Back to the Future Part II - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Back to the Future Part II or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Back to the Future Part II

[camila]

According to the video Marty watches at the Biff Tannen Museum, in the alternate timeline in which Biff was rich and powerful, his first two wives were Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield.

[tom]

In 2015, several cars from other science fiction movies can be seen, including a Spinner from Blade Runner (1982), and the StarCar from The Last Starfighter (1984). Other cars seen are (highly) modified Ford Probes and Mustangs, as well as concept cars.

[victoria]

If you pay close attention to the sign at the entry of the HILLDALE neighborhood, the subtext reads "A Place For Success" but someone has vandalized the sign to read "A Place For Suckers" (The letters "K" and "R" are spray painted on). The vandalism is a subtle suggestion that Hilldale, a seemingly middle class neighborhood, is not a good area. This is a payoff to the repeated lines by the police officers who take Jennifer home. Twice they complain about how bad the neighborhood is and the kinds of people who live there.

[lynn]

In the alternate timeline, George McFly is murdered on March 15, the Ides of March. This date was made infamous by the assassination of respected Roman leader Gaio Giulio Cesare (Julius Caesar) in 44 B.C.

[victoria]

When 1985 Jennifer discovers herself in her 2015 house, her daughter Marlene (played by Michael J. Fox) appears at the top of the stairs, saying, "Mom? Mom, is that you?" This is the same exact line spoken by Marty (also played by Michael J. Fox) in each film of the trilogy when he is knocked out and wakes up in an unfamiliar place.

[willard]

The Cafe '80s restaurant in 2015 is a conglomeration of the storefront's two previous incarnations in Back to the Future (1985). In 1955, it was the home of "Lou's Cafe", and in 1985, it was a fitness and workout club. While the Cafe '80s is primarily a restaurant, there are people seen working out on the exercise bikes (seen when Griff tells the riders "Keep pedalling, you two").

[ella]

Bob Gale wrote the first draft of the screenplay on his own, because Robert Zemeckis was busy filming Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) at the time.

[bessie]

Douglas J. Needles was born on August 6, 1968.

[kenneth]

When Doc sees the future newspaper headline change to tell him that he was "commended" instead of "committed", a headline at the bottom of the page changes from "Nixon seeks fifth term" to "Reagan seeks second term". (Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan)

[cassandra]

The principal actors and actresses had committed to the sequels before any scripts were written. However, there was a stumbling block in negotiations with Crispin Glover (George McFly in Back to the Future (1985)), who stated that he was offered a monetary amount less than half of what Lea Thompson and Thomas F. Wilson were being paid to return. Glover believed this was due to producer Bob Gale taking exception to his voicing his disapproval of the original ending of the first film (where the McFlys viewed money and material possessions as rewards), causing a script change. During sequel negotiations, his agent expressed to producers that Glover wanted fair compensation, in addition to a script approval clause in his contract. [Bob Gale] refused to give in to either of these requests, instead offering a lower salary amount than the first offer. After Glover turned down the low-ball offer of $125,000, Gale re-wrote the sequel script to lessen George McFly's screen time. Jeffrey Weissman was cast as George and, using molds of Glover made on the set of the first film, was dressed in facial prosthetics to look like him, so that they could incorporate excerpts from the original movie. All shots of Weissman either show him from behind, at a distance, upside down or with sunglasses, in effect fooling audiences into believing that Glover had taken part in the sequel.

[morris]

The shirt that Doc wears for the majority of the film features a design depicting cowboys on horseback and a train, foreshadowing the climax of the third film.

[willard]

The original draft of the script had Doc and Marty travelling to 1967 instead of back to 1955 to stop Biff. Marty once again encounters his mother, and accidentally prevents her from going on vacation with his father, thus stopping his own conception, and endangering his existence once more. Throughout the 1967 scenes, the 1985 Doc is continuously hiding from his 1967 counterpart, but the duo requires the younger version's help, since the "Mr. Fusion" is broken.

[kim]

In the 1985 scene where Marty watches a documentary on the life of Biff in front of the casino, there is a still photo of the part III villain, Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen. According to Bob Gale in the DVD commentary, this was a still of an early make-up test for Mad Dog. The look was changed when Back to the Future Part III (1990) began production.

[wallace]

Just before Marty and Doc leave 2015, there is a shot of the time machine's control panel showing the "Last Time Departed" as Nov 12 1955 6:38 p.m. If they had noticed this, they would have known someone had used the time machine without them.

[kristen]

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

[victoria]

This movie was the most advanced film of its time for using "every trick in the book", according to Robert Zemeckis. It was in the late 1980s when the concept of CGI was starting. However, in the film, very few CGI effects were actually needed.

[bessie]

In fall of 2011, Mattel gave the announcement of their official production of the hoverboard, slated for a November or December release in 2012. The company started the promotion orders in March 2012, by taking orders that were extended into April. All the orders included a 1:6th scale of the hoverboard. Next to the other futuristic items in the movie, it's the fourth official release of a prop from the movie.

[bryan]

Originally, only one sequel was planned. The script for this sequel, known as "Paradox" included all the elements of this movie and Back to the Future Part III (1990), but compressed to fit into one movie. However, it was revealed with the release of the DVD set that there was an even earlier script which involved Marty meeting up with his parents while they're college students in the sixties. (This was probably dropped because no matter how you cut it, George and Lorraine wouldn't have been in college during the "Protest Era", they were too old.)

[kenzi]

In the original script, Pa Peabody was to have been evaluated at a mental institution for claiming to have seen a spacecraft (the DeLorean in the first film). As soon as he is released, he sees a flying DeLorean and fires his shotgun at it, damaging the time circuits. This is the reason the destination time display flickers over to read 01.01.1885. On the region one DVD commentary, Bob Gale mentions the scene was dropped when Will Hare was not available to return for the sequel.