15 quotes
A Letter from the Past
Marty
Dear Marty, if my calculations are correct, you will receive this letter immediately after you saw the DeLorean struck by lightning. First, let me assure you that I am alive and well. I've been living happily these past eight months in the year 1885. The lightning bolt that--" 1885! September 1885!
[reads the letter; looks at the date in excitement and relief]
Western Union Man
Whoa! Wait, kid! What's this all about?!
Marty
He's alive! The Doc's alive! He's in the Old West, but he's alive!
Western Union Man
Kid, you alright?! You need any help?!
Marty
There's only one man who can help me!
[remembers]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Doc Brown's Frustration with Time Travel Delays
Doc Brown
The Skyway's jammed. It's gonna take us forever to get there. And this stays here. I didn't invent the time machine to win at ]; I invented the time machine to travel through ].
[about to throw out the almanac; [gambling; [time]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Prepare for the return of the future.
Taglines
Synchronize your watches. The future's coming back…
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Marty McFly's Uncertain Future in Time Travel
Taglines
This time Marty McFly doesn't know if he's coming or going...and his future is really up in the air.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Future Paths Beyond Conventional Roads
Taglines
Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Time-Traveling Encounter with Different Ages
1985 Jennifer
I'm old!
2015 Jennifer
I'm young!
Doc
Marty! Marty! Marty, come quick. Quick.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Cosmic Significance of Time Travel Choices
Doc Brown
Unbelievable that Old Biff could've chosen that particular date. It could mean that that point in time inherently contains some sort of cosmic significance. Almost as if it were the temporal junction point of the entire ]. On the other hand, it would just be an amazing ].
[about Biff having gone back to November 12, 1955; [spacetime|space-time continuum; [coincidence]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Doc Brown's Regret About Time Travel
Doc Brown
My only regret is that I'll never get a chance to visit my favorite historical era, the Old West. But time-traveling is just too dangerous. Better that I devote myself to ] the other great mystery of the universe: ].
[[study; [Women]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Consequences of Meeting One's Future Self
Doc
That's it! They're taking her home, to your future home! We'll arrive shortly thereafter, get her out of there, and go back to 1985.
Marty
You mean, I'm gonna see where I live? I'm gonna see myself as an old man?
Doc
No, no, no, Marty. That could result in a-- Great Scott! Jennifer could conceivably encounter her future self! The consequences of that could be disastrous!
[gasps in shock]
Marty
Doc, what do you mean?
Doc
I foresee two possibilities. 1: Coming face to face with herself 30 years older would put her into shock and she'd simply pass out. Or 2: The encounter could create a time paradox, the results of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the ] and destroy the entire universe! Granted, that's a worst-case scenario. The destruction might in fact be very localized, limited to merely our own galaxy.
[[spacetime continuum]
Marty
Well, that's a relief.
[alarmed and sarcastically]
Doc
Let's go. I sure hope we find Jennifer before she finds herself. The Skyway's jammed. It's gonna take us forever to get there. And this stays here. I didn't invent the time machine to win at ]; I invented the time machine to ].
[to Marty; notices Skyway condition sign says, "Skewed on Skyway C25"; to Marty; about the Grays Sports Almanac; [gambling; [w:Time Travel|travel through time]
Marty
I know. I know. I know, Doc.
[annoyed; Doc throws the Almanac in the trash]
2015 Biff
So...Doc Brown invented a Time Machine.
[walks out through door and picks up the Grays Sports Almanac]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Disruption of the Time Continuum Explained
Doc
Obviously, the time continuum has been disrupted, creating this new...temporal event sequence resulting in this alternate reality.
Marty
English, Doc.
Doc
Here, here, here. Let me, uh, let me illustrate. Imagine that this line represents time. Here's the present, 1985, the future and the past. Prior to this point in time, somewhere in the past, the timeline skewed into this tangent creating an alternate 1985. Alternate to you, me and Einstein, but reality for everyone else. Recognize this? It's the bag the sports book came in. I know, because the receipt was still inside. I found them in the time machine...along with this.
[brings over a chalkboard; draws a straight line across the board; writes "Past" on left side, "1985" in the middle, and "F" for Future on the right; points at the area before 1985; draws another line; writes 1985A on chalkboard; pulls a small, silver plastic bag out of the DeLorean; shows Marty a small-fisted object]
Marty
It's the top of Biff's cane. I mean, Old Biff from the future.
Doc
Correct. It was in the time machine because Biff was in the time machine, with the Sports Almanac!
Marty
Holy shit.
Doc
You see, while we were in the future, Biff got the sports book, stole the time machine, went back in time, and gave the book to himself at some point in the past. Look. It says right here that Biff made his first million betting on a horse race in 1958. He wasn't just lucky. He knew because he had all the race results in the Sports Almanac. That's how he made his entire fortune! Look at his pocket with a magnifying glass.
[draws an overarching line across the chalkboard; brings over a large newspaper; scoffs]
Marty
The Almanac. Son-of-a-bitch stole my idea! He must have been listening when I-- It's my fault. The whole thing is my fault. If I hadn't bought that damn book, none of this would have ever happened.
[angrily; realizes; shocked]
Doc
That's all in the past.
Marty
You mean the future.
Doc
Whatever! It demonstrates precisely how time travel can be misused, and why the time machine must be destroyed, after we straighten all of this out.
Marty
Right. So, we go back to the future, and we stop Biff from stealing the time machine.
Doc
We can't, because if we travel into the future from this point in time, it will be the future of this... reality, in which Biff is corrupt, and powerful, and married to your mother, and in which... ...this has happened to me! No. Our only chance to repair the present is in the past, at the point where the timeline skewed into this tangent. In order to put the universe back as we remember it and get back to our reality, we have to find out the exact date and specific circumstances of how, where, and when young Biff got his hands on that Sports Almanac.
[indicates 1985A on the blackboard; holds up a newspaper; the headline reads: "EMMETT BROWN COMMITTED"; Einstein moans, and Marty takes the newspaper from Doc]
Marty
I'll ask him.
[determined]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Bright Future Awaits Marty McFly
Taglines
Welcome Back Marty McFly. He's smart. He's handsome. He's got a great future behind him.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Miscommunication Over a Valuable Future Book
Old Biff
Ya see this book? This book tells the future. Tells the results of every major sports event til the end of the century. Football, Baseball, Horseraces, Boxing. The information in here is worth millions. And I'm givin it to you.
[shows his younger self "Grays Sports Almanac"; passes his younger self the book]
Young Biff
That's very nice. Thank you very much. Now, why don't you make like a tree, and get outta here?
[sarcastically; skims through the pages]
Old Biff
It's "leave", you idiot! "Make like a tree, and leave"! You sound like a damn fool when you say it wrong!
[smacks his younger self]
Young Biff
All right, then! Leave! And take your book with ya!
[tosses the Almanac aside]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Unexpected Reunion in Time Travel
Marty
Doc, Doc! Okay. Okay! Relax, Doc! It's me! It's Marty!
[grabs Doc, who shouts in shock]
Doc
No! It can't be! I just sent you back to the future.
Marty
I know. You did send me back to the future, but I'm back. I'm back from the future.
Doc
Great Scott!
[faints]
Marty
Doc? Doc? Doc? Doc! Fantastic.
[scoffs]
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Toolbox Miscommunication Between Docs
1955 Doc
Excuse me, sir? Yes, you with the hat.
[1985 Doc turns and catch a glimpse of his younger self, gasps, and looks away]
1985 Doc
Who? Me?
1955 Doc
Yeah. Be a pal, and hand me a 5/8-inch wrench out of that toolbox.
1985 Doc
5/8? Uh...don't you mean... ...3/4?
[backs up slowly without turning; looks to the toolbox]
1955 Doc
Why, you're right.
[looks again at the bolt measurement]
1985 Doc
I presume...you're conducting some sort of weather experiment.
[hands the wrench to his younger self]
1955 Doc
That's right. How did you know that?
1985 Doc
Oh, I happened to have had a little experience in this area.
[checks the cable]
1955 Doc
Yes. Well, I'm hoping to see some lightning tonight, although the weatherman says there's not gonna be any rain.
[looks up at the sky]
1985 Doc
Oh, there’ll be plenty of rain, alright. Wind, thunder, lightning. And it's gonna be one hell of a storm.
[looks to the sky as well]
1955 Doc
Yeah, well, thanks. Nice talking to you. Maybe we'll bump into each other again sometime in the future.
[goes to tighten the bolts]
1985 Doc
Or in the past.
[to himself; leaves]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Journey Continues Beyond the Return
Taglines
Getting back was only the beginning.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.