Back to the Future Part II
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''Back to the Future Part II'' is a 1989 American
science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses Speculative fiction, speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as Extraterrestrial life in fiction, extraterrestria ...
directed by
Robert Zemeckis Robert Lee Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an American filmmaker known for directing and producing a range of successful and influential movies, often blending cutting-edge visual effects with storytelling. He has received several accolades incl ...
from a screenplay by Bob Gale; both wrote the story. It is a
sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
to the 1985 film ''
Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985 ...
'' and the second installment in the ''Back to the Future'' franchise. The film stars
Michael J. Fox Michael Andrew Fox (born June 9, 1961), known professionally as Michael J. Fox, is a Canadian and American actor and activist. Beginning his career as a child actor in the 1970s, he rose to prominence portraying Alex P. Keaton on the NBC sitcom ...
, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Thomas F. Wilson, with
Elisabeth Shue Elisabeth Shue (born October 6, 1963) is an American actress. She has starred in films such as '' The Karate Kid'' (1984), '' Adventures in Babysitting'' (1987), ''Cocktail'' (1988), ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989), '' Back to the Future P ...
(replacing Claudia Wells) and Jeffrey Weissman (replacing
Crispin Glover Crispin Hellion Glover (born April 20, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker and artist. He is known for portraying eccentricity (behavior), eccentric Character actor, character roles on screen. His breakout role was as George McFly in ''Back to ...
) in supporting roles. It follows
Marty McFly Marty McFly is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Back to the Future (franchise), ''Back to the Future'' franchise. He is a high school student living in the fictional town of Hill Valley (Back to the Future), Hill Valley, California ...
(Fox) and his friend Doctor Emmett "Doc" Brown (Lloyd) as they travel from 1985 to 2015 to prevent the former's son from tarnishing their family's future. When their arch-nemesis Biff Tannen (Wilson) steals the
DeLorean time machine In the ''Back to the Future (franchise), Back to the Future'' franchise, the DeLorean time machine is a time machine, time travel vehicle constructed from a retrofitted DMC DeLorean. Its time travel ability is derived from the "flux capacitor", ...
and uses it to alter history for his benefit, the duo must return to 1955 to set things right. The film was produced on a $40 million budget and was filmed back to back with its sequel '' Part III''. Filming began in February 1989, after two years were spent building the sets and writing the scripts. ''Back to the Future Part II'' was also a ground-breaking project for visual effects studio
Industrial Light & Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American Film, motion picture visual effects, computer animation and stereo conversion digital studio founded by George Lucas on May 26, 1975. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lu ...
(ILM). In addition to
digital compositing Digital compositing is the process of digitally assembling multiple images to make a final image, typically for print, motion pictures or screen display. It is the digital analogue of optical film compositing. It's part of VFX processing. Ma ...
, ILM used the VistaGlide motion control camera system, which allowed an actor to portray multiple characters simultaneously on-screen without sacrificing camera movement. ''Back to the Future Part II'' was released by
Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
on November 22, 1989. Though the film received mostly positive reviews, it was deemed inferior to its predecessor by critics at the time of release. In the years since, the film has been reappraised and is now considered one of the best sequel and science fiction films of all time. The film grossed over $332 million worldwide in its initial run, making it the third-highest-grossing film of 1989. ''Part III'' followed on May 25, 1990, concluding the trilogy.


Plot

On October 26, 1985, Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown arrives unexpectedly in the
DeLorean time machine In the ''Back to the Future (franchise), Back to the Future'' franchise, the DeLorean time machine is a time machine, time travel vehicle constructed from a retrofitted DMC DeLorean. Its time travel ability is derived from the "flux capacitor", ...
. He persuades
Marty McFly Marty McFly is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Back to the Future (franchise), ''Back to the Future'' franchise. He is a high school student living in the fictional town of Hill Valley (Back to the Future), Hill Valley, California ...
and his girlfriend, Jennifer Parker, to travel to the future with him and help their future children, with Biff Tannen witnessing their departure. Once they arrive in 2015, Doc incapacitates Jennifer, leaving her asleep in an alley to avoid letting her learn about her own future. Doc explains that their son Marty Jr. will be arrested for participating in a robbery with Biff's grandson
Griff Griff may refer to: People * Griff (name), a list of people with the given name or surname * Griff (singer), stage name of English singer and songwriter Sarah Faith Griffiths (born 2001) * Nickname of Guy Griffiths (1915–1999), British Secon ...
, leading to a chain of events that destroys the McFly family. Doc instructs Marty to switch places with the identical Marty Jr. and refuse Griff's offer, but Griff goads Marty into a fight by calling him "chicken", and a subsequent
hoverboard A hoverboard (or hover board) is a fictional levitating board used for personal transportation, first described in science-fiction, and made famous by the appearance of a skateboard-like hoverboard in the film ''Back to the Future Part II''. Ma ...
chase ensues. Griff and his gang are arrested, saving Marty's future children. Before rejoining Doc, Marty purchases an
almanac An almanac (also spelled almanack and almanach) is a regularly published listing of a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasting, weather forecasts, farmers' sowing, planting dates ...
containing the results of major sporting events from 1950 to 2000. Doc discovers it and warns Marty about profiting from time travel. Before Doc can adequately dispose of it, they are interrupted by the police, who have found Jennifer incapacitated and are taking her to her 2015 home. They pursue, as does an elderly Biff, who has overheard their conversation and retrieved the discarded almanac. Jennifer wakes up in her 2015 home and hides from the McFly family. She overhears that her future life with Marty is not what she expected, due to his involvement in an automobile accident, and witnesses Marty being goaded by his co-worker, Douglas Needles, into a shady business deal, resulting in his firing. Jennifer tries to escape the house but faints after encountering her 2015 self. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Marty and Doc, Biff steals the time machine and returns it. Marty and Doc return to 1985, leaving an unconscious Jennifer on her front porch to sleep off the day's events as a dream. Marty gradually realizes that the 1985 they have returned to is not the one he knows. Biff, having used the almanac to secure a fortune, is now one of the country's wealthiest and most corrupt men. He has turned Hill Valley into a chaotic
dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...
, secretly killed Marty's father, George, in 1973, and forced Marty's mother,
Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...
, to marry him. Meanwhile, this timeline's version of Doc has been committed to a mental hospital. Doc deduces that old Biff took the time machine to give his younger self the almanac, and Marty learns from the alternate 1985 Biff that he received it on November 12, 1955. Biff, acting on his future self's advice, tries to kill Marty, but he flees with Doc to 1955. Marty secretly follows the 1955 Biff and watches him receive the almanac from his 2015 self. Marty then follows him to the high school dance, carefully avoiding interrupting the events from his previous visit, and being forced to intervene when Biff's gang goes after the other Marty performing onstage. Marty finally gets the almanac, but loses it after being again goaded into a fight with Biff. Marty chases after Biff's car on the hoverboard, getting the almanac back as Biff is left to crash into a manure truck for the second time in a week. Marty burns the almanac, nullifying the changes to the timeline that it had caused, as Doc hovers above in the time machine. Before Marty can join him, the DeLorean is struck by lightning and disappears. A
Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Denver, Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the co ...
courier arrives immediately after and delivers a letter to Marty; it is from Doc, who tells him that the lightning strike transported him 70 years in the past to 1885. Marty races back into town to find the 1955 Doc, who had just helped the other Marty to return to 1985. Shocked by Marty's sudden reappearance, Doc faints.


Cast

Elisabeth Shue Elisabeth Shue (born October 6, 1963) is an American actress. She has starred in films such as '' The Karate Kid'' (1984), '' Adventures in Babysitting'' (1987), ''Cocktail'' (1988), ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989), '' Back to the Future P ...
replaces Claudia Wells as Jennifer Parker and Jeffrey Weissman replaces
Crispin Glover Crispin Hellion Glover (born April 20, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker and artist. He is known for portraying eccentricity (behavior), eccentric Character actor, character roles on screen. His breakout role was as George McFly in ''Back to ...
as George McFly, though Glover appears in archive footage from the first film. James Tolkan reprises his role as Mr. Strickland, as do
Billy Zane William George Zane Jr. (born February 24, 1966) is an American actor. His breakthrough role was in the Australian film ''Dead Calm (film), Dead Calm'' (1989), a performance that earned him a nomination for the Chicago Film Critics Association, ...
, Casey Siemaszko and J. J. Cohen as Biff's cronies Match, 3-D and Skinhead. Griff's gang in 2015 includes Ricky Dean Logan as Data, Darlene Vogel as Spike and Jason Scott Lee as Whitey. Stephanie E. Williams plays Officer Foley, while Zemeckis' then-wife Mary Ellen Trainor has an uncredited role as Officer Reese.
Flea Flea, the common name for the order (biology), order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by hematophagy, ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult f ...
appears as Marty's coworker Douglas J. Needles and James Ishida plays his boss Mr. Fujitsu. Donald Fullilove, who played Goldie Wilson in the first film, makes an uncredited appearance as his hovercar salesman grandson Goldie Wilson III. A young
Elijah Wood Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. Wood made his film debut with a minor part in ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989) at the age of eight and achieved recognition in the early 1990s as a child acto ...
is one of the two boys Marty teaches to play ''Wild Gunman''. In the alternate 1985, Al White portrays the patriarch of the family living in the McFly house. Neil Ross provides the voiceover for the Biff Tannen museum while
George Buck Flower George Albert "Buck" Flower (October 28, 1937 – June 18, 2004) was an American actor, writer, producer, assistant director, production manager, and casting director. He was sometimes credited as Ernest Wall, Buck Flower, George "Buck" Flower ...
reprises his role as Red the Bum. In 1955, Harry Waters Jr. reprises his role as Marvin Berry, Lisa Freeman reprises her role as Babs,
Wesley Mann Wesley Mann (born September 6, 1963) is an American character actor, best known for his role as the caterpillar on '' Adventures in Wonderland'' and for playing the spluttering teacher-turned-principal Mr. Lawler on '' That's So Raven''. His a ...
plays a student who mistakes Marty for a thief, and
Joe Flaherty Joseph Flaherty (born Joseph O'Flaherty, June 21, 1941 – April 1, 2024) was an American actor, writer, and comedian. He is best known for his work on the Canadian sketch comedy '' SCTV'' from 1976 to 1984 (on which he also served as a write ...
plays the Western Union representative who delivers Doc's letter.
Charles Fleischer Charles Fleischer (born August 27, 1950) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, musician, and writer, best known for his recurring role as Carvelli in '' Welcome Back, Kotter'', and for appearing in films such as ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'', ...
plays Terry, who in 2015 indirectly gives Marty the idea to use time travel to bet on sports, and in 1955 is Biff's mechanic.


Development

Director
Robert Zemeckis Robert Lee Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an American filmmaker known for directing and producing a range of successful and influential movies, often blending cutting-edge visual effects with storytelling. He has received several accolades incl ...
said that initially, a sequel was not planned for the first film, but its huge box office success led to the conception of a second installment. He later agreed to do a sequel, but only if Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd returned as well. With Fox and Lloyd confirmed, Zemeckis met with screenwriting partner Bob Gale to create a story for the sequel. Zemeckis and Gale would later regret that they ended the first one with Jennifer in the car with Marty and Doc Brown, because it required them to come up with a story that would fit her in, rather than a whole new adventure. Gale wrote most of the first draft by himself as Zemeckis was busy making ''
Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...
''. At first, the film's third act was to take place in 1967 where Lorraine was a flower child protesting the war and George was a college professor at Berkeley, but Zemeckis later stated that the time paradoxes of it provided a good opportunity to go back to 1955 and see the first film's events in a different light. While most of the original cast agreed to return, a major stumbling block arose when negotiating Crispin Glover's fee for reprising the role of George McFly. When it became clear that he would not return, the role was rewritten so that George is dead when the action takes place in the alternative version of 1985. The greatest challenge was the creation of the futuristic vision of Marty's hometown in 2015. Production designer
Rick Carter Rick Carter (born 1952, Los Angeles, California) is an American production designer and art director. He is best known for his collaborations with directors Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis, particularly on the films ''Back to the Future Pa ...
wanted to create a very detailed image with a different tone from the film ''
Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Di ...
'', wishing to get past the smoke and chrome. Carter and his crew spent months plotting, planning, and preparing Hill Valley's transformation into a city of the future. Visual effects art director John Bell said that they had no script to work with, only the indications that the setting would be 30 years into the future featuring "something called hoverboards". When writing the script for ''Part II'', Gale wanted to push the first film's ideas further for humorous effect. Zemeckis said he was somewhat concerned about portraying the future because of the risk of making wildly inaccurate predictions. According to Gale, they tried to make the future a nice place, "where what's wrong is due to who lives in the future as opposed to the technology" in contrast to the pessimistic,
Orwellian ''Orwellian'' is an adjective which is used to describe a situation, an idea, or a societal condition that 20th-century author George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free and open society. It denotes an attitude and ...
future seen in most science fiction. Gale has stated that the characterization of the 1985A Biff took inspiration from
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
. To keep production costs low and take advantage of an extended break Fox had from '' Family Ties'' (which was ending its run when filming began), it was shot
back-to-back Back to Back or back-to-back may refer to: Film and theatre *Back to Back (film), ''Back to Back'' (film), a 1996 American action film *Back-to-back film production, the practice of making two films as a unified production *Back to Back Theatre, ...
with sequel '' Part III''.


Production

Two years were needed to finish building the sets and writing the scripts before shooting could begin. During filming the creation of the appearance of the aged characters was a well-guarded secret, involving state-of-the-art make-up techniques. Fox described the process as very time-consuming, saying that "it took over four hours, although it could be worse".
Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...
began on February 20, 1989. Fox was pulling double duty, acting in the last season of ''Family Ties'' as filming began on the sequel. For a three-week period near the end of the filming, the crew split and, while most remained dedicated to shooting ''Part III'', a few, including Gale, focused on finishing its predecessor. Zemeckis himself slept only a few hours per day, supervising both films, having to fly between
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
, where it was being finished and other locations in
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
for ''Part III''. The film was considered one of the most ground-breaking projects for
Industrial Light & Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American Film, motion picture visual effects, computer animation and stereo conversion digital studio founded by George Lucas on May 26, 1975. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lu ...
. It was one of the effects house's first forays into
digital compositing Digital compositing is the process of digitally assembling multiple images to make a final image, typically for print, motion pictures or screen display. It is the digital analogue of optical film compositing. It's part of VFX processing. Ma ...
, as well as the VistaGlide
motion control Motion control is a sub-field of automation, encompassing the systems or sub-systems involved in moving parts of machines in a controlled manner. Motion control systems are extensively used in a variety of fields for automation purposes, includi ...
camera system, which enabled them to shoot one of its most complex sequences, in which Fox played three separate characters (Marty Sr., Marty Jr., and Marlene), all of whom interacted with each other. Although such scenes were not new, the VistaGlide allowed, for the first time, a completely dynamic scene in which camera movement could finally be incorporated. The technique was also used in scenes where Fox, Thomas F. Wilson, Christopher Lloyd, and Elisabeth Shue's characters encounter and interact with their counterparts. It also includes a brief moment of
computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is a specific-technology or application of computer graphics for creating or improving images in Digital art, art, Publishing, printed media, Training simulation, simulators, videos and video games. These images ...
in a
holographic Holography is a technique that allows a wavefront to be recorded and later reconstructed. It is best known as a method of generating three-dimensional images, and has a wide range of other uses, including data storage, microscopy, and interfe ...
shark used to promote a fictional '' Jaws 19'', which wound up unaltered from the first test done by ILM's digital department because effects supervisor Ken Ralston "liked the fact that it was all messed up." Animation supervisor Wes Takahashi, who then was the head of ILM's animation department, worked heavily on the film's time travel sequences, as he had done in the original film and in ''Part III''. As ''Part II'' neared release, sufficient footage of ''Part III'' had been shot to allow a trailer to be assembled. It was added to the conclusion of ''Part II'' before the closing credits, as a reassurance to moviegoers that there was more to follow.''Tales from the Future: Time Flies'' documentary, ''Back to the Future Trilogy'' Blu-ray, 2010


Replacement of Crispin Glover and lawsuit

Crispin Glover Crispin Hellion Glover (born April 20, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker and artist. He is known for portraying eccentricity (behavior), eccentric Character actor, character roles on screen. His breakout role was as George McFly in ''Back to ...
was asked to reprise the role of George McFly. He expressed interest, but could not come to an agreement with the producers regarding his salary. He stated in a 1992 interview on ''
The Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was radio syndication, nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WINS-FM, WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The sho ...
'' that the producers' highest offer was $125,000, less than half of what the other returning cast members were offered. Gale has since asserted that Glover's demands were excessive for an actor of his professional stature at that time. In an interview on the '' Opie and Anthony'' show in 2013, Glover stated that his primary reason for not doing ''Part II'' was a philosophical disagreement on the film's message; Glover felt the story rewarded the characters with financial gain, such as Marty's truck, rather than love. Rather than write George out of the film, Zemeckis used previously filmed footage of Glover from the first film as well as new footage of actor Jeffrey Weissman, who wore
prosthetics In medicine, a prosthesis (: prostheses; from ), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth (congenital disorder). Prosthe ...
including a false chin, nose, and cheekbones to resemble Glover. Various techniques were used to obfuscate the Weissman footage, such as placing him in the background rather than the foreground, having him wear sunglasses, and hanging him upside down. Glover would also learn from Weissman that the molds created from his face to make the aging prosthetics for 1985 George McFly in the first film were reused to make the prosthetics for Weissman's portrayal. Unhappy with this, Glover filed a lawsuit against the producers of the film on the grounds that they neither owned his likeness nor had permission to use it. As a result of the suit, there are now clauses in the
Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...
collective bargaining agreements stating that producers and actors are not allowed to use such methods to reproduce the likeness of other actors. Glover's legal action, while resolved outside of the courts, has been considered as a key case in
personality rights Personality rights, sometimes referred to as the right of publicity, are rights for an individual to control the commercial use of their identity, such as name, image, likeness, or other unequivocal identifiers. They are generally considered as p ...
for actors with increasing use of improved special effects and digital techniques, in which actors may have agreed to appear in one part of a production but have their likenesses be used in another without their agreement.


Replacement of Claudia Wells

Claudia Wells planned to reprise her role as Marty's girlfriend Jennifer Parker, but when filming coincided with a family cancer crisis, she chose to care for her mother's health. After the producers cast
Elisabeth Shue Elisabeth Shue (born October 6, 1963) is an American actress. She has starred in films such as '' The Karate Kid'' (1984), '' Adventures in Babysitting'' (1987), ''Cocktail'' (1988), ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989), '' Back to the Future P ...
as a replacement, they re-shot the closing scenes of the first film for the beginning of ''Part II'', in a nearly
shot-for-shot Shot-for-shot (or shot-for-shot adaptation, shot-for-shot remake) is a way to describe a visual work based on an existing work that is transferred almost completely identically from the original work without much interpretation. Production use ...
match with the original. Wells returned to acting with a starring role in the 2008 independent film ''Still Waters Burn''. She is one of the few cast members not to make an appearance within the bonus material on the ''Back to the Future Trilogy'' DVD set released in 2002. However, she is interviewed for the ''Tales from the Future'' documentaries in the trilogy's 25th anniversary issue on
Blu-ray Disc Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of ...
in 2010. Wells would also later reprise her role from the first film, 26 years after her last appearance in the series, providing the voice of Jennifer for '' Back to the Future: The Game'' by
Telltale Games Telltale Incorporated (trade name: Telltale Games) was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. The company was founded in July 2004 by former LucasArts developers Kevin Bruner, Dan Connors and Troy Molander, following ...
in 2011.


Hoverboard hoax

Zemeckis said jokingly on the film's behind-the-scenes featurette that the
hoverboard A hoverboard (or hover board) is a fictional levitating board used for personal transportation, first described in science-fiction, and made famous by the appearance of a skateboard-like hoverboard in the film ''Back to the Future Part II''. Ma ...
s (flying skateboards) used in it were real, yet not released to the public, due to parental complaints regarding safety. Footage of "real hoverboards" was also featured in the extras of a DVD release of the trilogy. A number of people thought Zemeckis was telling the truth and requested them at toy stores. In an interview, Wilson said one of the most frequent questions he was asked was if they are real.


Depiction of the future

Although the filmmakers researched contemporary predictions by scientists on what might occur by 2015, Zemeckis has said that the film was not meant to be a serious attempt at predicting the future. In 2010, he commented: "For me, filming the future scenes of the movie were the least enjoyable of making the whole trilogy, because I don't really like films that try and predict the future. The only ones I've actually enjoyed were the ones done by
Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...
, and not even he predicted the PC when he made '' A Clockwork Orange''. So, rather than trying to make a scientifically sound prediction that we were probably going to get wrong anyway, we figured, let's just make it funny". Similarly, Gale said: "We knew we weren't going to have
flying car A flying car or roadable aircraft is a type of vehicle which can function both as a road vehicle and as an aircraft. As used here, this includes vehicles which drive as motorcycles when on the road. The term "flying car" is also sometimes ...
s by the year 2015, but God we had to have those in our movie". However, the film did correctly predict a number of technological and sociological changes that occurred by 2015, including: the rise of
ubiquitous Omnipresence or ubiquity is the property of being present anywhere and everywhere. The term omnipresence is most often used in a religious context as an attribute of a deity or supreme being, while the term ubiquity is generally used to describ ...
cameras; use of unmanned flying drones for
news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the te ...
gathering; widescreen flat-panel television sets mounted on walls with multiple channel viewing; smart home technology; video chat systems; hands-free video games; talking animated
billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
s;
wearable technology Wearable technology is any technology that is designed to be used while worn. Common types of wearable technology include smartwatches, fitness trackers, and smartglasses. Wearable electronic devices are often close to or on the surface of the s ...
;
tablet computer A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being computers ...
s with fingerprint scanners and
head-mounted display A head-mounted display (HMD) is a display device, worn on the head or as part of a helmet (see helmet-mounted display for aviation applications), that has a small display optic in front of one (monocular HMD) or each eye (binocular vision, bi ...
s. Payment on personal portable devices is also depicted. Although payment by thumbprint was not widely used in 2015, fingerprint scanning was in use as security at places such as airports and schools, and electronic payment with fingerprint scanning as a security feature deployed for
Apple Pay Apple Pay is a mobile payment service by Apple Inc. that allows users to make payments in person, in iOS apps, and on the web. Supported on iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro, Apple Pay digitizes and can replace a credit or debi ...
. Other aspects of the depiction of the future would not come to pass by 2015, but efforts were made to replicate those technology advances. The film shows Marty putting on Nike " Air Mag" tennis shoes with automatic shoelaces. Nike released a version of its Hyperdunk Supreme shoes, which appear similar to Marty's, in July 2008. Fans dubbed them the ''Air McFly''. In April 2009, Nike filed the patent for self-lacing shoes, and its design bears a resemblance to those worn by Marty in the film. In 2010, a fan named Blake Bevin created shoes that tie themselves. Though Nike had made a very limited quantity of Air Mags in the same style as the movie, the company stated in September 2011 that its consumer-line MAG line of shoes would not feature the self-lacing feature shown in it. Tinker Hatfield, one of the shoe's designers, indicated in 2014 that it would introduce shoes with power-lacing technology the following year, 2015. In March 2016, Nike unveiled the HyperAdapt 1.0 shoe, a consumer-market model of the Air Mag which features the same self-lacing technology used for the commemorative Air Mags; these were put on sale in limited quantities in late 2016. The producers created a futuristic flying car to depict a typical taxi cab in the future world of 2015. This taxi was based on the
Citroën DS The Citroën DS () is a Front-mid-engine, front-wheel-drive layout, front mid-engined, front-wheel drive executive car manufactured and marketed by Citroën from 1955 to 1975, in fastback/sedan, wagon/estate, and convertible body configurations ...
. The concept of the
hoverboard A hoverboard (or hover board) is a fictional levitating board used for personal transportation, first described in science-fiction, and made famous by the appearance of a skateboard-like hoverboard in the film ''Back to the Future Part II''. Ma ...
—a skateboard that can float off the ground—has been explored by various groups since the release of the film. Attempts similar to hoverboats, which blast air at the ground, have been demonstrated, with a 2021 record distance of . A different type is the MagBoard, developed by researchers at the
Paris Diderot University Paris Diderot University, also known as Paris 7 (), was a French university located in Paris, France. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 1970. Paris Diderot merged with Pari ...
. It uses a large superconductor plate on the bottom cooled with liquid nitrogen as to achieve the
Meissner effect In condensed-matter physics, the Meissner effect (or Meißner–Ochsenfeld effect) is the expulsion of a magnetic field from a superconductor during its transition to the superconducting state when it is cooled below the critical temperature. Th ...
and allow it to float over a special track; it was shown capable of carrying the weight of a human in its practical demonstration. However, the requirement to run the superconductor at higher, more ambient temperatures prevents this from becoming practical. In March 2014, a company named HUVr Tech purportedly demonstrated a working hoverboard along with several celebrities including Lloyd, though this shortly was revealed as a hoax created by the website Funny or Die. Self-balancing "hoverboards" became popular in 2015 even though they do not hover above the ground. In the 2015 scene, the film imagines the
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...
winning the 2015
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...
against the fictional
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
-based Gators, referring to the Cubs' longstanding failure to win a championship. In the actual 2015 season, the Cubs qualified for the postseason, their first postseason appearance since
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
, but lost the
National League Championship Series The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two Natio ...
(not the World Series) to the
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
on October 21, which coincidentally was the same day as "''Back to the Future'' Day", the day Marty McFly arrived in 2015 in the film. Despite losing, one year later the Cubs ''did'' win the 2016 World Series against the
Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...
; in congratulations to the Cubs, the official
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
feed for the ''Back to the Future'' franchise jokingly tweeted out that Marty & Doc's time-traveling caused "a rift in the space-time continuum" that led to the 1994 strike (and subsequent cancellation of the 1994 World Series), thus delaying the accurate prediction by a year. In the real 2015 World Series, the
Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...
defeated the Mets to win their first World Series championship since 1985, the year which Marty and Doc time traveled in the film. As for the fictional Miami team, when the film was made,
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
did not have a
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
team, but has since gained two: the Florida Marlins (now the
Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. The ...
) in 1993 and Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now the
Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...
) in 1998. While both teams have each made two appearances in the World Series (the Marlins winning in
1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...
and
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
, and the Rays losing in
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
and
2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
), neither qualified for the postseason in 2015. Another sport mentioned in the film, SlamBall, would indeed become a real sport in 2002.


Release and reception


Box office

The film was released to theaters in North America on Wednesday, November 22, 1989, the day before
Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...
. It grossed a total of $27.8 million over Friday to Sunday, and $43 million across the five-day holiday opening, breaking the previous Thanksgiving record set by ''
Rocky IV ''Rocky IV'' is a 1985 American sports drama film starring, written and directed by Sylvester Stallone. The film is the sequel to '' Rocky III'' (1982) and the fourth installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise. It also stars Talia Shire, Burt You ...
'' in 1985. On the following weekend, it had a drop of 56 percent, earning $12.1 million, but remained at number 1. Its total gross was $118.5 million in the United States and $213 million overseas, for a total of $332 million worldwide, ranking as 1989's sixth-most successful film domestically and the third-most worldwide—behind ''
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' is a 1989 American action adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Jeffrey Boam, based on a story by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes. It is the third installment in the Indiana Jone ...
'' and ''
Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
''. However this was still short of the first film's gross. ''Part III'', which Universal released only six months later, experienced a similar drop. In Japan, it had a record opening, grossing $7.5 million in six days from 153 screens.


Critical response

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads: "''Back to the Future II'' is far more uneven than its predecessor, but its madcap highs outweigh the occasionally cluttered machinations of an overstuffed plot". On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 57 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'' gave the film three out of four stars. Ebert criticized it for lacking the "genuine power of the original" but praised it for its slapstick humor and the hoverboard in its chase sequence.
Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...
of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' wrote that the film is "ready for bigger and better things" and later said that it "manages to be giddily and merrily mind-boggling, rather than confusing". Tom Tunney of ''
Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
'' magazine wrote that the film was well-directed, "high-energy escapism", and called it "solidly entertaining", though noting it as being inferior to the other two films in the franchise.
Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for '' The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has contributed to ...
of the ''
Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. The ''Reader'' has been ...
'' gave the film a negative review, criticizing Zemeckis and Gale for turning the characters into "strident geeks" and for making the frenetic action formulaic. He believed that it contained "rampant misogyny", because the character of Jennifer Parker "is knocked unconscious early on so she won't interfere with the little-boy games". He cited, as well, Michael J. Fox dressing in drag. '' Variety'' said, " irector RobertZemeckis' fascination with having characters interact at different ages of their lives hurts it visually, and strains credibility past the breaking point, by forcing him to rely on some very cheesy makeup designs". In 2018, Bob Gale, who co-wrote the movie with Robert Zemeckis, said the movie received a mixed reception because of the dark aspect of the story: "They he audienceswere absolutely surprised by it. The whole 1985 stuff... we went places the audience was not ready to go. That is some of my favorite stuff in the whole trilogy".


Accolades

The film won the Saturn Award for Best Special Effects (for Ken Ralston, the special effects supervisor), the BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects (Ken Ralston, Michael Lantieri, John Bell and Steve Gawley), an Internet-voted 2003 AOL Movies DVD Premiere Award for the trilogy DVDs, a Golden Screen Award, a Young Artist Award, and the Blimp Awards for Favorite Movie Actor (Michael J. Fox), and Favorite Movie Actress (Lea Thompson) at the 1990 Kids' Choice Awards. It was nominated in 1990 for an
Academy Award for Best Visual Effects The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects is presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best achievement in visual effects. It has been handed to four members of the team directly responsible for creatin ...
(John Bell, Steve Gawley, Michael Lantieri and Ken Ralston), but lost to '' The Abyss''.


Home media

The film was released on VHS and
LaserDisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...
on May 22, 1990, three days before the theatrical release of ''Part III''. It was due to be the first release under the MCA/Universal Home Video banner. On December 17, 2002, Universal released it on DVD in a boxed trilogy set, although widescreen framing problems led to a product recall. The trilogy was released on Blu-ray Disc in October 2010. Universal re-released the trilogy alongside new features on DVD and Blu-ray on October 20, 2015, coinciding with ''Back to the Future Day'' the following day. The new set included a featurette called "Doc Brown Saves the World", where Lloyd, reprising his role as Doc Brown, explains the reasons for the differences between the future of 2015 as depicted in ''Back to the Future Part II'' and in real life. A new remaster as part of ''Back to the Future: The Ultimate Trilogy'' on Blu-ray and
Ultra HD Blu-ray Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray supports 4K UHD (3840 × 2160 pixel resolution) video at frame rates up to 60 progre ...
was released on October 20, 2020. In May 2020, the trilogy was released for streaming on
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
. A small edit was noticed to ''Part II'' during the scene featuring the fictional soft porn magazine called ''Oh La La!'' in which the shot showing the reveal of the magazine cover is cut short, omitting sight of the magazine itself. Gale stated that neither he nor Zemeckis were aware of this change, and believed it originated from a foreign print of the film. Shortly afterwards, Universal provided Netflix with the unedited, theatrical version of the film, replacing the censored cut on the streaming platform.


Music

The soundtrack was released by
MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...
on November 22, 1989.
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
rated it four-and-a-half stars out of five."Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"
. '' allmusic.com''
Unlike the previous soundtrack, it contains only a musical score composed and conducted by
Alan Silvestri Alan Anthony Silvestri (born March 26, 1950) is an American composer, conductor, orchestrator and music producer of film scores. He has received two Grammy Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and two ...
and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony. None of the vocal songs featured throughout the film are included. On October 12, 2015, Intrada Records released the complete score of ''Back to the Future Part II'' in a 2-disc set including early scoring sessions and alternative takes.


See also

* List of 1989 box office number-one films in the United States * List of films featuring drones


Notes


References


External links

* * * * * * {{Authority control 1989 films 1980s English-language films 1980s science fiction comedy films American science fiction comedy films American science fiction adventure films American alternate history films American films about gambling American high school films American sequel films American teen comedy films Back to the Future (franchise) films BAFTA winners (films) Casting controversies in film Chicago Cubs Dystopian films Films set in 1955 Films set in 1985 Films set in 2015 Films set in California Films set in the future Films shot in Los Angeles Fiction about flying cars 1980s films about time travel Amblin Entertainment films Universal Pictures films Films directed by Robert Zemeckis Films scored by Alan Silvestri Films with screenplays by Robert Zemeckis Films with screenplays by Bob Gale 1989 comedy films Works subject to a lawsuit Personality rights 1980s American films 1989 science fiction films English-language science fiction comedy films Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award–winning films Saturn Award–winning films