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Back to the Future Part II

1989 film by Robert Zemeckis

Back to the Future Part II is a 1989 sequel to Back to the Future. After visiting 2015, Marty McFly must repeat his visit to 1955 to prevent disastrous changes to 1985…without interfering with his first trip.

Getting back was only the beginning.
Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale.
Getting back was only the beginning.(taglines)
Now why don't you make like a tree and get outta here?
It's "leave", you idiot! "Make like a tree, and leave"! You sound like a damn fool when you say it wrong!

Doc Brown

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  • [about to throw out the almanac] The Skyway's jammed. It's gonna take us forever to get there. And this stays here. I didn't invent the time machine to win at gambling; I invented the time machine to travel through time.
  • My only regret is that I'll never get a chance to visit my favorite historical era, the Old West. But time-traveling is just too dangerous. Better that I devote myself to study the other great mystery of the universe: Women.
  • [about Biff having gone back to November 12, 1955] Unbelievable that Old Biff could've chosen that particular date. It could mean that that point in time inherently contains some sort of cosmic significance. Almost as if it were the temporal junction point of the entire space-time continuum. On the other hand, it would just be an amazing coincidence.

Dialogue

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[Marty and Doc notice the cops taking an unconscious Jennifer away]
Doc: They're taking her home, to your future home! We'll arrive shortly thereafter, get her out of there, and go back to 1985.
Marty: You mean, I'm gonna see where I live? I'm gonna see myself as an old man?
Doc: No, no, no, Marty. That could result in a-- [gasps in shock] Great Scott! Jennifer could conceivably encounter her future self! The consequences of that could be disastrous!
Marty: Doc, what do you mean?
Doc: I foresee two possibilities. 1: coming face to face with herself 30 years older would put her into shock and she'd simply pass out. Or 2: the encounter could create a time paradox, the result of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the spacetime continuum and destroy the entire universe! Granted, that's a worst-case scenario. The destruction might in fact be very localized, limited to merely our own galaxy.
Marty: [alarmed and sarcastically] Well, that's a relief.
Doc: The Skyway's jammed. It's gonna take us forever to get there. [throws the Almanac in the trash] And this stays here. I didn't invent the time machine to win at gambling; I invented the time machine to travel through time.
[2015 Jennifer and 1985 Jennifer see each other; they gasp in unison]
1985 Jennifer: I'm old!
2015 Jennifer: I'm young!
[Both faint]
Doc: Marty! Marty! Marty, come quick. Quick.
Doc: Obviously, the time continuum has been disrupted, creating this new...temporal event sequence resulting in this alternate reality.
Marty: English, Doc.
Doc: Here, here, here. Let me, uh, let me illustrate. [brings over a chalkboard] Imagine that this line [draws a straight line across the board] represents time. Here's the present, 1985, the future and the past. [writes "Past" on left side, "1985" in the middle, and "F" for Future on the right; points at the area before 1985] Prior to this point in time, somewhere in the past, the timeline [draws another line] skewed into this tangent creating an alternate 1985. [writes 1985A on chalkboard] Alternate to you, me and Einstein, but reality for everyone else. [pulls a small, silver plastic bag out of the DeLorean] Recognize this? It's the bag the sports book came in. I know, because the receipt was still inside. I found them in the time machine...along with this. [shows Marty a small-fisted object]
Marty: It's the top of Biff's cane. I mean, Old Biff from the future.
Doc: Correct. It was in the time machine because Biff was in the time machine, with the Sports Almanac!
Marty: Holy shit.
Doc: You see, while we were in the future, Biff got the sports book, stole the time machine, [draws an overarching line across the chalkboard] went back in time, and gave the book to himself at some point in the past. [brings over a large newspaper] Look. [scoffs] It says right here that Biff made his first million betting on a horse race in 1958. He wasn't just lucky. He knew because he had all the race results in the Sports Almanac. That's how he made his entire fortune! Look at his pocket with a magnifying glass.
Marty: The Almanac. [angrily] Son-of-a-bitch stole my idea! He must have been listening when I- [realizes] It's my fault. The whole thing is my fault! If I hadn't bought that damn book, none of this would have ever happened!
Doc: Well, it's all in the past.
Marty: You mean the future?
Doc: Whatever! It demonstrates precisely how time travel can be misused, and why the time machine must be destroyed, after we straighten all of this out.
Marty: Right. So, we go back to the future, and we stop Biff from stealing the time machine.
Doc: We can't, because if we travel into the future from this point in time, it will be the future of this... [indicates 1985A on the blackboard] reality, in which Biff is corrupt, and powerful, and married to your mother, and in which...[holds up a newspaper; the headline reads: "EMMETT BROWN COMMITTED"] this has happened to me! [Einstein moans, and Marty takes the newspaper from from] No. Our only chance to repair the present is in the past, at the point where the timeline skewed into this tangent. In order to put the universe back as we remember it and get back to our reality, we have to find out the exact date and specific circumstances of how, where, and when young Biff got his hands on that Sports Almanac.
Marty: [determined] I'll ask him.
[At Biff's home garage]
Old Biff: [shows his younger self "Grey's Sports Almanac"] Ya see this book? This book tells the future. Tells the results of every major sports event 'til the end of the century. Football, Baseball, Horseraces, Boxing. The information in here is worth millions. And I'm givin' it to you. [passes his younger self the book]
Young Biff: [sarcastically] That's very nice. Thank you very much. Now, why don't you make like a tree, [skims through the pages] and get outta here?!
Old Biff: [smacks his younger self] It's "leave", you idiot! "Make like a tree, and leave"! You sound like a damn fool when you say it wrong!
Young Biff: All right, then! [tosses the almanac aside] Leave! And take your book with ya!
1955 Doc: Excuse me, sir? [1985 Doc turns and catch a glimpse of his younger self, gasps, and looks away] Yes, you with the hat.
1985 Doc: Who? Me?
1955 Doc: Yeah. Be a pal, and hand me a 5/8" wrench out of that toolbox.
1985 Doc: [backs up slowly without turning] 5/8? Uh...don't you mean...[looks to the toolbox] 3/4?
1955 Doc: [looks again at the bolt measurement] Why, you're right.
1985 Doc: I presume...you're creating some sort of weather experiment. [hands the wrench to his younger self]
1955 Doc: That's right. How did you know that?
1985 Doc: [checks the cable] Oh, I happened to have had a little experience in this area.
1955 Doc: Yes. [looks up at the sky] Well, I'm hoping to see some lightning tonight, although the weatherman says there's not gonna be any rain.
1985 Doc: [looks to the sky as well] Oh, there’ll be plenty of rain, alright. Wind, thunder, lightning. And it's gonna be one hell of a storm.
1955 Doc: Yeah, well, thanks. Nice talking to you. Maybe we'll bump into each other again sometime in the future. [goes to tighten the bolts]
1985 Doc: [to himself] Or in the past. [leaves]
[Western Union presents Marty with a letter from Doc]
Marty: [reads the letter] "Dear Marty, if my calculations are correct, you will receive this letter immediately after you saw the DeLorean struck by lightning. First, let me assure you that I am alive and well. I've been living happily these past eight months in the year 1885. The lightning bolt that-" [looks at the date in excitement and relief] 1885! September 1885!
Western Union Man: Whoa! Wait, kid! What's this all about?!
Marty: He's alive! The Doc's alive! He's in the Old West, but he's alive!
Western Union Man: Kid, you alright?! You need any help?!
Marty: [remembers] There's only one man who can help me!
[Last lines; after Marty has gone back to 1985, the Marty that came from the alternate 1985 suddenly shows up from down the street and runs to the unsuspecting 1955 Doc]
Marty: Doc, Doc! [grabs Doc, who shouts in shock] Okay. Okay! Relax, Doc! It's me! It's Marty!
Doc: No! It can't be! I just sent you back to the future.
Marty: I know. You did send me back to the future, but I'm back. I'm back from the future.
Doc: Great Scott! [faints]
Marty: Doc? Doc? Doc? Doc! [scoffs] Fantastic.

Taglines

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  • Getting back was only the beginning.
  • Synchronize your watches. The future's coming back…
  • Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads!
  • This time Marty McFly doesn't know if he's coming or going...and his future is really up in the air.
  • Welcome Back Marty McFly. He's smart. He's handsome. He's got a great future behind him.

Cast

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About

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  • Once the film came out and was this huge success, the studio very quickly said, "We must have a sequel!" But because the second one was such a long script, and they couldn't find any way to shorten it, they decided to make it as two films. I'm surprised the second one wasn't marketed as "part two of three". A lot of people found it less rewarding because it didn't have the fun and lightness of the first one, but then the third one makes sense of the second – it all connects up. I think the first film resonates so well with audiences because of the element of wish-fulfilment at its heart. We've all said to ourselves, "I wish I could go back in time and change something" or, "If only I could do that over again".
  • Bob Gale, co-writer/producer [1]
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