Let's just say -- for ythe fun of it -- that Back to the Future never came out in 1985, and it was released today. Different actors, but the same plotlines, only with the years moved forward by 20.

In other words, 2005 is the present. Marty would go back to 1975, the "future" would be 2035 and the "old west" would be 1905.

What kind of updated jokes and references would they use? Things like that.

For starters, upon getting back to '75, Marty would discover Lorraine smoked weed and went "cruising". At the dinner table, they could be watching reruns of Three's Company. Marty could've filmed Doc's experiment on his video cellphone. The time travelling car could be a hummer. Maybe he'd play a garage rock version of "Double Vision" from Foreigner at the dance.

Any other ideas? ;)

Let's just say -- for the fun of it -- that Back to the Future never came out in 1985, and it was released today.


Very interesting topic for speculation, Marty McFly!  One idea would be when Marty is trying to convince Doc that he's from 2005.  Doc could ask, "So who's the governor of California in 2005?"
Marty: "Arnold Schwarzenegger!"
Doc: "What?!?  The Austrian muscle-man?  He can't even speak English!"

I'd hate to hear Marty attempt to perform a rap song at the "Enchantment Under the Sea" dance.

Also, who do you think would be a good actor to play Marty?  I see Tobey Maguire doling well in that role.

Don't give Hollywood any ideas. It's only a matter of time before someone decides to remake this.

Don't give Hollywood any ideas. It's only a matter of time before someone decides to remake this.


I fear that you're right.  Hopefully, since this is a Spielberg film, he would use his clout to prevent a remake from being made.

Don't give Hollywood any ideas. It's only a matter of time before someone decides to remake this.


The only way I think a "remake" of any kind would work would be to have it be a new story. A similar series of events, but not the exact same. I could actually see it working if it took place in the real 2015 and having the new guy go back to 1985 - following the same general path without feeling like a rehash.

If it was done right, they could pull it off. But I also fear somewhere down the road, they will remake it in a cr@ppy way.

I think it'd be funny if Doc Brown was some burned out ex-'60s hippie type, who was once well-known for being a radical chemist who produced the highest-quality LSD in the area.

Biff would be a lot like Ben Affleck's character (O'Bannion) in "Dazed and Confused."

Well, in reality...now that Hitchhikers Guide came out many feel IT is outdated and would've been better to have been made YEARS ago..seeing it today and trying to relate seemed lame with all those monsters made out of bad rubber....

monsters made out of bad rubber...
I'm sorry you lost me.

I'm sorry you lost me.


I am talking about how HGTTG is such an old story that when they tried to do it as a film, with all the advances in space and special effects, that movie fell behing the technology and the possibilities of looking better and attracting the audience..the latex costumes of the slobber monsters were like thos e sponge sumo wrestler suits people wear for Halloween..you almost could reach up and feel the paint used to cover the rubber and compared to cgi and better makeup of today, it lost it's believability.

I think it'd be funny if Doc Brown was some burned out ex-'60s hippie type, who was once well-known for being a radical chemist who produced the highest-quality LSD in the area.

Biff would be a lot like Ben Affleck's character (O'Bannion) in "Dazed and Confused."


When I read your post about Ben Affleck being in "Dazed and Confused", I was thinking, "Ben Affleck wasn't in that movie!"  But I checked IMDB.com, and sure enough, you were right -- I guess that I just didn't notice him back in 1993.  I agree with you that the O'Bannion character would make a perfect Biff.  I can also see Jeff Goldblum as Doc -- he's got those "bug-eyes" to accentuate the mad-scientist look.

The funny thing is that they could easily make BTTF IV/V/VI, and do it without changing more than a few points:

BTTF IV

The year is 2005 and Jules Brown is back on Earth, ready to finish his father’s temporal experiment, having build a time machine on a vintage Delorean; Marty, Jennifer and their daughter (We’ll call her Kira) are in the parking lots at Lone Pine Mall to witness the event but something goes wrong and Kira is sent back to 1985.

Back in 1985 Kira somehow mess up Marty and Jennifer’s first meeting, realizing that history really does repeat itself she immediately contacts Doc, and with his help try to fix things, not knowing that she is his future daughter Marty falls head-over-heels in love with Kira and invites her to the prom, in stead of Jennifer.

An all-girl band performs at the prom, and somehow Kira gets involved with them, she goes on stage when the lead singer looses her voice, she ends up doing “Baby One More Time” like Britney herself would have done it, with the song in her ear-piece from the mp3 collection in her cell phone.

The last scene in the gym should be of Kira standing on the stage, looking down at all the people look up at her, all with a surprised look on their faces, she have a deadline so she leaves the gym with the immortal words
“ I guess you folks ain’t ready for that yet, but your kids are gonna love it “
And on the way out she meets her parents, who – of cause – have found each other, after she have left Marty might say
“ Kira, it’s such a nice name “
Kira will then go back to 2005.

The last scene of the movie should be some neighbor – who had been in love with Marty since high school – sees the Delorean take off – with Jules, Kira and her boyfriend onboard – and draw fire-trails across the sky, as it breaks through the time barrier.

BTTF V

Jules have used the time machine and discovered that Kira’s daughter will be arrested and sentenced to twenty years hard labor, he brings her – who of cause is the spitting image of her future daughter – forward to the year 2025, to help him change events so her daughter won’t be arrested.

Kira buys a book titled “International Fashion 1900-2020” but Jules throws it away, a woman finds the book, borrow the time machine and gives it to herself in the past, so Jules and Kira returns to an alternate and darker 2005, a 2005 where armed gangs ruled the streets and they were ruled by her stepmother.

Kira’s stepmother got rich using the info in the book her future self had given her, and had shot Jennifer to get Marty, Kira and Jules travel back to 1985 to get the book back, while avoiding to run into Marty, Jennifer and Doc Brown, after a lot of trouble they of cause manages to get what they came for.

The book is destroyed and Jules prepares to land the Delorean, when it is suddenly struck by lightning, the flying car disappeared in time, leaving a very confused, very scared and very wet Kira, standing alone in the middle of nowhere, suddenly a car appears and a guy gets out, addressing her by name.

BTTF VI

Just as the Delorean got struck by lightning a car showed up, a man from the postal service with a letter for Kira, the was from Jules; he is “Alive a well in the year…” 1905 and have hidden the time machine so she can find it in 1985 and take it to his father, Doc Brown, telling her not to come back for him.

Doc is a bit surprised but Kira manages to convince him, of cause they discover that Jules meets a violent end shortly after he wrote the letter, so Doc repairs the time machine and Kira goes back to 1905, where she of cause have a run-in with some nasty characters, the same characters who’d later kill Jules.

Jules shows up just in time to save Kira from being hanged, a mysterious woman’s name on his future headstone of cause leads us to the love interest, in the shape of the new teacher at the local school, at the same time Jules and Kira have to figure out how to get the time machine up to 88mph.

They steal a train and use that to push the Delorean up to 88mph, at this point the teacher probably shows up and Jules gets off to save her, so Kira goes back to 2005 alone, the Delorean is destroyed upon arrival, hurrying over to her boyfriend’s house and finds him outside in the porch swing, just as they left him.

Back to the site of her reentry into 2005, along with her boyfriend, Kira finds only wreckage of the Delorean, suddenly the time-barrier is split once again, some kind of vehicle containing Jules, his wife (Teacher) and their children, he answers some questions before taking off for outer space.

An all-girl band performs at the prom, and somehow Kira gets involved with them, she goes on stage when the lead singer looses her voice, she ends up doing “Baby One More Time” like Britney herself would have done it, with the song in her ear-piece from the mp3 collection in her cell phone.


Too funny!  I'd rather hope that instead of blank stares from the 1985 audience, they would boo Kira off the stage after performing Britney Spears music.  :D

I liked your summary of the plots for BTTF IV - VI, RetroGuyDK!  What band do you see making a cameo appearance (a-la ZZ Top from BTTF III) in 1905?  I see Billy Idol as a would-be street thug with surprising vocal talents.

I don't think it would work.  I could be wrong, but I don't think it would work.  There was something kinda neat about the contrast b/w the 80s and the 50s.  Not just the technology, but also the way American culture had so vastly changed. 

That same thing just won't work with the 00s and the 70s.  And as the years go by, there will be less and less differences between the decades, not counting technology ofcourse.  And even then, unless you really do have a hoverboard...it just isn't the same thing. 

Someone from the 1980s would not know what an mp3 player is, but they probably would be able to figure out it is some kind of stereo like radio device, most likely a knew gadget from Japan or something.  It's just not the same as when Marty was doing his skateboard tricks (wow a board with wheels!) in 1955 while wearing his Aiwa Walkman, his digital watch, and RCA camcorder.  The concept behind those technologies were stuff I'm pretty sure most people didn't even think about yet in the 50s.

Ofcourse the central premise behind BTTF was that everyone was once a teenager and young, and that a kid meets his crusty old parents when they were kids and interacts with them on a peer level.  A good story might work out of that if it were done today or updated, but it wouldn't be the same deal as the BTTF we know. 

^ I totally agree.

I have a feeling the real 2015 will be even less of a difference from today in 2005, as 1995 was compared to now. So, the 1980's and 2010's will seem even closer together in all likelyhood - quite a change from the Part II vision of 2015. ;)

One thing I also loved in the movies, was seeing the younger George & Lorraine in 1955. They were so different on the surface than as "Marty's nerdy/depressed parents" in the first 1985. Yet internally, you could see they really were the same people and how they became as they were in middle age.

In the first timeline, Lorraine probably grew depressed at George's cowardness, which changed her outlook on life. Of course, George just got stuck in a dead end job still bossed around by his high school bully.

For that reason alone, two of the biggest things I cheers were (1) when he knocked Biff out, and (2) seeing the new 47-year-old Biff in the happy 1985, as a bit of a loser himself. ;D

As for Retroguy's idea:

Just for a fanfiction, I think parts of that could work (and I like the idea of switching to a female lead), but 1985 isn't a full generation away from 2005. In world terms, it's even less far seeming than that.

And a Britney song at the 1985 dance? Ick! Besides, that was only 1999, so I don't know if the "kids are gonna love it" line would work (only about half a generation).

I'm not sure when Marty met Jennifer originally (we'll say 1983 - they seemed relatively close and also seemed to know each other very well), but what about having Kira go back to 1975 or 1980 so it's closer to a generation off. I know Marty would be too young then, but what if Kira was only 14 or something. That could work.

All in all, still an interesting idea. :)

I see Billy Idol as a would-be street thug with surprising vocal talents.

I like that one

And a Britney song at the 1985 dance? Ick! Besides, that was only 1999, so I don't know if the "kids are gonna love it" line would work (only about half a generation).

I'm not really up on current music, which was why I chose Britney, at least I knew her.

An all-girl band performs at the prom, and somehow Kira gets involved with them, she goes on stage when the lead singer looses her voice, she ends up doing “Baby One More Time” like Britney herself would have done it, with the song in her ear-piece from the mp3 collection in her cell phone.

The last scene in the gym should be of Kira standing on the stage, looking down at all the people look up at her, all with a surprised look on their faces, she have a deadline so she leaves the gym with the immortal words
“ I guess you folks ain’t ready for that yet, but your kids are gonna love it “



No, she shouldn't sing "Baby One More Time". In the original, Marty sang "Johnny Be Good" by Chuck Berry. That was a song from the 50s that was just about to come out, not a song from the future.

When she goes back to 1985, Kira should sing a song that's just about to come out, too. I say she should sing either Bananarama's "I'm Your Venus" or the Bangles' "Walk Like an Egyptian".

When she goes back to 1985, Kira should sing a song that's just about to come out, too. I say she should sing either Bananarama's "I'm Your Venus" or the Bangles' "Walk Like an Egyptian".

Good point Satish, my mistake.

^Once again though, the difference in 1955 was that Marty nearly "invented" a new form of music when he played Johnny Be Goode.  These little touches b/w the 80s and 50s were really neat.  It wouldn't be quite there if the story was redone.

Then maybe Marty goes into the future and finds he needs to find a cure for Parkinsons BEFORE he gets it?

BUT SERIOUSLY:  THAT would be a more REAL movie...all these 'FANTASY' movies out there have to do with people going into the future, meeting their future love, or diffusing the destruction of the earth..how bout a realistic scientist, goes to the future to find a disease cure from maybe a pill or plant that ONLY exists in the future or they bring the best doctor 'Of the future' back with them in a  time machine?

Then again, if they cured the disease, the best doc of the future wouldn't be in business..

Okay, maybe go into the past and bring back a doctor who was just about to find the cure?? then gets killed or dies unexpectedly..he is saved, brought to the future and THEN all are cured?

Yeah, that's the ticket!   

Okay, now that five years have passed since the last post, we'd now be going back to 1980. How about Marty performing Back in Black? Hanging out at the roller rink (with hoverskates and a smartphone and an iPad?) People would think, "What's with with all those gadgets". But Doc would give a mission about the production of the first DeLorean (designed in 1980 to be released that fall), and must save some villain from hacking the space-time continuum with hazardous materials. Pat Benatar could be a guest star who goes with Marty and sees her same body 30 years older, and must find a way to make a good video music channel in order for her fame to sustain itself or else becoming a poor, working-class artist.


We'll I see you five years later when "hopefully" we'll go back to 1985 again with a new spin!

Don't give Hollywood any ideas. It's only a matter of time before someone decides to remake this.


Yes and it will be complete crap like everything else today!!

Other than Wally trying to get an Internet connection in 1980, it wouldn't fly (or McFly). 

The changes in social and cultural mores between 1955 and 1985 were far more profound than the changes between 1980 and 2010.  Between then and now, sex and drugs got more dangerous and rock 'n' roll died...oh, and the American public proved itself dumb enough to buy Reaganomics, which destroyed the working class and is now disintegrating the middle class...but I mean, other than that...
:-\\

Okay, now that five years have passed since the last post, we'd now be going back to 1980.


Oh, crap, not only did Hollywood do exactly what we thought they'd do, except instead of a DeLorean, it was a hot tub.


How about Marty performing Back in Black?


The Beastie Boys were time travelers who never made it back to their own decade.  Proof?  "Yo Chuck, listen to this!"  It's a good thing nobody knows about this, or the whole timeline might get mangl***CAUSALITY VIOLATION DETECTED AT TIMESTAMP 1273803723 - ASSIGN WRITERS TO SEQUEL***