He could have skiped it and win the bet by cheating, it may not be he is a total honest man...but it could be that he was curious to see if someone would actually be there...and something like this as wild as it may seem.....it would be too hard to not resist finding out and wondering what if
@@ClintonGalton wrong, people were even bigger a-holes their sense of community just limited back to anyone outside of the community. Basically they were happy to go on a witch Hunt and destroy lives if someone was different. Along with the racism and I'd say this was an amazing time to live much better than what we have now
I've always liked to imagine what that Western Union guy must have thought about all that. Delivering a 70 year old letter out to the middle of nowhere, to a mysterious kid who against all logic and reason fits the description in the delivery instructions to a T. And then when he opens and reads it, the contents of the letter make no sense to you, but the kid -- whoever he is -- seems to understand it perfectly. And then after that he runs off into the night, never to be seen again. Frankly I'm surprised the guy wasn't creeped the hell out. From his perspective it's almost like a ghost story.
Lol could any one else see this kind of event being talked about in the 80's/90's on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries? I can practically hear Robert Stacks opening narration now.. 'It was a cold,rainy night in 1955. One 70 yr old mysterious letter,one young unidentified man,One unknown persona referred to only as 'doc'.' And then there would be the final closer at the end. 'And so the young man ran off into the night,never to be seen or heard from again. Leaving so many unanswered questions to ponder. Who was 'the doc'? How did this persona from 70 yrs ago; know that a young man answering to the name Marty Mcfly; would be at that very location,at that specific time? Secret government experiments? Could it have something to do with advanced alien technology, or mind control? Perhaps even a brush with the supernatural? For now I suppose we will just have to think of it as one of our most puzzling..unsolved mysteries [Robert Stack fade out] [Cue creepy Unsolved mysteries outro music]
Sometimes I imagine what could happen during those 70 years. If a curious person in Western Union had opened and read the letter. He could have found the time machine... This is a good movie but the directors may have found a code or a specific language that only Doc and Marty use....
@@alexr1629 To some degree they kinda did, just from using terms that didn't exist yet. Nobody is going to have any idea what a DeLorean is, and circuitry is not something that a layman would have a concept of until at most the last couple decades of the letter's journey. Even then, only a scientist like Doc would be able to read and understand a circuit diagram in order to repair the time machine. And of course that's assuming anyone could even find the car to begin with, since even though the letter says it was buried in an old mine, the actual hiding spot _within_ the mine was indicated by a Jules Verne reference that only Doc would understand. Sure it's not exactly foolproof, but sending a letter and hoping the recipient got it 70 years later was already a gamble to begin with.
+dmace81 It's a good thing the bad version of 1985 disappeared that if they traveled back to 1985 (instead of Doc getting transported back to 1885), it would have Biff back as the McFly's butler and that Biff Tannen casino turned back into some kind of car mechanic place.
+Movie Maniac I didn't know about that because on the matchbox it changed from "Biff's Pleasure Paradise" to "Auto Detailing" which must mean that it changed back into some car mechanic place and everything Biff Tannen related was gone. (That would have been the Marty McFly museum if Biff never got a hold of the Sports Almanac).
As a 12yr old in the cinema, you were ready for that shadowy figure to be ANYONE! At that point your mind was completely gone! ...and then Marty runs to Doc ...and then the trailer for BTTF3 plays immediately after the final scene! I've never had such a great movie experience since!
I remember that! I'm about the same age as you. When the trailer showed Doc and Marty in the old west it was like, this is the best movie story ever and I couldn't wait for III to come out!!
Same as you all. As a kid, time moves slowly, so the span of part 1 and part 2 seemed forever. When it said "To be concluded..." and had the trailer for part 3 I was overloaded. I'm not much on western themed stuff but I had to see it because my mind was exploding on how he was going to get back to 1885.
0:02 delorean his car 🚗 flying 0:09 my friends we got work to do 0:20 radio speaker 🔈 0:45 time the burn 🔥 the book 📕 1:10 it’s changing 1:24 George is alive 1:41 mission accomplished 1:49 great 👍 work 2:00 oh no the lighting ⚡️2:10 let’s keep going doc 2:18 ⚡️⚡️⚡️ 2:23 he disappeared how 2:43 the speaker 🔊 Marty 2:56 he’s gone oh no 3:24 what’s that 4:07 a letter for me that’s a impossible 4:29 let’s see what’s in the letter 5:10 it’s from the doc 5:17 let’s read it 5:34 September 1885
He has to drive back to the Western Union office to tell the guys he lost the bet but couldn't explain what just happened there except for a person totally losing it about someone writing him in 1885.
Two things that struck me as a kid about the letter part: First: Damn, those guys at Western Union REALLY take their job seriously... no matter how bat shit crazy it sounds. Second: What kind of paper an ink did Doc use?! Not only is the letter fine after 70 years, but then it can resist a heavy rain?!
Except for all the paradoxes regarding time travel that you have to overlook. He wouldn't get that letter as it would be in a different timeline and loads more things.
I always loved this ending. The Western Union guy driving up and revealing the Doc was time travelled back a century and then Marty remembering that he can meet with the Doc of the time he is currently in which scares the shit of him as he just sent his Marty back to the future. Such a good use of the last films setting.
I wonder if Bob Gale and Zemekis were inspired by Watchmen. That graphic novel is also set in an alternate 1985 and has an aging Richard Nixon as President
The thing that never made sense was if that Richard Nixon administration alternative timeline took place, by the time 1985 rolled around, he would have ALREADY have been in his 5th term since the election would have been in 1984...
@@mcgannahanskyjellyfetti6854 The date on the paper is May 23, 1983. Just because they got a copy of it from 1985 doesn't mean that was when it was printed.
I like how the floating Delorean is like a dragon in the sky and the hoverboard is some additional visitor from another time, both as a witness to what's about to occur.
When Marty ran off, he left the hoverboard behind with the Western Union guy. He's lucky that that guy didn't notice it or there would've been some new real trouble with the timeline. I'm assuming he drove back and got it after Doc fainted before arriving at the Brown estate.
When the car pulls up and the guy in the trench coat calls Marty’s name , the first time I saw this in the theatre over thirty years ago I thought ,” Oh no! Time Police ! “
This entire soundtrack was my favorite one of the series. Alan Silvestri is right up there with John WIlliams as one of the great ones, especially now that James Horner and Jerry Goldsmith are no longer with us...
It’s just straight recycle of the track from BTTF1 when Doc and Marty say goodbye (which actually is taking place at the same time as this scene, heh) and Doc tears up the letter. Good stuff.
1:11 Meanwhile, Back at town square: "Don't worry! As long as you hit that wire, with the connecting hook at precisely 88 miles an hour, the instant the lightning strikes the tower. Everything will be fine."
I have a headcanon that the thunderstorm in 1985 is a time anomaly that is in a causal loop with the DeLorean time travelling to that time period in 1985. Like how in some versions of the Flash he became the lightning strike that stuck him and gave him his powers.
I wonder if anybody's edited the various 3 films together to show instances where different scenes are happening at the exact same point in time. Would be kind of trippy.
@Aramaru1837_ how the hell did old biff know how to work the time machine in part ii? why didn't marty hear him take the time machine when he was only a few feet away. why dont martys parents recognize him as that guy they met in the 50s? if George became a succesul author why are they still living in the same house and neighborhood as before? why dont 2015 marty and jennfier have memories of their time travel adventure? after old biff traveled to 1955 and changed the past why didn't the 2015 they were in instantly change? when they run out of gas in 1885 why not take gas from the deloreon doc already buried in the mine? i mean they end up towing it anyways after digging it out in1955. Doc and marty re route the lighting bolt that struck the clock tower into the flux capacitor so why is the clock tower still not working in 2015? marty basically changed the 1985 timeline in the first movie so why didn't his memories change? in 2015 why would a national paper like usa today put a story about some kid in hill valley California being arrested on its front page? when marty burns the almanac and the newspaper headlines change why wouldnt it show a different news story that occurred that same day?
@@octoman511 1. The time machine is quite easy to use, with the only thing you have to do being turn the time circuits on, select a date and travel 88mph. Even if it did take Biff some time to figure out the 88mph, it wouldn’t matter as he could return to the point right after he stole it. 2. Marty is focused on what Doc’s doing and wants to have a peek at his future house. He’s kinda just being a stupid kid in this moment. 3. Can you remember someone you knew from one week 30 years ago. It’s not possible to maintain that kind of memory even when the guy was very influential. Plus, they’d assume he was the same age as them, so the thought that he is their son would not cross their mind. 4. It’s not really a plot hole, they could have just moved there early on and not moved anywhere better, for example. Not everyone is obsessed with having a big house either. 5. At that point, the Marty and Jennifer from 1985 had not returned to their timeline. With the way back to the future’s time travel works, the time traveller’s memories are not affected. This is demonstrated by the Doc Brown who went to 1885 not remembering seeing his own grave, because he has time travelled and is in the past. It can be assumed, then, that the memories of their future selves would not change until the past versions returned to 1985. 6. Biff made a change to 1955. The way changes happen in BTTF time travel is a ripple effect. Remember, Marty and his siblings did not disappear instantly, it was a gradual change starting with the earliest born and ending with the youngest (Marty). Since Biff returned straight to 2015 after giving young Biff the almanac (no doubt desperate to get his riches) the ripple effect hadn’t taken place yet. Even if it had, Marty and Doc would be unaffected, as they are time travellers. After Old Biff returns, and leaves the time machine, you get to see (in a deleted scene) that he collapses onto the floor in pain and fades from existence. This is due to Biff having been shot and killed in the new timeline’s past (sometime after 1985 and before 2015), which is why that is the first change. Other changes to the general area may be not noticeable, due to the fact Biff had been dead for years and that it was a bad neighbourhood in the main timeline as well. 7. Interfering with that Delorean risks creating a time paradox. There is the potential for more serious damage in the process of excavating it. If 1955 Doc can’t fix it, it would create a paradox that could destroy the entire universe, as Doc described in 2015. 8. The bolt still hits the clock tower. 1.21 gigawatts are redirected to the Delorean, but the rest stops the clock (apparently bolts from vigorous storms can have up to 100 gigawatts).
“as soon as he dies” i can guarantee some big company will make a movie and will completely ruin it with bad actors, low budget and just be quick cash grab 😑
In the original script, it happened differently. Biff is about to beat up Marty at the school but then '55 Marty bursts through the doors knocking Biff out, without seeing Marty. Marty takes the book. Doc is hovering over the football field and throws Marty a rope for him to climb as he says he can't land. Marty grabs the rope but just then the DeLoreon is struck by lightning and vanishes. Marty lands on the football field and so does the rope. Marty tries to contact Doc on the walkie talkie but there's no response. It starts to rain, Marty runs into a football stadium tunnel for cover. Marty is scared, confused and worried. He takes out the almanac, looks at it, sighs and says, "Me and my great ideas." He puts it on the ground and lights it on fire. It burns to ashes, Marty sees the matchbook change from Biff's Pleasure Paradise to Biff's Auto Detailing. He pulls out the newspaper and it changes from "George McFly Murdered" to "George McFly Honored." Marty sighs in relief and says, "That takes of that." Just then a shadowy figure approaches through the tunnel and it's the man with the letter. As Marty reads the letter, he sees the clock tower in the distance with a tiny figure on it and realizes who has to go see.
That's cool and all but I prefer how it is in the movie. Mainly because when Marty exclaims how happy he is that his father is alive to Doc over the walkie talkie after burning the Almanac wouldn't have happened in this version. And that's one of my favorite moments in the trilogy.
“Kid, need any help?” “There’s only one man who can help me” *Marty dramatically breaks away from the Western Union man, and runs a little* *turns around, walks back sheepeshly* “But first......could you give me a ride to downtown Hill Valley?”
Yeah, in the first movie wasn't there a sign that said that Hill Valley was a few miles away from that exact location? Marty must have been booking it because he got to Doc really fast lol.
I love everything about the BttF series, but Silvestri's soundtrack needs special mention. The piece played as Marty burns the book is spine tingling. Just amazing 👍😊
Except that he forgot that his Pinhead band members existed since he never mentioned them again, and didn't care enough to make even one bet to make at least a little bit of money from the sports betting almanac to at least buy the 4 by 4 truck he wanted, so Marty was sort of an unrelatable character to us.
It also played in the first movie when Marty and Doc were discussing that letter. Amazing bow Silverstri knew how to put similar soundtracks to fit similar situations. Like the Tannen chases in both the first film and this one.
Yeah, that was a good joke. That was used because Nixon was considered at the time one of our worst Presidents. We hadn't gotten George W. Bush and Donald Trump yet.
@@Rebel_Friend No, the crappy version had to do with Biff getting that almanac. Maybe Biff helped Nixon get reelected again and again. The whole thing about Nixon was you needed to have the worst president at the time in charge. Well, we didn't get Governor George W. Bush and our current President yet, otherwise they would be there.
@@theboundless05 I saw it a long time ago and thought they missed a great joke where Marty sees it when he holds the paper and says, "This is heavy to the nth degree."
I read about this part in a book written a little more in depth then the movie. The reason marty waited a few then started callin doc on the walkie talkie was cuz he figured doc got sent someplace by mistake all he had to do was rest time circuit's and Boom there he was but when he didn't show up he figured This is bad and got worried. Now what am I going to do. when the car showed up he got worried that it was Biff had somehow got out of the manure and was here to do harm or what ever but when the guy got out of the car and he seen that it wasn't biff then he eased up a lil bit.
fun fact: zoom in on the manure truck driver near the end of this film. he gets out of the vehicle a couple frames before it switches to the delorean. you can see the manure truck driver is actually the western union guy.
Fun fact: in 1989, they were holding water by a hose to create rain in the movie☔ 🤣It is not heavy rain, it is heavy water by a hose. Imagine what kind of ink which used there. 😄 😂
I remember that I was 10 years old when there was a marathon of Back to the future on a local channel back in my country. I watched the first movie and was good, then after that the second movie and when I watched this part it was jaw-dropping and I said: "OHHH MY GOOOD". That was a significant part of my childhood that I will never forget. Best Trilogy ever.
I really miss when films used to immerse me in the story like these did, no politics, just great story telling. I love anyone who loves these films as much as l do/did and yearns for a better tomorrow.
One of my favorite scenes in movie history. It was so creative to have Doc send the letter from the past. Just goes to show the possibilities of imagination. Poor Western Union man haha. I would've asked the same question: "Kid, are you ok?"
These movies and especialy this particular scene will be viewed for thousands of years by generations.....script, dialogue, characters, music, atmosphere, mizanscene, suspense, variety of emotional beats....in just six minutes...incredible filmmaking
Because of how much transpires on November 12th 1955 in regards of time travel, I have a theory that the amount of disruptions to that exact moment in time causes the storm to be more powerful and dangerous as if nature itself is fighting with the space time continuum and trying to correct itself even if it means sending Doc back to 1885 as worth it. Notice how when Doc is sent back by the force of lightning that the worst of the storm immediately stops and switches to a heavy but calm rain. Interesting concept when you think about it.
If I was Marty, I’d still be happy because I know the outcome of the 2015 World Series (BTTF’s 2015, not ours) and could place so much money on the Cubs when that time comes.
I was 5 when I first saw BTTF and had to wait several years for this sequel and it totally delivered. This part had me literally "in awe" as an 8 year old then, and a 40 year old now.
The thing about this part aft the time machine is struck by lighting it was stated in the book that came out about the movie it stated that marty thinking that all doc had to do was reset the time circuits and Boom there he is. that's why he called him several times over the walkie talkie but when he got no response he figured something Bad had happen to him and the time machine.
2:15-2:25 Figures! Right when McFly said “Now be Careful, you don’t wanna get struck my lightning” to Doc, he gets struck by lightning, and ends up in the Old West. Which means one thing, “Back To The Future Part III”.
There's a tiny part of me that every time I see the DeLorean get zapped away, that a few seconds later Doc will re-appear in midair and pickup Marty, lol.
I can answer this for you. It did not always exist. Doc was sent back to 1885 in this scene after the lightning bolt. It caused another ripple effect. While Doc was still alive in 1885 he wrote a letter and submitted it to Western Union with instructions to deliver it to Marty at this exact time... and this exact location.
Yes. A ripple effect took place. So the reality of 1955 altered around Marty to a new 1955 in which Doc had lived out his life in 1885. The same way the newspapers Doc and Marty had in this scene altered the moment Marty burned the almanac. 1:53 "It's the ripple effect, Marty!"
Why did doc think it was a good idea to stay in the air after dropping off Marty? Surely a scientist as smart as himself knows that lightning will always take the quickest route down
afriendofbean ok. But what reason did he say he couldn’t just land next to Marty. I heard him say this isn’t flying weather and he would have to approach from the south. What was wrong with going straight down next to marty
+Camaroni1000 I thought the same thing as to why Doc didn't just land close by where Marty was standing. Maybe it got very windy where Marty was standing and the wind was holding him up in the air so Doc had to fly in another spot where the wind would help bring him down instead of holding him up.
afriendofbean a car that can grave through time and fly, thanks to the advancements of future cars that fly around everywhere they go and often land straight down, can’t go straight down because of a powerful wind that is somehow pushing the car up? That’s some pretty damn strong wind
+Camaroni1000 Perhaps maybe it was a hurricane storm coming that day which was November 12, 1955. I remember from the first film which also took place on November 12, 1955, a very powerful wind knocked down and disconnected two of the wires that was at the clock tower where Doc had to climb to the top of the building at the clock just to reconnect the wires, as seen at 5:54.
Hat's off to comic actor Joe Flaherty (Western Union Man) for his spot on performance... another casting & acting 💎 captured on 🎥 for all BTTF fans to relish and applaud...!!!
Imagine an alternate ending to BTTF3 where instead of Doc creating a time machine from a train and visiting Marty one last time, he instead calculates EXACTLY where the DeLorean will stop and tell the same Western Union guy to send another letter along with their photo from the clock tower festival to Marty in 1985. It won't be as epic as the original ending, but it would be more realistic and a bittersweet ending.
One thing that get's me every time Doc is aware of the bad thunderstorm that's coming in that night because he told his other self about it . After he picked up marty after biff crashed into the manure truck again he should have landed the car told marty to burn the book both got back in the car and went back to 1985
I know they need the plot to happen, but Doc could’ve easily landed on the road at any time. The DeLorean isn’t aerodynamic, it’s not a plane or helicopter that can’t land in bad winds. It’s a futuristic hovercraft and should’ve been able to hover straight down to the ground.
Let’s be honest. Why were we all scared that doc died on the first viewing? I was too but it just occurred to me right now that it was obvious he would have been sent to some event in time based on the first movie and this movie with the initial lightning strike.
As a bttf fanboy this is disconcerting to see Doc get struck by lightning and sent to 1885 and see that flagline used to capture the almanac fall back to the ground by itself. God knows what time Doc arrived in 1885 and under what conditions; probably landed in the cold desert just outside of Hill Valley in the middle of the night. It's just terrifying. Anyone agree?
@@jeahavvalentin980 Notice the movie didn't show us when Doc arrived in 1885 they just kept the focus on Marty. I guess producers didn't want audiences to see this until BTTF part III. The only clue is when the dash board aka time circuits show 1885 instead of 1985 and Doc hits it and says I have to fix that damn thing! 🤔💥🚗🌩
No entiendo nada de inglés pero las vi tantas veces y sigo haciendolo que creo ya mi cerebro hace la traducción al español neutro solito!!!!! Viva volver al futuro!
Every time I watch this scene and see Doc go back in time and Marty try to contact him, I wonder what happened to the Walkie-Talkie after Doc was sent back in time. Did he leave it in the Delorean for 70 years and the batteries run out and become acidic, and stuff?
@@ghidorah15 Yep, Marty brings his walkie that he had from 1955 and Doc had his that he went back to 1885 in the lighting strike with, and they used them with large, homemade battery packs which had to be very heavy and limited charge back at that time.
@@joe6096 The walkie talkies really dates the 3 films as if the movies were made today it would have been cell phones or some other small mobile device?📱🤔🕵♂👍