‘Back to the Future Part II’ Actually Predicted The Future in Crazy Ways | The Rewatchables

[@funforalgernon]

One of the greatest sequels ever, and has aged so fantastically well for so many reasons. Cheers to Zemeckis, Gale, Fox and Lloyd.

[@paulrogers2549]

The sports almanac would always have the correct scores because it would change the same way the picture changes in part 1 and the grave changes in part 3

[@bones23jones]

Brilliant! I never thought of that

[@justindza]

Whoa

[@davidthompsonmovies]

I believe the "To Be Continued" that Chris mentions at the end of Part 1 was only on the home media release (when the sequels were greenlit), not at the end of the theatrical '85 release.

[@mcnater]

That’s correct.

[@Bryan8329]

And taken out later for DVD and beyond

[@spencerkindra8822]

Did it just say "The End"? I think that 2 is a great sequel but had they just ended it after 1, I would've been completely okay with it. Even the cliff hanger ending still would've worked.

[@dangxdc8348]

After the success of the original movie; Universal franchised BACK

[@TheLeagueOfSteve]

My understanding was there was no actual intention to make a sequel. It was just a brilliant finale.

[@SynthTerror]

BttF 3 is great. Loved seeing Doc find love. I'm a sap

[@ThomasOrtega-di4ex]

I like when Doc gets drunk

[@leemcqueen500]

Yeah I think 3 gets too much hate

[@James-hn7vx]

3 has always been my second favourite. This episode has convinced me more of that.

[@arkangelarkangel1302]

This is my favorite movie when I was in Highschool... and my absolute favorite Zemeckis film... the one betting theory they didn't come up with is : what if he, went to the mob, and pretended he can see the results, and took a skim off the line he had with the mafia... he basically knew where the mob should place the action, and both profited. He'd be untouchable.

[@marsspacex6065]

The 2015 scenes are awesome but i find the alternate 1985 to be amazing. I wish we had spent more time there to explore and see how things changed.

[@thejesse]

Can't wait to hear Sal's take on the gambling in the movie.

[@Lex-up6mg]

Such a Goat movie. The holy trilogy. The one true trilogy to rule them all

[@Bryan8329]

The strike threw off the Cubs prediction by a year.

[@leon327]

The second half of this film is very original - to go back into the events of the first film, but from a different perspective.

[@HeynowHeynowheynow]

That hoverboard 😍

[@anubis02051]

Guys the almanac updates as the future changes, like the photo of Marty and his family in the first movie, or the newspaper in this. Also the newspaper specifically says "Hill Valley Edition" - so it's a national paper with love affiliates.

[@anubis02051]

@Rjm1972 That's all that matters - you get one big leap to establish world rules, and then you have to be consistent with them. BTTF does this. Also the reason Biff doesn't come back to alternate 2015 is because time "ripples" and he came back before he did. Think of it as the timeline rendering.

[@thedefinitionisthis]

Biff returning to "the same" future, they actually kinda addressed in a deleted scene. But they ultimate cut it out because apparently it lost the test audience; they didn't understand. When Old Biff returns the Delorean to 2015, the reason why he's struggling isn't because he's having a heart attack or stress from the actual time travel trip; it's because he's actively being erased from existence. The deleted scene shows Biff collapsing to the ground and disappearing, which suggested that he did indeed return to an alternate timeline. It just changed around the timeline we're actively seeing.

[@rdroodypoo]

I never knew that. Nice. They'd have to cut that because if Biff is changing or vanishing from existence the same thing is likely going to happen to Doc and Marty. The movie would get dark pretty quick lol. Personally, old Biff going back to 55 and not warning his younger self that he needs to allow Marty and Doc to create the time machine to allow these events to take place breaks the movie entirely. With alt 85 Marty in Switzerland and alt 85 Doc in the mental institution, the time machine never gets made, thus old Biff doesn't have a chance to go back to 1955.....its just best not to think about it. 😆

[@keithmoritz239]

I like 2, but I’m in the minority that likes 3 better than 2. 1 is clearly superior to both of them.

[@ThomasOrtega-di4ex]

3 is easier to enjoy as an adult

[@thedefinitionisthis]

as I've gotten older, I appreciate 3 a lot more now. When you take into account storytelling and character development, 1 & 3 have it. 2 is very sci-fi concept heavy. While it's arguably the most fun, it's still the weakest one in terms of storytelling, as you require A LOT Of exposition to understand what's going on.

[@dcaslick]

You aren’t a minority on this. I’ve seen WAY more people who prefer 3 over 2 than vice versa.

[@kojiattwood]

"Unless you've got POWAAAAHH!!!"

[@keeganshigh]

The only Asian guy in the "future"

[@kojiattwood]

​@@keeganshigh"MacFRYYYYY!!"

[@mattymac1399]

The Last Boy Scout is in the running for apex mountain of sports gambling movies.

[@mcnater]

3 is incredible. What the hell were they talking about?

[@kevinw712]

I mean, the fact that one of the key visual signifiers for "everything's gone to shit" in the altered 1985 being that it's now a black family living in Marty's house (and that being the only people of color in the movie) ISN'T GREAT

[@BannedPhotoshop]

hahahaha truth

[@fberm]

ADDITIONAL FACTS: Zemeckis and Gale wanted to promote 2 and 3 simultaneously when 2 came out so people would know ahead of time there would be two parts to the movie, but Universal decided not to. So, when audiences saw 2 and realized they had to wait until next year for the conclusion, they told friends to skip the movie or wait till it came out on VHS. As a result, the movie took a dive after its first week in theaters. Also, Part 2 was not the first VHS release from Universal.

[@MichaelKim424]

The number of bets I'd have to throw to not get caught - I've thought about this question for so many years....

[@rigsby1454]

You can't remake Back to The Future. Literally in Zemeckis deal

[@leemcqueen500]

Yep him and bob gale

[@Justinrombough]

I love Cousin Sal on the Rewatchables!

[@BB-xy5nd]

He’s better than Fennessey. Or funnier at least…

[@justinflesher4832]

My favorite movie when I was in 2nd grade by far. When it was released on VHS I watched it every day. We all wanted hoverboards

[@FranciscoJuanillo]

Great episode and more cousin Sal on The Rewatchables. Also, my wife walked it halfway thru the episode while I was watching and asked “why is Bill dressed like an 8th grader in that polo?”

[@davidlittle3753]

I think 2001: A Space Odyssey was first use of video phone...minor nit pick. Great episode.

[@daved2115]

I believe 2001 A Space Odyssey had video chat in the movie, which was from 1968.

[@michaelsuder486]

Tom Wilson really didn't overact with the Griff . In my opinion he did it perfect. Doc tells Marty before he goes to the Cafe 80s "Be careful around that Griff character. He has a few short circuits in his bionic implants " so he was supposed to be an odd person. I also agree about the best part being the recreation of the first movie from a different POV. They did it well

[@paulrogers2549]

I much prefer 3 over 2 (though they work great as a two parter) 2 is mostly remembered for the future sequence at the start of the film... Though the rest of the film is fine.

[@Eskewsme]

Love the film. Absolutely love the ending.

[@johnsanchez2375]

My brother and I have watched this movie a million times and it was only recently that we realized that the "put some money on the cubbies" guy was the mechanic from 1955 that charged biff to have the crap removed from his car

[@mikecat6291]

He was also Roger Rabbit

[@EmmettLBrown2015]

I love all three, I'm a huge fan but part 2 is my favorite

[@kwsturdivant]

Seen part one 12-15 times. Seen part Three 8-10 times Seen part two 4-5 times

[@ryanvincenec3511]

We need Sal on more of these lol

[@spurriousgod]

The Winner of this movie was definitely the special effects and sci-fi storyline. There are no standout acting performances. But the Jaws hologram looks amazing, the hoverboarding looks awesome, the flying cars look great. The whole idea of revisiting a long sequence from the original movie from a different perspective is pretty ambitious, and they pull it off pretty well. Awesome special effects work for the time. Love the flying DeLorean getting hit by lightning at the end - looked amazing.

[@anthony7564]

the line "Since When Did You Become The Physical Type?" always stuck out to me for some reason. That and 1955 Biff saying something about a screen door on a battleship

[@nealwhaley63]

My family visited Universal Studios in the summer of 1989. The 2015 time square was under construction. The tour tram parked in front of the 7-11 and I was intrigued by what I saw. Too bad none of it was seen up close in the film. The prop I would want from the film is Doc’s money tray with currency from 20 different years. It was cool, but the fact the tray had no credit cards was one prediction they missed.

[@2001mark]

Cheryl Wheeler Duncan (since passed) shoutout - hover board stuntwoman who on-camera was (visibly) run into one of the courthouse pillars outside, & then missed the glass window, being dropped 30 feet to the concrete - would've died on set had she landed face up. She was glad they kept her work in the film, & there was no attempt to erased/do-over the sequence. You can see her fall from the inside courthouse pov shot.

[@Taj_Rahine]

Biff would remember the date he got the almanac, it was the same day the clocktower got hit. Also the same date as the dance.

[@brianbrennan5600]

Crispin Glover was great on letterman. Yeah he was doing a bit but lettermans show not long before then had Andy Kaufman etc doing similar schtik. In that era it was sometimes hard to tell at first that letterman was in on it. With Glover I think he started out annoyed that Glover had fed them a canned story (having to do with the apartment letterman mentions) that Glover blew off. And Glover wasn't just responding in character, he had a whole prepared schpeel. Then the censor beep, letterman is pissed and clearly meant glover when he asked Paul if he's ever seen a man die (though Glover was doing fine with the crowd at that point)...if he had just let letterman in beforehand rather than go guerrilla it could've been different. Joaquin Phoenix had a better reception because he was far less frenetic and gave letterman room to maneuver--letterman had that great "wish you could've been here tonight" line.

[@TheLeagueOfSteve]

Would've been the biggest swing to have opened with Marty, Doc & Jennifer returning FROM saving their kids, never mention it again and tell a totally new time travel story. PS Loved seeing Doc Brown fall in love in Back To The Future Part 3. You guys are waaaaay too harsh on that movie!

[@PatricksPlaybook]

The Jetsons had face time phone calls in 1962!!

[@n6urprf5]

No mention of Billy Zane?

[@KillFriskey]

"And how the hell does he change his clothes SO FAST?!"

[@kevinw712]

it's not talked about nearly as much as the classic Part 1 nitpick of "why don't Marty's parents recognize him in the altered future as having been Calvin Klein", but I feel like just as much of a logic hole is Doc's insistence in that Part 2 opening scene of them leaving quickly to deal with the problem of Marty's son in the future. It's like, you literally have a time machine, NOTHING is an "emergency" to deal with lol You could wait and experience years in the new altered present before you go and do the 2015 switcheroo between Marty and his son

[@jjmdirector]

What if the Almanac updated like Marty's family picture

[@beckyleonardis6331]

The only Back to the Future that I actually like is the 1st one! I didn't like the 2nd or the 3rd ones. Like Chris said, the 1st one is a perfect movie. And it is the most rewatchable out of the 3 of them. There was no reason for Jennifer to go with Marty and Doc. He knocked her out and even when she came to, she was getting in the way. And yes, it was weird to see Michael J. Fox play his daughter. They couldn't have found an actress. It's not like, they needed her for the rest of the movie. Just a few parts.

[@adriansal3524]

I’m big on that 2004 season for us that cost us a shot at someone like Lance Franklin and then like Sean said we then went onto win the next two wooden spoons so fat Lotta good it did us with the Band-Aid temp fix

[@TheRoyalFino]

The ending of BTTF was such a great ending to a perfect movie; but it totally handcuffed them with the sequels. A time jump would have pissed people off and would have created too many questions. Also, Crispin Glover's complaint about the ending of Back to the Future is kinda fair but it's not like the McFlys are living in a mansion. They have the same house but it's cleaner, nicer furniture and they were able to get Marty a truck (probably the biggest expense shown). George just releases his first novel at 47 years old (as a writer, this is tracking for me, lol). They are better off but not so much better off that it hurts the themes of the movie or sends a bad message.

[@spencerkindra8822]

I still think Glover's complaint is dumb. George's problem in the first act is that he's a wimp and a huge pushover. He lets Biff borrow his car, Biff totals it, blames George, tells him he's gotta pay for the damage, demands he do his reports from work, and then physically threatens him. But the one nice thing he does say is "Got the place fixed up nice though, McFly!" which proves your point about the house, that the McFlys weren't poor at the beginning or the end of the movie. Glover is a just a weirdo and I'm very certain the entire thing was about money.

[@rogerwakefield5949]

Whoa... Big whiff on "Peak 2015".. That was the Malcolm Butler interception, which is seriously hard to top.

[@QC_Charlottean]

Hard to believe Bill got caught looking for strike 3 on that one. No one knew that was the end of Russell Wilson.

[@deathisaprimitiveconcept]

2:09 Love the movie but the anxiety inducing nature of it is one of my only gripes: it gets exhausting with how much goes wrong for Marty & Doc... again... and again...

[@plutoniumcore]

I'm surprised Chris didn't want Van Zants bearer bonds from Heat

[@Royale_withcheeze]

Why were people unhappy with the ending of part 2 and the trailer?

[@brandonbushing2674]

Zemeckis has lifelong rights to the series

[@realBrianCars]

To Chris's point on the 80's theme restaurant- I can't imagine Ayatollah Khomeini as a waiter. That guy would declare a Fatwa on me as soon as he saw how little I tipped him.

[@benjaminwerth]

It always makes me laugh what a giant hole of knowledge Bill has with Sci-fi.. Nothing in the movie was unique to the movie except the self tying shoes. In lit, Asimov and others had this stuff for decades, and Star Trek had much of it on film before this movie.

[@QC_Charlottean]

Gotta jump on CR’s Doc #2 in the background in Part 1 comment. That doesn’t happen. First, if you just go look at it, you can clearly see the only person back there is wearing a dark jacket and a dark hat. Doc #2 is wearing a dark jacket and a tan nearly white hat. Secondly, he couldn’t have been there in part 1. If we can assume there’s some circular element to time as a result of Marty time traveling, Part 1 is the first pass. By that I mean, in order for Doc #2 to bump into Doc #1, Marty would have had to make it back to 1985 one instance in order for Doc #2 to both know to wear a bulletproof vest and to have a Delorean to continue time traveling. But as we see Doc setting up in the town square, this is the first pass and Marty has yet to successfully return Back To The Future. There I worked the title in.

[@BungerAdam]

Jim Decker (the actual Jim Decker) became a home builder and built my house in 2006!

[@spencerkindra8822]

21:09 "I don't know if I want more of this". Chris, that's exactly how I felt in the years after I saw 1 but before I saw 2 and 3. Back To The Future is so good and self contained that even with that cliffhanger ending they never needed to make a sequel. I like 2 and 3 but they're unnecessary.

[@josephdavi2807]

Chicken works because when George overcomes his fears with Biff, he’s no longer a loser in the future. Marty always has this fear of becoming his father who is always scared so when somebody calls him out, he feels he needs to go everyone..for me chicken works. By the way, awesome this podcast.

[@borisyeltsin6293]

is bill saying ''all the sudden''?

[@mahgeetahh]

Hot take but my personal order of the BTTF movies is 1, 3, 2

[@rowbownerd]

2015 Marty has the NUKE ‘EM board game from RoboCop on the table in his tv room.

[@rigsby1454]

I love 2, Way better than 3

[@exprezzion]

spent the $90 on the B2F1 VHS

[@somemale]

I am a simple man. I see Cousin Sal, I rewatch and then click.

[@lilpenny1982]

They definitely got Michael Jackson's face right 🥴✂️

[@martinlisk9913]

Professor of Rock displays the hoverboard on his KZbin channel

[@spencerkindra8822]

If you guys dislike the filmmakers casting Michael J. Fox to play his own daughter, wait until you rewatch 3 and realize that Lea Thompson is playing Marty's great grandmother Maggie in 1885. Because that TRULY makes no sense. Fox playing Marty Jr., Marlene, and Seamus McFly and Tom Wilson playing Griff and Mad Dog while goofy and lazy has a logic to it. In movies like Back To The Future that deal with the past, it's not uncommon for the main actor to play the younger version of his father or his own son. But having Lea Thompson who played Marty's mother (and therefore shares no ancestry with the McFly family) also play the grandmother of her own husband is a massive fuck up. Why would Lorraine look like George's grandmother? It must've been just laziness or as Sal eluded too, budgetary issues.

[@kerrnall]

WE DEMAND 1440p!

[@4ME2DRV]

I would have just made one extreme 12 game parlay with a handful of underdogs and put $100 on it. You would be a millionaire, then just play it cool after that winning and losing smaller stuff just to never run out of money.

[@scottv8124]

Sal looks like someone who spends a lot of time at casinos

[@jmichaeldeane9966]

You guys should definitely still do Hanks v Cruise even when one of them is already the star of the movie. Would Forest Gump be better with Tom? (For example) Days of Thunder better with Hanks? If the other actor wins maybe they get 2 points?

[@betterthanumjf]

Are we just pretending rick and morty doesn't exist as a remake and more perfect version of this story???? Come on

[@DaveFurbush]

The end of 2 would have been sooo much better, had it ended on Marty being handed the letter.Or even before the letter. Have 3 open with Marty in anguish, and the Western Union guy pulls up. Cliff hanger. End of Infinity War type hook. The trailer for 3 was so cheesy, and took all the tension, and mystery and pissed all over it.

[@heldover]

Why doesn't 2015 change when Old Biff comes back? Because Marty and Doc ultimately succeed in the past, which nullifies Old Biff's actions.

[@16brandex]

Back II the Future 2 is Michael J. Fox’s equivalent of 30 for 30 “ Deons Double play”.

[@dangxdc8348]

REWRITE "PART II" WITHOUT USING SPORTS ALMANAC. Senior Biff realizes "Calvin Klein" and discovers time machine DMC. Therefore senior Biff uses DMC to travel BACK

[@domcoke]

"Back to the Future" is a masterpiece ... "Back to the Future 2" is cartoony nonsense.

[@thedefinitionisthis]

BTTF is probably my favorite trilogy. If I were to rank them though, I would go 1, 3, and then 2. 2 is by no means bad, but I feel like In terms of sheer quality of storytelling, 2 is without question the weakest. Going into the future at the beginning feels a bit too farcical, and even Zemeckis said that when they were making the film, he was super reluctant about writing material for the future, because the ending of the first movie was merely a joke. He openly has said that they basically treated the future as something to get out of as soon as possible, story-wise. The movie is also more tech/sci-fi concept-driven, rather than character driven. 1 & 3 very much have character arcs, namely for George McFly and Doc Brown respectively. Whereas 2 really just has this action-adventure feel where the main characters don't really experience any growth; they just have to fix their timelines and get back to them. That being said, I do feel 2 is the most ambitious of the 3 movies, and the most innovative, considering the use of the vista-glide camera to have a single actor playing multiples roles in the same shot; and also the idea of going back to the events of the first movie from a different perspective is such a cool, innovative idea. As corny as it sounds, 2 simply misses the heart that both 1 & 3 have.

[@mjwbulich]

There are no more sequels because Gale and Zemeckis absolutely refuse to make any. Look what eventually happened to all the films from that era that continued to get sequels; Raiders, Star Wars, Alien, Terminator. They all shit the bed. BTTF is a perfect trilogy. Never make another. BTW, JJ Abrams has a BTTF inspired film in the works right now. Another Super 8 style homage.

[@slyon83]

Parkinson’s , not MS….

[@MrBendacorna]

DO THE THIRD 1

[@swannie35]

Needed Van for this.

[@jpowers17890]

There is a movie called slamball

[@trephi]

One of my annoying nitpicks has to do with gambling and I'm shocked they not only didn't mention it, but glossed over it as a rewatchable scene. When Old Biff is in car with Young Biff for the magical "see, the almanac works" scene, it's just really LAZY storytelling. I know the game was real but the announcer is like "this one is all but over!" And young Biff goes "what are you crazy old man? You heard him. It's over! You lost!" But then like 8 seconds later, they line up for a field goal kick that wins the game 19-17. So my nitpick is....that's not so CRAZY a prediction at all. And why would any sports announcer say a game was over if they are about to line up for a winning FG?? They made it seem like it was this crazy comeback but if I went to a bar and a team was lining up for a winning FG and I said "I can tell the future. I bet he hits this and they win". People would shrug and go. Yeah maybe. Always felt it was the "twisting the Oreo cookies is his tell in poker" moment of the movie where Zemeckis said "I know we're rushing this pivotal moment and dumbing it down for non gamblers but we need people to simply understand so let's move on". Always was weird to me and the kind of minutia I'm SHOCKED they didn't cover in this podcast. Unless I've missed something all these years. Haha.

[@inimitableminimalist]

you're right, but biff's a dumbass

[@trodnet]

Yay face cam

[@adriansal3524]

Still my favourite of the 3. I disagreed with your heat aged the worst, they don’t look that old

[@kevcole3333]

The almanac would not be accurate when you travel back in time. The future is not set. You'd be part of a different timeline with not set future.

[@bobbowie9350]

2 was a retread movie of 1. Terrible. 3 is at least something a little fresher.

[@cw323553]

Thought about this more than you should during my lifetime, but I enjoy watching sports way too much to know results and ruin it. I immediately destroy all pages of Almanac with basketball, baseball, football, golf and maybe a few more. I make my fortune on more obscure sports like horse racing only.

[@mclaughlin2008]

Sal, you can bet on the Mets losing in CT.

[@scottv8124]

1 is better but id rather watch 2

[@jacobmiller9345]

Simmons has a great tan

[@GeorgeCraig-ir2gd]

Ummm bill, you just disqualified yourself as a sports accuracy consultant. Seattle over broncos was 2014. 2015 was Patriots beating Seattle with the goal line interception. I think you’re also going to need to go into the Boston sports fan penalty box. So no one edits these ever??

[@Weaponator18]

It's not quite as bad as 'Henderson stole the ball in the old garden' from the Celtics - Pacers recap, but that's a big fail as well.

[@mattacost84]

Uh, Bill, no good quotes, really!?!? What about “Hey McFly, you bojo, those boards don't work on water! Unless you've got POWER!”

[@mikecat6291]

CR on the gravity of the time travel in a BTTF modern day remake: "Go back and tell Barack Obama, you know what, maybe don't make fun of Donald Trump today.." Damn that hits hard, especially four months out from an election that could potentially spell the end of our American experiment as we know it.

[@matthewburress1]

Now we’re doing mid-tier sequels, but not “The Faculty?” Bill…common man. It’s time.

[@Thenadathor]

How about "back 2 the future"

[@ThePalmer81]

Weird. I just watched this movie.

[@keeganshigh]

Was he fondled by Colonel Sanders?

[@blatty2646]

Hot take, this movie is dogshit. It takes an incredible, likable character like Marty, and makes him a jerk. The “chicken” thing will always bug me. The Marty and Doc we know at the end of Back to the Future would not regress to the idiots they are in this movie. Biff is the only good thing about this movie.

[@HeynowHeynowheynow]

More like the hottest take 🔥 🔥🔥🔥

[@ianrobinson4200]

I rewatched this the other night when I heard they were doing this episode. I have to say it's not as good as I remembered, it gets a bit convoluted and I'm not sure it fully works. I still like it, but it's a big, big gap from part 1 down to the other 2 parts in terms of quality

[@spurriousgod]

Not quite dogshit, but I agree the whole "chicken" thing was dumb af. You can show a character overcoming a personality flaw without being a complete hack about it. So telegraphed and weak - just poor, lazy writing. I always thought that was super corny. There are some cool, fun parts in this movie, but overall the writing and execution are a big decline from the first movie. I think part 3 redeems the series.

[@bobbowie9350]

it was a money grab in the worst way