Teenager Marty McFly is accidentally sent thirty years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his eccentric friend, Doc Brown. Trapped in 1955, Marty inadvertently prevents his future parents' first meeting, threatening his own existence. Now, he must race against time to make them fall in love and find a way back to 1985 before he is erased from history forever.
Information |
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Language |
English |
Country |
United States |
Premiere date |
July 3, 1985 |
Running time |
116 minutes |
Genre |
Sci-Fi Adventure Comedy |
Budget |
$19,000,000 |
Box Office |
$383,336,755 |
Crew |
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Directed by |
Robert Zemeckis |
Produced by |
Bob Gale Neil Canton |
Written by |
Robert Zemeckis Bob Gale |
Music by |
Alan Silvestri |
Cinematography |
Dean Cundey |
Edited by |
Arthur Schmidt Harry Keramidas |
Production Co. |
Universal Pictures Amblin Entertainment |
Distributed by |
Universal Pictures |
Top Cast |
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Official Trailer |
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Movie Collection |
Movie Order: #01 in Back to the Future Collection
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The Plot
The Giant Amplifier and a Late Start
On October 25, 1985, seventeen-year-old high school senior Marty McFly arrives at the home of his friend, the eccentric local scientist Dr. Emmett L. Brown. Finding "Doc" absent, Marty enters the clutter of the laboratory, casually kicking his skateboard forward. The board rolls until it strikes a box of plutonium hidden under Doc’s bed, though Marty remains oblivious to the radioactive danger. Instead, he focuses on the equipment, hooking his electric guitar up to a gigantic amplifier. Marty cranks the dials to their maximum settings and strums a single chord. The resulting sonic boom is so powerful that the amplifier explodes, sending Marty flying backward into a set of shelves.
Recovering from the blast, Marty receives a phone call from Doc Brown, who asks him to meet at the Twin Pines Mall parking lot at 1:15 AM that night. Doc also warns him not to use the giant amplifier, unaware that Marty has already blown it up. As Marty agrees to the meeting, the multitude of clocks in the basement suddenly chime in unison. When Doc remarks that the clocks are exactly 25 minutes slow—proof of a successful experiment—Marty panics, realizing he is hopelessly late for school.
Too Darn Loud
Marty rushes to school only to be intercepted by his girlfriend, Jennifer Parker, who warns him that Mr. Strickland is on the prowl. Unfortunately, Strickland catches them both, handing out tardy slips and severely reprimanding Marty for his slack attitude. Later that afternoon, Marty and his band, "The Pinheads," audition to play at the upcoming school dance. Their performance is cut short almost immediately when they are rejected for being "too darn loud."
Dejected, Marty confides in Jennifer, fearing that he lacks the talent to ever play for an audience. Jennifer tries to comfort him but has to leave to visit her grandmother. Before parting, she writes her grandmother's phone number on the back of a "Save the Clock Tower" flyer. Marty folds the flyer and places it in his pocket, a small action that will prove vital later on.
The Tannen Regime
Upon arriving home, Marty finds the family car wrecked. His father, George McFly, is being berated by his supervisor, Biff Tannen. Biff, who had been drinking and driving, crashed George's car but audaciously blames George for not warning him about a "blind spot." Biff bullies George into paying for his dry-cleaning bill—claiming he spilled beer on his suit during the impact—and forces George to finish his work reports for him. Even in 1985, George is completely subservient to Biff.
That evening at dinner, the dysfunction of the McFly family is on full display: Marty's brother Dave works at Burger King, his sister Linda struggles with her love life, and his mother, Lorraine, is an alcoholic who depressingly disapproves of girls chasing boys. She recounts the story of how "fate" brought her and George together when her father hit George with his car after George fell out of a tree. She fondly remembers nursing him back to health and their first kiss at the "Enchantment Under the Sea" dance, though it is painfully obvious that the passion between them has long since evaporated.
The Twin Pines Experiment
Marty falls asleep but is awakened by a call from Doc, reminding him to bring the video camera to the Twin Pines Mall. At the mall, at 1:15 AM, Marty witnesses Doc's greatest invention: a time machine built into a modified DeLorean sports car. Doc explains that the vehicle must reach 88 miles per hour to traverse time. To test this, Doc places his dog, Einstein, in the car and sends him one minute into the future. The experiment is a success, leaving the car cold to the touch upon its return.
Doc explains the mechanics of the machine to Marty, showing him the keypad where dates are entered. He sets the destination to November 5, 1955—the day he invented the "flux capacitor," the core component that makes time travel possible. He also notes that the machine requires a massive 1.21 gigawatts of electrical power to operate. Just as Doc refills the plutonium chamber—plutonium he swindled from Libyan terrorists by giving them a fake bomb—the terrorists arrive in a van seeking revenge.
The Libyans open fire, gunning Doc down. In a panic, Marty jumps into the DeLorean to escape. He floors the gas pedal, and as the car accelerates to 88 miles per hour, the flux capacitor activates. Marty inadvertently breaks the time barrier, vanishing from 1985 and plunging thirty years into the past.
Welcome to 1955
Marty arrives instantly at the same location, but in 1955, the mall is gone; instead, he is on the Twin Pines Ranch owned by Otis Peabody. Marty crashes the DeLorean into the Peabody barn, waking the family. When Marty emerges wearing his yellow radiation suit, the family mistakes him for an alien spacecraft and a spaceman. Mr. Peabody opens fire with a shotgun, forcing Marty to flee. In his haste, Marty runs over one of the two pine trees at the ranch entrance before speeding away.
Marty drives into town and is struck by the differences: the Courthouse Square is clean and bustling, gas is cheap, and the culture is radically different. He enters a cafe and encounters his father, George, as a teenager. Just as in the future, George is being bullied by a teenage Biff Tannen. Marty follows George, who sneaks into a neighborhood to spy on a girl undressing using binoculars. George is perched in a tree, but loses his balance and falls into the street—directly into the path of an oncoming car.
Marty instinctively leaps forward and pushes George out of the way, taking the full impact of the vehicle himself. George flees the scene as the car's owner rushes out. The owner is Lorraine's father. Marty has unwittingly taken his father's place in the "fated" meeting.
Calvin Klein
Marty wakes up in a darkened room with a wet cloth on his head. He sees his mother, Lorraine, tending to him. However, this is the teenage Lorraine, and she is immediately smitten with the mysterious stranger. She calls him "Calvin Klein" after seeing the brand name on his purple underwear. Marty is invited to dinner, where he awkwardly interacts with Lorraine's family. He claims to have seen a specific episode of The Honeymooners on TV, confusing the family since the episode is brand new. He also meets his infant Uncle Joey, who loves his playpen—a foreshadowing of his future life in prison.
Marty becomes increasingly disturbed by Lorraine's aggressive flirtations, realizing she is nothing like the prudish woman he knows in 1985. Overwhelmed by the "incestuous" vibe and the realization that he has disrupted history, Marty excuses himself and rushes off to find the one man who can help him.
1.21 Gigawatts
Marty tracks down the 1955 version of Doc Brown. Initially, Doc dismisses Marty's story as nonsense. However, when Marty describes the flux capacitor and exactly how Doc conceived the idea earlier that very day, the scientist listens. Marty shows him the DeLorean, convincing Doc that the invention is real. Doc's excitement turns to horror when he sees the footage of his future self explaining the power requirements: 1.21 gigawatts.
Doc explains that in 1955, no power source exists that can generate such energy—except for a bolt of lightning. Fortunately, Marty remembers the flyer from 1985 in his pocket. He shows it to Doc: it predicts that a lightning bolt will strike the Hill Valley Clock Tower at precisely 10:04 PM next Saturday. Doc devises a plan to rig a cable from the clock tower to the street, channeling the lightning's energy directly into the DeLorean’s flux capacitor as Marty drives by.
Erased from Existence
Before they can focus on the return trip, Doc realizes a graver problem. He warns Marty that he must not interact with anyone to avoid altering the future, but Marty admits he has already met his parents and interfered with their first meeting. Doc explains the catastrophe: by preventing George from being hit by the car, Marty has jeopardized his own existence.
Marty produces a photograph of himself and his siblings, Dave and Linda. To his horror, Dave's head is missing from the photo. Doc deduces that Dave is being "erased" from history. Unless Marty can get George and Lorraine to kiss at the "Enchantment Under the Sea" dance, Linda and eventually Marty himself will vanish into nothingness.
Darth Vader from Planet Vulcan
Marty spends the week trying to coach George on how to woo Lorraine, but George is crippled by nervousness and fear of rejection. Furthermore, Biff continues to interfere, aggressively pursuing Lorraine himself. After several failed attempts to spark a romance, Marty resorts to drastic measures. He dons his radiation suit, sneaks into George's bedroom at night, and blasts heavy metal music into George's ears. Claiming to be "Darth Vader" from the planet "Vulcan," he threatens to melt George's brain unless he asks Lorraine to the dance.
Terrified and motivated, George tries to talk to Lorraine at Lou's Cafe the next morning. However, Biff interrupts and harasses them. Marty intervenes, tripping Biff. This triggers a chaotic chase through the town square. Marty flees, improvising a skateboard by tearing the handlebars off a child's scooter. He outmaneuvers Biff and his gang, causing their car to crash into a truck full of manure. The display of courage makes Lorraine even more infatuated with Marty, and she asks him to the dance, leaving George in the dust.
The Night of the Dance
Marty accepts Lorraine's invitation but concocts a plan to salvage the timeline. He tells George to wait in the parking lot while he parks with Lorraine. Marty plans to "take advantage" of Lorraine, giving George the cue to open the door, rescue her, and win her heart. On the night of the dance, however, things go awry. In the car, Lorraine is the aggressor, eager to be with Marty. She kisses him, but immediately pulls back with a look of disgust, remarking that it felt like "kissing my brother."
Before the plan can proceed, Biff shows up. He drags Marty out of the car, allowing his gang to stuff Marty into the trunk of the band's car nearby. Biff then forces himself into the vehicle with Lorraine. George arrives on cue, expecting to find Marty, but instead finds Biff assaulting Lorraine. Biff twists George's arm behind his back, threatening to break it, and laughs when he pushes Lorraine to the ground. Seeing Lorraine in pain triggers a rage in George. He clenches his fist and delivers a single, knockout punch to Biff’s jaw. Marty, having escaped the trunk, arrives just in time to see his father stand up for himself. George and Lorraine head into the dance together, their romance finally sparking.
Earth Angel
The timeline is still fragile. The band's guitarist, Marvin Berry, injured his hand while helping liberate Marty from the trunk, meaning the music has stopped. Without music, the dance will end, and George and Lorraine won't share their pivotal first kiss. Marty steps in to play guitar. As the band plays "Earth Angel," a student named Mark Dixon cuts in on the dance floor, separating George and Lorraine.
On stage, Marty begins to collapse. He looks at the photo and sees his siblings have vanished, and his own hand begins to turn translucent—he is being erased. On the dance floor, George finds a surge of confidence. He pushes Dixon away and pulls Lorraine back, kissing her passionately. Instantly, Marty feels a surge of energy. He looks at the photo to see his image and his siblings fully restored. His future is secure.
exhilarated, Marty leads the band in an encore, playing a high-energy version of "Johnny B. Goode." He gets carried away with a guitar solo that includes power slides and tapping, leaving the 1955 audience staring in confused silence. Marty awkwardly speaks into the mic: "I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it."
Back to the Future
Marty says goodbye to his parents and rushes to the clock tower to meet Doc. Doc has set up the cable system to catch the lightning. Before Marty leaves, he tries to give Doc a letter warning him about the Libyan assassination in 1985. Doc refuses to read it, tearing it up to preserve the sanctity of the timeline. Suddenly, a falling tree limb disconnects the critical cable. Doc is forced to climb the tower to reconnect it as the storm rages.
Marty enters the DeLorean and realizes he has a loophole: he enters a return time ten minutes earlier than his original departure, hoping to arrive in 1985 in time to warn Doc. As the clock strikes 10:04 PM, lightning hits the tower. Doc manages to connect the cables at the last second. The bolt of energy travels down the wire, striking the DeLorean's connecting hook. The car hits 88 mph and vanishes in a trail of fire, leaving Doc screaming with joy at his success.
A New Reality
Marty materializes in 1985, but the DeLorean stalls. He sees the Libyans driving past toward the mall—now named the "Lone Pine Mall" because Marty ran over one of the pines in 1955. He runs to the scene but arrives only to see Doc get shot again. He watches his past self escape in the DeLorean. As the Libyans pursue, they lose control and crash into a photo booth. Marty rushes to Doc's body, weeping, but is shocked when Doc sits up.
Doc reveals he is wearing a bulletproof vest. He produces the letter Marty wrote, now yellowed with age and taped back together. When Marty asks about the rules of time travel, Doc smiles and says, "I figured, what the hell." Doc drops Marty off at home and then blasts off into the future to explore the year 2015.
Roads? Where We're Going, We Don't Need Roads
The next morning, Marty wakes up to a transformed life. The house is immaculate. In the driveway sits a shiny new BMW, and the wrecked Chevy Nova is gone. His brother Dave wears a suit and has an office job, and Linda is popular with plenty of dates. George and Lorraine return from tennis, looking fit, happy, and deeply in love. Lorraine even approves of Jennifer. The biggest change is Biff Tannen: no longer a bully, he now runs an auto detailing service and is waxing the family's cars, subservient and timid around George.
Marty discovers a brand new Toyota Hilux pickup truck in the garage—a gift from his parents. Just as he and Jennifer prepare to take it for a spin, the DeLorean reappears with a sonic boom, knocking over trash cans. Doc emerges, dressed in strange futuristic clothing. He frantically tells Marty and Jennifer to get in the car, insisting that something must be done about their children in the future.
Marty warns Doc that they don't have enough road to get up to 88 mph. Doc smiles and replies, "Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads." The DeLorean, now powered by a "Mr. Fusion" reactor and equipped with hover conversion, lifts off the ground and flies toward the camera, heading to the future.
