there is a line in the script in 1955, before Marty goes back to 1885, where Doc says he put gas in the tank. he doesnt mention if it was empty, though.

...afterall, he is just a "crazy, wild-eyed scientist."

Suppose they did use Doc's 1885 DeLorean, what would happen to "our" Marty? Without that DeLorean stored on the mine, "our" Marty wouldn't be able to get back to 1885, and even if he did from the paradox thingie, he could have just disappear from changing the course of time.

This was my understanding as well.

And if the tires on the car went to shit after sitting around for 70 years I'd hate to see what gasoline sitting inside the car for 70 years would do.

Didn't they already fuck up the whole paradox thing since Biff met his former self and actually slapped him upside the head?

No, because young Biff didn't know Old Biff was also Biff. Same as Old Jennifer and Young Jennifer knew they were both Jennifer but not necessarily that they were the same Jennifer.

Well, Doc did say that he didn't know what would happen and the fabric of space-time unravelling was a worse-case scenario. So, I'm sure he felt that different interactions could lead to different severities, so why chance it.

The point being tho is that 2 entities cannot exist in the same fabric of space. The Jennifers and Doc Browns never touched each other. Old Biff actually touched young Biff which should have caused some kind of ripple or tear or somesuch thing in the whole time/space continuum.

Which may further compound things and explain why there is a Claudia Jennifer and an Elizabeth Jennifer... that not only did going back in time change things, but BttF2 is actually started on an alternate earth.

Just wait until BttF4. Then you'll really see things go heywire.
I mean, its the next logical step after everyone has purchased the trilogy on dvd. Release new movie in theatre with a new release of the trilogy, then release the new movie on dvd, and then the whole set in a "Legacy Collection" a year later.

exharrison beat me to it...but I think the only way to answer these questions is to get the cast and crew together for another go round!!

Shake to the Future...

Huh?


I'm surprised nobody brought up the old "Marty left the past and went to the future, how come he was still there in the future?"

Plot hole, or ruining the overall ending??

Very, very unfunny and cruel.

This isn't Timecop. In BTTF it was never said the same matter can't occupy the same space.

Something I always found odd in the first movie:

Doc says when the alarm goes off, Marty should hit the gas. Well, it goes off, and the Delorean won't start. We're led to believe several minutes go by before he bangs his head on the steering wheel and gets the Delorean to finally start up. The point being, he just barely makes the lightning bolt connection. If the car had started right away, and he took off, wouldn't he have reached the clocktower well before the strike?

the more I talk about to plot holes with friends I like the movie less and less! Everyone's ruining it for me. BTTF 1 and 2 are among my favorite movies.

Bet Marty was pissed that they had to go thru the whole train sequence and then Doc shows up in 1985 with that flying time train. What a kick in the nuts.

Yes he should have been early. That doesn't make much sense.

This is answered in an FAQ on the DVD. Zemekis and Gale's answer is speculative. Either:

1. In 1885, Doc drained the car of all fluids before storing it in the mine (which is the correct thing to do when storing a car for a long period)

2. Upon Marty's arrival in 1885, Doc was fearful that any attempt to get gas out of the car in the mine, or any other form of meddling with that car, would result in a paradox preventing Marty from ever reaching 1885. Example, if they went back into the mine in 1885 and caused a cave in and destroyed the car, Marty would not be able to operate the car when he finds it in 1955.

Going back to the original question, couldn't they just have left town for the week?

Well, wouldn't Biff/Griff/Mad Dog/Whatever simply wait until they returned and then tried to kill Doc then?

I think the point was that they were going to have to face the guy no matter what.

Let's face it, it's pretty much impossible to do a time travel flick without a bunch of plot holes.

I still don't understand how that sports almanac could've been so thin. Shouldn't it be like several thousand pages?

Maybe it was in 4pt font.

The other part of that that bugged me is that they only knew the minute that lightening struck. Lightening could have struck at any part of that sixty seconds. How would they know exactly, down to the second, when to time the jump?