bttf Tagged Articles at Cinematical

A friend of mine sent this to me because he knows how much I absolutely adore Back to the Future. And as someone who's placed Back to the Future in his top five favorite films of all time, you'd think I'd get a little peeved whenever someone tried to mess with it. Not so in this case as the following video is short, sweet and pretty damn hilarious. Imagine if at the end of Back to the Future (or the beginning of Back to the Future 2, if you will), Doc miscalculated when punching in the time coordinates and he, Marty and Jennifer wound up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Oh internet, what will you come up with next?

Talking with a friend after watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, we agreed it was time to retire some of these old classic franchises once and for all. Personally, I could live with a new Indy, a new Die Hard, a new Rambo and a new Rocky -- but once you touch my beloved Back to the Future franchise, well, we've got problems. Thankfully, according to BTTF co-writer-producer Bob Gale, a fourth installment in the series will not be happening anytime soon. BTTF.com reports back from a special screening/cast reunion last month in which Gale squashed sequel rumors right from the get-go: "Let me answer one question before anyone asks it, which is, 'Is there ever be a Back to the Future Part IV?'", Gale began, before answering, "No."

He continued, "Well now, wait a minute now. We've all seen sometimes where they make one too many sequels and you say, 'Maybe they shouldn't have done that.' I'm not going to name any names of movies, but you know what they are! But more importantly, as I'm sure you all know, Michael J. Fox is not in the best of shape with his Parkinson's. The idea of making another Back to the Future movie without Michael J. Fox - you know, that's like saying 'I'm going to cook you a steak dinner and I'm going to hold the beef.' You can't do that."

Amen to that! Fans, of course, moaned and groaned when Gale said there wouldn't be a sequel -- but if you're really a hardcore fan of this series, how could you want one? Seriously now ... let it go.

[via Moviehole]

It's either that, or save the clock tower, it's your choice. Granted, if you help save the clock tower, then future generations may forget when it was struck by lightning, and of course that'll strand Marty McFly in the past forever, but we digress.

There is a massive and mind-bogglingly complete Back to the Future timeline on Wikipedia that is the effort of some seriously fanatical fans. It details events that were cut from the original scripts (for instance, did you know that Doc Brown and Marty met in 1983 when Marty showed up to sweep the Doc's garage?), the animated series, and meticulous picking apart of the films themselves. It's a real labor of love, and it's in danger.

Wikipedia has some pretty strict policies regarding verifiability, and that leaves the BTTF timeline somewhere between limbo and a hard place. Check out the discussion page where people are chiming in on whether to keep the article or not. So far is a resounding "keep it!" but if you want to give your own opinion on the matter, roll up your sleeves and dive right in. Wikipedia is by the people, for the people.

My two cents on the matter is "keep it." But it goes a bit deeper than that. I've probably seen Back to the Future at least 20 times, and it's ingrained into the folds of my brain (perhaps that explains a lot). This timeline is really an amazing work of fans that detail everything you could possibly want to know about the history of Mill Hill Valley, Doc Brown, the McFly clan, and anything that even comes close to being touched on in the films (Pepsi Free? Invented in 1955, thank you very much). It's a tribute to the appeal of these movies, and a great demonstration of how fans can keep something alive long after the last bits of popcorn have been swept up.