Movie plotholes/ The only thing that doesn't add up

This is the greatest trilogy ever made (i dont consider the godfather a trilogy cause 3 sucked). everything in this movie was well thought out, all the events and the going back and forth were perfect (especially if you watch them around 15 times each and pick up all the small details :p )

the only thing that think didnt add up in this movie was the fact that Marty's parents doent remember him. i mean sure its 30 years later (speaking of the 1st movie) but even if for only a week he was still a huge influence in both their lives right? when he started getting older wouldnt they start saying, hey wait a minute, this guy looks really familiar.

Worse yet wouldn't george suspect loraine of cheating on her with marty? i mean calvin marty in the late 60s?

just a stupid point. it might make no sence but its something that popped to my head and figure i'd share it. of course dont mean no offence to the trilogy
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Comments

  • edited June 2010
    The biggest plot hole in the series is in the second movie. Old Biff from 2015 steals the Delorean, travels back in time to the '50s to give himself the sports almanac, and then travels back to the future to the exact same version of 2015 from which he left. Then the Doc and Marty of this original version of 2015 get in the Delorean and travel back to alternate version of 1985 that Old Biff created. When Marty suggests going back to the future to stop Old Biff from getting the almanac, Doc explains that it wouldn't work because they'd arrive in an alternate version of 2015.

    See the problem? Why and how did Old Biff return to the original version of 2015 after changing the past? He should have come back to the alternate 2015 that he created. Doc and Marty should have been stranded in the original timeline or overwritten and erased from existence or however it's supposed to work.
  • edited June 2010
    It takes a minute to change
  • edited June 2010
    Recite the MST3K mantra....
  • edited June 2010
    The only thing that always weirded me out as a kid was that is dad's female ancestor looks like his mom.
  • edited June 2010
    Right. I forgot about that. Lots of inbreeding going on in the McFly family. :P
  • edited June 2010
    Worse yet wouldn't george suspect loraine of cheating on her with marty? i mean calvin marty in the late 60s?

    Their memory of "Calvin" would fade over time, especially his appearance. It would be very vague in their memories, even if they thought they remembered what he looked like, it'd be pretty unclear. They might have recognized him if he showed up one day looking exactly like he did in 1955, but seeing Marty grow up gradually, I think the association would be kind of... overwritten.

    Calvin would have been out of their lives completely for over ten years before Marty was born, so they'd be likely to write that resemblance off as a total coincidence even if they noticed it.

    Of course, if this new series does see Marty visiting the 1970s, these issues could definitely come into play.
    See the problem? Why and how did Old Biff return to the original version of 2015 after changing the past? He should have come back to the alternate 2015 that he created. Doc and Marty should have been stranded in the original timeline or overwritten and erased from existence or however it's supposed to work.

    How it's "supposed to work" is that as Old Biff got back to 2015, the world was already changing around them. Because the timeline shift occurred in 1955, it took a longer time for the "time ripple effect" to catch up to that point, so the effects of the change weren't immediately visible, but it's likely that by the time Doc and Marty left 2015, the McFly family no longer lived in the house that they had just visited.

    Also, in a deleted scene, it was shown that Old Biff seemed to collapse and then vanish after getting out of the time machine, because his changed past resulted in his death sometime before 2015, so his old self was erased from existence... but the scene was removed because it was confusing.
    Avistew wrote: »
    The only thing that always weirded me out as a kid was that is dad's female ancestor looks like his mom.

    I think they rationalized that in some commentary by the logic that men are subconsciously drawn to women who remind them of their mothers. So the characters aren't related, but it's not a coincidence that they look alike.
  • edited June 2010
    LuigiHann wrote: »
    Also, in a deleted scene, it was shown that Old Biff seemed to collapse and then vanish after getting out of the time machine, because his changed past resulted in his death sometime before 2015, so his old self was erased from existence... but the scene was removed because it was confusing.

    Really? I remember a scene like that, though ... guess I just heard someone mention it a long time ago, and I'm conflating the two memories?
    LuigiHann wrote: »
    I think they rationalized that in some commentary by the logic that men are subconsciously drawn to women who remind them of their mothers. So the characters aren't related, but it's not a coincidence that they look alike.

    Except it's his great grandma. I thought it was even weirder that Marty looked exactly like his great-great grandpa yet looked nothing like his dad. Then I saw ZZ Top, and I forgave them. :p
  • edited June 2010
    Really? I remember a scene like that, though ... guess I just heard someone mention it a long time ago, and I'm conflating the two memories?

    I think he still collapses in the film, but he only vanishes in the deleted scene. The deleted scene was included on the DVD so you might have seen it there.
    Lena_P wrote: »
    Except it's his great grandma.

    Yeah but the point is that his grampa married somebody who looked like his mother, and his dad married somebody who looked like his mother, so the resemblance was passed down non-genetically ;)

    But the real Out-of-canon reason was that they just wanted to cast the same actress so they could maintain the "Mom? Mom is that you?" gag :D
  • VainamoinenVainamoinen Moderator
    edited June 2010
    Oh dear. Now I wrote two answers, then seing that LuigiHan actually got and spilled the goods way earlier.
    *erases everything*
    Got one or two things to add, though (fan rambling "on"):
    Avistew wrote: »
    The only thing that always weirded me out as a kid was that is dad's female ancestor looks like his mom.

    Bob Gale addressed that issue not only with the "Men are attracted to women looking like their mothers"-rationale. The main reason that Maggie looks like Lorraine is... well, that they didn't want to make a BTTF without Lea Thomson.
    LuigiHann wrote: »
    Their memory of "Calvin" would fade over time, especially his appearance. It would be very vague in their memories, even if they thought they remembered what he looked like, it'd be pretty unclear.

    That could work well within 30 years' time. But in fact, Bob Gale didn't seem to care much for that logic. In a first draft for Back to the Future II, Marty was supposed to go back to 1967, just 12 years after his first visit... and Lorraine doesn't recognize him as Calvin at all (but this draft would have been a terrible movie anyways ;) ). So in this case, you'd just have to go with the flow.
  • edited June 2010
    The BTTF trilogy DVD release explained all of the "plot holes" fans have brought up about the movies. Specifically regarding old Biff returning to the future, the future WAS changed around Marty and Doc while they were there.. You'll notice that Biff came back to the future JUST AFTER Doc managed to grab Jennifer and asked Marty to help him. So between that time the timeline could have changed and there would be somebody completely different living in that house and neither of them would have noticed the difference.

    It makes sense, even if it is reaching...
  • edited June 2010
    This is the greatest trilogy ever made (i dont consider the godfather a trilogy cause 3 sucked). everything in this movie was well thought out, all the events and the going back and forth were perfect (especially if you watch them around 15 times each and pick up all the small details :p )

    the only thing that think didnt add up in this movie was the fact that Marty's parents doent remember him. i mean sure its 30 years later (speaking of the 1st movie) but even if for only a week he was still a huge influence in both their lives right? when he started getting older wouldnt they start saying, hey wait a minute, this guy looks really familiar.

    Worse yet wouldn't george suspect loraine of cheating on her with marty? i mean calvin marty in the late 60s?

    just a stupid point. it might make no sence but its something that popped to my head and figure i'd share it. of course dont mean no offence to the trilogy

    Well, they'd only known Calvin Klein for a few days, and given no photo's were taken, it's understandable that they'd forgotten what he looked like. Plus, when you see someone everyday, it's hard to see them changing until you look at old photos.
  • edited June 2010
    OP is wrong. That's not the only thing that doesn't add up. For one thing 2 plus 2 doesn't make 5 and you can't get 11,111 by adding five ones.

    mzl.mdwscbvc.320x480-75.jpg
  • edited June 2010
    Wait, wait... Are you saying that, in the original version of BttF, Marty McFly is mis-called Calvin Klein?
    I have to watch the movies without the Spanish dubbing, then. I suppose that, in the 80's, the Calvin Klein brand wasn't as well known in Spain as it is now, and the translators thought that the Spanish people won't get the joke, so they changed the name. In Spain, he's mis-called "Levi Strauss".
  • edited June 2010
    That's exactly why it was changed. I think he may have been called something else in another country as well, but I can't remember.
  • edited June 2010
    For that matter, wouldn't they have thought of Marty once Calvin Klein clothes actually came out and were popular and well-known?
  • edited June 2010
    I'm pretty sure I've found a plot-hole in part 3, but I can't quite remember exactly what it was... I think it had something to do with the Shonash Ravine being called Clayton Ravine back in 1955, although - with 1985-Doc already back in 1885 - Clara didn't fall into the Ravine, because Doc picked her up from the train station (so that the Ravine wasn't named after her), and 1955-Doc would've never known it as the Clayton Ravine (and still he calls it that).

    Of course, we never know if Clara didn't fall into the Ravine AFTER Doc's death in 1885, so it might just as well not be a plot-hole at all.
  • edited June 2010
    I'm pretty sure I've found a plot-hole in part 3, but I can't quite remember exactly what it was... I think it had something to do with the Shonash Ravine being called Clayton Ravine back in 1955, although - with 1985-Doc already back in 1885 - Clara didn't fall into the Ravine, because Doc picked her up from the train station (so that the Ravine wasn't named after her), and 1955-Doc would've never known it as the Clayton Ravine (and still he calls it that).

    Of course, we never know if Clara didn't fall into the Ravine AFTER Doc's death in 1885, so it might just as well not be a plot-hole at all.

    I haven't watched it in a while, but I think Doc is only inspired to actually go pick her up (and subsequently save her) after having a conversation with Marty. In the pre-Marty timeline he may have been too late.

    A more consistent (but sillier) plot hole has to do with the photo of the gravestone. The gravestone in the photo fades and disappears, but logically, the photo itself should vanish as well, since why would anybody take a picture of an empty space? :p
  • edited June 2010
    LuigiHann wrote: »
    I haven't watched it in a while, but I think Doc is only inspired to actually go pick her up (and subsequently save her) after having a conversation with Marty. In the pre-Marty timeline he may have been too late.
    Yeah, it's been a while here too, but I'm pretty sure that he did pick her up before Marty travels back to 1885, because the tombstone says "Beloved Clara". Once Marty goes back and tells him about his death, Doc decides to not pick up Clara from the train station, to avoid meeting her. Unfortunately they do encounter her on her out-of-control carriage (since nobody picked her up from the train station, she had to get to the town on her own) while they're checking out the Delorean (if I remember correctly), and of course save her.
  • Sinaz20Sinaz20 Telltale Alumni
    edited June 2010
    I'm pretty sure I've found a plot-hole in part 3, but I can't quite remember exactly what it was... I think it had something to do with the Shonash Ravine being called Clayton Ravine back in 1955, although - with 1985-Doc already back in 1885 - Clara didn't fall into the Ravine, because Doc picked her up from the train station (so that the Ravine wasn't named after her), and 1955-Doc would've never known it as the Clayton Ravine (and still he calls it that).

    Of course, we never know if Clara didn't fall into the Ravine AFTER Doc's death in 1885, so it might just as well not be a plot-hole at all.

    Your 1955 Doc there is in a different timeline in which it is Clayton Ravine.

    When Marty finally returns to 1985 from 1885, he is in a new timeline in which it is called Eastwood Ravine. And if he had decided to return to 1985 a day before the original time travel from the first movie, he would have encountered a 1985 Doc Brown who knew the ravine as Eastwood Ravine.

    Though there are plotholes-- especially with the Biff returning to 2010 bit... a lot of the confusion about what to expect boils down to understanding the notion of each trip to the past creating a new divergent timeline.

    http://bttf.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline
  • edited June 2010
    Sinaz20 wrote: »
    Your 1955 Doc there is in a different timeline in which it is Clayton Ravine.
    Oh, you're right... so in 1885 there's a new timeline branching off, where the Ravine becomes the Eastwood Ravine. Once Marty travels back to that branching point (of course he actually causes that branching point) he continues along that alternative timeline.

    Got it!

    I think I was thrown off by the fact that the old maps Doc looks at still have it named "Shonash Ravine", and I thought that was because the now 1885-Doc actually rescued Clara (so it was never named after her). But in fact it was just the old maps that still carried the "Shonash" name.
  • edited June 2010
    Sinaz20 wrote: »
    Your 1955 Doc there is in a different timeline in which it is Clayton Ravine.

    When Marty finally returns to 1985 from 1885, he is in a new timeline in which it is called Eastwood Ravine. And if he had decided to return to 1985 a day before the original time travel from the first movie, he would have encountered a 1985 Doc Brown who knew the ravine as Eastwood Ravine.

    Though there are plotholes-- especially with the Biff returning to 2010 bit... a lot of the confusion about what to expect boils down to understanding the notion of each trip to the past creating a new divergent timeline.

    http://bttf.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline

    This whole thread is giving me a headache! :) Say for instance Marty did return back to 1985 a day before the original time travel, and continued to live there. What happens the next day? Does the Doc's memory of the ravine change to Eastwood Ravine? Or is he living in a completely different timeline which will be new from then forward?
  • edited June 2010
    Wait, wait... Are you saying that, in the original version of BttF, Marty McFly is mis-called Calvin Klein?
    I have to watch the movies without the Spanish dubbing, then. I suppose that, in the 80's, the Calvin Klein brand wasn't as well known in Spain as it is now, and the translators thought that the Spanish people won't get the joke, so they changed the name. In Spain, he's mis-called "Levi Strauss".

    You spanish and your dubbing. I lived in Spain for a while and was blown away by Arnold Schwarzenegger saying "Sayonara, baby" in Terminator 2.
  • edited June 2010
    LuigiHann wrote: »
    The gravestone in the photo fades and disappears, but logically, the photo itself should vanish as well, since why would anybody take a picture of an empty space? :p

    In that case, why would anybody need to go back to 1885 to prevent a non-existent gravestone from appearing? Time paradox.
  • edited June 2010
    Wile_E wrote: »
    Say for instance Marty did return back to 1985 a day before the original time travel, and continued to live there. What happens the next day?
    Well, first of all his other self would be there too, because that Marty doesn't leave until the next day. Actually something like that happened in film 1, where he travels back to a few minutes before the original time travel, and witnesses himself being chased by the Lybians and then making the time-jump.
    Wile_E wrote: »
    Does the Doc's memory of the ravine change to Eastwood Ravine?
    Precisely!
    Again, it's similar to above mentioned scene in film 1. Marty has given Doc the letter about his death in the past, so his memory has been changed, and he knows about being shot... hence wearing a bullet-proof vest.
    Wile_E wrote: »
    Or is he living in a completely different timeline which will be new from then forward?
    That Doc is living in a "new" timeline that branched off back in 1885, when Marty "fell" into the Ravine. Although that branch-off took place way before Doc was born (and even before his ancestors had moved to America), so it had no real influence on his life, other than the fact, that he knows the Ravine as the Eastwood Ravine now. The same goes for the McFlys.
  • edited June 2010
    It seems the only film that had the least debateable things was part one. Cause in both 1985 Marty sees Doc get shot before he leaves to 1955 so even if doc knows about the libyans, Marty still thinks he has to warn him in 1955.

    The second one always had me wondering why biff returns to the original 2015 with the delorean if he changed it instead of going to his rich 2015, but a cut scene on the dvd shows the old man fading out of existence (maybe to wealthy Biff's 2015?)

    I agree about the tombstone photo in the third. Who would Marty travel back to 1885 to save doc if he doesn't see the tombstone?
  • edited June 2010
    techie775 wrote: »
    Cause in both 1985 Marty sees Doc get shot before he leaves to 1955 so even if doc knows about the libyans, Marty still thinks he has to warn him in 1955.
    But Marty HAS to go back... otherwise he wouldn't warn Doc back in 1955, and the 1985-Doc would just lose the memory of being warned ;) It would've caused a paradox, and we all know that those aren't always good.

    But it would've been nice of Doc to say "Meet me at 1:00 at the Lone Pine Mall, bring my video camera and a bullet-proof vest"... now that he knows. :D
  • edited June 2010
    But Marty HAS to go back... otherwise he wouldn't warn Doc back in 1955, and the 1985-Doc would just lose the memory of being warned ;) It would've caused a paradox, and we all know that those aren't always good.

    But it would've been nice of Doc to say "Meet me at 1:00 at the Lone Pine Mall, bring my video camera and a bullet-proof vest"... now that he knows. :D

    Yeah I meant something like that. If Doc had told Marty his plan with preventing his death before hand with vest and taping together the shreds of the note and then says "Oh put a note in my pocket so I know not to get killed." it would make you wonder, who told Doc beforehand and would have made no sense. Doc has to make Marty in think he's dead in the end of part 1 or else marty will have no reason to warn him in 1955 and as you said that leads to a paradox or death. I've seen people warning themselves before in time traveling stories and it's annoying.
  • edited June 2010
    Another thing that bothers me is the fact that when Marty and Jennifer goes to 2015 at the begining of the 2nd movie, they arrive in a future in which they are still there, 30 years older.
    They should have gone to a future in which they mysteriously disapeared in 1985, the morning they were supposed to go to the lake, and were never seen again.

    Think about it. It really doesn't make sense otherwise.

    And by the way, Calvin Klein Marty is called Pierre Cardin in France...
  • edited June 2010
    Billy wrote: »
    Another thing that bothers me is the fact that when Marty and Jennifer goes to 2015 at the begining of the 2nd movie, they arrive in a future in which they are still there, 30 years older.
    They should have gone to a future in which they mysteriously disapeared in 1985, the morning they were supposed to go to the lake, and were never seen again.

    Think about it. It really doesn't make sense otherwise.

    Taken from the trilogy's bonus DVD FAQ:
    Q: At the beginning of Part II, when Doc takes Marty and Jennifer out of 1985 and takes them to the future, how can Old Marty and Old Jennifer (and their family) even be in the future? Wouldn't their disappearance from 1985 instantaneously erase their future?

    A: To be honest, yes, it very well should erase their existence from the future. This is, in fact, the ultimate paradox of BTTF Part II. We really thought about this one for a long time, but we finally decided that after the setup of Doc's saying "something's gotta be done about your kids," the audience would feel cheated if we went to the future and found out they didn't exist.

    You could, however, argue that the existence of Old Marty, Old Jennifer and their kids in the future automatically proves that Young Marty and Jennifer will eventually get back to 1985. The flaw in this reasoning is that Doc repeatedly tells us that the future isn't written, so why would this part of the future be "written"?

    Ah, but Part III may contain the answer to this question after all. When Doc spots the tombstone in 1885 and sees that the name on the photograph of the tombstone has vanished but the date remains, he says "We know this photograph represents what will happen if the events of today continue to run their course into tomorrow." That's a pretty big "if", and it suggests that time travel to the future always takes you to a future based on the events of the time you left - a logical extrapolation of what the future of that moment holds. Of course, the existence of free will allows for the possibility of infinite futures, which is what Doc says at the end of Part III: "Your future is whatever you make it." But time travel into the future takes you to the most likely future of the moment you left.
  • JenniferJennifer Moderator
    edited June 2010
    My favorite theory from the extras on the DVD is the explanation as to why Doc doesn't remember things he should, such as the fact that he is the one who dresses Marty up in the ridiculous cowboy outfit.

    They said Doc doesn't remember things because of all the drugs he did as Reverend Jim in the late 70's. :D
  • edited June 2010
    Not a plot hole per se, but I've always thought that Marty was awfully lucky his family still lived in the same house when he returned to 1985 in the first movie even though they're now wealthier and more successful.
  • VainamoinenVainamoinen Moderator
    edited July 2010
    I was just struck by lightning. :D :D :D

    When Doc and Marty are out of gas in 1885, couldn't they actually get a little bit of that stuff from the time machine in the old mine????
  • edited July 2010
    I was just struck by lightning. :D :D :D

    When Doc and Marty are out of gas in 1885, couldn't they actually get a little bit of that stuff from the time machine in the old mine????

    Yes, and then the movie would have been over.
  • VainamoinenVainamoinen Moderator
    edited July 2010
    Thespis wrote: »
    Yes, and then the movie would have been over.

    Well, we COULD have watched 1885 a little further while Marty and Doc go back to the future. We'd see Clara die and Buford maraud around the place without anyone stopping him... ;)
  • edited July 2010
    I was just struck by lightning. :D :D :D

    When Doc and Marty are out of gas in 1885, couldn't they actually get a little bit of that stuff from the time machine in the old mine????

    One typically drains the gas tank before putting a car into hundred-year storage, I think?
  • edited July 2010
    This is the greatest trilogy ever made (i dont consider the godfather a trilogy cause 3 sucked). everything in this movie was well thought out, all the events and the going back and forth were perfect (especially if you watch them around 15 times each and pick up all the small details :p )

    the only thing that think didnt add up in this movie was the fact that Marty's parents doent remember him. i mean sure its 30 years later (speaking of the 1st movie) but even if for only a week he was still a huge influence in both their lives right? when he started getting older wouldnt they start saying, hey wait a minute, this guy looks really familiar.

    Worse yet wouldn't george suspect loraine of cheating on her with marty? i mean calvin marty in the late 60s?

    just a stupid point. it might make no sence but its something that popped to my head and figure i'd share it. of course dont mean no offence to the trilogy

    I would have thought that Biff would say hey this guy looks familiar, since marty pissed him off soo many times and made him go into all those manure trucks lol, but in a way he did only in part 2 when he saw the delorean.
  • edited July 2010
    Well, I love the movie trilogy and I try not to overthink these things. But, for the longest time, there is just one thing that has always been bugging me.

    In Back to the Puture Part II, Marty & Doc go back to an alternate 1985 where Biff runs the town. We know Doc was sent to an Insane Asylum, but hey..."What happened to / Where is the Alternate '85 Marty during the movie??

    Is he in jail? Is he dead? Or (my theory), did Biff have his goons send him away to another place, (LA maybe?) and is suprised that this Marty is back in town? I don't know.
  • edited July 2010
    In the second film, Biff says "You're supposed to be in Switzerland" and "You get kicked out of another boarding school?", so my guess is that he was sent away to a Switzerland Boarding School. I'm such a Sherlock! :P
  • edited July 2010
    i never understood the end of the third movie. Marty and Doc have to get back before Mad Dog kills one of them but after Mad Dog is taken to jail Marty and Doc have all the time in the world to go back to 1985 but instead go immediately
  • edited July 2010
    hamza721 wrote: »
    i never understood the end of the third movie. Marty and Doc have to get back before Mad Dog kills one of them but after Mad Dog is taken to jail Marty and Doc have all the time in the world to go back to 1985 but instead go immediately
    But they have to catch the train!... of course, they could have also waited for the next one.
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