"It's your kids, Marty, we've gotta do something about your kids!"

[MetalJunkie]

...why?

Why not say "Oh, Marty, this should be a given, but if you ever have kids, don't let them hang out with Biff's kid."

What's the point of using a time machine to change the future when a time machine is not needed to change the future?

[bosk1]

Because that makes for lame movie dialog.

[rumborak]

Thing is, Bob Zemeckis put that thing at the end of BTTF I as a kinda joke in there. Sorta "It's never over once you have a time machine!".
When he had to put together BTTF II he absolutely resented that tiny thing, because it totally locked down the story. He especially hated that Jennifer entered the car; that's the reason why all they do with her is knock her out at the earliest moment possible. Good thing too, that new actress was not so nice to look at.

[MetalJunkie]

Thing is, Bob Zemeckis put that thing at the end of BTTF I as a kinda joke in there. Sorta "It's never over once you have a time machine!".
When he had to put together BTTF II he absolutely resented that tiny thing, because it totally locked down the story. He especially hated that Jennifer entered the car; that's the reason why all they do with her is knock her out at the earliest moment possible. Good thing too, that new actress was not so nice to look at.

So I take it he didn't write the whole trilogy at once and then chop ot into thirds?

[rumborak]

BTTF I was written on its own. II / III were written together.

[Kotowboy]

Agreed about the ending.

It was supposed to be a joke to finish the first film and that was that.

Bob Zemeckis said having jennifer there was like a shot in the foot.

Fun fact : BTTF 2&3 were filmed at the same time and MJ Fox had to do day shoots on Family Ties and night shoots on BTTF until Family Ties had wrapped for the season.

Fun !  Must have been exhausting...

Also - some days he'd be filming part 2 and some days he'd be filming part 3 and it got really confusing apparently !

[Progmetty]

Your daughter marries a black man!
Biggest BTTF fan reporting that Doc. Brown is genius crazy and should be allowed to say crazy stuff, Biff's grandma said crazier things

[Orbert]

Good thing too, that new actress was not so nice to look at.

Wow, I can't agree.  I thought the original Jennifer was okay, but nothing special.  I've always liked Elisabeth Shue.

[Phoenix87x]

Damn, I've been a fan of BTTF for almost 20 years and I didn't even know there were 2 Jennifers.

[rumborak]

Orbert, you lose.

[Orbert]

Seriously?  You think Claudia Wells is hotter than Elisabeth Shue?

By the way, both of those pictures are horrible.  Compare their main bodies of work.  Notice how Claudia doesn't really have one, while Elisabeth has been nominated for both and Oscar and a Golden Globe.

Whatever.  Personal taste, I guess.  I was happy when Elisabeth was cast as the "new" Jennifer, and bummed when they knocked her out and she basically wasn't in either II or III.

[Dublagent66]

That photo doesn't do Elisabeth Shue any justice.  She's pretty hot so I would tend to agree with Orbert.  Definitely nice to look at.

[Kotowboy]

The original Jennifer quit acting to take care of her family I heard..

[FreezingPoint]

Original Jennifer by a mile. The second one looked 10 years older than Marty in that movie.

...why?

Why not say "Oh, Marty, this should be a given, but if you ever have kids, don't let them hang out with Biff's kid."

What's the point of using a time machine to change the future when a time machine is not needed to change the future?

I'm kinda embarrassed to say I've watched BTTF hundreds of times and I've never thought about this before.

[Ultimetalhead]

Interesting. I never thought about that either. The weirdest thing is that I never noticed that there were different actresses for Jennifer from 1 to 2/3 until very recently. Jennifer had such a miniscule role in 2/3 that I guess it just never occurred to me to even care. 

[Dublagent66]

I noticed right away at the beginning of part 2.  I just wasn't sure why at the time.  It doesn't really matter since she didn't have a major role in the movies anyway.

[Orbert]

The original Jennifer quit acting to take care of her family I heard..

Yeah, her mom got cancer and she quit for a while to take care of her.

Actually, I hadn't checked her IMDb listing in a while.  I guess she's working again, after a 22-year break.  Whoa.

[FreezingPoint]

I didn't notice until one day we were talking and my mom mentioned that they were different actresses. After I put my exploded brain back in my head, it made sense but not a whole lot of difference since she really didn't matter much in the movies as already said here.

Still the second movie is my favorite of the three in spite of the different Jennifer.

[Orbert]

I like the second best of all, too.  I like the way they revisit the first movie and a lot of it gets a different meaning, even if there are some paradoxes.  It's a fun time.  The third movie is fun, too, but they basically just go back to the old west and stay there the whole movie.  Half the fun is the jumping around in time.  I mean, that's the whole point.

[Cable]

I like the second best of all, too.  I like the way they revisit the first movie and a lot of it gets a different meaning, even if there are some paradoxes.  It's a fun time.  The third movie is fun, too, but they basically just go back to the old west and stay there the whole movie.  Half the fun is the jumping around in time.  I mean, that's the whole point.

3 is like 1, following mostly the mold 1 made, for better or for worse for 3's legacy. 2 is definitely the unique one mostly, bringing its own thing to the series. But 2 does kind of break the title meaning of BTTF. While 3 has an additional time period jump compared to 1, it follows the same idea of Marty getting back to his original 1985 from a date in the past.

Then again, Marty was trying to get back to the future from 1955 before Doc got warped to 1885 in 2, it's just they jumped around once more. Ugh, too much thinking about time jumping is making me confused and now my view is clouded!

[Orbert]

While 3 has an additional time period jump compared to 1, it follows the same idea of Marty getting back to his original 1985 from a date in the past.

That's what I mean.  After the craziness of 2, with the alternate timelines and multiple jumps, 3 followed the same template as 1.  That is, it was more of the same.

Don't get me wrong.  I love all three, and 3 is still a good time.  I just thought 2 had more going on, more going for it.  It even gets a bit dark for a while, too.

[Cable]

While 3 has an additional time period jump compared to 1, it follows the same idea of Marty getting back to his original 1985 from a date in the past.

That's what I mean.  After the craziness of 2, with the alternate timelines and multiple jumps, 3 followed the same template as 1.  That is, it was more of the same.

Don't get me wrong.  I love all three, and 3 is still a good time.  I just thought 2 had more going on, more going for it.  It even gets a bit dark for a while, too.

Gotcha. 

I agree totally on the positive points of 2, and the Biif alternate 85 is dark indeed. Why I cannot pick 2 over 3 is I do enjoy Doc having his own story with Claire in 3, even with her annoying screaming of "Emmett" tainting that a lot of the time.

So I always go with 1 if I had to pick one.

To respond to MetalJunkie's OP, as 1 was intended to be a stand-alone film (and could be) before 2 & 3 were approved, I believe it would have just ended like that. Either with your conclusion, or them actually going to the future, but up to the audience.

[DebraKadabra]

I'm kinda embarrassed to say I've watched BTTF hundreds of times and I've never thought about this before.

Same here.

[Zook]

I guess it is kind of stupid if you think about it. Going to the future and changing an event won't stop it from happening again once you return to the past since the event you changed goes back to not happening yet. It was quite a waste of plutonium and garbage and very foolish on Doc's part.

[Kotowboy]

The whole future scenario was just to set up Old Biff going back to 1955 anyway.


I've never liked the 2nd film as much as the other two. I seem to be in the minority that prefers 3 to 2.

Although I did see someone say they prefer 2 to 1 which is just : 

[BlobVanDam]

Correct opinions stated in this thread-

-BTTF2 is the best them, despite the silliness of changing the future that hasn't happened yet, especially after the future is apparently entirely wiped according to the end of part 3.

-Claudia Wells >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Elisabeth Shue in those movies. Not even a comparison there between super hotty and dorky plainness. However, I'd say that Claudia Wells has aged badly, and Elisabeth Shue has aged really well, so as of 2013 Elisabeth Shue looks much better.


It really comes down to the fact that they never wrote BTTF with a sequel in mind. I guess once it's established, you kind of have to work with it. Luckily it made for my favourite movie scene of all time, so I don't care!

[Progmetty]

Another nerdy BTTF fan trivia I noticed back in the day is how much presence Michael Jackson had in BTTF II.
IF there's a more hardcore BTTF here name 2 different occasions with Michael in the movie

[Ultimetalhead]

I know Beat It was played in the Cafe 80s when they went to 2015. Other than that I'm drawing a blank.

[BlobVanDam]

Hm there's singing/dancing Billy Jean in BTTF3. In part 2? There's the Cafe 80s with Beat It, and the fake MJ on the video screen giving the menu. I'd have to think about what else.

[FreezingPoint]

Although I did see someone say they prefer 2 to 1 which is just : 

I don't know. I get that the first is a classic and all, and it certainly feels like it when watching the film,  but I find myself enjoying the second more. All my opinion of course. I think I laugh more in the second one, and at the same time one of my favorite scenes in the entire series is when Doc is drawing the timelines on the chalkboard, which is not a funny scene at all.

Oh! Just remembered another scene with Michael Jackson in it besides the Cafe 80s. In the Alternate 1985, when Marty goes into his own house, he goes into his room that isn't his room and the walls are full of Michael Jackson posters. This is when the father is swinging the baseball bat at him.

[rumborak]

Marty moonwalks for Mad Dog in III and sings Billie Jean.

[KevShmev]

Elisabeth Shue's hairdo didn't do her any favors in II and III, but she was still mighty fine.  As was the original Jennifer. 

I always thought Doc's "She's not essential to my plan" early on II was basically Zemeckis talking about the Jennifer character, hence knocking her out and having her be mostly a non-factor in both flicks. 

Overall, amazing trilogy, and I don't care about the minor plot holes in regards to the time line.

[Progmetty]

Oh! Just remembered another scene with Michael Jackson in it besides the Cafe 80s. In the Alternate 1985, when Marty goes into his own house, he goes into his room that isn't his room and the walls are full of Michael Jackson posters. This is when the father is swinging the baseball bat at him.

That's the one I didn't expect anyone to know , good job.
Everybody else got the other two from BTTF II right, Beat it and the restaurant guide video.
How many watches of BTTF II did it take you to realize the guy hanging upside down at dinner is not the same actor who plays George in the first movie? That one actually took longer for me to realize than Jennifer.
Crispin Glover, the original George McFly, sued them over using his likeness heh

[KevShmev]

I seem to remember noticing that Crispin Glover's name was not in the credits listed at the beginning of II, and I thought maybe I just missed it or something, but once it was clear how they were using the George character in II, I figured it was another actor.  I do always wonder though how II and III would have gone had Glover agreed to be in them.

[Zook]

It doesn't make any sense why he wouldn't agree other than him being a douche nozzle.