Back to the Future Trilogy Review

Radio's much -anticipated movie review podcast,

The M -Wire Movie Weekend Review. And in this

first episode, we have a very special guest with

us, Steve Snowball -Sailor from This Weekend

Geek. Hello, sir. Hello, hello, hello. It's a

great pleasure to be on this great program that

is yet only one episode old. Yeah, well, still.

Anyway, today we're going to be discussing all

three Back to the Future films and the epicness

that goes along with that trilogy. So how have

you guys been this week? Oh, yeah, I should also

mention I forgot we also have Steve My co -founder

with geek cast radio. Hello He's your Ed McMahon

to your Johnny Kurtz So what's been going on

with you guys this week Steve you go first because

apparently you've been shafted this episode.

So why don't you go ahead? Mostly Between work

and editing various episodes of the podcast network

Not really much Hey, you had a light week this

week, buddy. You didn't have to deal with any

TFG one stuff. So it was a light week for you.

Yes, luckily You were done TFG one yet. We have

three episodes left and my other My other co

-host on there, Michael Wilson, forgot he had

a conference to go to from yesterday throughout

the weekend. So yeah, no, not yet. We have three

episodes left. So that's what they're calling

it these days. No, it's an educational seminar

that he's going to or something. I'm sure it's

educational. Oh, shut up. So what's going on

with you, Snowball? Pretty much just very, very

busy here. Riding. Actually, believe it or not,

I'm actually going to be doing an episode of

Twig right after I'm done with this episode.

So we got to hurry up. I'm not kidding. But no,

things are going pretty good. All right. Well,

I think we're going to get into the movie discussion,

so that's up next. I think what I'm going to

do is, before each discussion, I'm going to have

Steve put in the theatrical trailers for each

film. So the first Back to the Future trailer

will be up next. This is the discussion for the

first film, Back to the Future. Just in general,

I don't even need to watch these films to remember

how great they are. I mean, from the amplifier

blowing up in the first movie to the hover conversion

to Lorian in the second film to catching a train

while riding like cowboys in the third film,

the Back to the Future's exude awesomeness. I

mean, they just do. Back to the Future film series

was a movie series that any kid in the 80s could

relate to, especially with being late to school

and having to deal with a character like Strickland.

Granted not all of us know a wacky scientist

that hasn't been through the time machine. Oh,

I do I do Okay, well snowball does But there

are more good than bad things about these movies

while I never saw these films in theaters I do

remember when they first came to VHS. Yes I said

VHS in this day and age of digital media DVD

Blu -ray and everything else like that VHS is

hardly ever heard of And yet I can go on Amazon

and find VHS copies of the Back to the Future

films. Sort of your all's general memories of

just the film franchise in general. Snowball,

you can go first if you want. Oh, okay. The thing

is about the Back to the Future films that I

liked a lot is that it was always, especially

the first movie, because it was always fun. uh...

yeah there was uh... there was some uh... issued

like you if you look into it further there could

have been there there's more complex issues about

life and uh... uh... did basically put your mind

to it accomplish anything much like it's a movie

and and there's a lot of there's a lot of more

uh... issues that are involved in this but uh...

in all in general it is just a fun movie and

that's what i like that like especially around

that time because since it was steven spielberg

who is producing these movies and it was also

robertson meccans who directed them uh... you

can't be there was They always, any movies that

they make, they always try to exude a sense of

fun and wonderment to their films, especially

with Spielberg, and that's why I loved About

Back to the Future. There was a lot of technical

time travel issues that a lot of people think

are just weird and whacked out, but if you just

take on it as a film just for fun, then I think

that that's probably the best thing that I could

ever think of for a film, especially back in

the 80s. These films, even though the second

and third one came out in 89 and 90, these films

were very much 80s films. Oh, totally. So what

are your general thoughts over there, Megatron?

Well, overall, I really like this series. And

I have to agree with Steve. I like the first

movie the best just because there's a lot more

fun going around in it. And I remember watching

these movies on television because I didn't own

them on VHS but they used to have like movies

on Sundays which they don't do anymore and I

used to sit down and watch this every time I

could find it on TV. I don't remember what age

I saw it at but I remember that it's always left

a mark on me that I just I love this series.

Yeah I mean I totally agree. I actually added

something to the script that wasn't in your old

emails, but I remembered something. There's an

airline comic named Al April. I don't know if

you guys have ever heard of him, but he does

these things called autonyms. What he does is

he'll take, like, Ford and make a sentence out

of the first letters of each. Like, Ford is found

on road dead, flip over, read details, you know,

stuff like that. Well, he has one for DeLorean.

Don't ever lend one rich egomaniac a lot of narcotics

That's just not a cool thing that's just a tip

on life Especially those rich kids I mean So

I'm going to read the little booklet synopsis

from the 2005 DVDs really quick The year is 1985,

but not for long, because teenager Marty McFly

is about to be blasted back to 1955 aboard the

plutonium -powered DeLorean, created by eccentric

genius Doc Emmett Brown. But when Marty accidentally

keeps his parents -to -be from falling in love,

it triggers a time -shattering chain reaction

that could vaporize his future and leave him

trapped in the past. Now Marty's only hope is

to change history before the clock runs out on

his one -in -a -million chance to get himself

back to the future. This film, the first film,

as we said a second ago, it just... It broke

all kinds of barriers back in the 80s. It just

did. The only thing that really kind of creeps

me out about it and even though, and it's only

before, what's her name? Leah Thompson says one

line, the Marty Lorraine stuff in the car, the

whole incest stuff is kind of creepy until she

says it's like kissing her brother. It's just,

I think that was the most controversial thing

out of all three films, was that whole, that

whole piece. Another note I have is I wonder

if Calvin Klein got paid big bucks to have his

underwear in the film. You know, I'm willing

to think he probably did. Yeah, there's a lot

of, I, when I was watching it this weekend, there's

a lot of product placement, and there's a lot

of product placement in all films. But this,

it's like, It makes it more realistic. That kind

of was always weird, was basically Marty all

of a sudden going back to, like at the end of

the film, or he goes to Twin Pines Mall and he

basically sees everything going on from like

an outsider's view perspective. Yeah, that kind

of, technically, that shouldn't really happen

in regards to time travel. There's a lot of things

that shouldn't happen in regards to time travel

if you think about it logically. But, you know,

in a way, it's one of those things you can kind

of almost get over. Oh yeah. Well, I was I don't

know what I don't know I don't know snowball

if you have the 2005 complete trilogy DVD set

I know Megatron doesn't but I have it downstairs

yeah okay well if you've watched the special

features in that Zemeckis even said that you

know the good thing about having the first film

and then the second film you could actually go

into the first film so basically they were cutting

a corner there and looking at it at a different

angle. What are some of your initial thoughts

on the first film, Megatron? Well, I liked how...

Well, I liked the 1955 scenes, especially when

they had to... Well, like when he was trying

to convince the doctor on everything. about his

time machine, and then I had to have him fix

it with them. And I like the fact that Marty

bested Biff every chance he got, pretty much

through every little confrontation. It would

be like something little that would cause him

to just barely get past him, especially when

Biff would end up in the manure almost every

time. scene when they were in the car was kind

of strange but it you know still set up for Biff

trying to you know beat him down and then the

dad actually came up and you know did what he

was supposed to. Yes um how was the other note

that I have um I know that uh you know there

wasn't a lot of You know ratings back then for

films was either G, PG or R or NC 17 or X or

whatever It surprises me out of all three of

these films how many times they say shit and

damn No, seriously I mean they say it so much

there's there's one and I think that the I think

that the I don't know if the FCC is any good,

but it might have been the MPAA that kind of

got down on them about that because in the third

film, when Buford goes into the manure at the

Andes, I hate manure. And in the first film,

when they crash into the manure truck, this is

what's said. I mean, Doc Brown even says several

times when Marty's late. Damn, where is that

kid? That's probably my favorite lines of the

whole thing because I actually I kind of created

my own little version of that and basically Instead

of just saying damn damn or is that where I just

say double damn or like as Mike likes to likes

to hear me say Well, that's kind of something

that just It goes with the character of Doc Brown.

It's something that you know, he says throughout

most of the entire series Oh, yeah, I mean, I'm

not I'm not discounting it, I'm just saying it

surprises me with the rating system back then,

that's all I'm saying. Well, I mean in regards

to I mean like talking from kind of a radio standpoint

Damn has never been a like a word that's been

kind of censored in radio I mean you may have

done back in the 50s but around the 80s and 90s

pretty much since Since then the damn wasn't

really that big of a deal. Well, if you try to

say it Yeah, you say shit on the radio. I mean,

that's The thing is with the thing is with that

it's like You gotta remember like I don't remember

it also as well as that Michael J Fox was technically

coming off of Family Ties with this with this

film literally he was shooting Family Ties episodes

and that during the day and then shooting it

back to the future at night and and and the thing

is is like this is the first time we kind of

really see him out sort of like since he blew

up on that show you guys this is the first time

you see him kind of outside of that and get and

in a way I remember seeing it back to like the

show back and when he was on it and then also

watching the film and was like I remember seeing

him like wow I didn't realize he actually like

the thing is when you find out the one of your

favorite actors actually swears it's like wow

okay so this is kind of interesting and so you

don't expect it in a way so when you hear them

say like stuff like shit and all that all the

damn and all that stuff it's like okay okay this

is gonna be this is a this is a different type

of film and I would think if it was around today

like if that movie was released today it probably

maybe would have gotten a PG -13 rating oh yeah

very much so So and then the one thing I mean

I got we gotta mention too is that yes in regard

to the scene in the car with Leah Thompson that

is kind of creepy when you think about yeah like

it's incest mother but Yeah, they're implying

it, but you also have to remember too, technically

Leah Thompson is like only about two or three

years older than Michael J Fox. So she had to

play, even when she was older, she had to play

a very much older woman compared to Michael J

Fox when they're technically only about the same

age. So when you figure that out, it's like,

okay, you know, it's not too bad. Well, and then

also she thought that he was Calvin Klein And

not you know her future son That was yeah very

much. Yeah, that was um We all know that there's

exposition in films there has to be in some films

and this is probably the only film that I really

realized that You know the exposition is made

to be fun because I mean when you hear, you know

Christopher Lloyd as as Doc Brown you know explaining

all this time continuum space time continuum

crap you don't feel like it's like oh my god

we have to go into a whole backstory about this

you know it's not like that it's it's very smooth

and very flowing and I and I think I like that

the best about this film as far as the exposition

and explaining crap And that's the thing too,

there's even stuff that never really has to be

explained. Like I remember watching it when I

was a kid, and I didn't care about the fact that

Marty McFly was friends with an old scientist,

but then when I was watching them just the other

day, I realized, you know what, they never actually

explained how they actually became friends. And

in a way, I was like, you know what, I'm okay

with that. Yeah, they're friends, but I think

it kind of shows how the chemistry between Christopher

Lloyd and Michael J. Fox, because they seem to

have... a really, really good rapport going with

each other, and it just made you believe the

fact that, okay, you know what? Even though we

don't know how long they've been friends or how

they met or whatever, you just know for the fact

that they're really good friends and they've

been friends for a while. Oh, yeah. What else?

When he goes back to the 50s, everybody thinks

his vest is a life jacket. Oh, they're life preservers.

Did you just get off port? Huh? The life preserver.

I think is you know what's funny it's like it's

like it's like the Michael Jackson jacket you

never really see those until you actually see

like Michael Jackson or Michael J Fox wear that

jacket and then you see those jackets everywhere

I don't remember seeing that light preserver

jacket in the 80s that much I think one of my

favorite lines out of the film is this. And I

remember, I think it might be on the DVDs, I

don't know. I didn't watch all the special features

before we recorded today. But I think that Ronald

Reagan actually saw the film and he laughed.

joke and he and he was fine with it. Oh yeah

totally because I mean that's the thing a lot

of people remember Ronald Reagan was technically

an actor back in the 50s. What else do you guys

want to discuss because my notes on the first

one are very very limited. Well I wanted to talk

about the music for a second because I mean in

itself the music in the film and this film and

also in the later films they're always The Huey

Lewis in the news, that is just mind -blowing

in and of itself, because the song Back in Time

and Power of Love, those two songs have to be

probably like... still today are probably one

of my uh... to my favorite songs of all time

because they've really when i hear those songs

is like okay i met them i remember the fun of

back it uh... back in the uh... nineteen eighty

five or whatever when i was watching those not

take me i was only about four or five when i

first saw the film so i didn't know a lot but

i kept watching it over and over again uh...

as i grew up in it just it just those songs just

from i remember a lot about my childhood from

based on those songs and plus also Yeah, technically,

Michael J. Fox didn't actually sing Johnny B.

Good, but man, when I heard that song, too, holy

cow, I literally got. OK, now I understand he

did not sing it. I get that. That's fine. But

the my friends over at Earth to net their new

pop culture podcast, Mike and Nikki make a podcast.

They did a commentary on the first film and a

discussion. was had about whether Michael J.

Fox actually did the guitar stuff. Yes, we all

know that it was pre -recorded music, but he

actually finger -synced it. So when people saw

it, it would be able to, you know, so people

would believe that he was actually doing it and

here is him talking about this. I played guitar

as a teenager. I played in bands from when I

was about 14 years old. So I was never gifted,

but I knew my way around Johnny B. Goode and

my way around the basic scales. So I read the

script. It was like, yeah, OK, I can do that.

I can do that. I can do that. They had already

pre -recorded the music so I took that and I

had a teacher named Paul Hanson who was an amazing

guy and a really talented musician and a great

teacher, really patient. We broke down what had

been pre -recorded because it was important to

me to be able to finger -sync it and to just

play it note for note so that when someone watched

it they'd think Marty was playing it. So in order

to do that the best way was to learn how to play

it note for note and so I did that and that was

great and then I hooked up with the choreographer

and we We're talking about this concept because

Bob wanted it to be really active. So we're trying

to think of ways to come up with movement and

we flashed on this idea because I was a big guitar

fan and had all these heroes, these guitar heroes,

of kind of doing a little bit of each one, a

little bit of Pete Townsend, a little bit of

Jimi Hendrix, a little bit of Eric Clapton and

obviously a lot of Chuck Berry and put that into

the sequence and give it a kind of a build. So

you got the windmill and you got the knee slide

and you got the Jimi Hendrix thing like this.

And that was a lot of fun to work out. We took

about two weeks working that out. I guess you

guys aren't ready for that yet. Which, you know,

that's really, really cool. And actually, I just

hit on something when listening to that clip

after I got it earlier. He said guitar heroes.

So technically, back to the future. is responsible

for the guitar hero franchise. You never know

but you know that's the thing it's like I want

those three songs like on guitar hero or rock

band I don't care what I have to do to get it

I want those songs on it and I'll play them just

like just like and back to the future. Let's

talk about Christian Glover for a bit because

he is super creepy not not as george mcfly him

personal him in in person is super creepy just

well that's the thing about crisp and glover

is that now not again not a lot of people may

know with the fact that crisp and glover was

in a lot of like horror movies uh playing very

creepy characters and then this is kind of one

of the movies that just kind of took him out

of that and really put him into a different uh...

different character and yeah he took it was creepy

i mean i remember looking uh... the because the

david letterman or johnny carson whatever uh...

possible and i was kind of all right to do with

uh... well apparently from what i understand

is that it i think it might have been uh... i

don't know um... the only thing i have from christen

is a classic mix uh... george mcfly line i don't

know if i could take that kind of rejection What

did you guys think of the overall? character

developments throughout the first film For each

main character like you know obviously Biff is

is is the bully. What are you looking at? You

know and of course he's the overall villain of

the entire series, but I never really saw him

As the films progressed I saw needles more as

Marty's Arch Nemesis and Biff. I saw Biff more

of like Doc's Nemesis. I don't know. I can kind

of see that, I guess. I mean, yeah, Biff is kind

of... You know, I guess Biff is kind of more

the bully for both of them in different ways.

Let's just say, for instance, if Doc Brown wasn't

there back in the 1950s, Biff would probably

pick on him, too. So, yeah, I mean, the thing

is, I don't even remember. No, but they added

the thing at the end of the third film with the

car chase. It's implied that he's always, Marty's

always being called a chicken and he always hates

being called a chicken, but it's not actually

shown that it's Needles doing it. Well, he was

also picking on him in the second film, because

that's when he was told to, hey, don't worry

about it. That's creepy, Steve. I do impressions,

that's what I do. I don't even realize, I don't

know maybe there was just a deleted scene that

may have gotten cut of Needles in the first film,

but the thing is they never really explained

where Needles came from or why someone that old

at that time was still called Needles. but uh...

the i know i think that the the main setup but

that's the thing about all these movies is that

one the particular look like one line or one

scene or one shot uh... always seems to pay off

at the at the end somehow and especially with

the needle scene at the end of the third uh...

third movie and regards the rolls royce back

in the uh... back to the future too there was

a that that's when you mention that fact that

he had that accident in regard to with the rolls

royce and that is so it's it just a little Everything

that kind of is mentioned in all three movies.

I mean, you know, Zemeckis even said in the special

features on the first film's disc, he never intended

Back to the Future to have sequels. He put the

flying car at the end as a joke. It wasn't really

even meant to be that way. And I actually could

see Back to the Future, the first film, I could

see it as a standalone movie and it being as

awesome as it is. I mean, even with the ending,

yeah, the ending kind of definitely obviously

sets it up for a sequel, but in and of itself,

it just makes it like it has a standalone film.

You could almost say that it's, okay, you know

what? Okay, now they're going to go off on another

adventure. That's cool. And even if they never

made another back to the future movie ever again

at that point, I would say that even still, just

that one movie alone was enough to basically

say, you know what, this is a cool movie. Just,

it could stand on its own. And then the other

two just basically kind of supplement material.

Megadron, sorry we've been taking a lot of the...

Oh no, that's fine. I actually completely agree

with that statement. I know you've seen my screen

caps that I've taken over at the forums. There's

one screen cap that we need to talk about which

is the Jennifer screen caps. I'm sure you guys

know that There was one actress, I don't remember

her name off the top of my head, in the first

film that played Jennifer and then they replaced

her in the second and third films with Elizabeth

Shue. While I like Elizabeth Shue, I would have

preferred if they stayed with the first actress.

I don't think she fit the Jennifer role that

well. In a way, you have to kind of think about

it. It just, there wasn't really much for her

to do in any of the movies. So, you know, the

first one, actually I kind of liked her a little

bit better than Elizabeth Shue. But then again,

um... She was supposed to be kind of meant as

just a background character, so they could have

put anybody really in that role, and it wouldn't

really have mattered that much. And I didn't

mind Elizabeth Shue that much, as I thought it

would, especially when I realized that it was

a different person playing that character. Yeah,

it would have been good, obviously, with continuity

to have the same act to play it for all three,

but then again, you never know with contractual

issues, or they just couldn't grab her, or she

just didn't want to do it. there's a lot of different

things that could happen and uh... but with regards

to this what i think is I remember, for a lot

of time, I didn't even see Back to the Future

2. I didn't see that until much later on and

I remember only seeing just the first one and

the third one. And even in the third one, she's

not there that much and I didn't even really

notice that it was a different actress until

I found out a little bit more in the movie. But

that's another thing too, I don't know if we

want to talk about it at a certain point, but

the movie's in a way kind of standalone on its

own. uh... stuff that could have goes from each

movie but the third one i'm really necessarily

need to watch the second one or you go to know

what was going on yeah the first the first part

was kind of confusing regards to the letter but

you know it could have been that could have been

just a backstory that just never was explained

to me in the can and that could have been a back

to the future too and i wouldn't i wouldn't care

it is still uh... actually had this next clip

that i'm gonna play as a ringtone of course it

was bleeped unfortunately my calculations are

correct When this baby hits 88 miles per hour,

you're gonna see some serious shit That is one

of the classic lines from the first film Yeah,

and I was as I was mentioning before we started

recording it is that that line in of itself i

remember uh... i remember watching the movies

like when it was on tv and a lot of them were

a lot of movies at the time especially now they're

very edited in regards to language so when i

was seen that way uh... dot brown actually says

uh... isn't that he says uh... you're she's some

serious stuff i'm like that to be with that to

be with that to be dead and care about the fact

i didn't even know and and and and until all

the time so i want to go on with all of you I'm

going to do one more clip really quick and then

we're going to do our little final thoughts on

the first film and then we're going to go into

the second one. So one of my, uh, one of the

next ones that I grabbed was because I thought

it was really funny. It was in the scene where,

um, Marty is trying to get away from the Libyans.

I love that. And then of course the car speeds

up and boom, he's in the fifties. Um, so overall,

How do you guys feel that the first film stands

up today? Yeah, yeah, yes, yeah. Megatron, you

go first. I've been taking over this whole thing.

All right. I think this film still stands up

today. I still think it's a very excellent movie

from the 80s. I think that it still... It's a

pretty good portrayal of everything from the

past on up. It's just a good movie all around.

The acting is great. How it was portrayed was

good. I could sit through the whole movie and

pretty much enjoy it and not really sit there

and think about any of the minor flaws that they

had throughout the entire film. that we should

bring up is that Michael J. Fox was not the original

actor cast for this film it was Eric Stoltz and

uh uh yeah no wrong I'm so glad that they went

back and got the actor that they wanted which

was Michael J. Fox because I don't think that

these films go ahead Steve well actually when

they I was going to say, actually, they decided,

Spielberg and Zemeckis decided, even though it

was going to cost them $3 million more to reshoot

the parts that had stolts in it, they decided

to go ahead and do it anyway, just to get Michael

J. Fox. But also, those weren't the only characters

that they technically recasted. Wanted John Lithgow

to be Doc Brown before they got him for Lloyd,

but I guess he was unavailable. Yeah. Mm -hmm.

And the Biff Tan and Thomas Wilson, I guess,

was originally cast by J .J. Cohan, which was

skinhead of Biff's little group. But they would

have chosen Cohan. Oh, yeah. Just because he

was taller. I don't think, you know, they're

always, you know, early casting and then recasting

with films. I don't think that these, that this

entire trilogy would be the same if it was different

people than what's in it now. It would not be

the same, you know, for me it wouldn't resonate

the same feeling as what it is. honestly think

it is memorable to me without i don't either

because i think uh... i don't think we'd be covering

it if it wasn't these specific actors i don't

mean that's an interesting thing i mean i think

that definitely the film would have been made

and i think you may have probably uh... still

had success in regards to that Like even like

it and they probably could have made it back

to feature two and three It may not have the

same the huge impact that it has now But I think

it probably could have been pretty big because

you got to remember this I mean, yeah the actor

definitely kind of make can kind of make the

role but it's really the story that kind of made

it fun to a certain degree and just and Yeah,

I think my obviously Michael J Fox is probably

the perfect person to play that part But I think

it could it really you could almost put anyone

in that role and it still would have been in

a successful movie, so that's just my opinion.

And if you look at this, and I will mention this

later on, Marty, throughout all three films,

is pretty much an ancillary character. He's pretty

much just a conduit for everyone else. Because

in the first film, you have him going back to

the 50s, and he has to fix his parents falling

in love. Even though it is about him, it's about

his future, The actual events have more to do

with Lorraine and George than it does with him.

He's just the... I don't know. He's just the

levy to the Polaroid. I don't know. I don't know.

Whatever. So let's see what Doc has to say. Roads?

Where we're going, we don't need roads. You remember

the future. You've got to come back with me.

Where? Back to the future. We're in the future?

October 21st, 2015. Marty, we're gonna be able

to see our wedding. Wow, the future. I gotta

check this out, Doc. Look what happened to her

son. Oh, he's a complete wimp. Don't talk to

anyone. You've been looking, Bob. Hey, look.

Don't touch anything. I need to borrow your hover

board. Come on, come on, come on. and try not

to look at anything. I didn't invent the time

machine to win at gambling. I can't lose. I invented

the time machine to travel through time. Hey,

Doc, I'm all for that. What's wrong with making

a few bucks on the side? No. The time continuum

has been disrupted, creating an alternate 1985.

There have been a few changes. It's like we're

in hell or something. No, it's still valley,

although I can imagine hell being much worse.

But they'll all be back. Eat web swag! Biff?

Hello? Hello, anybody home? Why can't it be you?

You're so... big. Michael J. Fox. Christopher

Lloyd. I forgot. Michael J. Fox. More like a

couple of teenagers, you know? And Michael J.

Fox. Mom, is that you? Steven Spielberg presents

a Robert Zemeckis film. Back to the Future. Part

Two. Coming November 22nd to theaters everywhere

It's now time to discuss back to the future part

two and I will read the little synopsis from

the book here Marty and Doc Have barely recovered

from their first time traveling adventure when

they launched themselves once more into a space

time can into the space -time continuum, but

this time around their history - tweaking antics

in the year 2015 create a frightful alternate

1985 Hill Valley where bully Biff Tannen is rich,

powerful, and Marty's dad. Now their only chance

to fix the present is by going back to 1955 all

over again. But can Doc and Marty patch up the

past without igniting a universe -shredding time

paradox? Fire up the trusty DeLorean and find

out. as the powerhouse team of executive producer

Steven Spielberg and director Robert Zemeckis

rev up another round of brilliantly inventive,

comically supercharged, time -hopping action

in Back to the Future Part II. One thing I didn't

bring up in the first discussion was the fact

that I know Spielberg and George Lucas are our

big, our, you know, good friends, and of course

they had to put, you know, I am Darth Vader from

the planet Vulcan in the first film. Which, I

know it was quick to not be able to catch, but

I mean obviously at the very end when you see

the book that George McFly wrote, I didn't even

realize this until I watched it just the other

day. It actually is, it says, the title is what

the match made from space, and it actually has...

It actually has Darth Vader from the planet Vulcan

on there. Oh, does it? I can only catch the spacesuit

in the front. That's it, yeah, that's the spacesuit.

But if you pause it for a second, basically it's

the spacesuit, and it's both George and Lorraine

kneeling down in front of each other. And the

guy in the spacesuit is holding up his hands

like, ah, see what I can do? Alright, well beginning

this film obviously starts where the last one

left off with Doc coming back and picking up

the new Jennifer and Marty which After a while

after I was older And I've seen them a few times

it really irritates me that they replaced the

original actress Well, I like Elizabeth shoe.

She's a great actress. I haven't it Stuff like

that always irritates me with films, TV, whatever,

when they get one person and then they replace

it with another person. But when the scene comes

up, apparently Doc has modified the DeLorean

to be more environmentally friendly because he

has a coffee maker as a fuel source. What the

fuck? Well, you know, he was just more green

than the rest of the world. He was thinking ahead.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. You know, we said

in the first film's discussion with going back

into the first film and changing some stuff,

the docile Biff sees the flying DeLorean as it

takes off. He's like, flying DeLorean? What's

going on here? And again, the flying thing is

awesome. It just is. Yeah, it obviously ups the

special effects budget for the next films. Well,

see, that's the other thing. Robert Zemeckis

said on the special features that this is done.

I mean, yeah, there are special effects, but

it was done before digital. I mean, all of it

is film capture. Yeah, no, definitely. I think

it was Industrial Light and Magic that actually

did the special effects on the film. Yes, they

did. The thing is, ILM is kind of known as the

big behemoth of special effects houses, but not

a lot of people seem to... a lot of people take

for granted the actual... What they were able

to do I mean when you look at back at the movies

said like back to the future and you see the

flying DeLorean You think okay. Well, that's

fine. It's basically just computer graphics.

It's like yeah, it sort of is but you got to

remember the kind of the The impact that it had

at the time. It's like no one had ever seen that

kind of thing before And it just it like it takes

a lot more There's a lot more involved in trying

to be able to get a DeLorean to fly then as it

then it is now What are your initial opening

thoughts, Megatron, on the second film? Well,

I like how they, you know, how that scene where

Doc's digging through the garbage to obviously

fill up his car. It was hilarious to watch him

kind of scavenging through, looking at all of

it, inspecting it, and then throwing it in the

machine. And then I like how they still had Marty's

character similar in the in the beginning like

when they went into the future and I don't know

just I don't have too many thoughts on it okay

then all right when they get into the future

it obviously is raining like crap and they land

and they eventually get out of the car and Doc's

like, well, get changed. He's like, now? It's

raining out. Oh yeah. Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

Too bad the post office isn't as efficient as

the weather service. Which actually, unfortunately,

isn't true right now. Well, true, but you gotta

think, like, in the future, which would be more

important in regards to knowing exactly how fast

a certain thing is, the weather service or the

postal service? Well, yeah, that's true, but

I mean, you know, it's just really, really funny.

Oh, of course. But yeah, my note on that was

weather change in five seconds faster than the

postal service. And then who can forget the power

laces? laces all right I wonder if Nike actually

ever really made those for sale no you kidding

me they wouldn't be able to they wouldn't be

able to make that back in the 80s oh well they

could do it today yeah but that's the this is

the 80s I know I know auto sizing and drying

jacket yeah that was just awesome that was just

really cool Yeah, I wanted it, too. I would,

too. I guess we can mention this. I mean, I have

it as a note, Cafe 80s, which is kind of cool.

But one of the things I noticed about this more

so recently when I watched it was the fact that

Michael Jackson's in this film, or a Michael

Jackson lookalike or whatever. I don't know if

that was actually Michael Jackson. No, it was

a it was a basically look -alike in the sound

of like they it was completely was he was credited

as someone else Same with Ronald Reagan and When

Marty's in the cafe 80s before when real Marty

Not the future Marty's but when the real Marty

is in cafe 80s and he sees wild gunman. Is that

was that a real game? As far as I remember, I

don't think it actually was. I think it was just

a made -up game for the movie. Because you've

got to remember, obviously it pays off later

on in the third film, because when he's shooting

the Cold Peacemaker for the first time, it's

very much just like the arcade. Right, right,

right. And then once he gets, before he even

gets into Caffe 80s, he steps out and sees the

future. all this you know stuff with with time

with town square that's changed uh... the texaco

saying in the charge around sees the movie theater

and then uh... for the giant jaws uh... there

was a little jobs dollars on nineteen there's

not yeah yeah we had a screen cap and here's

a here's a clip from it I took a screen cap of

it and I'm wondering, I didn't look this up,

but on the actual marquee of the movie it says,

I believe it says either produced or directed

by Max Spielberg. So I'm wondering if that was

a way for Steven to get his, I don't know, might

it be his son or a relative of his in the film.

I think it was just basically a way to be able

to kind of say, okay, Steven Spielberg may be

dead, but maybe his son kind of lived on. And

then again, they had every right to do it because

I mean it was a Steven Spielberg film so it kind

of works cross -promotion Goldie Wilson the third

hover conversions. It's kind of it's kind of

weird how Goldie kind of went down in the future

This guys, you know hover conversions 39 999

95 That's a lot of money. That's the other thing

I noticed in this film Shit in the future is

a lot more expensive Well, that's inflation exactly

like it that's why that's why I like the fact

when doc you've gave Marty Here's a 50 go buy

yourself a drink. I'm like really? The sports

almanac I mean, yeah Come on. I mean, I know

it's a plot device and that's fine. That's the

way that they, you know, that that's the whole

point of the second movie is to for them to get

that back. But, you know, just makes people think,

I guess. And then you get beat up playing on

the jukebox in the in the in the cafe. Old Biff

is the same, obviously, that saw the DeLorean.

And I only have one of old diff I think oh hello

anybody home It's when he was 20 was hitting

on Marty's head anybody home think McFly think

and then Griff Griff was just fugly And Thomas

F. Wilson, jeez. I know he likes to make fun

of himself now. The fact is, yes, I was Biff

in the Back to the Future movies. But I think

he even made a song about that. Because he's

a comedian now, so there's a song about it on

YouTube. You can check it out. But I don't think

you'll ever get away from being known as Biff,

or Griff, or Old Biff, whatever. No, not at all.

Mad Dog Cannon. But hey, I can tell you yeah

think about it makes it it made his career I

can guarantee he is still making getting those

royalty checks from I have a note here. How did

they get Fox? Okay, never mind. I know what it

was. It's time about Michael J Fox How did they

get him on the screen twice in the? in the cafe

when the Sun comes in but you know after Watching

the special features. They used two different

camera shots for that. I think in the Yeah, it

was the same as anybody who would like Who would

use like trying to build to have themselves as

twins so to speak? Like it even goes back as

far as I mean the first time I was seeing something

similar to it was I know it's the old Disney

movie the parents rap With Haley Mills both of

they think it for as well We didn't mention this

in the first film's discussion, but save the

clock tower in 2015 is the same thing as save

the clock tower in 85 With the lady except the

only difference is Marty gives the lady a quarter

and the guy in this one says Donate 500 bucks

Old Biff's oh no in the when Marty's in the in

the antique store and he's getting the the sports

almanac dust jacket versus dust buster that's

so funny um old biff sees the valorian again

and both marty's which he is like what the hell

is going on here um old lorraine actually really

good in this in this film. It definitely was

a step up because in the first film if she just

looked it just looked like she had makeup on

you can totally tell but in this and this even

like in the when they go back to 1985 or the

alternate version 1985 the makeup that they had

on both of both times for Leia Thompson was much

much better than the first film. You know in

the first film you see that that she's, you know,

obviously older than what she is in the beginning.

Now, I think the last time I saw anything from

her recently was she was on an episode of Law

and Order last year or the year before. She's

aged a lot better than what they made her look

like in these films. Old Biff steals the time

machine. That can't be good. Jennifer meets her

future self. God, that's a shocker. Needles is

the Marty's Biff. And you said something earlier,

Snowball, about what person at that age calls

themselves Needles. I looked at the screen, on

the view screen, it says Needles Douglas J. So

I believe Needles is his last name. It could

be. I guess just kind of based on that. But still,

Needles is just a really weird name. And one

thing I forgot to mention is that the guy who

plays Needles... Oh really? I didn't even know

that. Wow, that's cool. I didn't even look at

it, I even looked at it a little bit further.

Flea's been actually an actor in a lot of different

projects. I can't remember what anything that

kind of sticks out of my mind, but Back to the

Future was definitely a movie. Michael J. Fox,

and along with almost everybody, they always

play double roles in these films, but he plays,

in this one, he plays way too many. He's got

the 1985 himself, the real Marty, he's got Marty

Senior, Marty Junior, and then the daughter.

That was a make -up. Gene ya geniusity thing

as far as as far as getting him to do that I

didn't when I first saw this You know years and

years ago. I did not know that that was him I

It wasn't until he opened or he or she opened

up He or her his or her mouth that I was like,

okay, it's Michael J Fox. Okay at first you don't

really see it bad guitar playing because of the

accident with the Rolls Royce. So that's the

time thing that comes up between this film and

the third one. Old Biff comes back in the time

machine and breaks his cane when trying to get

it out. Which that was actually a plot point

for when the timeline has been changed. They

figure out that it was Old Biff that did it.

But and and as I just said the timeline strange

and Marty comes home to have strangers living

in his house Who was the guy who was the black

guy? Yeah? That was that was the actor that played

it Oh, I can't remember was He then runs into

Strickland who has a shotgun just like he'd have

a shotgun as the marshal in the third film I

would totally a shotgun a bulletproof vest and

a belt of bullets. Yes, it was I should have

got the clip where he goes Eat it slackers or

whatever. He says and then he runs after them

I did not get this second note, but I got the

first one If you remember in the first film I

believe his name is red or red or whatever the

the drunk that's on the bench when Marty comes

back Yeah, he does have a name, but I I couldn't

remember what What he was either, but apparently

well. Yeah, I mean he's a town homeless person

or something or other I mean I guess And then

in the second film he says crazy drunk pedestrian

I Can't tell you how many times crazy drunk driver

in that voice like this Oh, many times. Even

my dad and I kind of make this kind of joke often.

And then obviously Biff is in charge in the alternate

1985. Biffco, really? Come on, there are better

titles for a company than that. Yeah. I guess,

but one thing we need to mention in regards to

this is Biff's kind of counterparts. He's basically

a right -hand man. His cronies, yeah. Now, they

changed when they never... His cronies were different

in 2015 and also back in 1885, but in 1955 and

1985, the actors that played them, I didn't even

realize this until I watched them recently. One

of them was obviously Billy Zane from Titanic.

uh... and the other one was kaiji sense mako

and i think it works are cases as mako and i

don't know if you don't know if you guys knew

this or not but he uh... casey was so i don't

actually in the young guns movie yeah he was

uh... uh... always also young guns and young

guns to you uh... i can't remember his character's

name but uh... he was the the one that uh...

that only fought with the city fisticuffs you

know uh... i have a question about the cronies

Throughout the entire series, are they the same

three actors? No. They have the same three actors

for 1955 and also for 1985, the alternate 1985.

But like I said, the ones in 2015, three were

completely different. And in 1885, they were

all three completely different actors. Actually,

there was one actress. Yeah in the 2015 Let's

see old Biff can't drive No Obviously they realize

they must go back to the future or back to the

past to fix everything The futuristic look of

this film It's cool and it's funny some of the

things that were in it that we have today in

2009 and 2015 ain't that far away one of my Twitter

Followers stupid 869. He sent me a link to something

It was back to the future related. I don't have

it now and obviously for you know Computer safety

reasons. I'm not gonna check Twitter in case

my computer ends up crashing on me, which would

suck But you know, there's a lot of things that

are in in the second one that we have today I'm

trying to think what were some of them anyway

I'll have to go back and I will mention that

in the next episode or I'll put it on the Predacon

Empire forums. Let's say dock and dock together

which again is a double screenshot which is actually

kind of cool because you normally see the two

Marty's you know in frames even though they're

not directly interacting with each other. Yeah,

but there's always some sort of like physical

line or physical kind of thing that It separates

the two of them to be able to make this shot

the two shots easier and especially with dock

and dock They're basically the line the physical

line that separate the two shots. Yeah, the with

the light pole So you kinda see how they kinda

got around that. It's like, if you're into film

and you kind of really understand sort of the

behind the scenes of it, you kinda see that,

oh, okay, so that's how they used to be able

to get those shots lined up, so. We should talk

about the hoverboard. Because in the special

features on these DVDs, Zemeckis said that hoverboards

are real. No, seriously, he did. He said. Well

So, you know So, you know against them, but they

actually had a toy company make the hoverboards

I mean if you if you look at the pink hoverboard

on the front of it I didn't get us I wasn't able

to get a good enough screen cap, but it has the

Mattel logo on it They probably got Mattel to

either get a license to make those boards or

something along those lines. A lot of films kind

of do that to begin with. They kind of get props

that were made by different companies and just

so the possibility they could be able to sell

them later on as toys for the film. So I could

see that. Martin Mattel may actually have made

a whole bunch of those. I like the line, I don't

think I have it, but I like the line close to

the end of the film. When Marty says, why don't

we just land on him? Just land on Biff to get

the book back. Marty, we're in a DeLorean, he's

in a 4640, crush us. Yeah, that's the thing.

DeLoreans definitely were not made to... Wait

a second! They were not made well. It doesn't

make any sense. They're made well enough to time

travel, but they're not made well enough to crush

a Ford. That's one of those plot points. At the

time, they were crappy cars. They weren't exactly

great. I think I remember it even now. I think

they're actually trying to be able to remake

the DeLorean. I think there's a company that's

actually going to basically either take the uh...

take the body and kind of put at brand new kind

of engine parts into it to kind of make uh...

they're going to plan on selling them uh... either

that or they're going to actually take the uh...

they're going to kind of redesign the body a

little bit but i'd know they're trying to build

a delorean back yeah i've read that somewhere

too that they're going to bring back the delorean

uh... from some other company that's over i think

in either somewhere in the u s or in the u k

or somewhere near there and then uh... uh...

uh... Yeah, I don't manure times two lines Oh,

yes newer times two That's what that's the thing

I'm just gonna skip to the end of my notes here

cuz we're kind of running long on this segment

a little bit I think and then we're going to

our final thoughts on this film specifically

Let's see The lightning storm sends Doc back

to 1885 because the time circuits aren't fixed

yet. In that scene, it shows 1985 and then it

flashes to January 1st, 1885. The film ends with

the Western Union guy delivering a letter to

Marty from Doc in 1885, which I find very, very

funny that Western Union, I mean, I know this,

but just watching these films, they were around.

in 1885 I mean I know that they were you know

in real life obviously but it I don't know it's

just weird that letter has been in our possession

for 70 years 30 did you know three days two hours

and whatever whatever the guy said and I'm trying

to see if I see future where is that where is

that clip there it is so well you know final

thought Why don't you go, why don't, Megatron,

speak up, dammit. What's your final thoughts

on this one specifically? What did you like,

what didn't you like? I liked, well I liked how

they went back to the past and went to screw

around with Biff some more and it was a struggle

for him to get back the magazine. I didn't quite

like the alternate future with Biff in it, where

he dominated everything and it was just dark.

version of the future. I mean I know it's showing

what Biff would do should he get all the money

but I think everybody did just like that future.

I like the regular future though where they had

everything like where they did the hover car

conversion where they had the Jaws 19 thing flying

in Marty's face and he says they still look fake

about the shark coming at him. I mean I just

I overall just like how it went into the future.

I've always liked that aspect of the movie. And

what about you, Snowball? It doesn't really do

well, like obviously because it definitely ties

into the first and the third. It kind of has

to. So that's the, I mean, that's one problem

going for it. I mean, yeah, it's not that it's.

not the greatest of the three, but the storyteller

in me really likes, obviously, every aspect of

the full story, especially the Western Union

thing. Like I said, the storyteller in me wants

to be able to know the backstory of that. How

long has this letter been sitting there? I want

to know the base of the group of guys that have

seen this letter, and maybe one of them either

opened it or something along those lines. yeah

just in a way it's like there's so much the stuff

that there's so much backstory that could have

very easily been explored now granted they didn't

but I mean that kind of if they tried to it would

have they would have limited the film into a

certain degree but still it there's a lot of

stuff going on and expect like it really ties

into the franchise extremely well to definitely

a good addendum to the second movie knowing the

fact that they're gonna make a third so yeah

it like I said each each movie being of itself

is not every time a standalone film, especially

with regards to sequels. But this one was, I

think, if you think about it, first and the third

one are definitely standalone films, whereas

the second is definitely a bridge between the

two. I think they really wanted to make the first

and third, and then they just kind of put the

two in there just to kind of make the first and

third. Yeah, I can see that. Well, the other

thing about the second one, this is kind of like

my final thoughts on this, but the other thing

about the second one is, like I said before,

it allowed them to use the first film as a backdrop

for Marty that had to go back and fix the alternate

1985 because, you know, there's one scene where

he's like, Doug, Doug, what am I gonna do? Biff's

got the book back. I don't know where he is.

He could be anywhere. And then he hears in the

background outside of Strickland's office, you

know, George saying, hey, you get your damn hands

off her. And he goes, oh my God, my old man's

about to slug Biff. I know where he is. So, I

mean, it moved the story along to be able to

get to three. um... one of my favorite quotes

one of my favorite lines is this in the beginning

this actually in the beginning of the film the

justice system works swiftly in the future now

they've abolished all lawyers why can't we do

that today yep yes um and then i think we all

wish we could we go into the third film i'm going

to play this Okay, relax, Doc. It's me! It's

me! It's Marty! No, it can't be! I just sent

you back to the future. Oh, I know you did send

me back to the future, but I'm back. I'm back

from the future. Great Scott! Doc! Doc! From

out of the West, in a cloud of dust, a thunder

of hoons, and a mighty Great Scott! I know this

is heavy. Indians! This summer Marty and Doc

go back one more time for their greatest adventure

of all Doc's living in the past But he's about

to be history I'm going back to 1885 and I'm

bringing you home It's the last round up It's

the final showdown. Hey, lighten up, jerk! Where

Marty makes a name for himself. What's your name,

dude? Eastwood. Clint Eastwood. What kind of

stupid name is that? Doc meets his mates. This

has to be black. I'm proud I just saw this. And

Tannen meets his match. I'll hunt you and shoot

you down like a duck. It's dog, Buford. Shoot

him down like a dog. Michael J. Fox. Where'd

you learn to shoot like that? 7 -Eleven. Christopher

Lloyd. There's a fella that can't hold his liquor.

And Mary Steenburgen. I never ever met a man

like you before. Gentlemen, excuse me, but my

friend and I have to catch a train. This summer,

Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis invite you.

Come on, Marty! To the rough ride. Rip roll.

Rootin' toothy. Straight shootin'. It's a home

run! It's a science experiment! Rousing conclusion

of Back to the Future. Back to the Future Part

3. Up next is back to the future part three and

according to the booklet we have Fulfilling a

longtime fantasy doc Brown has decided to live

in the Old West the 1880s But when he is in danger

of meeting an untimely end Marty travels back

in time to rescue him. There's just one problem

Doc is so smitten by a schoolteacher Clara Clayton

that he can't think straight Now it's up to Marty

to keep Doc out of trouble, keep the DeLorean

running, and keep the past, present, and future

on track so they can all get back to where and

when they belong. Filled with all of the trademark

back to the future gadgetry, action, imagination,

and humor, it is a spectacular finale to one

of the most popular adventure comedy film series

of all time. This movie, for me, is probably

the most emotional out of the three of them.

In this movie, as I said before in one of the

other discussions that we've had today on the

other films, Marty is basically a conduit character

because this story is basically Doc Brown's story.

This has nothing to do with the McFly. I mean,

it has something to do with the McFly family

in the background. But at the foreground, it's

all about Doc. It really is. Yeah. And in a way,

that's why Like I said, the first and the third

film are probably the best out of the three because

the first one was all about what was about Marty.

The third one was all about Doc. In a way, technically

those two could have been, like I said, part

three could have very easily been part two and

those would have been very, very good sequels

just standalone on its own. That's the thing

I liked about it. Then again, lately I've been

a very big western nut. I've been really enjoying

the watching. Let's say I very enjoyed watching

the third one. I was like, oh yeah, Western,

I like it. My first note, only because I saw

it in the credits, and I did not realize they

were actually in the film. I knew Doubleback

was played, but ZZ Top is in this film. Yep,

they're in the band. Yeah, in the festival, yes.

It's howdy doody time. Because obviously when

the film starts out we're still in 1955 And Marty

has come back from the future Doc screams by

being scared by Marty after waking up the screen

sounds just like judge doom which is What Lloyd

played in Roger Rabbit? Yep, but if you listen

to that If you listen to that scream that he

did in the beginning of this it sounds just like

the scream I mean You know, like I said, obviously,

same guy, but I don't know. I saw more Roger

Rabbit inflections from Lloyd in this than I

did the other ones, maybe because he had just

finished that, I think. Maybe but the thing is

with like in both movies. It's or the way or

at least Lloyd in particular That's just the

way he acts. It's just that like he has the same

mannerisms and pretty much any film I think I

think Roger Abba was probably the only one he

actually was a major villain in But if you take

a look back and see the movie Clue, you kind

of see there's quite a few inflections in there

that you not only hear from Back to the Future,

but also Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Oh yeah. Plus,

well, he did play the villain in Dennis the Menace.

He played the burglar, the stalker. True, but

that one, it just makes you barely realize it's

Christopher Lloyd. Yeah, yeah, I know. He was

also the villain in Star Trek III. Oh, yeah,

that's right. He was the he was the Klingon captain

Kicked in the face down into the pit Yeah, that's

right. I didn't really like him in as a Klingon.

It just didn't work I can still tell it was him

though just from the face. Oh Totally. Yeah,

they didn't disguise it very well bunch of fucking

Trekkies Hey Trekkies lasted a lot longer than

Star Wars has Anyway, so we have throughout all

the films we have the past the future and the

very distant past with 85 55 2015 and 1885 Now

I did notice something in the and I know I'm

kind of going back to the first film but I noticed

something in that when Marty asked Doc before

obviously the Libyan show up where How far is

he going to go when he says 25 years around about

that? What would this film franchise be if they

used a 25 year mark instead of a 30 year mark?

What do you guys think that it would be like?

Do you think it would be any different than what

the films are? Well, I think actually they've

always kind of stuck on the 30 year. Because

if you think like 1985 to 1955, that's 30 years.

And then 85 to 2015, that's also 30. Yeah, yeah,

they're just like if you let's say they would

did 25 and they probably would have been in 2010

Yeah, I don't know but it just I like the fact

that they always seem to have the five It's night

is 85 55 15 or 85. Yeah again. Oh, yes And then

one of my favorite lines is obviously at the

very end of this film But it's so cool and I

think I'm gonna start using this in a lot of

the podcasts ten minutes Why do we have to cut

these things so damn close? It's strange throughout

the three films that the relationship between

Doc and Marty, and we brought, you know, you

brought this up before Steve, Snowball. To me,

it seems like they're almost father and son,

because Marty is around him more than his own

family. I mean, I know that they're, I know it's

portrayed that they're buddy -buddy, as far as

like if, you know, they were gonna be in a cop

buddy movie film, but... Just in this film alone

it seems like they're, as I said before, this

film for me is the most emotional out of all

three of them. And it just seems like they're

more father and son in this than just two friends.

You've got to remember the time frame technically

in this movie. Technically in 1985, their actual

current present time, it was only technically

within 48 hours. Because the first film started

off in October 26th, or 25th I think maybe, and

then it ends on the 27th of 1985. In a way, it's

just like, yeah, it only takes a little, you

could say that basically he hung out with Doc

a lot more than he did his own family in the

movie, but at the times that they went to, there

was no, like there technically was no family

for Marty other than Doc. So yes, it could, I

agree that it could, that Doc and Marty kind

of seem to have a very father -son relationship

with this whole thing, but. With that in mind,

I could almost see that without it really being

explained that it's possible that maybe Doc kind

of is related to them somehow. It's I think it

could be quite possible it could like a distant

uncle or Just as some sort of cousin or like

it you can kind of see that and I can almost

see that as the backstory That's why they became

good friends and that's why they kind of Sort

of grew up at or I don't know maybe Marty grew

up with with Doc. I mean that's a that's never

really explained, but You kind of like, at least

in the first film, you kind of see Doc as definitely

a father to Marty because technically his own

father was kind of distant to a certain degree

because he was always defeated. He was kind of

the wimpy character. It wasn't until that he

changed the time that when they when Marty went

back at the end of the first movie that finally

his father has become a father figure. So he

finally and he was about to enjoy that. But then

that's when the whole going to the future and

then that back to the past thing again. So you

kind of see that kind of relationship kind of

grow, so to speak. Marty goes back to Save Doc,

which obviously had to happen to get the whole

story of this movie out. Waggy Western clothes,

it's very funny how the different docs think

clothes should be. Yeah, exactly. And then when

they get to the... the movie theater for the

drive -in with the Indian background. Marty,

you're not thinking fourth -dimensionally. Fourth

-dimensional thinking. The Indians won't be there.

Yeah, okay. Sure they won't. That's another thing,

too, is that I didn't even... When I saw the

film, it's like fourth dimensional thinking.

It's like, what the heck is fourth dimensional

thinking? And then I had to actually look further

into it. Yeah, so there's the three dimensions

that we all know, but then the fourth dimension

has always been time. So and that's even explained

in like say it in string theory Let's just say

that like there's multiple like multiple universes

and like every action is always taken in another

universe And sort of thing and that's and that's

part and the heat that well I think Mishio Kaku

is one of the ones who actually really explains

string theory a really good way he has a book

called hyperspace that I definitely recommend

reading if you're kind of into that stuff, but

he theorizes that there's technically ten dimensions,

but he always he always is a has gone to say

that the fourth dimension is always and has been

time. Where's Sheldon when you need him? I know,

I know. I kind of wish I was Sheldon. Indians

and then the arrow hits the car and then after

the Indians run away or ride off and then Marty

climbs up to the top of the cave. One thing I

gotta say about that is like where the heck is

he talking to anybody though? Yeah, but he looks

like he says it's the Calvary It looks like he's

staring at somebody. It's like he's telling him.

It's the Calvary like Okay, I know he's not he's

talking himself, but it just looks like he's

a Ferris Bueller and talking to the audience

What do you think of the first few scenes so

far Megatron Um, well, I like where, you know,

he's going through the drive -in, you know, and

it shows the Indians on the screen and everything

and then they actually appear and scares the

shit out of him. But, uh, and it's funny... Scares

the shit out of him? He scares the shit out of

the Indians, I can guarantee that. Well, yeah,

but, and then where he hid the DeLorean in the

cave, and that's actually where they ended up,

you know, digging it out in the past. Yeah, that's

right. Yeah. Yep. And then, uh, overall, like

I just, I did that and I like how at the beginning

where Marty no sooner disappears and Doc's like,

Oh, I did it. And then Marty appears right behind

him and yeah, he passes out and, uh, still wakes

up at his house. and he ends up tripping on the

hoverboard and smacking his head. Actually, I

do have two clips from those earlier scenes.

One of them, which I absolutely really enjoy,

is this one. It's such an interesting story,

future boy. And then obviously, once they come

across the grave, which I kind of skipped over

that part in my notes, but when they come across

the grave, here's this. How do you call that?

Just the inflections that Lloyd put into Doc,

it's so cool. And I like the way his hair kind

of just flops in front of the case. Yeah, exactly,

exactly. James McFly, Irish Michael J. Fox, way

cool. I did not see that coming, but it's kind

of weird. It's kind of strange that their first

family is from Ireland. Yeah, and if you know,

I don't know if like I can't remember if it is

I think it's Leah Thompson that plays his wife,

isn't it? That's the thing that he did like no

one seems to kind of really catch on and the

fact that this is the first time that Michael

J Fox and Leah Thompson actually are like a husband

and wife in any of the films Yeah, that's the

first Maggie McFly Mrs. Maggie McFly and don't

you be forgetting the missus part? I actually

did some math. Uh, hours Marty has slept during

the whole franchise. In one, he slept nine hours.

In two, he slept two hours. And in this one,

he slept six hours. Like, after his accidents,

like... Oh, yeah. And the running gag of him

waking up in the morning. Hat equals all important

when it comes to being a cowboy. Or in a western.

It's like ice water ain't cool in the Old West

when he's in the bar No, no, definitely not obviously

the whole point of this franchise is time the

clock tower being first built in 1885 which is

cool Now that reminds me of when you first see

the clock tower first being built, you obviously

hear the familiar melody or the tune of basically

the soundtrack, but the thing is what I realized

when watching, because I've been very into soundtrack

scores over the past few years, and one of the

things I noticed is how subtle Alan Silvestri,

who is the composer of all three movies, how

subtle the score changes from from the regular

theme that we know from Back to the Future, and

then it slowly changes into a Western theme using

harmonica and violins and acoustic guitars. There

was a very subtle change in that. I didn't even

catch it at first, and then I had to go back.

There was one point where you hear the regular

theme, and then it just... It's almost like it

fades into the western theme, and I loved it

when that happened, and that was one of the major

points of this movie. It's like, okay, we're

in a different back to the theme. What'd you

think, Megatron? Yeah, just the overall differences

in each part of the themes. Actually, I don't

remember that much about the opening themes,

but other than like the one I do have on my computer

but um No, I like how it you know all the Movies

they have stuff that tie in. Oh, yeah, wherever

they're at in that period of time very much so

Buford mad dog tannin nobody calls me mad dog

and everybody clears out of the bar start dancing

runt moonwalking Marty Again, with the Michael

Jackson references. Did anyone catch what tune

he was actually singing to himself when he was

doing that? I thought it was a Michael Jackson

tune, but I couldn't figure it out. I think it

was... I don't know. I'm not really sure. Yeah,

I don't know. Maybe it was just one of those

things that just... He just decided to sing and

that's what he's saying. Yes, our esteemed colleague,

Mr. Dodd, just left me a voicemail on Skype as

we're doing this recording. Yeah, yeah, he just

called me and then he just tried to call me on

Skype. He probably needs you for your episodes.

Oh, okay. That's okay, I already called him and

we're almost done. Hang them high at the clock

tower. We got us a new courthouse, boys. It's

high time we had a hangin'. Now, obviously we

haven't seen Doc up to that point. And obviously

he comes in right as they're about to hang Marty.

But honestly, when I first saw this, I did not

know who that was in the boot until obviously

you obviously see Christopher Lloyd. And I thought

that was really cool how they kept that a mystery

just showing it gradually. And then and then

they show him full -on And then of course the

$80 five for the whiskey 75 for the horse Wow

five dollars for whiskey Oh, yeah, the inflation

again wasn't as big as it was back. Yeah Moving

on this when they after Doc saves him the Stone

Age refrigerator That was so funny. With the

ice cubes. Yeah, exactly. And then Clara Clayton

equals beloved Clara. Question about that scene

when she's about to plummet to her doom. How

did any of her stuff like the telescope get saved

when it clearly shows everything in the wagon

going over the ravine? That's another thing about

this movie is that there's certain things that

just doesn't really make sense, especially the

fact that, okay, Doc knows that it was called,

that the ravine was called Clayton Ravine, but

if that's the case, if he knew that it was what

it was previous called, then technically when

it was later on called Eastwood Ravine... Why

didn't Doc know that it was called Eastwood Ravine

instead of Clayton Ravine? The time plot hole

with that was just weird for me. That was the

only one that really, out of all the series,

really kind of took me out of it. It's like,

wait, it was called Eastwood Ravine in 1985.

Why didn't Doc call it Eastwood Ravine instead

of Clayton Ravine? I can see plot point and it

works for the movie, but... Well, I can actually

kind of discount that for you, Steve, because

in the first two movies, it was called... You

know, even though it was never mentioned until

now, but the first two movies I'm sure it was

called Clayton Ravine, because obviously they

hadn't brought in Mary Steenberg yet. And throughout

the third movie, he even calls it Clayton Ravine

until he looks at the map and it says Shonash.

At the end of the movie, it just shows that it's

called Eastwood Ravine. No one actually mentions

what the... Well, sure yeah, I mean that's like

that's kind of a little thing you have to kind

of catch in order to build to To be able to realize.

Oh, it's called Eastwood Ravine now, but that's

that's one of the yeah Okay, granted. It wasn't

really mentioned but still if people who kind

of catch it It's like wait, why did he call it

Eastwood Ravine instead of Clearwood Ravine?

It just doesn't make sense Marshall Strickland

and son this is at the party Teaches his son

to keep people disciplined, which I thought that

was a good Thought that was a good characterization

for Strickland of having him over the over the

three films even though obviously the third one

He's a marshal and our principal, but it's showing

that that it's showing the timeline of Of his

characters as well Basically, yeah, I thought

that none of his family basically Well, and it

shows how basically all of them still live. Oh,

yes, very much area throughout Why would Tannins?

cronies Tell everyone that they're gonna rob

the pine city stage. I Know they're idiots because

they're idiots Well, well not only that but who's

there that's gonna actually stand up to a struggle

Yeah, exactly They're gonna they figure they're

gonna get away with it. Anyway, so what does

the matter if they tell everyone congrats Marty

on on standing up to to Buford Well, yeah, but

it was frisbee. Oh, it did. It was throw a pot

plate. It was frisbee. Frisbee, yeah. Then they

started measuring him for his can for his coffin

and. I don't know who that actor was who played

the. Yes. I loved his voice, how deep it was.

But this is where your coffin. He holds his hand

up to his neck. Doc and Clarif are getting to

know each other and fall in love. I didn't mention

this in the first one. We didn't really talk

too much about the amplifier blowing up and Marty

being in Doc's house but in the first movie you

had an automatic breakfast dog food maker and

then in this one you have the same thing in the

shop there. Marty in the mirror with the gun

doing the whole make my day punk or what you

know doing the whole Eastwood impressions and

stuff like that and drawing the gun which you

know that that's in almost every movie that that

there's a gun playing in um accident in the future

because oh yeah because someone called Marty

a name also it goes back to the second film it

goes by the second film and then obviously I

guess it pays off in the third with the Rolls

Royce so actually took I took three screenshots

of after Doc took that first drink I thought

he was already drunk at first when I when I first

saw this when he was first going on and on after

he breaks Clara's heart and then obviously he

only took just the one but that was just so funny

put this clothespin on his nose and and pour

this down his gullet just wait you might want

to back up Let's make some wake up juice. And

then I just love the line where basically Marty

goes, how many has he had? One. Just one? And

then of course after all that happens, the classic

Wild West showdown. Oh yeah, yeah. And that's

the thing too, if you didn't catch or if you

didn't realize it, in the second film, uh...

i think it was a little bit like it was always

was watching it watch it it was alternate that

that that's right it was watching the clint uh...

that i think it was probably a little bit because

this full of dollars i think was the film uh...

yeah i was at one of the uh... the the man with

no name westerns that the clint eastwood what

uh... obviously st was famous for uh... and that

and that whole thing it definitely gets you know

or totally take it off of the program you know

the whole Yeah, bulletproof vest thing. And then

that's actually one of my notes. Yay, bulletproof

vest. And then Marty slugs out Buford manure

times three. Chasing down the train, way cool.

I think I actually have a clip of this next note.

Masks on, is this a holdup? No, it's a science

experiment. Where is that? Train holdup, here

it is. I love the fact that they look at each

other just try to think like wait We are doing

a whole but but no, it's a science experiment

Blowing doc always wanted to blow the train whistle

the experiment begins Claire tries to catch up

The new gauge on the dash green yellow and red

just like a traffic light Well, not really it

is kind of but not really considering may do

have those gauges in in plants and stuff like

you know but yeah oh yeah yeah and then it's

also color -coded to the logs too so it's just

one thing I don't know why is why did he have

to label them one two and three yeah I don't

see you think the color code would have been

enough After Doc climbs out almost at the front

of the train, he sees that Claire is in the cab.

He wants her to climb out to him. She slips.

He tries to save her. Marty slips in the hoverboard.

They're still going, speeding up, speeding up.

They hover away. And then obviously, Marty hits

88 miles an hour and goes into the future on

the completed bridge. And then, unfortunately,

sad moment, the oncoming train destroys the DeLorean.

And, uh, where, uh, here it is, right here. Well,

Doc. It's destroyed. Just like you want it. I'm

sorry, but that made me cry like a baby. Even

though I am 29 years old, that, that is just...

Yeah. That's like I said, the end of this movie

is so emotional. Even though Yeah, oh Totally

go ahead go ahead make it run. I was gonna say

yeah it is it is a very emotional movie because

they they keep growing closer as the movie goes

on and You actually see a lot more of Doc's emotional

side When Clara comes into the picture and then

when you get to this end part right here with

the DeLorean's destroyed You see everybody else,

you just see Marty standing there and then you

wonder what happened to Doc because he didn't

come back with him. One thing I didn't mention

earlier, when they were trying to figure out

how to deal with Buford and catch the train as

well, there's a role reversal between the two

of them in this movie. Quit, Scott. I know, this

is heavy. Yeah Yeah, I guess we can go into our

final thoughts Because I'm pretty much done with

the overall plot as far as what happened in the

movie Why don't you go first Megatron? Overall

through through the movie I I'm I at first didn't

like the the whole Wild West thing when I saw

it when I was younger. I don't know, it just

didn't make that big of an impression on me.

Now, I find this to be one of my favorites out

of the three, just because of the more character

depth on the Doc's part and showing some closure

and showing that his science experiments and

his time machine keep going well after the series.

Overall, I like this one the best. Yeah, and

it's like it's like snowball said you don't need

to see the second film to have a A sense of what

the first and the third are because they could

be separate. I mean they think they could be

the actual, you know one and two But obviously

the back to the future part two kind of ties

it together I Really really enjoy. I mean I'm

I'm right up there with you. I mean, I agree

with you. You know, I could watch this one more

than I can watch any of the other ones. I mean,

yeah, the original is great because of what it

is. But, you know, like you said, there's so

much more character depth in this. What do you

think, Snowball? Well, like I said before, I

think probably Yeah, the first one will probably,

I guess to me, will be sort of my favorite, but

I always did enjoy the third one just as much.

It's just one of those movies that it technically

ended the franchise, so to speak, but one of

the great things about it was that it didn't...

uh... try to tie things up all all the and they

kind of tight things up for the entire film uh...

with a certain things that were mentioned in

or just briefing or in dialogue uh... in the

previous two and that and that's what i like

about is that the third one and even the ending

yeah there's a certain things that kind of really

nature they definitely tied up all the loose

ends that they wanted to but it didn't feel like

it it felt like it was just didn't end to them

the third movie and but in a way that would And

what it made me realize when I was watching all

three, because I watched all three pretty much

back to back this past weekend, with the third

one, it was... It really kind of hit me the fact

that the the the emotional kind of Action that's

been that's been from the very beginning of the

first one all the way to the third It's very

it's almost as if it's like Lord of the Rings

where it's all one story But separated into three

parts and that's and that's why I like the fact

that didn't call it back to the future to or

back to the future three it was always part two

and part three because it I don't know if maybe

the original screenwriter like Robertson Matt

because I think was Bob Gale was the other screenwriter

for But I don't know if maybe he had this all

along, that it was going to be all three movies.

It was going to make one large movie, but they

just separate it out into three parts. It was

great. That's why I liked Bob Gale and Zemeckis

when they wrote it is the fact that each movie

sort of stands out on its own except for two

really, but they stand on its own as a movie,

but as a franchise, as an actual three -part

trilogy. I would say, like, yeah, I think this

is the original trilogy. Well, Star Wars, but...

Still, to me growing up, this was the original

trilogy. And everything makes sense. Everything

is tied up great. It's a great fun ride all throughout

the entire thing. And it's definitely one of

those movies that made my childhood the way it

was. And it got me into storytelling, got me

into creative ways to be able to tell a story.

I'm always fascinated with time travel. Real

brief before we close out this episode, I do

want to just us the cartoon series, because it

did further the film series. It wasn't something

that, oh, we have these films. We've made a lot

of money on them. Let's make a cartoon series

that has nothing to do with them. The cartoon

series is actually more about Doc and his family.

But the only two people that reprise their character

roles and voices is Mary Steenburgen as Clara

and Thomas F. Wilson as Biff. Christopher Lloyd

played Doc Brown in the live -action segments

that open and closed each episode. However, Dan

Castellaneta provided the animated Doc Brown's

voice and David Kaufman voiced Marty McFly. In

a way, Dan Castellaneta actually kind of makes

sense to me because the ad technically his famous

role is Homer, but you'd still... on YouTube

last night because I wanted to mention it in

this episode and I don't know, I found it kind

of weird that Kastlin had to play Doc in the

animated version but you know, hey, whatever.

So yeah, that has been our back -to -the -future

coverage. I'd like to thank Snowball, Steve Snowball

Sailor, for this week and keep joining us. We're

going to probably hear some ads next. I don't

know what's going to be in between this and the

closing, but up next you'll hear some stuff and

then the closing. The TFG1 podcast has all your

80s goodness with full coverage of the Generation

1 cartoon and beyond. This is Mike the Birdman

Dodd saying live free or die hard and listen

to this goddamn podcast. This is Stan Bush and

you're listening to All Things Transformers with

TFG1 Mike and Steve Megatron. Tune in every two

weeks for all your Transformers needs. Joining

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enjoyed this episode of MWIRE and wish that you'll

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Naked Gun franchise. For now, I am TFD1Mike with...

And this is where you all say your names. Steve

Megatron Phillips. Steve Snowball Sailor. And

in the immortal words of Optimus Prime... Autobots!

Transform and roll out! And thank you for listening.

Until next time.