create a new
08:40song that would become a classic.
08:41For Back to the Future, he devised Back in Time and the band's most iconic song, The
08:45Power of Love.
08:46This is a song that Marty plays in his audition, hence why he's in the film.
08:508.
08:51The film tried, and failed, to promote raisins
08:55Did you notice the California raisin sign in the film?
08:57Well, if you didn't, don't worry, most people didn't, and that was a huge problem.
09:01The manager of the Californian Raisin Board paid $100,000 for their product to appear
09:07in Back to the Future under the condition it would be a story element.
09:11When a scene was shot of Marty eating raisins, the director worried it looked like he was
09:15eating, quote, a bowl full of dirt, and so he cut the scene.
09:19Raisins were meant to appear in at least four scenes, but in the end, only an advertisement
09:23for the product appeared one time on a bench.
09:25The California Raisin Board was livid, since the advert could barely be seen, and it was
09:30right beside a homeless person, who, I'm sure you'll remember, was literally being played
09:34by a porn star.
09:36And even funnier than that, everyone does remember the Burger King shot, which, to add
09:40insult to injury, wasn't even a product placement.
09:427.
09:43The DeLoreans' top speed
09:45This is a very short fact, but ask anyone what speed they associate with this film,
09:49and they'll all say 88 miles per hour.
09:51The only problem is that the DeLoreans can only get up to 85 miles per hour.
09:56It's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, I mean, they can't travel through
09:59time either, but it did mean that all the speedometers had to be customized on set,
10:04so they went up to 95.
10:056.
10:06The Stanley Kubrick Reference
10:08In Marty's first scene in Back to the Future, he plays a single power chord using an amplifier,
10:13which blasts him off his feet.
10:14To set up the amplifier, Marty inserts keys into a slot which reads CRM114.
10:20This is a nod to visionary director Stanley Kubrick, who used the term CRM114 in three
10:25of his films, as the registry number of the spaceship in 2001 A Space Odyssey, the name
10:30of an encryption device in Doctor Strangelove, and on a bottle label in A Clockwork Orange.
10:35It's also appeared in other properties, including Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Heroes, and Men
10:39in Black 3.
10:40This is probably the most obscure in-joke in the entire film, but I'm sure that film
10:44fanatics got the reference and appreciated it.
10:475.
10:48Why does Hill Valley look so familiar?
10:49Originally, the film was going to be shot in the city of Petaluma, California.
10:53Realizing that it would be too chaotic and expensive if the film suffered any difficulties,
10:57which it totally did, the producers decided to shoot Back to the Future in the backlot
11:01of Universal Studios.
11:03The town where the story takes place, Hill Valley, is actually called Courthouse Square.
11:07You probably recognize it, as it's appeared in countless television shows and films, including
11:12Bruce Almighty, The Incredible Hulk, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gremlins, To Kill a Mockingbird,
11:16the music video Why Don't You Get a Job, and the very first episode of the classic
11:19show, The Twilight Zone.
11:214.
11:22Is that really Van Halen?
11:24When George refuses to date Lorraine, Marty breaks into his house pretending to be an alien
11:28and plays deafening music to wake him up.
11:30As you do.
11:31Before Marty plays the song, you can see him place a tape in the recorder, which is labeled
11:35Edward Van Halen.
11:37Because the music played in this scene isn't from any of Eddie Van Halen's songs, fans
11:40wondered if it was actually him who was making the music.
11:44And yes, it was.
11:45Eddie Van Halen agreed to play a tune for the scene, but his producer didn't allow
11:48him to perform any of his band's music.
11:50Also, the tape was meant to be labeled Van Halen, but his producer refused this request
11:54since it was the name of the band, which the studio didn't have the rights for.
11:58Instead, the singer said they could use his real name, Edward Van Halen, and he would
12:01compose a unique track for the scene.
12:043.
12:05Johnny B. Goode
12:06While Marty plays Johnny B. Goode, he emulates as many rockstar tropes as possible.
12:09Viewers will recognize all of these traits, but it's hard to pinpoint which ones belong
12:13to which musician.
12:14But thankfully, we are here to do it for you.
12:17The duck walk that Marty performs was popularized by Chuck Berry, the creator of the song Johnny
12:21B. Goode.
12:22At one point, he violently taps the guitar string, much like Van Halen.
12:25When Marty plays the instrument behind his head, this is an homage to Jimi Hendrix.
12:29He kicks the amplifier, just like Pete Townshend from The Who.
12:32And finally, he wriggles on the ground, like Angus Young from ACDC.
12:36Although Michael J. Fox didn't play the guitar in the scene, he was taught how to hold the
12:39instrument by the musician Paul Hanson, so his performance appeared more natural.
12:44Hanson even cameos as one of the members of Marty's band, The Pinheads.
12:482.
12:49The Doglorian
12:50When Doc deduces the DeLorean must travel at 88 miles per hour to time travel, he performs
12:55a test to see if a living creature can survive traveling through the time stream.
12:59He places his dog, Einstein, in the vehicle, and then uses a remote control to make the
13:02car travel at 88 miles per hour.
13:05While shooting this scene, the car is obviously not remote controlled.
13:09give the illusion the driverless car is moving at great speed, while the dog, who is actually
13:13called Tiger, is inside.
13:15And as you might have guessed, when there's a close-up of the dog in this scene, the car
13:18isn't moving at all.
13:19But the director knew that this scene was so crucial that they needed at least one shot
13:23where the car was driving really, really fast, and the dog was visible.
13:26So how did they do that?
13:28They had a stuntman do it, while wearing a dog costume.
13:31Yep, there it is, right there.
13:33That right there, not a dog.
13:34That is a man, dressed as a dog.
13:36Pretending to be a dog driving a car.
13:391.
13:40Eric Stoltz is still in the film
13:42Although Michael J. Fox was offered the role of Marty, he couldn't commit to the part because
13:46he was working on the TV series Family Ties.
13:49As a result, Eric Stoltz was cast as the lead character.
13:52He worked on the film for five weeks, but he was fired because Robert Zemeckis thought
13:55he was too aggressive after he broke Biff's collarbone while shooting a scene.
13:59Fox was rehired, but could only work at night since he was filming Family Ties during the
14:03day.
14:04After working on the show for the season, Fox then filmed his day scenes for Back to
14:07the Future.
14:08Naturally, Zemeckis then had to reshoot all of Marty's scenes with Fox, but he forgot
14:12one.
14:13When Marty punches Biff, you clearly see Fox swing a punch, but it's Eric Stoltz in the
14:17following shot.
14:18Now, most people don't even notice this, but still, he is there.
14:22Back to the Future Part 2
14:2420.
14:25Jaws 19 is directed by Steven Spielberg's son, Max.
14:28At the start of the film, Marty travels back to 2015 with Doc and Jennifer, and spies an
14:33ad for Jaws 19.
14:36While this gag is fairly obvious and does draw attention to itself, what you might not
14:40have noticed is the name of the director for the movie, which is Max Spielberg.
14:44Of course, it doesn't take a genius to deduce the fact that Max Spielberg is one of Steven
14:50Spielberg's own children, which is exactly the case.
14:53Max Spielberg is real, and he was born in 1985.
14:57So by 2015, when this portion of the movie takes place, Max Spielberg would have been
15:02around 30 years old, which is just about the age his father was when he made the first
15:08Jaws.
15:0919.
15:10The Smoking Required Sign Outside Biff's Museum
15:13Later in the movie, when Marty returns to 1985, it's clear that Biff has remade the
15:18entire country in his own image.
15:20There's even a Biff Tannen Museum, which in addition to featuring a creepy waxwork
15:25of him in the entrance window, has an especially tacky sign for those who wish to come inside.
15:31The sign says Smoking Required, which is an obvious joke in and of itself, but it gets
15:35funnier the longer you think about it because Biff is absolutely the type of dude who would
15:39insist on someone lighting up a cigarette when they enter one of his buildings.
15:4418.
15:45The Totally Insane Newspaper Stories
15:47After Marty prevents Marty Jr. from taking part in a robbery in 2015, the USA Today newspaper
15:53changes its contents to reflect the change in the time.
15:57However, the rest of the newspaper's wacky stories largely stay the same.
16:02And these fascinating blink-and-you'll-miss-them headlines include a gang of thumb bandits
16:07who are amputating hospital patients' thumbs, a man being killed by litter thrown from a
16:12hovering car, a Swiss terrorist sect threatening the US, Princess Diana becoming Queen Diana,
16:19the US having a female president, a baseball pitcher being suspended for using a bionic
16:24arm, and Jaws 19 being critically panned.
16:28For something that's only on screen for a handful of seconds, the attention to detail
16:31here is truly amazing.
16:3317.
16:34Doc's Shirt Foreshadows the Events of Part 3
16:37Early on in the movie, we see Doc wearing a shirt with a white, blue, and yellow patterned
16:42design.
16:43The shirt, however, actually depicts cowboys on horseback chasing down a train, which is
16:47very clearly foreshadowing for the events of the western-themed third film where both
16:52horses and trains play a major part in the narrative.
16:55But the gag doesn't just end there.
16:58In fact, in Back to the Future Part 3, Doc actually uses this shirt as a bandana while
17:02performing a stick-up, though the material's design can only barely be made out through
17:07the reversed fabric covering Doc's face.
17:1016.
17:11Rich Biff Was Inspired by Donald Trump
17:13It might seem hilariously obvious to us now re-watching this film, but who of us growing
17:19up watching Back to the Future Part 2 realized the connections between the alternate Biff
17:24and Donald Trump?
17:26In a 2015 interview, the film's screenwriter Bob Gale actually confirmed that the comparisons
17:31were more than deliberate, and he was supposed to be a reflection of how Donald Trump was
17:36at the time.
17:37Though Gale could've never anticipated the full extent of Trump's political bearing
17:41in recent years, the physical resemblance to even an 80s-era Trump does speak for itself.
17:4715.
17:48Roger Rabbit's Cameo in the Antique Store
17:50Shortly after Marty's run-in with Jaws 19 in 2015, he runs into an antique store where
17:55you can actually see a plushie of Roger Rabbit.
17:58Now this is significant, of course, because the director of this movie, Robert Zemeckis,
18:02also directed Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and that film also starred Doc Brown himself,
18:08Christopher Lloyd.
18:09And just to put this into context, in a five-year period, Robert Zemeckis made all three Back
18:14to the Future movies and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
18:17That is an insane run of quality.
18:2014.
18:21Marty Jr. and Griff have different eye colours to Marty Sr. and Biff
18:26Though Marty Jr. and Griff have different clothes and characteristics that separate
18:30them from their ancestors, director Robert Zemeckis did go one step further to add a
18:36subtler visual flourish that separated these characters.
18:40See, Marty Jr. and Griff both have brown-coloured eyes, while Marty Sr. and Biff's eyes are
18:45both blue.
18:47It's a clever piece of visual shorthand, because even if you don't consciously understand
18:51that one eye colour is blue and one eye colour is brown, something in your brain recognises
18:56that there is a difference there.
18:5813.
18:59A stuntwoman is visibly injured during the hoverboard scene
19:03As fantastic as the movie's 2015 hoverboard scene is, the moment when Griff and his cronies
19:08are catapulted out the entrance of the mall wasn't as smooth as you might have expected
19:13to film.
19:14In fact, stunt performer Cheryl Wheeler, who played the stunt double of the female member
19:18of Griff's gang, has recounted in detail that she wasn't convinced at all of the
19:23stunt's safety before shooting it, despite receiving assurances from the crew.
19:27And so, when Wheeler and the other stunt performers were launched towards the mall's giant glass
19:32window, she went off course and collided with one of the pillars.
19:36To make matters worse, a cable that had to be disconnected to drop the four performers
19:40onto a crash mat inside the mall was cut before she made it inside due to this collision,
19:46causing her to fall roughly 30 feet to the floor below.
19:49Wheeler was immediately hospitalised due to wounds to her face, hands and arms, but thankfully
19:54didn't sustain any lasting damage and went on to continue her career as a stunt performer
20:00very quickly.
20:0112.
20:02The Last Starfighter's star car makes a cameo
20:05At the start of the hoverboard scene, keep an eye on one of the futuristic cars just
20:09parked at the side of the scene, because it might look familiar.
20:13In fact, this is the star car from 1984's The Last Starfighter, which is the flying
20:18vehicle owned by the alien Centauri.
20:21Considering that both movies were produced by Universal Pictures and The Last Starfighter
20:25was only made a few years prior to Back to the Future Part 2, it might just be that this
20:30prop was left on the lot, and when the Back to the Future team came around, they were
20:35like, this is perfect for this futuristic scene.
20:3811.
20:39Christopher Lloyd couldn't see through the metal sunglasses
20:42The film, of course, kicks off with the iconic scene of Doc Brown showing up in Marty's
20:46front yard to take him on another adventure, and most importantly, in this scene, he's
20:51wearing a pair of silver sunglasses.
20:54Now these aren't silver and I look less cool than Doc Brown in them, but we do have
20:59one thing in common.
21:01Neither me nor Christopher Lloyd could see out of our sunglasses.
21:05I have no idea what's going on, even though there were just lights at me, I don't know.
21:10So yeah, that's right.
21:11Hilariously, his sunglasses didn't even work.
21:13He couldn't see the sun, but also he couldn't see anything else in the scene either and
21:18effectively had to act blind.
21:21And watching the scene with this in mind is totally hilarious.
21:24Lloyd clearly uses the DeLorean to steady himself while running towards Michael J. Fox,
21:29and his eyeline doesn't even nearly match up with Fox's face.
21:34So yeah, knowing this will probably make you appreciate this scene even more.
21:37Number 10, Marty's Daughter Marlene is played by Michael J. Fox.
21:41While it might seem so obvious as an adult, for those of us who grew up with Back to the
21:45Future Part 2, it is a mind-blowing revelation when you realise that Marty's daughter Marlene
21:51is actually played by Michael J. Fox.
21:54Fox is layered under heaps of makeup to play the part, yet his soft facial features sell
21:59the transformation into a cute teenager quite fantastically.
22:03Even though some adult viewers might have failed to notice Fox himself in the role.
22:07Number 9, Nixon was elected four times and the Vietnam War is still going on in the 1980s.
22:14In Biff's alternate 1985 dystopia, we see an updated version of the Hill Valley Telegraph.
22:19Among a bunch of other information, this paper also features the incisive headline that says
22:24that Richard Nixon is looking to pursue a fifth term as president.
22:29And worse still, it says that he vows to end the Vietnam War by 1985.
22:35Now considering that in our slightly less terrible reality, Nixon only served one term
22:40in the office and was gone by 1974 and the Vietnam War ended one year later, this truly
22:46is a nightmarish scenario.
22:48Number 8, George McFly was born on April Fool's Day and died on the Ides of March.
22:54When Marty visits his father George's grave in alternate 1985, notice the dates on his headstone.
23:01It turns out that George was born on April 1st, 1938, April Fool's Day, a rather fitting
23:06birthday for someone as goofy as George.
23:10As for his demise, he died on March 15th, 1973 and March 15th is historically known
23:15as the Ides of March, a date in the Roman calendar for settling debts and also the day
23:21on which Julius Caesar was assassinated.
23:24Number 7, the manned fundraising for the clock tower also appears in 1955.
23:29A minor but memorable character in the film is Terry, a man who asks Marty for a donation
23:35to help preserve the town's clock tower.
23:37Now Terry is played by actor Charles Fleischer, who in addition to providing the voice of
23:41Roger Rabbit, was also only in his late 30s when the film was being shot.
23:46As such, Fleischer was piled under extensive old man makeup to give him the appearance
23:50of someone much older, as pays off when Fleischer slightly plays the same character in the 1955
23:57portion of the movie.
23:58So if you ever wondered why they didn't just cast an older dude as this character
24:02in the first place, this is your answer.
24:04In fact, he was supposed to feature in more scenes than this, which gives it an even deeper explanation.
24:08Number 6, Lorraine's breast implants were foreshadowed.
24:12One of the most low-key horrifying parts of Biff's alternate 1985 reality is not only
24:17that he killed Marty's father, but also that he took his mother Lorraine as a wife.
24:23And not only that, but Biff also made her get breast implants.
24:26What's interesting about this though, was that this development was actually foreshadowed
24:30earlier in the movie.
24:32In Marty's home in 2015, the gigantic multi-channel video screen displays an ad for two types
24:37of futuristic breast implants, those being inflatable and headlights.
24:43So when Marty and Doc first arrive in 2015, we can see stacks of unused silicone material
24:48piled up by the wall, indicating that implants in the future moved away from that outdated design.
24:54Number 5, Hill Valley Courthouse became a mall because all lawyers were abolished.
24:59One of the first sites that Marty happens upon in 2015 is the Hill Valley Courthouse,
25:04which is now being transformed into a futuristic mall.
25:07Hilariously, Doc explains that the United States justice system now issues a verdict
25:12within two hours of someone's arrest.
25:15And the reason for this?
25:16Well, in Doc's own words, quote,
25:17the justice system works swiftly in the future now that they've abolished all lawyers.
25:22So this is surely why the courthouse was transformed into a mall with little resistance, because
25:27who's gonna need a courthouse when lawyers don't exist?
25:30Number 4, Laser Discs are in the Trash in 2015.
25:33Another hilarious easter egg in the 2015 portion comes from the alleyway that I mentioned earlier
25:38that housed all of those discarded silicone products, because near them is a bunch of
25:43discarded laser discs.
25:46Not laser dicks, which is what I keep saying and have to keep retaking this portion of
25:50the video because I can't just say laser discs, it's like a Freudian slip.
25:54Though Laser Disc failed to pick up mainstream traction after launching in 1978 due to strong
25:59competition from the cheaper VHS, it was only officially discontinued in 2009.
26:04In that respect then, the movie was only a few years out.
26:07Number 3, the wires holding up the DeLorean are just barely visible.
26:11Now unlike the previously mentioned hovercraft stunt, this was one that went off without a hitch.
26:16Well, mostly.
26:17In alternate 1985, Marty memorably jumps off the roof of Biff's Hotel Casino to his apparent
26:23death before landing on the DeLorean being piloted by Doc.
26:27It's a great moment, so great in fact that you probably didn't even notice the wires
26:31that are holding up the DeLorean in this scene.
26:34Rather than suspend a real DeLorean in the air, the production created a double out of
26:38considerably lighter fiberglass, which Christopher Lloyd then sat in and Fox stood atop.
26:44And just above the left-hand side of the door, for but a few moments, you can actually see
26:49the fade lines of the wires holding everything together.
26:53It's a real blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, but once you notice it, you will never unsee it.
26:58Number 2, Biff's curious taste in porn.
27:02Now keep an eye on some of the viewing material strewn around Biff's apartment because there
27:06is a strange theme linking all of his porno videos.
27:12While Marty talks to Lorraine and takes in everything that's changed, two tapes can
27:15be seen around the apartment, Black Taboo and Playing With Fire.
27:20Now they might sound like made-up titles just for this movie, but they are in fact, or at
27:25least my research tells me, I don't know this from first-hand experience, they are
27:29in fact, real porn movies.
27:32More so than that, again my research tells me that they both share an incest theme.
27:37Now this is an interesting choice if you look back on the story of the original Back to
27:41the Future, which had incestuous themes itself because Lorraine fancied her own son, unknowingly,
27:47when Marty travelled to the past.
27:50Number 1, the 2015 DeLorean has a barcode license plate.
27:54In the 2015 timeline, the DeLorean has a very identifiable, yet easily missed license
28:00plate change.
28:01Instead of the usual string of numbers and letters, the plate now contains an identifying
28:05barcode.
28:06Now admittedly, this was glimpsed in Back to the Future Part 1 as well, but it's still
28:10worth noting here because you see it a few more times in this sequel.
28:14So it's easy to assume that in this future, the authorities can just scan the barcode
28:18on the back of every car and glean all the information they need to know about that vehicle
28:23as well as the driver.
28:25Upon closer inspection though, the barcode also has a number below it, that being 136113966
28:32and though everything in these movies appears to have been done with intention, fans still
28:37categorically have no idea what this number means.
28:42Like for real, if you've figured this out, let me know in the comments because I have
28:45no idea.
28:46Back to the Future Part 3.
28:47Number 20, Doc's bandana was made from his shirt in Part 2.
28:51We'll kick things off with something that actually paid off for reference in Back to
28:54the Future Part 2.
28:56Early on in that second film, Doc wears a shirt with a distinctive yellow-blue-white
29:01colour scheme, but if you look closer beyond the colours, you might also be able to make
29:05out men on horseback chasing a train.
29:08Beyond the fact that this is, of course, foreshadowing the western theme of Back to the Future Part
29:123, we actually do see this shirt again in the sequel.
29:16And that's because Doc wears it around his face as a bandana while carrying out a
29:21stick-up.
29:22It was difficult to make this out in prior resolution releases of the film, but take
29:26a closer look and it's very much there.
29:29Number 19, that Clint Eastwood inside joke.
29:33Early in the film, when in 1955 Doc and Marty are planning to go back in time to 1885, we
29:39get this cute little exchange.
29:41In this scene, Marty gets dressed into Eerie Appropriate duds and says,
29:45Clint Eastwood never wore anything like this, to which Doc then replies, Clint who?
29:51Marty then fires back, oh that's right, you haven't heard of him yet.
29:54And given that, of course, Eastwood hadn't become a household name by Doc's time of
29:581955, this does check out.
30:01However, there is an added wrinkle to this scene.
30:05And this is because you might notice that Marty also takes a fleeting look at two of
30:09the drive-in cinemas posters.
30:11For Revenge of the Creature and Tarantula, two movies produced in 1955 and in which Clint
30:17Eastwood actually starred in uncredited cameos.
30:21It would take nearly another decade from this point for Clint Eastwood to break out in A
30:25Fistful of Dollars, but these movie posters are references to the fact that the actor
30:29was then an up-and-comer.
30:31Number 18, Marty checks that his pants are still on.
30:35Shortly after travelling back to 1885, Marty is knocked out and then cared for by his great-great
30:40grandparents Maggie and Seamus McFly.
30:43After waking up in bed at their home and chatting with Maggie, there is a fleeting second where
30:47Marty actually looks under the blanket.
30:50The scene is rather low-lit so you might not notice that he's actually checking to see
30:55if he's wearing pants underneath there.
30:57And of course, this is a reference to the unforgettable moment in the first movie where
31:01Marty is hit by a car and then wakes up in Lorraine's bed to the realisation that yeah,
31:06he's not wearing any pants under the covers.
31:09Number 17, the time is 8.08 on the clock tower, as in 88 miles per hour.
31:14While at the Hill Valley Festival, Doc and Marty get a photograph taken in front of the
31:18new clock that's about to be installed in the town's clock tower.
31:22However, if you look closely at the time, you will notice a cute little reference.
31:27That's because the time on the clock is 8.08 and why is that significant?
31:31Well give me a second.
31:32Given that 88 is surely the most significant number in the Back to the Future franchise,
31:37being the speed that the DeLorean needs to reach in order to travel through time and
31:41all, it's probably no coincidence that we see this number slyly referenced by this giant clock.
31:47Number 16, ZZ Top plays the town band.
31:50You'll likely be aware that the legendary rock outfit ZZ Top provided the track Double
31:54Back for the film's soundtrack but you might have missed the fact that they actually turn
31:58up in the film in the flesh themselves.
32:02See despite their distinctive look, they rather blend into the ambience of the Hill Valley
32:06Festival, playing hairy members of a fiddle band who perform, would you guess it, an old
32:12west style version of Double Back.
32:14In a recent interview, bassist Dusty Hill actually recounted the experience saying,
32:18quote,
32:19We stopped by the set one night, I can't remember where it was, somewhere out in California.
32:23They build a whole damn western town.
32:26It was really cool.
32:27Anyway, they were doing all night shootings so we stopped by at midnight or 1am and they
32:31were shooting this scene.
32:33They broke for lunch and I remember that I made sure I was sitting over there by Robert
32:37Zemeckis the director and I kept saying, you know, it looks like we belong in this movie.
32:41I mean you don't hardly even need to use makeup on us.
32:45They already had a band so they just added the three of us to it, end quote.
32:50Number 15, Doc references the invention of the transistor.
32:53Early on in 1955, Doc reads out his own 1885 letter which includes the passage, quote,
33:00I set myself up as a blacksmith as a front while I attempted to repair the damage to
33:04the time circuits.
33:05Unfortunately, this proved impossible because suitable replacement parts will not be invented
33:10until 1947.
33:11Though it's hardly important to the story that Doc is talking about here, what he's
33:16actually referring to is the invention of the transistor in 1947.
33:21This was invented by American physicists John Bardeen and Walter Bretain at Bell Labs in
33:27the same year.
33:28Number 14, cinematographer Dean Cundey's cameo.
33:32Legendary cinematographer Dean Cundey lent all three back to the future movies with regular
33:36collaborator Robert Zemeckis.
33:39And while general audiences probably couldn't pick a famous cinematographer out of a lineup,
33:44Cundey does have a distinctive look and of course, he's a decorated cinematographer
33:48in his field.
33:49He is a well-known person.
33:52Even so though, dressed up in period duds, a fancy hat and a giant beard that may or
33:57may not be real, he effortlessly slides into the background of a scene in Back to the Future
34:02Part 3 as the photographer taking Doc and Marty's picture by the clock.
34:07Number 13, Needles' gang includes members of Biff's various other gangs.
34:13In 1985, at the end of the movie, Marty manages to avoid getting into a race with Needles'
34:18gang but if you look closely, you might recognize the other three gang members in this scene.
34:25And that's because each of the three actors previously played a member of Biff's gang
34:29in each of the three movies.
34:30J.J.
34:31Cohen played the skinhead in Biff's 1955 gang in the original film, Ricky Dean Logan
34:36played Data in Griff's 2015 gang in the second movie and Christopher Wayne was an
34:41unnamed member of a gang in Part 3.
34:43Number 12, the clock tower is being unloaded in the background.
34:47For further proof of just how much attention to detail is packed in these movies, look
34:52no further than the scene where Doc and Marty are talking to the train conductor about the
34:56speed of the train.
34:58Keep your eyes peeled and you'll notice that the iconic clock for the clock tower
35:02is being unloaded off the train in the background.
35:05Now this is easily missed if you're only focusing on what's happening in the foreground
35:09of the scene but once you notice it, you'll never be able to watch this scene the same
35:13way again.
35:14Number 11, Doc named his dogs after scientists again.
35:18Now you might remember that Doc named his dogs after Einstein and Copernicus in the
35:23first Back to the Future movie and that's a naming convention that actually follows
35:27through to Back to the Future Part 3.
35:30In 1885, if you look closely around Doc's barn, you'll see banners for his new dogs
35:35which have the names Galileo, Archimedes and Newton.
35:39Fittingly, in the very first moments of the movie when we get a glimpse of Doc's fireplace
35:43in 1955 as well, Doc has pictures of Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison and
35:49Albert Einstein confirming just how much these scientists and their achievements meant to
35:55him.
35:56Number 10, the clock that caused Doc's accident is visible.
35:59Now you might remember that in the first movie, Doc explains that he got the idea of the flux
36:04capacitor after trying to install a clock above his toilet and then failing in hitting
36:09his head off the sink.
36:11In Part 3 however, as Doc freaks out upon seeing Marty in his home, he runs into the
36:16bathroom and for a few scant seconds, we can see the interior where, lo and behold, there
36:22is indeed the famous clock hanging above the toilet.
36:26Number 9, Clara is in the background when Doc and Marty talk about the Clayton Ravine.
36:31When Doc and Marty are figuring out their plan to get the DeLorean to 88mph without
36:35any gasoline, they look at the Hill Valley map and notice an unexpected name for the
36:41ravine.
36:42They say, quote, funny, this map calls Clayton Ravine Shonash Ravine, that must be the old
36:48Indian name for it, it's perfect, end quote.
36:51While the two are discussing this however, if you actually look in the background of
36:54the scene, you can see Clara Clayton waiting to talk to Doc.
36:58Doc, being distracted by Marty, then causes Clara to find her own transportation, leading
37:03to her eventual fateful encounter at the ravine which, without Doc and Marty's intervention,
37:09would have led to her death and the ravine being renamed to Clayton Ravine.
37:14Number 8, the saloon extras are all legendary western actors.
37:18During the saloon scene, you might remember three distinctive looking old-timers right
37:22at the front of the bar who sound off when Marty enters the scene.
37:26But these aren't just three random extras that were thrown in to look cool.
37:30In fact, these three actors are Doug Taylor, Pat Buttram and Harry Carey Jr., all character
37:36actors who spent decades playing sidekicks and various supporting roles in a glut of
37:41western films and TV shows.
37:44Taylor had more than 250 credits to his name prior to his death in 1994, Buttram was best
37:50known for playing the sidekick to Gene Autry and Carey was the son of legendary silent
37:54film star Harry Carey.
37:56Number 7, the arresting deputy's dialogue was re-dubbed.
38:00Later in the movie, Griff's great-grandfather, Buford Mad Dog Tannen is arrested after being
38:05kicked into a load of manure by Marshal Strickland's deputy.
38:10The deputy then announces that Buford is under arrest for robbing the Pine City stage, yet
38:15at the moment that the charge is read, the shot actually cuts away from the deputy to
38:20a reverse shot of Doc and Marty.
38:23And the reason for this?
38:24Initially, Mad Dog was actually charged for killing Marshal Strickland himself, but his
38:29crime was later changed in post-production.
38:33The original scene is still featured on the home video releases, but was deemed too dark
38:37at the time and as such, this cut was papered over with a shot of Marty and Doc.
38:42And the re-dub was just put on top of that.
38:44Number 6, Doc is probably related to Werner Von Braun.
38:49Early on in the film, Doc explains his ancestry to Marty, explaining, quote,
38:54The Browns didn't come to Hill Valley until 1908, and then they were the Von Brauns.
38:59My father changed our name during the First World War.
39:02This might just seem like a random piece of character building.
39:05That is, until you realise that Bob Gill was probably trying to imply that Doc is actually
39:10related to Werner Von Braun.
39:12Now who is that dude?
39:13Well, Von Braun was a Nazi rocket scientist who helped develop the V2 rocket for the Germans
39:19and following the war was relocated to the US where he worked for NASA as the chief architect
39:24of the Saturn V launch vessel.
39:27Number 5, the Stadler Horse Dealership.
39:30First up, major props to anyone who caught this one.
39:33In 1885, there is a horse dealership by the name of Honest Joe Stadler.
39:38Yet, chronologically, this was just the first of the Stadler family's various transportation
39:43businesses in Hill Valley throughout the years.
39:46And that's because in the first film's 1955, the Stadler family's business is a
39:51Studebaker dealership by the name of Stadler Studebaker, while in 1985, it had again been
39:57renamed to a Toyota dealership, that being the Stadler Toyota.
40:02Number 4, Clayton Ravine is renamed to Eastwood Ravine at the end.
40:06Now this one seems obvious and yet it's easily missed all the same.
40:10At the end of the film, when Marty returns to 1985, Hill Valley's infamous dodge,
40:15Clayton Ravine, has now been renamed to Eastwood Ravine.
40:18And that is, of course, because Doc prevented Clara from falling to her death in the ravine
40:23in 1885, and as such, the ravine got a different name.
40:27Instead, it was actually named after Marty, or at least the Clint Eastwood name that he
40:32was going under during this time, and that's how we end up with the name change at the
40:36end of the film.
40:37Number 3, Doc's son desperately needs the bathroom.
40:41Now this one is admittedly pretty infamous these days, but unless you're chronically
40:45online, you might have managed to miss it yourself.
40:48Right at the end of the movie, when Doc and Clara reappear in 1985 in a steam locomotive
40:53time machine with their two sons, keep an eye on their rightmost child, Vern.
40:58And that's because all the way throughout this scene, Vern can actually be seen pointing
41:02at his groin, seemingly indicating to a crew member off stage that he needs to go to the
41:08bathroom real bad.
41:09How this made it into the final cut is pretty fascinating, because once you notice it, it's
41:13pretty clear that this kid isn't acting, but still, now it's a part of movie history.
41:18Number 2, the flux capacitor is visible in the train.
41:22When Doc's time travel locomotive takes off, keep an eye on the front portion of the
41:27set, and you might notice something a little bit familiar.
41:30And that's because yep, that is the flux capacitor, the technological doodad that makes
41:35time travel possible, installed where you'd usually expect the train's light to be.
41:40It's an interesting design change, because originally the flux capacitor is inside the
41:45DeLorean to keep it safe, but you can probably assume that with a big locomotive like this,
41:50it's probably safe right up front and centre.
41:53Now that's another one that might seem obvious in retrospect, but I'm absolutely betting
41:58that someone out there definitely didn't notice this.
42:01Number 1, Police Academy's Michael Winslow performed the sound effects for Marty's
42:06moonwalking.
42:07Even if you've watched Back to the Future Part 3 from beginning to end multiple times,
42:11he's a credit you still probably missed.
42:14In the producers wish to thank section of the credits, you'll find the name Michael
42:18Winslow.
42:19Yes, the very same Michael Winslow famed for his uncanny ability to create realistic sound
42:24effects using only his voice.
42:27And that's because Winslow, best known for his appearances in the Police Academy
42:31movies, was actually the sound effects guy for Marty's feet.
42:36And somewhat poetically, a few years prior, Winslow had actually presented the Best Sound
42:41Editing Oscar to Charles L. Campbell and Robert Rutledge for their work on the original Back
42:47to the Future.
42:48You know, it's like poetry, it rhymes.
42:51It's a different franchise, but I wanted to get that reference in.