"Back to the Future" Filming Locations - Then & Now

There are hundreds and hundreds of Science-Fiction movies out there. But hardly any film has such a cult status as "Back to the Future". Today it's time to follow in the footsteps of Marty McFly and Doc Brown. Let's visit the legendary filming locations of this legendary movie - 37 years later.
A film by Matthias Schwarzer.
▪️ 0:00 - Back to the present
▪️ 1:13 - The Burger King & Doc Brown's Garage
▪️ 6:24 - Marty McFly's house
▪️ 10:30 - Doc Brown's house
▪️ 13:36 - Lorraine's house
▪️ 18:41 - Twin Pines Mall
▪️ 24:30 - Hill Valley High School
▪️ 27:03 - Lyon Estates 1955
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Location addresses:
/ 75108274
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Did you like this video? Support my work on Patreon:
/ matthiasschwarzer
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▪️INSTAGRAM:
/ matthiasschwarzer
▪️FACEBOOK:
/ matthiasschwarzertrave...
▪️TIKTOK:
/ matthiasschwarzertravel
▪️TWITTER:
/ matschwarzer
▪️CONTACT:
[e-mail]
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Intro Song:
MÆT - Start Again
Music:
Epidemic sound
#backtothefuture #losangeles #filmlocations #martymcfly #usa #bttf

[@MatthiasSchwarzerEnglish]

Thanks for watching! Here's more you might like: ▪ "Home Alone" Filming Locations: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKLThpeGjr5orKMsi=QSwK9JV3pX6SrDld ▪ "Stand by Me" Filming Locations: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eGbYdqeOhKZgibM ▪ "E.T." Filming Locations: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJ6sd6xjos9sis0

[@Filmaker25]

Glad to see the Mall is still going strong as well as the Burger King!

[@skivijimmy]

Aldi has been here in the United States since 1976. Great store

[@Filmaker25]

Now all they need is to make sure their self checkouts take cash@@skivijimmy

[@spuds6423]

They used the same Universal set for Buffalo in "Bruce Almighty"!!

[@HighPeakMultimedia]

Loved this! Cannot wait to check out your other tours. ET and Stand by me! 😆😆😆

[@stevef3663]

My girlfriend, now wife, and I were shopping at the Puente Hills mall one night. When we left we noticed there was a movie set there in the parking lot we passed on our way to get on Colima road. Later we went to watch Back to the Future and realized that that was the movie being filmed. Oh, where did we watch the movie? In the theater that's in the background in that parking lot. That was one weird thing to be sitting there and knowing that scene was just outside the movie theater. Thanks for the video.

[@Al8101]

Great story!!

[@lonimg]

same here. I was 14 and lived in Valinda . My friend and I took the bus to the mall and on our way home we saw the parking lot was blocked off and something was going on. I didn’t realize it either until I saw the movie.

[@marcusjdoran6358]

That's class

[@jimmyanthony695]

Great story, thanks for sharing

[@j.jmcquade5278]

That's really cool mate. Historic!

[@davidlittle4971]

Doc ,Take me back to 1985♥️♥️♥️

[@alfadellta5989]

Ya , time travel .....time is running eternity is waiting ......

[@Christrulesall2]

Take me away, i dont mind. 2023 wont miss me, ill be back in time!

[@ryanodagawa]

I'm not going to like your comment because you have 88 likes. lol

[@h.albertmayorga5522]

Summer ‘85, yes!!!

[@tombuck]

I can’t get enough of old photos/locations then vs. now. You did such an incredibly meticulous job of tracking everything down and getting the angles just right. Awesome!

[@USClight]

I grew up on the Back to the Future trilogy. It’s cool to see the real life filming locations 37 years later. Thanks for taking me down memory lane!

[@airindiana]

With film exteriors, a lot of what appears “used to be there”, ivy on fences say or different colour doors, was in fact never there permanently even back at the time of filming. They’ll dress exterior sets to match colour palettes, composition, story etc. often it’s whole streets. Laying leaves down in the distance etc. Signs and buildings get changed, shop facades go up, trees added or bushes added.

[@jj-if6it]

yes, was going to say that they would've watered the lawns a lot too to keep them green

[@snagglepussdacat5463]

they also use vegetable dye to simply spray paint the dead grass green, or conversely they make summer trees into autumn colors, too, sometimes, when filiming warrants that effect. @@jj-if6it

[@edwardjski]

On the Twin Pines Mall sign, the time is 1:16am. The sign in the mall also shows 1:16am.

[@Lifegoeson-nv9jv]

It's shows 911 up side down

[@blitztim6416]

Thanks. During the whole movie, when my wife and I originally watched it in the theater, I kept looking at Marty’s shirt and comparing it to the one I was wearing. It was the same shirt. Every detail was the same. Kinda tripped me out.

[@BryanW.]

I graduated from Whittier High in 1992. I wasn't there for the filming of Back to the Future, but was a freshman when they filmed 2 and 3 there. All the old cars and such was cool to see. It's neat to rewatch the movies and see them standing in front of where my locker was!!

[@anythinggoesvideospart-2242]

Dont you wish CAMERA CELL PHONES were invented in the 1980's , so you couldve Video Taped that great piece of history ???

[@secard4202]

I can't express how happy you mentioning the strange line in the BK parking lot from the opening scene made me. It's still there and I've wanted to visit it for years now after finding it on Google earth several years ago. I searched the strange restaurant name on the sign down the street to find it. Great video!

[@marcodonati572]

Congratulations on making this complete, accurate and simply perfect video. Thank you for making me live my young days again.

[@antdude]

Not accurate from his JC Penny comments. It is a department store.

[@mrgregserrano]

1984, I saw the two Deloreans outside the Puente Hills Mall. One was fixed up on the outside and plain on the inside. The second was fixed up on the inside with digital gauges and a flux capacitor and plain on the outside. Later that night we saw them film a scene. The major scenes were filmed at 2 a.m. with nobody around.

[@johnpatterson4272]

I remember watching the original 'Back to the Future' movie at a central Ontario Canada theatre on its first day of release in 1985. The theatre no longer exists in the 21st century, yet I still have vivid memories of that time. It was an awesome movie, probably better than anything else that year and it defined a time from my youth I will always remember being with life-long friends and experiencing the joy of being together as we met adulthood.

[@antdude]

I first saw it in my parents' church's friend's house near this mall on VHS tape! I didn't even know the movie was filmed at this mall until I was a high school teenager. Better late than never!

[@ButcherSevenActual]

The road for Lyon Estates is now marked on Google Maps as a historical landmark. 😄

[@DonWhite-tt7fh]

Location?

[@paulcooper1046]

Shopping malls are on the decline in general. They are starting to develop a bit of a nostalgic vibe for me. Thanks for doing the video, mate. Cheers.

[@RavenGuardian]

It honestly depends on the location, here in socal if you go 30 minutes east or west of Puente Hills there's still bustling malls. They've just stayed relevant with good management and try to offer different experiences.

[@thesailingtourists]

If you want to really see some cool shopping malls go to Bangkok

[@antdude]

Wonder Woman 1984, Stranger Things, etc. did that for me. :O

[@antdude]

@@RavenGuardian Puente Hills Mall's AMC Theatre is the one that is doing well there.

[@kivancersoz2203]

Icon Siam for sure ;) @@thesailingtourists

[@kurtklein8240]

Mensch Matthias, Wahnsinn!! Was für eine Hingabe und Leidenschaft braucht es um das alles zu recherchieren und zu bereisen? Du hast hier sicherlich bei Tausenden die Sehnsucht nach dieser, längst vergangenen aber geliebten Zeit geweckt. Mein Dank und mein Respekt!!

[@unchained81]

I was fortunate enough to witness the filming of the "Twin Pines Mall" scene and it brings back many memories. 😄 The mountains in the background of the open fields are the San Gabriel mountains.

[@spacewarpphotography1667]

22:40 I've just noticed. In this scene, before Marty travels back in time, Doc Brown isn't wearing a bulletproof vest under his lab coat. That is an incredible attention to detail!

[@CuddaBrown]

Thank you sir for your love of this film and time and money to travel and give us a glimpse of the history behind it.

[@thecentralscrutinizer304]

There's some really cool home videos from the neighbor's house overlooking the McFlys garage/ driveway during filming. Lucky neighbors.

[@ChrisRoth1972]

Your video of Back to the Future was outstanding! Thanks!

[@garywayell7211]

Im 50 years old not only was this my favourite film back in the days of VHS video,it was played that many times i knew virtually every cast line. I still now make every effort to watch it when its on some television channel or even better if they rerun it at the cinema,just for the sound and visual effects. Great video

[@antdude]

I want to rewatch it in 4K.

[@VegasLoungeAct]

Pretty cool that American movies get people to be big enough fans, like Matthias, that will travel internationally to visit filming locations.

[@TimCarter]

I grew up by the Puente Hills Mall, (Twin Pines) Robinsons and Broadway were on opposite sides of the mall and were 3 stories. JC Penny and Sears were on opposite sides and were 2 stories. I have not been to that mall in several years, but it looks like they added a 3rd floor to the old JC Penny at some point.

[@bmwmpower8655]

They definitely added/expanded the JC Penney building when they turned it into a gym

[@Starshadow]

JCPenney wasn’t a supermarket. It was a department store. Fun video. A number of changes are angles filmed or props used to add ivy or different exteriors. Like the graffiti, for instance. Post production could easily take out the horizon noise and telephone poles. Thanks for the video! Really fun!

[@purplegum6460]

You are absolutely correct! Robinson’s and Broadway, JCP and Sears on the other opposite end. Everybody hung out at the Puente Hills mall. It was so lively and happening back in the days!!! PS: we used to have roller skating rink near by Puente Hills mall.

[@TimCarter]

@@purplegum6460 Skate Country, right across the street from Malibu Gran Prix/Showboat Golf and Games. The street came to a dead end there, and did not connect to Gale.

[@purplegum6460]

OMG, wow, I remember the dead end street now and our roller skating rink was called Skate Country!!! Thanks for bringing back the memories❤the good old times🎉

[@cynthiafisher3392]

Great video! It obviously took a lot of work to piece together and I really appreciate that. It amused me that when you were showing the “Twin Pines mall“, that a cop was side, eyeing you, and you didn’t give a hoot!

[@antdude]

Heh, maybe a lot of fans did this too... I know the crime is bad in that area. :(

[@christianmichael4263]

You've came a long way from Germany. Thanks for the tour of "Back To The Future" filming sites.

[@masaking4926]

Thanks for inviting to the locations of “ back to the future “ My memories were also revived. I hope to visit myself from Japan 😉 ありがとう👍

[@9Tailsfan]

FYI if you are wondering why he says 40 degrees and very hot... He's European. He meant 40 degrees Celsius , not Fahrenheit. 40 degrees Celsius is about 105 degrees Fahrenheit .

[@christianmichael4263]

I was a sophomore i n High School when the film came out. To me hands down the greatest Sci-Fi movie ever. Ample fun watching this movie and still is.

[@PostcardsFromJapan]

Awesome! I love Back to the Future. Thanks for taking the time to produce this comprehensive tour.

[@roadgent7921]

2:59 The strange line is indeed for rainwater. It is a slip formed concrete drainage channel for dealing with surface water. Quite common in USA and Canada. 😊

[@arisuaozora]

Great Scott ! Nice vid . Great job.

[@magusalakcristituto449]

Thank you for showing this much appreciate it

[@user-qc7hr4my7r]

Awesome video. Pretty cool seeing the filming locations!

[@ppgedez]

Great comparison photos/stills. Thanks bud.

[@regandunn4850]

Great Chanel man thanks for the videos

[@analogidc1394]

Very enjoyable! Thank you.

[@78zappaf]

A great video presentation Mathias!

[@DST.73]

Great job! This was very entertaining and informative.

[@Electronzap]

Awesome tours.

[@J0HnDq3]

thanks you, mate! a lot of work done. Amazing video and great comparison of those movie places. really makes me go into another bttf film watch.

[@Consol]

Small creator to another, good video, when it comes to location filming, you're arguably one of the best ones when it comes to describing everything and editing in things from the movie, professional !

[@neilrichardson5487]

Great video well done. I really enjoyed it.

[@dmitrygubanov846]

I was really happy to watch this video, thanks. The trilogy is still very famous and loved in Russia.

[@Rutisija]

Nice tour 👍

[@Al8101]

Thank you! Nice job!

[@nikolausklinger489]

wow wie cool!! hab zwar schon einige videos und fotos dazu gesehen aber deine genauen schilderungen, eindrücke und art zu erzählen gefällt mir am allerbesten!

[@Ripplesinthewaters]

The blue shop was a May Company store. Another department store like JC Penney. I’m glad you went inside and saw the original prop! The building in the background was an old restaurant. They put places up and tear them down because nothing stays open.

[@Ripplesinthewaters]

The field was at Prado Dam. I live near the women’s prison. It’s all being developed with houses now. Cucamonga isn’t a private road, to my knowledge.

[@paulengel7789]

Actually it was originally (and at the time of the movie) a Robinson's department store. They were owned by Associated Department Stores, which was acquired by May Department Stores in 1993 and the store was rebranded Robinson's-May. It became Macy's in 2006 and was closed in 2022.

[@cjcadventures]

Great video really enjoyed it 👍

[@Randythesavage777]

That water tower is in the women's prison. This location is between Chino and Corona . Most of these places were dairy farms back in the 80s ,i know these places because I drove a dump truck delivering cow feed for the milking cows 😊

[@aftertheendtimes]

Awesome work you done to visit the locations. Thank you! =)

[@DiscoverWithDima]

Thank you for making this video Matthias! This is amazing- I can't wait to come back to LA and do my own exploration of this neighborhood! It must be so surreal to be there haha

[@vikfan4life]

Great video!

[@artisans8521]

Well, they have 3 stores in New York City as well. Aldi is ubiquitous. Lovely video, BTW. Both the Back to the Future, and back to the past. As we all know (now 😂 in my case), Richard Nixon went to school at Whittier high. Whether he was tricky there remains to be seen. On the road into nowhere, you can see the effect of air polution cleanup. In the 80th LA suffered much more from smog than it does today. Thanks to the Clean Air Act implemented from 1970 and beyond, and guess who signed that. Indeed Richard Nixon.

[@motorhead7004]

so cool thanks for sharing this. truly a back to the future experience lol

[@digitalvaldosta]

At 2:58 you mention a "line" in the asphalt of the parking lot. This appears to be a valley gutter of some sort to direct water to a drainage point. In your footage you can see where rain water has recently gathered and flowed near the center.

[@princeeunus2891]

this is awesome bro. tqvm

[@HighPeakMultimedia]

Just stumbled across this and absolutely loved it! Thanks for this. Btw: Twin Pines Mall - the reason it looks smaller / thinner in the movie is because it was shot using anamorphic lenses, they squeeze the world into the frame and then we can unsqueeze (technical term 😂) afterwards to project onto a nice wide cinema screen (plus you get that cool ‘tall bokeh’ and focus breathing that for me is classic movie feel!). I can’t wait to check out your ‘Stand By Me’ tour next. Loved this. 💯❤️

[@thsman]

It was also shot from a higher elevation. At the mall there is a road on a small hill where the Twin Pines/Lone Pines mall signs are placed. Marty falls down that hill in Back to the Future 2.

[@HighPeakMultimedia]

@@thsman Love these little nuggets of information. 🙏💯😁

[@guglgugl]

Danke für das Video und deine Arbeit :)

[@krzysztofdemitraszek8344]

Thank you, Matt.

[@robsx4280]

Enjoyed this thank you

[@mistershipwreck1]

Thanks for the video. Very interesting for us who live far away from that area,

[@JafoThaKlown]

The Burger King was rebuilt. Its not the same building

[@justoncapps7432]

Noooooo😢

[@Arnold_Rimmer]

Saw Back to the Future as a teen in 1985. Crazy to see the yard is totally dirt now in front of the McFly house versus the lush green lawn in 1984/85. Oh, well, less to mow!

[@AdamusPrime76]

My ocd thanks you for your attention to detail. Amazing job!

[@bidinbrian16]

Picture editing does wonders

[@wilson561]

I enjoyed this tour of locations of such an iconic movie. Thank you for filming and sharing, Sorry it was so hot!

[@UraFlight]

Very interesting and well made video. I love this movie so much 😊

[@brendah.6366]

Thias, i have a German cousin Mattias!!! I adore back to the future!! Two reasons to click on your video!!!❤❤❤❤

[@ArchGBUStanton]

I live near where they filmed the ghost town in episode III if you need someone to show you around. We actually attended an out door screening off that episode on the locating where it was filled with the Deloren, Doc and Marty actors, drive-in movie screen with car speakers, etc. Really cool experience

[@Bormotos]

Thx u for this video dude

[@stanislavzabara5733]

Danke Bruder, tolle Arbeit!!!

[@mariokazda7469]

Fantastisch! Sehr gut gemacht! Gratuliere 👏👏👏👏

[@robertdavis5714]

Yes that opening scene on Victory Blvd. in Burbank always bring memories as that was when I worked in Burbank in that general area.

[@reedberry]

Good job! I live not far from Gamble House, so I always take visitors from out of town to see it. Most recognize it from the movie right away.

[@steveg4511]

You have done such a great job ……. Well worth watching

[@dr80s33]

amazing!!🙏🙏

[@BruceLeroyUK]

Great video Matthias 😊

[@moonlitegram]

I watched this on mute cuz I was listening to music with it, so apologies if you cover this in the video and I didn't hear it. But man, the one thing that really struck me with all of this is just how much greener everything looked in the film compared to now.

[@antdude]

It's getting hotter. :( Also, water droughts.

[@TS-ef2gv]

The movie was likely filmed in the winter and possibly spring when SoCal gets almost all of its rain for the entire year all in a three month period and all of the vegetation greens up, including the wild grasses, sage brush, and etc. The foothills and fields that are brown the rest of the year turn deep green in the winter and look very lush from about January to May, and in many areas are covered in wildflowers. The sky in several shots in the movie also looks like a winter sky with the puffy clouds we don't normally get the rest of the year. OTOH, this video was made during the hot, dry season when all of that semi-arid plant life goes dormant until the rains come back, which is why mid-late summer through early fall is brush fire season in the SW. It is a yearly cycle here in SoCal and the SW in general. I first moved here from the Midwest in '81 and I can assure you nothing has changed in that time.

[@RobinBen-uk6yy]

Great job!! For us, Back to the future fans Is big time awesome, thank you very much 🎥

[@ramiromariani9783]

I LOVE thia video. Thanks

[@FerniDeck]

Very nice !

[@MirandaSpigener]

Overall great video!

[@Hongaars1969]

Very interesting.

[@anythinggoesvideospart-2242]

GREAT VIDEO

[@ChakatNightspark]

30 years ago. When alot of Company Logos and building designs Looked SO MUCH BETTER. Today they have Boring Logo designs and Depressing modern designs. Really a Shame.

[@flemardo]

For the BK, the Toys R Us was where Aldi and Home Goods is. Behind the BK was a hardware store. I want to say Builder's Emporium but by the sign it looks like it was Ole's Home Centers before becoming BE.

[@zaraak323i]

Ole's, yes. I couldn't remember.

[@jph4852]

I grew up ten minutes from that mall in the 80s when the movie was filmed there. The old JCPenney section was refurbished and had exterior and interior work done years after filming, so it looks a different now than in the movie. So you are in the correct parking lot but the mall structure itself has changed. And for the record, JCPenney wasn't a supermarket, just a department store. The white building on the left side was Robinsons department store at the time of filming. The building on the background that is not there anymore used to be a local bank. The mall itself is pretty much dead, sadly.

[@111danish111]

Who would have thunk a cellular phone will have a video recorder with 2160 vertical lines.

[@arty2k]

Thank you.

[@zaraak323i]

That Aldi was the former Toys R Us, not the building behind the Burger King. That building has been a number of different home improvement stores over the years. My first memory of it is as Leonard's. The coffee shop/diner on the corner has also gone through a number of different changes. It was Lancer's for the longest time, I can't remember what it was before that. There was also a bank connected to the diner, I believe it may have been Crocker Bank.

[@EdgyNumber1]

Interesting to note how much less greener these areas have become. And 80s movies ❤

[@peymang]

I live here. It would be greener in the other seasons. Summer time everything dries up

[@TS-ef2gv]

This tells people you're not familiar with the normal yearly rain and vegetation cycles in the SW US. The movie was filmed in the winter when the SW gets nearly all of its rain for the entire year in a three month period and everything is in bloom. This video was made in the hottest, driest part of the year, aka summer, when everything that isn't heavily watered goes dormant until the rains come back in the winter. If he had made this video in any typical January through April or so, it would have looked just as green as the movie.

[@jimmyjohn8008]

​@TS-ef2gv I agree would like to the areas during the winter time.

[@melvynbev2827]

Great video mate takes me back love back to the future great film 🎥 , thanks for bringing us the locations , stay safe brother love mr b Robin hood county uk 🇬🇧 👍

[@tashinapatterson9128]

This is so cool ❤

[@totes32]

Brilliant.

[@Hongaars1969]

I’m certain that it is the same bush. It looks like a type of topiary/ bonsai. Gosh. Hearing it was 37 years ago is a reality check. Good video. When did you film this video segment?

[@trojans7]

Malls are pretty dead, nowadays. A lot of businesses took huge hits, in recent years, especially during COVID, unfortunately. As someone that grew up in the 90's and 2000's and spent a lot of time at malls, it sucks to see these once fun hangout spots are now just a ghost town. Really does suck to see them like this. All we got are the fun memories. Great video, man! Love the Twin Pines Mall sign.

[@JafoThaKlown]

You missed Principal Strickland's house. Which was up a side street from the highschool. Ive been to Whittier Highschool many times and have found all the shooting locations on campus.

[@geezerpleasers_OG]

I enjoyed every minute of this excellent video. Quick note about Whittier High School. It was the alma mater of former US President Richard Nixon (class of 1930). And on a movie related note, it was also the alma mater of Pixar founder John Lasseter (class of 1975).

[@mintyprojects]

Guten tag. That was a great video with a lot of interesting detail. This next comment has nothing to do with Back To The Future. I was re-watching an old Patrick Swayze film recently and noticed an Aldi store in one of the scenes. Not that unusual you might think, but this was from Next of Kin which came out it 1989. We didn't start getting Aldi stores here in the UK until sometime in the '90s so to see one in the USA in 1989 was quite a shock. Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing more of your videos.