Favorite Time Travel Movie

Ledbetterman10 said:

Glorified KC said:

Ledbetterman10 said:

tbergs said:

Ledbetterman10 said:

Here's some Back To The Future trivia for everybody. Don't look it up, because now with the internet, there's like websites dedicated to this. But when I figured it out in the early 90's just by watching these three movies on VHS, I thought it was a big deal and would commonly ask this of BTTF fans.

The question.....

At what I estimate to be between 3pm and 5pm on November 12, 1955 (for reference, it'd be the scene in Part 2 where Old Biff gives Young Biff the Sports Almanac), how many DeLorean time machines are there in Hill Valley?

Hmmm, 4? I am thinking cave, old Biff, present Marty and past Marty. 

Edit: maybe 5 if I consider Doc's original, but I'm getting confused.

Yep! No need for the edit, you got it the first time. A lot of people forget the one in the cave because it hadn't happened yet in the film sequence, but in the timeline, it's the first one that's there. 

This is a bit tricky, because the one in the cave doesn't appear until Doc is struck by lightning, so I don't think it's possible to have the one in the cave put there by the Doc Brown who was transported back to 1885 and the "1985" Doc Brown who is in 1955 at the same time.  I think the answer should be 3.  One stationed in 1955 Doc Brown's lab.  One with old Biff.  One with 1985 Doc Brown.

You're not thinking 4th dimensionally! Or maybe you are. 

I think there's two schools of thought: single timeline and cause/effect (multiple timelines). I'm going by single timeline and you're going by cause/effect. In cause/effect like you're saying, the DeLorean in the cave just appears out of thin air after Doc is struck by lightning. And him getting struck by lightning sets into motion events such as Marty being delivered the letter from 1885, and discovering the car in the cave the following day. 

In single timeline, it all goes chronologically. So the very first thing to happen in the timeline is Doc arrives in 1885. Then there's the events of BTTF3 that happen in 1885, and so on and so forth. Under that premise, the car has been buried since 1885. So when I'm watching the first movie and Marty is playing Johnny B. Goode, I'm picturing BTTF2 Marty climbing on the scaffold above, because I'm going off of one single timeline. Cause/effect has multiple timelines that change. So Marty playing guitar without another Marty above is one timeline, then the events of BTTF2 (cause) lead to there being a new timeline with a second Marty (effect). 

Now, my single timeline theory gets challenged by alternate timelines like the alternate 1985. But I argue that never even happened because that would be a reality set in motion by young Biff becoming rich with the almanac, but in the single timeline, Marty gets it back and burns it. 

I just think the single timeline is more fun to think about after you've seen these movies a millions time, The idea of the cave DeLorean appearing out of thin air following Doc being struck by lightning, while feasible I guess (matchbooks and newspaper articles change due to cause/effect), just isn't how I see it. To me, there was never a Twin Pines Mall. It was always Lone Pine Mall. 

Glorified KC said:

Ledbetterman10 said:

Glorified KC said:

Ledbetterman10 said:

tbergs said:

Ledbetterman10 said:

Here's some Back To The Future trivia for everybody. Don't look it up, because now with the internet, there's like websites dedicated to this. But when I figured it out in the early 90's just by watching these three movies on VHS, I thought it was a big deal and would commonly ask this of BTTF fans.

The question.....

At what I estimate to be between 3pm and 5pm on November 12, 1955 (for reference, it'd be the scene in Part 2 where Old Biff gives Young Biff the Sports Almanac), how many DeLorean time machines are there in Hill Valley?

Hmmm, 4? I am thinking cave, old Biff, present Marty and past Marty. 

Edit: maybe 5 if I consider Doc's original, but I'm getting confused.

Yep! No need for the edit, you got it the first time. A lot of people forget the one in the cave because it hadn't happened yet in the film sequence, but in the timeline, it's the first one that's there. 

This is a bit tricky, because the one in the cave doesn't appear until Doc is struck by lightning, so I don't think it's possible to have the one in the cave put there by the Doc Brown who was transported back to 1885 and the "1985" Doc Brown who is in 1955 at the same time.  I think the answer should be 3.  One stationed in 1955 Doc Brown's lab.  One with old Biff.  One with 1985 Doc Brown.

You're not thinking 4th dimensionally! Or maybe you are. 

I think there's two schools of thought: single timeline and cause/effect (multiple timelines). I'm going by single timeline and you're going by cause/effect. In cause/effect like you're saying, the DeLorean in the cave just appears out of thin air after Doc is struck by lightning. And him getting struck by lightning sets into motion events such as Marty being delivered the letter from 1885, and discovering the car in the cave the following day. 

In single timeline, it all goes chronologically. So the very first thing to happen in the timeline is Doc arrives in 1885. Then there's the events of BTTF3 that happen in 1885, and so on and so forth. Under that premise, the car has been buried since 1885. So when I'm watching the first movie and Marty is playing Johnny B. Goode, I'm picturing BTTF2 Marty climbing on the scaffold above, because I'm going off of one single timeline. Cause/effect has multiple timelines that change. So Marty playing guitar without another Marty above is one timeline, then the events of BTTF2 (cause) lead to there being a new timeline with a second Marty (effect). 

Now, my single timeline theory gets challenged by alternate timelines like the alternate 1985. But I argue that never even happened because that would be a reality set in motion by young Biff becoming rich with the almanac, but in the single timeline, Marty gets it back and burns it. 

I just think the single timeline is more fun to think about after you've seen these movies a millions time, The idea of the cave DeLorean appearing out of thin air following Doc being struck by lightning, while feasible I guess (matchbooks and newspaper articles change due to cause/effect), just isn't how I see it. To me, there was never a Twin Pines Mall. It was always Lone Pine Mall. 

 I want to premise my response is saying I love this discussion and I am a BTTF nerd!  Really this is getting heavy.

So I'm trying to think back in BTTF 2 when they end up in the alternative 1985 after old Biff gave the book to himself.  Even though Biff went back and gave the book to himself in 1955, the surroundings in 2015 did not change at all.  Your point about multiple timelines makes a lot of sense.  This is almost taking on a "Lost" type of feel now if we think of alternate dimensions.  I love this thought experiment so much!

dankind said:

There's a cave in Hill Valley?

West Coast Dreamgirl said:

dankind said:

There's a cave in Hill Valley?

Yes, where the doc hid the delorean when he went back to the wild west in part 3. Thos enables Marty to travel back in time to see him.

eeriepadave said:

What about time travel tv shows?

 Quantum Leap or Dr. Who?

dankind said:

F Me In The Brain said:

eeriepadave said:

What about time travel tv shows?

 Quantum Leap or Dr. Who?

QL

tempo_n_groove said:

F Me In The Brain said:

dankind said:

F Me In The Brain said:

eeriepadave said:

What about time travel tv shows?

 Quantum Leap or Dr. Who?

QL

I know there are 60 seasons of Dr Who and they change up the Doc and it is British and all of that.

Sam, Al, and Ziggy rule TV time travel.

(Unless you count flashbacks, in which case Magnum PI wins.)

What about Voyagers and Phineas Bogg?!?

eeriepadave said:

What about time travel tv shows?

 Quantum Leap or Dr. Who?