Back to the Future Part II (1989)

After visiting 2015, Marty McFly must repeat his visit to 1955 to prevent disastrous changes to 1985...without interfering with his first trip.

Director:

Robert Zemeckis

Writers:

Robert Zemeckis (characters), Bob Gale (characters)

Stars:

Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 9 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael J. Fox	...	Marty McFly / Marty McFly Jr. / Marlene McFly
Christopher Lloyd	...	Doctor Emmett Brown
Lea Thompson	...	Lorraine
Thomas F. Wilson	...	Biff Tannen / Griff
Elisabeth Shue	...	Jennifer
James Tolkan	...	Strickland
Jeffrey Weissman	...	George McFly
Casey Siemaszko	...	3-D
Billy Zane	...	Match
J.J. Cohen	...	Skinhead
Charles Fleischer	...	Terry
E'Casanova	...	'Michael Jackson' Video Waiter (as E. Casanova Evans)
Jay Koch	...	'Ronald Reagan' Video Waiter
Charles Gherardi	...	'Ayatollah Khomeini' Video Waiter
Ricky Dean Logan	...	Data

Storyline

Marty McFly has only just gotten back from the past, when he is once again picked up by Dr. Emmett Brown and sent through time to the future. Marty's job in the future is to pose as his own son to prevent him from being thrown in prison. Unfortunately, things get worse when the future changes the present.

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Plot Keywords:

second part | adultery | lift skirt | year 2015 | time machine | 

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Taglines:

It's About Time.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 November 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Paradox

Filming Locations:

161 N. Magnolia Avenue, Monrovia, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$27,835,125, 26 November 1989

Gross USA:

$119,000,002

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$335,881,828

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, U-Drive Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby Stereo (35 mm prints) Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In 2015, when Doc and Marty look at the USA Today newspaper and see the headline change, the following headlines and blurbs are: Across the top: 1. Slamball Playoffs Begin (Slamball would become a televised sport in 2002) 2. Cubs Sweep Series In 5 (a World Series sweep would be in 4 wins thus implying the playoffs have been expanded in the future) 3. Marshall Runs 3min. Mile 4. Washington Prepares For Queen Diana's Visit (the film was released 8 years before Princess Diana's death) On The Side 1. Man Killed By Falling Litter 2. Tokyo Stocks Are Up 3. Swiss Terrorist Threat 4. Shredding For Charity 5. President Says She's Tired 6. Queen Diana... (Repeated Headline) 7. Kelp Prices Increase 8. Pitcher Suspended For Bionic Arm Use 9. Slamball Playoffs (Repeated Headline) 10. Jaws (1975) Without Bite (Movie review of the "Jaws 19" gag in the film) Main Headline of Griff and His Gang's arrest: "Gang Jailed" "Hoverboard Rampage Destroys Courthouse" "Gang Leader: I Was Framed" Caption below Griff's picture: Gang Leader Had Bionic Overload.

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Goofs

In the opening scene in which Doc arrives at Marty's house, the time on his wristwatch is actually different from what it was in the identical scene that closes off Back to the Future.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Young Jennifer: How 'bout a ride, mister?
Marty McFly: Jennifer! Oh, man, are you a sight for sore eyes; let me look at you.
Young Jennifer: Marty, you're acting like you haven't seen me in a week.
Marty McFly: I haven't.

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Crazy Credits

The theatrical version had a teaser for Back to the Future Part III (1990). Some later versions do not have a teaser at all, only showing "To Be Concluded", and skip to the credits. Some have "To Be Concluded" followed by "Back To The Future III". Some cable versions retain the teaser for Back To The Future Part III, but, of course, do not say "Coming Summer 1990". It was, however, added back to the film for its digital download and Blu-Ray versions.

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Alternate Versions

Spanish dubbed version also refers to Marty as Levi Strauss instead of Calvin Klein.

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Connections

Referenced in The History and Allure of Time Travel (2004)

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Soundtracks

Papa Loves Mambo
Written by Al Hoffman, Dick Manning, and Bickley Reichner (as Bix Reichner)
Performed by Perry Como
Courtesy of RCA Records

User Reviews

The best sequel ever made

Continuing a movie as perfect as "Back To The Future" must have been a really tough job. What made it even harder was that the writers Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale had to ignore an important character from part one. Because Crispin Glover asked for too much money, his character George McFly, Marty's wacky Dad, hardly appears in the sequels, which constricted the storyline a lot beforehand.

Still, "Back To The Future II" turned out to be a huge success, commercially and artistically. The movie is every bit as clever and delightful as part one. I think most viewers don't realize how extremely complex this story is, because it's so enjoyable to watch. Gale & Zemeckis wrote a screenplay that takes place in three different periods of time, changes storyline more than once, has characters interacting with themselves all the time, but never seems overdone or confusing. The most original trick the two Bobs pulled was to virtually return to part one and have the main character interfere with the original storyline. I don't think that has ever been done before or since.

No, the movie isn't flawless in a sense that everything can be explained logically. Bob Gale admitted himself that Marty and Doc shouldn't be able to visit their future selves in the first place. There are a lot of impossible time travels in part two (you can read about them in detail here: http://mjyoung.net/time/back2.html). "Mistakes" like that don't take away any of the fun, though, and I still think that the "Back To The Future" trilogy incorporates the logics of time traveling better than any other movie ever did.

Besides the perfect script the trilogy's success is due to Zemeckis ever so beautiful direction and his eye for detail, and of course the great cast. Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Thomas F. Wilson and Lea Thompson, all shamelessly underrated actors, are once again brilliant. It's a REAL pity that Crispin Glover didn't return for the sequels, but as I've said before, Gale & Zemeckis did a great job writing their way around his memorable character. The only other actress that didn't come back was Claudia Wells, who played Jennifer in part one and was appropriately replaced by Elisabeth Shue here.

Summing up, "Back To The Future II" is a more than worthy follow-up to one of the best movies of all time. In fact, I think it's the best sequel ever made, only rivaled by "Terminator 2: Judgement Day". But that's a different story...