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	...	Dr. 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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cheryl Wheeler Duncan, stunt double for Darlene Vogel, was injured during filming of the hoverboard sequence when, due to a technical mishap, instead of flying through the fake glass in the courthouse, she careened into the concrete pillar and then dropped thirty feet on to the concrete below. They didn't re-shoot the scene, and you can clearly see her hitting the pillar and falling to the ground in the final film.

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Goofs

Paperback books like the sports almanac don't come with dust covers.

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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 DVD version (Regions 1 and 2) has "To Be Concluded" followed by the teaser for Part III just before the start of the credits.

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Alternate Versions

The original 2002 DVDs for parts II and III had major framing errors when the wrong areas of the open-matte frame were transferred (known as the "framing fiasco"). This is noticeable for several minutes in each movie and usually manifests as too much sky and missing objects at the bottom. Universal had replacements ready by 2003. A sample from part II is the blinking size button on the future jacket, which is supposed to be visible. Copies with a "V2" next to the copyright notice on the disc, the 2009 single-disc reprint, and the 25th anniversary sets are OK.

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Connections

Featured in Friday Night with Jonathan Ross: Episode #11.12 (2006)

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Soundtracks

I Can't Drive 55
Written and Performed by Sammy Hagar
Courtesy of Geffen Records
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

Great Scott! Even the Doc Doesn't Take His Own Advice! (spoilers)

It's funny that the plot of 'Back to the Future II' should be based on altering Marty McFly's future. Wasn't Doc the one who was so staunchly opposed to knowing too much about their future, preferring instead to let things take a natural course? 'Destiny!' he called it. But that is exactly what the sequel is all about, Doc's proposal to altar the future. And this leads not only to bad news for Doc Brown and Marty, but for the your Density? I mean, Destiny? (flashback humor).

The story focuses on Marty McFly's future. Picking up right where we left off in the first movie, Doc informs Marty that in the year 2015, Marty's son partakes in some unfortunate activities with Griff (Biff's grandson) that lead to his arrest and incarceration. While in the future to fix up that little mishap (again, messing with 'Destiny'), Marty picks up a sports Almanac to take back with him. The Almanac contains all sports scores since something like 1955 (why it is only the size of a magazine, I don't know, considering it covers major college and pro sporting event for a whole lot of years).

The Doc, in disgust at Marty's foolish get-rich-quick desires, throws the magazine out (while still in 2015). Unfortunately, Biff, now an old man, gets hold of both the magazine and the Delorian and travels to his young self in 1955. This sets off a change of events in the past so that when Marty and the Doc, now in the future, are ready to go back to 1985, suddenly find themselves in an unfamiliar hell. With Biff changing the past, he also changed the future, creating a desolate, alternate 1985. One where Biff is the richest man in Hill Valley, though still the sleaziest. And where a lot of other things have changed as well. Now, Marty and the Doc have to go back to 1955 and get the magazine from Biff if they expect to restore the future and erase the alternative 1985.

This is a great sequel to a great movie. You get the 1989 version of the future (I don't know that 2015 will make the kind of progress we see in the movie with cool flying cars and dehydrating pizzas and hoverboards). This is the special effects and visual beauty of the second, whereas in the first one, it was recreating the past. Marty had to once adapt to 1955, now he has to do the same for 2015, even if only for a moment.

But, it also ties in another creative aspect: when Marty and the Doc must return to 1955, they only know the whereabouts of Biff based on where they last saw him in that year--the school dance and all of that which took place in the first movie. Going back to that past means that a Marty "Calvin Klein" McFly is already there, and the events are taking place again just as we saw them in the first movie. And now, the Marty and the Doc from the future are intermingling once again with their past versions of themselves. So, in essence, the filmmakers had to recreate some of the scenes from the old movie, from different angles, and the actors had to play dual roles (which they do often throughout the trilogy) by being added into those scenes. It was a great special effects/visionary project to undertake, and what makes the series so damned creative and really a fun idea. And here, too, the goal is to avoid running into your past self because, yes, it could altar events once again. I wonder how the future changed since Marty and Doc's intervention in 2015?

So, prepare yourself for what may arguably be the best movie out of the trilogy (probably because you get to see the future and past and everything in between; although, I'm still torn between rating the first or the second as my absolute favorite). It is the continuation of a fun first movie, and keeps up the creativity and novelty. I think that was the reason most responsible for its success: the ability to keep offering something new (although some things, are obviously repeated, like the running gag of Marty blacking out and waking up to some version of his mother informing him of what year it is after he tells her what an awful dream he had).

So, sit back and let the Delorean be your guide.

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:

$335,973,020

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 Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1