Back to the Future's storyline ranges from 2015 to 1885. Marty McFly, our fearless teen hero,
unites these different eras alongside Doc Brown and his fabulous time-traveling DeLorean. This results in
one seriously tangled timeline - so we're here to unravel Marty's story from beginning to end.
Marty McFly is a typical teen. He dreams of rock stardom. He has a devoted girlfriend
named Jennifer, and he fears ending up like his parents. While he often gets
in trouble at school for being a slacker, he's not a bad kid - he's just restless.
"Whoah
Rock and roll."
Marty lives in Hill Valley, California, with his family: alcoholic mother Lorraine,
cowardly father George, older brother Dave, and his older sister Linda. No one in the family is
terribly happy. Under the thumb of his abusive boss, Biff Tannen, George is especially miserable.
The whole McFly family is in a rut, having little ambition, few accomplishments, and
weak connections to each other, so it's no wonder Marty sought out the companionship of Doc Brown.
Dr. Emmett Brown is what one might call a
mad scientist. A genius inventor, "Doc" Brown creates a time machine based on a DeLorean.
Marty is his assistant and friend, often helping with his experiments.
Since his dad is kind of a sad sack, Doc is a father figure to Marty - just a very weird one.
Marty and Doc Brown's relationship might seem strange at first glance: What guitar-shredding
teen hangs out with a weirdo inventor? Back to the Future co-creator Bob Gale explains,
"For years, Marty was told that Doc Brown was dangerous, a crackpot, a lunatic.
So, being a red-blooded American teenage boy [...] he decided to find out just why
this guy was so dangerous. Marty snuck into Doc's lab,
and was fascinated by all the cool stuff that was there. When Doc found him there,
he was delighted to find that Marty thought he was cool and accepted him for what he was."
The plot of the first Back to the Future movie revolves around Marty's jump
back to the year 1955. After Doc introduces Marty to the time machine, he explains that
it's powered by plutonium - which he stole from Libyan terrorists. When the terrorists come to
collect in a blaze of gunfire, Marty escapes in Doc's time machine. Deposited in 1955,
Marty seeks out a young Doc Brown. The two hatch a plan to get Marty back to the future using the
time machine and a bolt of lightning set to hit the famed Hill Valley clock tower later that week.
Fearing that Marty might influence future events, Doc insists that Marty stay out of sight,
but it's already too late - Marty managed to alter his own future in a major way by interacting
with his father and Biff. First, he got in a fight with the young version of Biff. Then,
he inadvertently sabotaged his parents' own marriage when he followed George.
How Lorraine Baines and George McFly fell in love is a bit of a weird story. As Marty's
parents tell it, George fell from a tree and got hit by a car driven by Lorraine's dad.
Mr. Baines brought George inside to recover, and Lorraine fell
head over heels in love. At least, that's how the story went before time-traveling Marty came along.
In the altered timeline, Marty pushes George out of the way of the car, getting hit by
it himself. Mr. Baines brings Marty inside and Marty's own mother develops the hots for him.
"Whoah. Wait a minute. Doc, are you trying to tell me my mother has got the hots for me?"
"Precisely"
"Whoah. This is heavy."
So not only do Marty and Doc have to get Marty back to the future,
they also have to find a way to get George and Lorraine back together.
They encounter multiple hurdles along the way, including resistance from Lorraine,
reluctance from George, and interference from Biff. Thankfully, Marty and Doc succeed,
and Marty heads back to the future. Not only is his family intact, Marty's involvement
has made George much more confident, Lorraine healthier, and his siblings more successful.
Marty's life looks pretty good, thanks to his trip back to 1955.
But as the first film ends, Doc returns from the future. He says he's been to 2015,
and while Marty and Jennifer are fine, their future children are not. Marty and
Jennifer hop in the DeLorean and head to 2015 for Back to the Future Part 2.
The Hill Valley of 2015 looks much like the Hill Valley of 1985 ... only with hoverboards,
3D advertising, and an '80s themed cafe. Marty meets his own son, Marty Jr.,
and then runs into Biff's grandson, Griff. Griff is just as abusive as his grandfather,
pressuring Marty Jr. into robbing a bank. As Doc discovered,
the heist lands Marty Jr. in jail. Marty prevents the robbery and Griff winds up in jail instead.
Sadly, 1985 Marty discovers his future isn't so bright. Following a car accident, he trades his
rock star dreams for a soul-sucking corporate job. Marty, Doc, and an unconscious Jennifer return
to 1985 with renewed determination, with Doc swearing to destroy the troublesome time machine.
When Doc and Marty return to 1985, they find much changed:
Jennifer's home has bars on the windows, Marty's house is full of strangers,
and Hill Valley has become overrun with gambling, drinking, and general debauchery.
Doc and Marty soon learn that the old Biff from 2015 stole the DeLorean while they were distracted
and traveled back in time. Hoping to get a leg up on the future, Biff gives his 1955 self a sports
almanac from the year 2000. Armed with decades of future sports scores, Biff gambles his way
into a massive fortune and some serious power. Old Biff's scheme creates an alternate 1985. Biff is
now a millionaire married to Marty's "physically enhanced" mom and George McFly is dead. Marty soon
discovers that Biff had George murdered and forced Lorraine to marry him. With Doc out of the way,
committed to an insane asylum, Biff used his wealth to take control of the whole town. A symbol
of his sleazy empire, Tannen's garish casino stands in place of Hill Valley's courthouse.
Faced with fixing this mess, Doc and Marty have to head back to 1955 and stop Biff from
giving his younger self the almanac. They can't travel back to 2015 to do it, as Doc explains,
because the 2015 of 1985-A's future won't be the same one from which they just returned.
Heavy, right? So the duo heads to 1955, where Doc hasn't been
since he lived it the first time. Marty, however, was there just the day before.
Doc and Marty are faced with a delicate situation: They have to track down Biff
and nab the almanac while trying not to get caught by their other selves.
At this point, there are two Docs and two Martys in 1955.
"Marty, whatever happens, you must not let your other self
see you. The consequences could be disastrous!"
"Excuse me, sir."
Young Doc is setting up the lightning rod on the clock tower while Marty #1 is busy
getting his parents back together. Old Doc and Back to the Future Part
2's main Marty manage to relieve Biff of the Almanac and burn it,
destroying the 1985-A timeline in which Biff became a millionaire. But Marty and Doc aren't
in the clear yet - they still have to return to their own 1985 to see if their plan worked.
While Marty #2 and Old Doc try to get back to 1985, the storm that sent Marty #1 back
to the future in the first movie rages. The Delorean, piloted by Old Doc, is struck by
lightning hurling it into the past. Marty #2, stranded in 1955, faces an uncertain future.
Moments later, a Western Union agent bearing a 70-year-old letter addressed to Marty appears.
The letter's from Doc! Having been hurled back to 1885, Doc now lives as a blacksmith and has
hidden the DeLorean away for Marty #2 to find and use to get back to 1985. The second film ends with
Marty #2 hilariously approaching the younger Doc, who has just sent Marty #1 back to 1985.
"Okay, relax Doc! It's me! It's me. It's me, Marty!"
"It can't be. I just sent you back to the future."
"I know. You did send me back to the future, but I'm back from the future."
When Marty and 1950s Doc dig the DeLorean out of the cave where Old West Doc hid it,
they discover something about Doc's time in the past that makes Marty want to abandon their plan.
Doc's letter detailed that he was perfectly happy living in 1885,
and that Marty shouldn't come to get him ... but Marty then stumbles upon
Doc's gravestone in a nearby cemetery. It is dated six days after Doc wrote the letter,
and reveals that Doc was murdered by Biff's ancestor, Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen.
Marty has no choice but to travel back to 1885 and rescue Doc.
But after arriving in the past and reconnecting with the Doc who's been living there,
the DeLorean's gas tank is damaged, leaving Marty and Doc without their usual means of transport.
Trapped in the past, Doc and Marty hatch a plan to rig the DeLorean to a locomotive to
get the machine up to the 88 miles per hour it needs to travel through time.
Before Marty went back to 1885, he read on Doc's tombstone that the stone was erected
by Doc's "Beloved Clara." But when Marty arrives, Doc has no idea who Clara is.
As Marty and Doc plan their escape from 1885, a runaway buggy catches their attention.
They rescue the passenger, the town's new schoolteacher, from falling into a ravine.
She introduces herself as Clara Clayton, and the sparks between her and Doc are immediate.
Marty explains that the ravine Clara almost fell into becomes known as the Clayton Ravine,
named for a schoolteacher who "fell in 100 years ago." By rescuing her,
Doc and Marty altered the timeline. Though Marty considers it no big deal,
the incident intensifies Doc's desire to destroy "the infernal machine."
While in 1885, Marty gets a chance to meet some of his ancestors.
He stays for a while on the farm of Seamus and Maggie McFly, two Irish immigrants who
have settled in the old west. He also meets their infant son, his great-grandfather
William. Marty tells them his name is Clint Eastwood, so as not to cause any confusion.
Also present in 1885 is Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, the ancestor of Biff and Griff Tannen,
who is just as awful as you'd expect. A drunken thief, bank robber and murderer,
Mad Dog sets his sights on killing Doc over $80 and a faulty horse shoe.
Marty and Biff's ancestors both reside in the Hill Valley of 1885,
but we don't get to see any Brown relatives as Doc's family immigrated in 1908. Still, the
idea that the Tannens have bullied the McFlys for 100 years is a legacy Marty hopes to finally end.
By agreeing to duel Mad Dog himself, Marty successfully saves Doc's life.
The two also manage to get the DeLorean rigged up to the train,
but an accident nearly kills Clara. Our heroes get it together at the last minute,
delivering Marty back to 1985 just in time for the DeLorean to be smashed by an oncoming train.
There, he finds Jennifer exactly where he left her. Hill Valley is as it should be,
with nary a Tannen casino or a mysterious tombstone to be found.
While driving Jennifer back to the spot where the time machine was destroyed,
Marty narrowly avoids the car accident that derails his future life. Suddenly, a 19th-century
locomotive flashes onto the tracks with Doc at the helm. He's turned the train into a time machine,
and travels through time with Clara, now his wife, and their two boys, Jules and Verne.
Doc explains before they fly off that Marty and Jennifer's fate isn't written yet. They
still have control over their lives, despite what they've seen and heard in the future and the past.
“Great Scott!”
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