Science fiction (or sci-fi ) is a film genre that uses speculative , fictional science -based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms , spacecraft , robots , cyborgs , mutants , interstellar travel , time travel , or other technologies. Science fiction films have often been used to focus on political or social issues , and to explore philosophical issues like the human condition .
190-680: Back to the Future is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale . It stars Michael J. Fox , Christopher Lloyd , Lea Thompson , Crispin Glover , and Thomas F. Wilson . Set in 1985, it follows Marty McFly (Fox), a teenager accidentally sent back to 1955 in a time-traveling DeLorean automobile built by his eccentric scientist friend Emmett "Doc" Brown (Lloyd), where he inadvertently prevents his future parents from falling in love – threatening his own existence – and
380-470: A Ford Mustang instead; Gale responded, "Doc Brown doesn't drive a fucking Mustang". Michael Fink was hired as the art department liaison and tasked with realizing Cobb's sketches and overseeing the car's construction. He was recruited by Paull and Canton, who had worked with him on Blade Runner (1982) and Buckaroo Banzai , respectively. Fink had a project lined up but agreed to help in the free weeks he had remaining. Three DeLoreans used were purchased from
570-478: A "suspended animation kennel". When Doc Brown meets Clara Clayton in 1885, he finds romance with a character who is similarly eccentric and interested in science. Doc starts a family with Clara and they have two sons, Jules and Verne. He eventually builds another time machine out of a steam locomotive and together they set off on new adventures. Emmett Brown has been described by critics as Lloyd's greatest or most iconic film role. Rotten Tomatoes described
760-432: A 14% decline in ticket sales over the previous year's $ 4 billion record sales. The summer period (beginning the final week of May) had 45 films scheduled for release, including Rambo: First Blood Part II , The Goonies , Brewster's Millions , Fletch , and the latest James Bond film A View to a Kill . This 25% increase over the previous year's releases led to concerns among industry professionals
950-636: A 14-week schedule set to conclude on February 28, 1985, with an estimated $ 14 million budget. Filming took place mainly at the Universal Studios lot and on location in California . Dean Cundey served as the cinematographer; he and Zemeckis had collaborated on Romancing the Stone . Editor Arthur Schmidt was hired after Zemeckis saw his work on Firstborn (1984); Schmidt recommended hiring Harry Keramidas as co-editor. Frank Marshall also served as
1140-451: A 1:5 scale (approximately 33 inches (840 millimeters) long) model built by Steve Gawley and the model shop crew. The act of the DeLorean traveling through time was called the 'time slice' effect. Zemeckis knew only that he wanted the transition to be violent. He described it as a " Neanderthal sitting on the hood of the DeLorean and chipping away the fabric of time in front of him". The effect
1330-512: A British cinema and media theorist and cultural critic: Science fiction film is a film genre which emphasizes actual, extrapolative, or 2.0 speculative science and the empirical method , interacting in a social context with the lesser emphasized, but still present, transcendentalism of magic and religion , in an attempt to reconcile man with the unknown. This definition suggests a continuum between (real-world) empiricism and ( supernatural ) transcendentalism , with science fiction films on
1520-517: A Friend for the End of the World ( 2012 ), Safety Not Guaranteed ( 2013 ), and Pixels (2015), romance films such as Her (2013), Monsters (2010), and Ex Machina (2015), heist films including Inception (2010) and action films including Real Steel (2011), Total Recall (2012), Edge of Tomorrow ( 2014 ), Pacific Rim (2013), Chappie (2015), Tomorrowland (2015), and Ghost in
1710-450: A bulletproof vest. He takes Marty home and departs to 2015 in the DeLorean. Marty wakes the next morning to discover his father is now a confident and successful science fiction author, his mother is fit and happy, his siblings are successful, and Biff is a servile valet in George's employ. As Marty reunites with Jennifer, Doc suddenly reappears in the DeLorean, insisting they return with him to
1900-470: A civilization's level of technological advancement into types. Due to its exponential nature, sci-fi civilizations usually only attain Type I (harnessing all the energy attainable from a single planet), and strictly speaking often not even that. The concept of life, particularly intelligent life, having an extraterrestrial origin is a popular staple of science fiction films. Early films often used alien life forms as
2090-417: A clock in his bathroom by standing on the toilet, he slipped, banged his head and while he was knocked out had a vision of the flux capacitor, the component that makes time travel possible. In 1985, he uses stolen plutonium to create a "nuclear reaction to generate 1.21 gigawatts of electricity" to power the DeLorean and enable it to time travel. Upon realising that plutonium is impossible to obtain in 1955,
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#17329136183422280-400: A collector: one for stunts, one for special effects, and a more detailed hero version for close-up shots. They were unreliable and often broke down. 88 miles per hour (142 kilometers per hour) was chosen as the time travel speed because it was easy to remember and looked "cool" on the speedometer. The flying DeLorean in the final scene used a combination of live-action footage, animation, and
2470-457: A destination time of November 5, 1955 (the day he first conceived his time travel invention), the terrorists arrive unexpectedly and gun him down. Marty flees in the DeLorean, inadvertently activating time travel when he reaches 88 miles per hour (142 kilometers per hour). Arriving in 1955, Marty discovers he has no plutonium, so he cannot return to 1985. While exploring a burgeoning Hill Valley, Marty encounters his teenage father and discovers Biff
2660-573: A draft in late 1980. They sketched and acted out each scene to help develop the dialogue and actions. They believed many time-travel films focused on the past being immutable and wanted to show the past being altered and the effect those changes would have on the future. In the draft, video pirate Professor Brown builds a time machine that sends his young friend Marty back to the 1950s where he interrupts his parents' first meeting. In September 1980, Gale and Zemeckis pitched their idea to Columbia Pictures president Frank Price , who had liked Used Cars and
2850-502: A joke from The Milton Berle Show . This choice led to some disputes, such as Pepsi parent company, PepsiCo , wanting to omit a joke about the Tab drink made by its rival Coca-Cola . Twenty clock wranglers were needed to synch up the many clocks in the opening scene, and pulleys were used to start them simultaneously. Drew Struzan produced the film's poster. The producers hoped his in-demand poster artwork would generate further interest in
3040-450: A letter from Marty warning him about his future and rips it, worried about the consequences. To save Doc, Marty recalibrates the DeLorean to return ten minutes before he had left the future. The lightning strikes, sending Marty back to 1985, but the DeLorean breaks down, forcing Marty to run back to the mall. He arrives as Doc is being shot. While Marty grieves at his side, Doc sits up, revealing he had pieced Marty's note back together and wore
3230-452: A live audience. The teamster drivers entrusted with dropping off Fox at home often had to carry the actor to bed. This continued until April, when Family Ties finished filming. Gale said Fox's youth meant he could cope with less sleep than usual; Fox described it as exhausting, but worth the effort. Further into the filming schedule, Fox was energetic during his scenes but struggled to stay awake off set. He ad-libbed some lines when he forgot
3420-401: A long tradition of movies featuring monster attacks. These differ from similar films in the horror or fantasy genres because science fiction films typically rely on a scientific (or at least pseudo-scientific) rationale for the monster's existence, rather than a supernatural or magical reason. Often, the science fiction film monster is created, awakened, or "evolves" because of the machinations of
3610-427: A lot of fun doing it even though he gets himself in some nerve-wracking situations." Emmett Lathrop Brown is a white-haired scientist who is called "Doc" by his teenage friend Marty McFly. He was created as a mad scientist archetype. Despite his many failed inventions, he successfully makes time travel possible, by building a DeLorean time machine out of a DMC DeLorean . Gale stated that Doc Brown met Marty when
3800-523: A mad scientist, a nuclear accident, or a scientific experiment gone awry. Typical examples include The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), Jurassic Park films, Cloverfield , Pacific Rim , the King Kong films, and the Godzilla franchise or the many films involving Frankenstein's monster . The core mental aspects of what makes us human has been a staple of science fiction films, particularly since
3990-401: A man capable of falling in love: "he gets in touch with that boyish, romantic, innocent part of himself". "Doc himself is a very positive person. He's always in crisis, he's always worried that he'll do something that might disrupt the space/time continuum, which would be a calamity for the entire universe. It weighs on his soul. So he constantly has to be one step ahead of himself — and he has
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#17329136183424180-476: A memo reading: "Hi Sid, thanks for your most humorous memo, we all got a big laugh out of it, keep 'em coming." Spielberg knew Sheinberg would be too embarrassed to admit his memo was to be taken seriously. Sheinberg later claimed the story was "bullshit". Sheinberg also wanted to change the name of Marty's mother from Meg to Lorraine (a tribute to his wife Lorraine Gary ), and rename Professor Brown to Doc Brown because he considered it more accessible. The third draft
4370-409: A moderate success. The strongest contributors to the genre during the second half of the 1980s were James Cameron and Paul Verhoeven with The Terminator and RoboCop entries. Robert Zemeckis ' film Back to the Future ( 1985 ) and its sequels were critically praised and became box office successes, not to mention international phenomena. James Cameron's sequel to Alien , Aliens ( 1986 ),
4560-487: A natural chemistry with Fox that meant it was easy to work with him. In Back to the Future Part III , Doc Brown develops a relationship with Clara Clayton in 1885, a character portrayed by Mary Steenburgen . Despite being an experienced actor of 15 years, Lloyd needed to speak to Zemeckis before filming a scene in which he kisses her, to explain that he had never before had an onscreen kiss. Gale opined that Lloyd
4750-530: A number of science fiction comic strips were adapted as serials , notably Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers , both starring Buster Crabbe . These serials, and the comic strips they were based on, were very popular with the general public. Other notable science fiction films of the 1930s include Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Doctor X (1932), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), F.P.1 (1932), Island of Lost Souls (1932), Deluge (1933), The Invisible Man (1933), Master of
4940-459: A particular area or time period. This is not true of the science fiction film. However, there are several common visual elements that are evocative of the genre. These include the spacecraft or space station, alien worlds or creatures, robots, and futuristic gadgets. Examples include movies like Lost in Space , Serenity , Avatar , Prometheus , Tomorrowland , Passengers , and Valerian and
5130-495: A particular concern of the writer by serving as a vehicle of warning against a type of activity, including technological research. In the case of alien invasion films, the creatures can provide as a stand-in for a feared foreign power. Films that fit into the Disaster film typically also fall into the following general categories: While monster films do not usually depict danger on a global or epic scale, science fiction film also has
5320-399: A pattern with small dots) to variegate the actors' faces to better conceal where the skin and prosthetics met; close-up shots were avoided. Doc's appearance was not altered significantly. Chase painted latex on Lloyd which, when removed, caused crinkles in the skin, onto which other elements, such as liver spots and shadows, were painted. By June 1985, the theatrical industry had experienced
5510-409: A phone booth by the man who interrupts his dance with Lorraine; and the scene of Marty pretending to be "Darth Vader", which was shortened. Zemeckis considered cutting the "Johnny B. Goode" performance because it did not advance the story, but test audiences reacted well to it. There is a dispute if a shot of Stoltz's hand is in the finished film in the scene where Marty punches Biff. Gale noted it
5700-555: A popular staple of science fiction film and science fiction television series. Time travel usually involves the use of some type of advanced technology, such as H. G. Wells' classic The Time Machine , the commercially successful 1980s-era Back to the Future trilogy, the Bill & Ted trilogy, the Terminator series, Déjà Vu (2006), Source Code (2011), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and Predestination (2014). Other movies, such as
5890-607: A recreation of the clock tower, but when filmed from above, Lloyd stood atop the tower itself. Production designer Lawrence G. Paull insisted on using the Universal backlot sets because of the difficulties and costs involved in making an on-location area look 1955-appropriate. Whittier High School in the city of Whittier is the Hill Valley high school. Marty's home and the surrounding Lyon estates are in Arleta, Los Angeles . Several of
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6080-456: A second unit director. Owing to the tight schedule, editing occurred concurrently with filming. On December 30, 1984, Zemeckis reviewed the existing scenes with Schmidt and Keramidas. Zemeckis was reluctant to review the footage because he would be self-critical, but he believed Stoltz's acting was not working and had already listed several scenes he wanted to reshoot. Zemeckis called in Gale and
6270-420: A solution. Doc not only takes the role of Marty's sidekick, but also provides much of the comic relief . He is shown to be selfless by nature, often putting his life in danger to help his friend because he believes in doing what is right. Whenever he makes a new discovery, he typically expresses his astonishment by exclaiming the catchphrase " Great Scott! ". Lloyd described Doc Brown as a positive character who
6460-644: A special metal called unobtainium. That same year, Terminator Salvation was released and garnered only moderate success. The 2010s saw new entries in several classic science fiction franchises, including Predators ( 2010 ), Tron: Legacy (2010), a resurgence of the Star Wars series, and entries into the Planet of the Apes and Godzilla franchises. Several more cross-genre films have also been produced, including comedies such as Hot Tub Time Machine (2010), Seeking
6650-475: A split-second before their demise, and then use their bodies for spare parts. Emmett Brown Dr. Emmett Lathrop Brown , commonly referred to as " Doc Brown ", is a fictional scientist in the Back to the Future franchise . He was created by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale . First appearing in the 1985 film Back to the Future , he is an eccentric mad scientist and friend to the protagonist Marty McFly . In
6840-524: A threat or peril to the human race, where the invaders were frequently fictional representations of actual military or political threats on Earth as observed in films such as Mars Attacks! , Starship Troopers , the Alien series, the Predator series, and The Chronicles of Riddick series. Some aliens were represented as benign and even beneficial in nature in such films as Escape to Witch Mountain , E.T.
7030-483: A vehicle. Storyboard artist Andrew Probert said that Doc Brown's car was designed to be a DeLorean , but Gale had to reject various offers from automotive companies that wanted to be included in the film. At one point, a member of the production team responsible for product placement approached Gale with a deal from the Ford Motor Company which suggested that Doc Brown should drive a Ford Mustang . Gale rebuffed
7220-529: A version of the photo without Marty or his siblings and individually pasted each character into the photo. When this failed, four different photos were used: one containing the background, and one for each McFly sibling. A mechanical camera cycled through each photo and printed it to the film. The enlarged guitar was moved around to add to the realism. The original nuclear explosion ending was considered too complicated and expensive, with an estimated cost of $ 1 million. Art director Andrew Probert storyboarded
7410-578: Is a popular scientific element in films as depicted in Jurassic Park (cloning of extinct species), The Island (cloning of humans), and ( genetic modification ) in some superhero movies and in the Alien series. Cybernetics and holographic projections as depicted in RoboCop and I, Robot are also popularized. Interstellar travel and teleportation is a popular theme in the Star Trek series that
7600-678: Is a popular theme in Independence Day while invisibility is also popular in Star Trek . Arc reactor technology, featured in Iron Man , is similar to a cold fusion device. Miniaturization technology where people are shrunk to microscopic sizes is featured in films like Fantastic Voyage (1966), Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989), and Marvel's Ant-Man (2015). The late Arthur C. Clarke 's third law states that "any sufficiently advanced technology
7790-667: Is a sailor because his down vest resembles a life preserver . They also identified conveniences of 1985 that Marty had taken for granted, but would be denied in 1955. Gale and Zemeckis struggled with the writing, as they were in their 30s and did not particularly identify with either era. They were inspired by the All-American aesthetic of films by Frank Capra featuring white picket fences and exaggerated characters similar to Biff, The Twilight Zone , science fiction films, and books by Robert Silverberg and Robert Heinlein . The romantic relationship between 1955 Lorraine and her future son
Back to the Future - Misplaced Pages Continue
7980-551: Is achieved through warp drives and transporters while intergalactic travel is popular in films such as Stargate and Star Wars that is achieved through hyperspace or wormholes . Nanotechnology is also featured in the Star Trek series in the form of replicators (utopia), in The Day the Earth Stood Still in the form of grey goo (dystopia), and in Iron Man 3 in the form of extremis (nanotubes) . Force fields
8170-782: Is an exception. The first depiction of a sophisticated robot in a United States film was Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still . Robots in films are often sentient and sometimes sentimental, and they have filled a range of roles in science fiction films. Robots have been supporting characters, such as Robby the Robot in Forbidden Planet , Huey, Dewey and Louie in Silent Running , Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation , sidekicks (e.g., C-3PO and R2-D2 from Star Wars , JARVIS from Iron Man ), and extras, visible in
8360-417: Is assaulted by Biff. After Biff hurts Lorraine, an enraged George knocks him unconscious and escorts the grateful Lorraine to the dance. The band frees Marty from their car, but the lead guitarist injures his hand in the process, so Marty takes his place, performing while George and Lorraine share their first kiss. With his future no longer in jeopardy, Marty hurries to the courthouse to meet Doc. Doc discovers
8550-451: Is based on mutual respect, as both characters find a connection with each other being rebellious by nature. He explained, "Doc thinks, 'Hey, Marty is a kid who maybe I can give him something, he's the son I never had. He's inquisitive, he doesn't judge me'." Doc Brown is eccentric but also a genius. He tells Marty that he invented time travel in November 1955 by accident. While trying to hang
8740-505: Is bullied by his supervisor, Biff Tannen . After Marty's band fails a music audition, he confides in his girlfriend, Jennifer Parker, that he fears becoming like his parents despite his ambitions. That night, Marty meets his eccentric scientist friend, Emmett "Doc" Brown , in the Twin Pines mall parking lot. Doc unveils a time machine built from a modified DeLorean , powered by plutonium he swindled from Libyan terrorists. After Doc inputs
8930-466: Is destroyed. The garage's exterior was replicated for the scenes. For the interior of his home, the Robert R. Blacker House was used for filming. When Eric Stoltz was replaced by Michael J. Fox for the part of Marty McFly in the sixth week of filming, Lloyd was initially worried by the casting change, as he was concerned about having to reshoot the scenes. Despite these reservations, he found that he had
9120-668: Is featured in Minority Report as well as in The Matrix saga (in which precognition is achieved by knowing the artificial world). Robots have been a part of science fiction since the Czech playwright Karel Čapek coined the word in 1921. In early films, robots were usually played by a human actor in a boxy metal suit, as in The Phantom Empire , although the female robot in Metropolis
9310-403: Is forced to reconcile them and somehow get back to the future. Gale and Zemeckis conceived the idea for Back to the Future in 1980. They were desperate for a successful film after numerous collaborative failures, but the project was rejected more than forty times by various studios because it was not considered raunchy enough to compete with the successful comedies of the era. A development deal
9500-447: Is impossible to tell without checking the original film negative, which would risk damaging it. The final 116‑minute cut was completed on June 23, 1985. Universal Studios took out a full-page advertisement in Variety magazine, thanking the post-production crew for completing their work on time. The final budget was $ 19 million. Alan Silvestri composed the score for Back to
9690-494: Is indistinguishable from magic". Past science fiction films have depicted "fictional" ("magical") technologies that became present reality. For example, the Personal Access Display Device from Star Trek was a precursor of smartphones and tablet computers . Gesture recognition in the movie Minority Report is part of current game consoles . Human-level artificial intelligence is also fast approaching with
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#17329136183429880-591: Is inventive and energetic. He said that he loved the character's passion and excitement in discovering new things. Doc's positive influence on Marty encourages him to mentor his father George in 1955 and influence him into becoming a novelist, which in turn results in the success of the McFly family in 1985. This positivity is articulated in Doc's line, "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything", which Marty later repeats to George. Gale said that Doc's friendship with Marty
10070-439: Is regarded as one of the best movies of the period, Planet of the Apes (1968) and Fahrenheit 451 ( 1966 ), which provided social commentary, and the campy Barbarella (1968), which explored the comical side of earlier science fiction. Jean-Luc Godard 's French "new wave" film Alphaville (1965) posited a futuristic Paris commanded by an artificial intelligence which has outlawed all emotion. The era of crewed trips to
10260-528: Is remote telepresence via androids as depicted in Surrogates and Iron Man 3 . As artificial intelligence becomes smarter due to increasing computer power , some sci-fi dreams have already been realized. For example, the computer Deep Blue beat the world chess champion in 1997 and a documentary film, Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine , was released in 2003. Another famous computer called Watson defeated
10450-431: Is so quick as to be imperceptible. Zemeckis preferred this, as he did not want the audience to think too much about how everything worked. Actual brand names, such as Texaco , were used to make the sets more realistic, and the producers mandated the inclusion of certain brands that had paid to appear in the film. An unidentified gas company offered a large sum to be included, but Paull used Texaco because it reminded him of
10640-511: Is whether robots will someday replace humans, a question raised in the film adaptation of Isaac Asimov 's I, Robot (in jobs) and in the film Real Steel (in sports), or whether intelligent robots could develop a conscience and a motivation to protect, take over, or destroy the human race (as depicted in The Terminator , Transformers , and in Avengers: Age of Ultron ). Another theme
10830-442: The Planet of the Apes series, Timeline (2003) and The Last Mimzy (2007), explained their depictions of time travel by drawing on physics concepts such as the special relativity phenomenon of time dilation (which could occur if a spaceship was travelling near the speed of light) and wormholes . Some films show time travel not being attained from advanced technology, but rather from an inner source or personal power, such as
11020-548: The Power Rangers (2017) reboot was greatly improved as compared to the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995). While "size does matter", a famous tagline of the movie Godzilla , incredibly small robots, called nanobots , do matter as well (e.g. Borg nanoprobes in Star Trek and nanites in I, Robot ). The concept of time travel —travelling backwards and forwards through time—has always been
11210-452: The Star Wars prequel trilogy , or the huge robot probes seen in Monsters vs. Aliens ). In some cases, robots have even been the leading characters in science fiction films; in the film Blade Runner (1982), many of the characters are bioengineered android " replicants ". This is also present in the animated films WALL-E (2008), Astro Boy (2009), Big Hero 6 (2014), Ghost in
11400-491: The Back to the Future script from him, and the filmmakers wanted to know if he was interested. Baxter had returned to the show, and they could be more flexible with Fox as long as Family Ties took priority. Fox agreed to join without reading the script. The transition could not take place immediately and filming continued with Stoltz in the lead role, unaware he was to be replaced. On January 10, 1985, Zemeckis informed Stoltz that he
11590-758: The NBC sitcom Family Ties (1982–1989) as the sophisticated Alex P. Keaton could be translated to Marty's clumsiness. Spielberg asked the show's producer Gary David Goldberg to have Fox read the script. Concerned Fox's absence would damage Family Ties ' success, especially with fellow star Meredith Baxter on maternity leave , Goldberg did not give Fox the script. Other young stars were considered, including: John Cusack , C. Thomas Howell , Johnny Depp , Ralph Macchio , Charlie Sheen , Jon Cryer , Ben Stiller , Peter DeLuise , Billy Zane, George Newbern , Robert Downey Jr. , Christopher Collet , Matthew Modine , and Corey Hart (who declined to audition). Howell
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#173291361834211780-461: The Star Wars prequel trilogy began with the release of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace , which eventually grossed over one billion dollars. As the decade progressed, computers played an increasingly important role in both the addition of special effects (thanks to Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Jurassic Park ) and the production of films. As software developed in sophistication it
11970-607: The Washington Monument . Cultural theorist Scott Bukatman has proposed that science fiction film allows contemporary culture to witness an expression of the sublime , be it through exaggerated scale, apocalypse or transcendence. Science fiction films appeared early in the silent film era, typically as short films shot in black and white, sometimes with colour tinting. They usually had a technological theme and were often intended to be humorous. In 1902 , Georges Méliès released Le Voyage dans la Lune , generally considered
12160-469: The cyberpunk genre spawned several movies on the theme of the computer-human interface, such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day ( 1991 ), Total Recall ( 1990 ), The Lawnmower Man ( 1992 ), and The Matrix ( 1999 ). Other themes included disaster films (e.g., Armageddon and Deep Impact , both 1998 ), alien invasion (e.g., Independence Day ( 1996 )) and genetic experimentation (e.g., Jurassic Park ( 1993 ) and Gattaca ( 1997 )). Also,
12350-452: The virtual reality world became a real-world prison for humanity, managed by intelligent machines. In movies such as eXistenZ , The Thirteenth Floor , and Inception , the nature of reality and virtual reality become intermixed with no clear distinguishing boundary. Telekinesis and telepathy are featured in movies like Star Wars , The Last Mimzy , Race to Witch Mountain , Chronicle , and Lucy while precognition
12540-815: The young adult dystopian fiction subgenre, popular in the early part of the decade. These include the Hunger Games film series , based on the trilogy of novels by Suzanne Collins , The Divergent Series based on Veronica Roth 's Divergent trilogy , and the Maze Runner series , based on James Dashner 's The Maze Runner novels . Several adult adaptations have also been produced, including The Martian (2015), based on Andy Weir 's 2011 novel , Cloud Atlas (2012), based on David Mitchell 's 2004 novel , World War Z , based on Max Brooks ' 2006 novel , and Ready Player One (2018), based on Ernest Cline 's 2011 novel . Independent productions also increased in
12730-412: The " mad scientist " transferring the human mind to another body is as old as Frankenstein while the idea of corporations behind mind transfer technologies is observed in later films such as Gamer , Avatar , and Surrogates . Films such as Total Recall have popularized a thread of films that explore the concept of reprogramming the human mind. The theme of brainwashing in several films of
12920-401: The 1.21 gigawatts of power required for time travel is a lightning bolt. Marty shows Doc a flyer from the future that documents an upcoming lightning strike at the town's courthouse. As Marty's siblings begin to fade from a photo he carries with him, Doc realizes Marty's actions are altering the future and jeopardizing his existence; Lorraine was supposed to tend to George instead of Marty after
13110-613: The 1950s, Ray Harryhausen , protege of master King Kong animator Willis O'Brien, used stop-motion animation to create special effects for the following notable science fiction films: It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955), Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) and 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957). The most successful monster movies were Japanese film studio Toho 's kaiju films directed by Ishirō Honda and featuring special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya . The 1954 film Godzilla , with
13300-471: The 1960s, but some of the films transformed science fiction cinema. Stanley Kubrick 's 2001: A Space Odyssey ( 1968 ) brought new realism to the genre, with its groundbreaking visual effects and realistic portrayal of space travel and influenced the genre with its epic story and transcendent philosophical scope. Other 1960s films included Planet of the Vampires (1965) by Italian filmmaker Mario Bava , that
13490-476: The 1970s included Woody Allen 's Sleeper ( 1973 ), and John Carpenter 's Dark Star ( 1974 ). The sports science fiction genre can be seen in films such as Rollerball (1975). Star Wars ( 1977 ) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind ( 1977 ) were box-office hits that brought about a huge increase in science fiction films. In 1979 , Star Trek: The Motion Picture brought the television series to
13680-408: The 1980s. Ridley Scott 's Blade Runner (1982), an adaptation of Philip K. Dick 's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? , examined what made an organic-creation a human, while the RoboCop series saw an android mechanism fitted with the brain and reprogrammed mind of a human to create a cyborg . The idea of brain transfer was not entirely new to science fiction film, as the concept of
13870-443: The 2000s-era films Donnie Darko , Mr. Nobody , The Butterfly Effect , and X-Men: Days of Future Past . More conventional time travel movies use technology to bring the past to life in the present, or in a present that lies in our future. The film Iceman (1984) told the story of the reanimation of a frozen Neanderthal . The film Freejack (1992) shows time travel used to pull victims of horrible deaths forward in time
14060-564: The 2010s, with the rise of digital filmmaking making it easier for filmmakers to produce movies on a smaller budget. These films include Attack the Block (2011), Source Code (2011), Looper (2012), Upstream Color (2013), Ex Machina (2015), and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017). In 2016, Ex Machina won the Academy Award for Visual Effects in a surprising upset over
14250-401: The 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m) tall Fox. The filmmakers became aware of Lea Thompson while researching Stoltz in the comedy-drama The Wild Life (1984). Crispin Glover used many of his own mannerisms in portraying George McFly. Gale described his performance as "nuts", and Zemeckis was reportedly unhappy with Glover's performance choices, instructing him to be more restrained as
14440-515: The City of a Thousand Planets . More subtle visual clues can appear with changes of the human form through modifications in appearance, size, or behavior, or by means a known environment turned eerily alien, such as an empty city The Omega Man (1971). While science is a major element of this genre, many movie studios take significant liberties with scientific knowledge. Such liberties can be most readily observed in films that show spacecraft maneuvering in outer space . The vacuum should preclude
14630-558: The Earth Stood Still , and The Watch , the aliens were nearly human in physical appearance, and communicated in a common earth language. However, the aliens in Stargate and Prometheus were human in physical appearance but communicated in an alien language. A few films have tried to represent intelligent aliens as something utterly different from the usual humanoid shape (e.g. An intelligent life form surrounding an entire planet in Solaris ,
14820-753: The Extra-Terrestrial , Close Encounters of the Third Kind , The Fifth Element , The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , Avatar , Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets , and the Men in Black series. In order to provide subject matter to which audiences can relate, the large majority of intelligent alien races presented in films have an anthropomorphic nature, possessing human emotions and motivations. In films like Cocoon , My Stepmother Is an Alien , Species , Contact , The Box , Knowing , The Day
15010-452: The Future novels state that Emmett Brown was born in 1920, placing him at the age of 65 in 1985. The character's appearance was inspired by Albert Einstein and Leopold Stokowski . Lloyd recalled discussing his inspirations with Zemeckis, after he was influenced by an album cover depicting Stokowski in front of the cosmos with white hair. The script for Back to the Future was written by Gale and Zemeckis. They wrote two drafts and pitched
15200-565: The Future took place in late 1984 and early 1985 in a variety of locations. The scenes involving Doc Brown's 1955 mansion home, which in the film is located at the fictional address of 1640 Riverside Drive in Hill Valley, California , were shot at the Gamble House in Pasadena . The Gamble House's carriage house was used for Doc Brown's garage, which by 1985, has become his residence after the mansion
15390-399: The Future was a critical and commercial success, earning $ 381.1 million to become the highest-grossing film of 1985 worldwide. Critics praised the story, humor, and the cast, particularly Fox, Lloyd, Thompson, and Glover. It received multiple award nominations and won an Academy Award , three Saturn Awards , and a Hugo Award . Its theme song, " The Power of Love " by Huey Lewis and
15580-505: The Future . Zemeckis held a grudge against the studios that had rejected the project and turned to Spielberg, who had set up his own production company, Amblin Entertainment , at Universal Studios , where Price now worked. Spielberg disliked Price because he had rejected E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and demanded his involvement in Back to the Future be minimal. Sidney Sheinberg installed himself as chief executive to oversee
15770-405: The Future ; he had worked with Zemeckis on Romancing the Stone . The only direction Zemeckis gave him was "it's got to be big". Silvestri used an orchestral score to create a sound that contrasted with the small-town setting and the significant time-changing events occurring within it. He wanted a heroic theme that would be instantly recognizable. Huey Lewis was approached to write a theme song for
15960-655: The Future Part ;III (1990). Spurred by the film's dedicated fan following and effect on popular culture, Universal Studios launched a multimedia franchise , which now includes video games , theme park rides , an animated television series , and a stage musical . Its enduring popularity has prompted numerous books about its production, documentaries, and commercials. In 1985, teenager Marty McFly lives in Hill Valley, California , with his depressed alcoholic mother, Lorraine ; his older siblings, who are professional and social failures; and his meek father, George , who
16150-693: The Libyan terrorists. Cast appearing in the 1955 portion includes George DiCenzo and Frances Lee McCain as Lorraine's parents, Sam and Stella Baines, and Jason Hervey as Lorraine's younger brother Milton. Biff's gang includes Jeffrey Jay Cohen as Skinhead, Casey Siemaszko as 3-D , and Billy Zane as Match. Norman Alden plays cafe owner Lou, and Donald Fullilove appears as his employee (and future mayor) Goldie Wilson. Harry Waters Jr. portrays Chuck Berry 's cousin Marvin Berry; Will Hare appears as Pa Peabody; and Courtney Gains portrays Dixon,
16340-786: The Moon in 1969 and the 1970s saw a resurgence of interest in the science fiction film. Andrei Tarkovsky 's Solaris ( 1972 ) and Stalker ( 1979 ) are two widely acclaimed examples of the renewed interest of film auteurs in science fiction. Science fiction films from the early 1970s explored the theme of paranoia, in which humanity is depicted as under threat from sociological, ecological or technological adversaries of its own creation, such as George Lucas 's directional debut THX 1138 ( 1971 ), The Andromeda Strain ( 1971 ), Silent Running ( 1972 ), Soylent Green ( 1973 ), Westworld ( 1973 ) and its sequel Futureworld ( 1976 ), and Logan's Run ( 1976 ). The science fiction comedies of
16530-593: The News , was also a success. Back to the Future has since grown in esteem and is now considered by critics and audiences to be one of the greatest science fiction films and among the best films ever made . In 2007, the United States Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry . The film was followed by two sequels, Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Back to
16720-580: The Pole (1912), Himmelskibet (1918; which with its runtime of 97 minutes generally is considered the first feature-length science fiction film in history), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), The Mechanical Man (1921), Paris Qui Dort (1923), Aelita (1924), Luch Smerti (1925), and The Lost World (1925). In the 1930s, there were several big budget science fiction films, notably Just Imagine (1930), King Kong (1933), Things to Come (1936), and Lost Horizon (1937). Starting in 1936,
16910-498: The Sea ( 1916 ) is a film based on Jules Verne ’s famous novel of a wondrous submarine and its vengeful captain. In the 1920s, European filmmakers tended to use science fiction for prediction and social commentary, as can be seen in German films such as Metropolis ( 1927 ) and Frau im Mond ( 1929 ). Other notable science fiction films of the silent era include The Impossible Voyage (1904), The Motorist (1906), The Conquest of
17100-521: The Shell (2017) and in Next Gen (2018). Films like Bicentennial Man , A.I. Artificial Intelligence , Chappie , and Ex Machina depicted the emotional fallouts of robots that are self-aware. Other films like The Animatrix (The Second Renaissance) present the consequences of mass-producing self-aware androids as humanity succumbs to their robot overlords. One popular theme in science fiction film
17290-1072: The Shell (2017). The superhero film boom has also continued, into films such as Iron Man 2 (2010) and Iron Man 3 (2013), several entries into the X-Men film series , and The Avengers (2012), which became the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time. New franchises such as Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy also began in this decade. Further into the decade, more realistic science fiction epic films also become prevalent, including Battleship (2012), Gravity (2013), Elysium (2013), Interstellar ( 2014 ), Mad Max: Fury Road ( 2015 ), The Martian ( 2015 ), Arrival ( 2016 ), Passengers (2016), and Blade Runner 2049 ( 2017 ). Many of these films have gained widespread accolades, including several Academy Award wins and nominations. These films have addressed recent matters of scientific interest, including space travel, climate change, and artificial intelligence. Alongside these original films, many adaptations were produced, especially within
17480-697: The World (1934), Mad Love (1935), Trans-Atlantic Tunnel (1935), The Devil-Doll (1936), The Invisible Ray (1936), The Man Who Changed His Mind (1936), The Walking Dead (1936), Non-Stop New York (1937), and The Return of Doctor X (1939). The 1940s brought us Before I Hang (1940), Black Friday (1940), Dr. Cyclops (1940), The Devil Commands (1941), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941), Man Made Monster (1941), It Happened Tomorrow (1944), It Happens Every Spring (1949), and The Perfect Woman (1949). The release of Destination Moon (1950) and Rocketship X-M (1950) brought us to what many people consider "the golden age of
17670-753: The Worlds (1953), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), This Island Earth (1955), Forbidden Planet (1956), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) and On the Beach (1959). There is often a close connection between films in the science fiction genre and the so-called " monster movie ". Examples of this are Them! (1954), The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) and The Blob (1958). During
17860-467: The actors' faces, from which plaster molds were made. Chase sculpted more subtle effects over the plaster molds using latex. For Lorraine, he crafted jowls and eye bags, plus body padding to reflect her increased weight and alcohol abuse. Instead of a receding hairline, Chase changed the style of George's hair; he used prosthetics only to give him a less-defined jawline. Biff's character changed more significantly because Chase wanted him to look "obnoxious"; he
18050-441: The additional project because it required relatively few effects, and he wanted to realize the planned ending of Marty driving the time machine into a nuclear explosion. The team had a nine-and-a-half-week schedule, reduced to less than nine once Universal Pictures moved up the release date. ILM was working on Back to the Future up to the moment it had to be handed over to print the theatrical film reels. The tight schedule affected
18240-523: The advent of smartphone A.I. while a working cloaking device / material is the main goal of stealth technology . Autonomous cars (e.g. KITT from the Knight Rider series) and quantum computers , like in the movie Stealth and Transcendence , also will be available eventually. Furthermore, although Clarke's laws do not classify "sufficiently advanced" technologies , the Kardashev scale measures
18430-532: The audience responded they would recommend the film; 99% rated it very good or excellent. Gale said there was some concern when Doc's dog Einstein was sent through time, as the audience believed he had been killed. The film was re-cut and screened again at the Alfred Hitchcock theater at Universal Studios for executives, including Sheinberg. He was so impressed he moved the scheduled release date forward to July 3, 1985, to give it more time in theaters during
18620-558: The background to create a futuristic setting (e.g., Back to the Future Part II (1989), Total Recall (2012), RoboCop (2014)). As well, robots have been formidable movie villains or monsters (e.g., the robot Box in the film Logan's Run (1976), HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey , ARIIA in Eagle Eye , robot Sentinels in X-Men: Days of Future Past , the battle droids in
18810-672: The ball shaped creature in Dark Star , microbial-like creatures in The Invasion , shape-shifting creatures in Evolution ). Recent trends in films involve building-size alien creatures like in the movie Pacific Rim where the CGI has tremendously improved over the previous decades as compared in previous films such as Godzilla . A frequent theme among science fiction films is that of impending or actual disaster on an epic scale. These often address
19000-638: The band refused to take part, so Eddie took part on his own. Mark Campbell provided Marty's singing voice, but did not receive credit, as the filmmakers wanted to pretend Fox was singing. When music supervisor Bones Howe learned of this, he secured Campbell a small percentage of the soundtrack revenue as compensation. Paul Hanson taught Fox how to use a guitar to play " Johnny B. Goode ", and choreographer Brad Jeffries spent four weeks teaching Fox to replicate various rock star moves popularized by artists like Pete Townshend , Jimi Hendrix , and Chuck Berry. Berry withheld permission to use "Johnny B. Goode" until
19190-690: The big screen for the first time. It was also in this period that the Walt Disney Company released many science fiction films for family audiences such as The Black Hole , Flight of the Navigator , and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids . The sequels to Star Wars , The Empire Strikes Back ( 1980 ) and Return of the Jedi ( 1983 ), also saw worldwide box office success. Ridley Scott 's films, such as Alien ( 1979 ) and Blade Runner ( 1982 ), along with James Cameron 's The Terminator ( 1984 ), presented
19380-434: The budget. Back to the Future was filmed in and around California and on sets at Universal Studios , and concluded the following April. After highly successful test screenings, the release date was brought forward to July 3, 1985, giving the film more time in theaters during the busiest period of the theatrical year. The change resulted in a rushed post-production schedule and some incomplete special effects. Back to
19570-435: The car accident. Early attempts to get his parents acquainted fail, and Lorraine's infatuation with Marty deepens. Lorraine asks Marty to the school dance, and he plots to feign inappropriate advances on her, allowing George to intervene and rescue her, but the plan goes awry when Biff's gang locks Marty in the trunk of the performing band's car, while Biff forces himself onto Lorraine. George arrives expecting to find Marty but
19760-491: The cast and crew, including Wilson. Stoltz put his full strength into pushing Wilson rather than imitating doing so, despite Wilson's protests. Spielberg said Zemeckis needed a replacement in place before firing Stoltz, or he risked the production being canceled. Zemeckis and the producers asked Sheinberg for permission to do whatever was necessary to accommodate Fox's participation; Spielberg made another call to Goldberg. On January 3, 1985, Goldberg told Fox about withholding
19950-430: The change would be obvious and distracting. Special effects artist Ken Chase performed makeup tests on the young actors to age them; initial results were discouraging. He created a prosthetic neck and a bald cap with a receding hairline for Glover but considered them excessive. Chase found it difficult to balance aging the actors and retaining enough of their natural appearance to remain recognizable. Casts were made of
20140-594: The character was responsible for reviving the phrase "Great Scott!", which returned as an internet meme , having fallen out of use since the 1800s. Rick Sanchez of the American animated series Rick and Morty (voiced by Justin Roiland ) began as a parody of Doc Brown. In September 2021, Christopher Lloyd portrayed Sanchez himself in a series of promotional clips for the series' two-part fifth season finale, alongside Jaeden Martell as Morty Smith (also voiced by Roiland in
20330-419: The competition would divide audiences and limit financial returns, at a time when the average cost of making and marketing a film had increased to $ 14.5 million and $ 7 million, respectively. A higher budget to secure a popular, and thus profitable, cast was considered a suitable risk. Most films scheduled for release were aimed at younger audiences, focusing on fantasy and the supernatural. Reflecting
20520-517: The day before filming, receiving $ 50,000 for the rights. Harry Waters Jr. provided the vocals on " Earth Angel ". Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) developed the film's special effects under the supervision of Ken Ralston and Kevin Pike . It contains approximately 27–32 special effects shots, compared to the 300 such shots typical in contemporaneous higher-budget films. Despite working simultaneously on The Goonies and Cocoon , Ralston took on
20710-415: The dog in the DeLorean. Arthur F. Repola served as the post-production supervisor, but he became responsible for many aspects outside his role, including budgets, storyboarding, and general problem-solving. Those roles belonged to Kennedy and Marshall, but both were occupied on other films. Schmidt found editing the film difficult because he had to imagine where the special effects would later be added; there
20900-458: The film carries a profound message - that the evolution of a species toward technological perfection (in this case exemplified by the disappeared alien civilization called the "Krell") does not ensure the loss of primitive and dangerous urges. In the film, this part of the primitive mind manifests itself as monstrous destructive force emanating from the Freudian subconscious, or "Id". Some films blur
21090-415: The film. The film uses a stylized adaptation of the 1950s aesthetics , closer to television show interpretations than an exact recreation. Modern technologies such as contemporary fabrics were used because the designers believed the fashions of the time were not interesting. To represent characters across three decades, the filmmakers did not want to have older actors stand in for the younger ones, believing
21280-424: The film; he was coming off the success of his recent album Sports . He met with Gale, Spielberg, and Zemeckis, who intended that Huey Lewis and the News be Marty's favorite band. Though flattered, Lewis did not want to participate because he did not know how to write film songs and did not want to write one called "Back to the Future". Zemeckis assured Lewis he could write any song he wanted. Lewis agreed to submit
21470-467: The filmmakers to identify problems and implement new ideas. To avoid building an additional classroom set, the opening pan across the array of clocks in Doc Brown's laboratory replaced an opening scene where Marty sets off a fire alarm to get out of detention. The height differences between Stoltz and Fox necessitated other changes, such as a scene of Fox teaching George how to punch because Fox could not reach
21660-599: The films were often well-photographed in colour ... and their dismal dialogue was delivered in well-designed and well-lit sets." With the Space Race between the USSR and the US going on, documentaries and illustrations of actual events, pioneers and technology were plenty. Any movie featuring realistic space travel was at risk of being obsolete at its time of release, rather fossil than fiction. There were relatively few science fiction films in
21850-440: The first science fiction film, and a film that used early trick photography to depict a spacecraft's journey to the Moon. Several early films merged the science fiction and horror genres. Examples of this are Frankenstein ( 1910 ), a film adaptation of Mary Shelley 's novel, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920), based on the psychological tale by Robert Louis Stevenson . Taking a more adventurous tack, 20,000 Leagues Under
22040-577: The franchise, he invents a time machine using a DMC DeLorean . He is portrayed by Christopher Lloyd in all three films and in the television series and was loosely inspired by Leopold Stokowski and Albert Einstein . He is also voiced by Dan Castellaneta in the animated sections of the television series. In Back to the Future , he introduces Marty McFly to the DeLorean time machine that he invented, which results in Marty being accidentally transported back to
22230-880: The future as dark, dirty and chaotic, and depicted aliens and androids as hostile and dangerous. In contrast, Steven Spielberg 's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ( 1982 ), one of the most successful films of the 1980s, presented aliens as benign and friendly, a theme already present in Spielberg's own Close Encounters of the Third Kind . James Bond also entered the science fiction genre in 1979 with Moonraker . The big budget adaptations of Frank Herbert 's Dune and Alex Raymond 's Flash Gordon , as well as Peter Hyams 's sequel to 2001 , 2010: The Year We Make Contact (based on 2001 author Arthur C. Clarke 's sequel novel 2010: Odyssey Two ), were box office failures that dissuaded producers from investing in science fiction literary properties. Disney's Tron ( 1982 ) turned out to be
22420-594: The future to save their children from terrible fates. The 1985 portion of the film features a cast including Claudia Wells as Marty's girlfriend Jennifer Parker, and Marc McClure and Wendie Jo Sperber as Marty's siblings Dave McFly and Linda McFly . Elsa Raven plays the Clocktower Lady. Singer Huey Lewis has a cameo role as a judge for the Battle of the Bands contest. Richard L. Duran and Jeff O'Haco portray
22610-416: The genre) was the film Metropolis (1927). From the 1930s to the 1950s, the genre consisted mainly of low-budget B movies . After Stanley Kubrick 's landmark 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), the science fiction film genre was taken more seriously. In the late 1970s, big-budget science fiction films filled with special effects became popular with audiences after the success of Star Wars (1977) and paved
22800-477: The genre. In the monster films of the 1950s, the scientist often played a heroic role as the only person who could provide a technological fix for some impending doom. Reflecting the distrust of government that began in the 1960s in the United States, the brilliant but rebellious scientist became a common theme, often serving a Cassandra -like role during an impending disaster. Biotechnology (e.g., cloning )
22990-458: The idea of reprogrammable reality and memory. The idea that a human could be entirely represented as a program in a computer was a core element of the film Tron . This would be further explored in the film version of The Lawnmower Man , Transcendence , and Ready Player One and the idea reversed in Virtuosity as computer programs sought to become real persons. In The Matrix series,
23180-419: The idea that Emmett should have a pet chimpanzee, so this was changed to a dog, because he believed that "no movie with a chimpanzee ever made any money". In the second draft of the script, Doc's time machine was a "time chamber" similar to a refrigerator, which he would have to transport in the back of his truck. Zemeckis conceived an alternative solution by making the time machine mobile and incorporating it into
23370-513: The intended dialogue, and recalled looking for a camcorder on the Family Ties set, before realizing it was a prop on Back to the Future . He also had to learn to mimic playing the guitar and choreographed skateboarding routines taught by Per Welinder and Bob Schmelzer. To compensate for his conflicting schedules and reduce production costs, some scenes involving Marty were shot without Fox, who filmed his part separately. Re-shooting scenes allowed
23560-423: The lightning bolt that strikes the clock tower was described as "the largest bolt of lightning in cinematic history". It was intended to originate in the distance and move closer, but the footage was filmed too close to the tower and there was insufficient space between it and the top of the frame. There was also an issue with showing the bolt onscreen for too long as it made it more obviously animated. The frame count
23750-399: The line between the genres, such as films where the protagonist gains the extraordinary powers of the superhero . These films usually employ quasi-plausible reason for the hero gaining these powers. Not all science fiction themes are equally suitable for movies. Science fiction horror is most common. Often enough, these films could just as well pass as Westerns or World War II films if
23940-401: The mansion's garage. Doc's garage is packed with gadgets and he has an impressive clock collection. Although he is American and a baseball fan, Doc's father was German and his family name was Von Braun. Doc Brown's friendship with Marty is a central aspect of the film trilogy. Marty typically seeks out his friend each time he finds himself in a perilous situation, knowing that Doc will provide
24130-458: The much higher-budget Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). Science fiction films are often speculative in nature, and often include key supporting elements of science and technology. However, as often as not the "science" in a Hollywood science fiction movie can be considered pseudo-science, relying primarily on atmosphere and quasi-scientific artistic fancy than facts and conventional scientific theory. The definition can also vary depending on
24320-535: The necessary prop. According to Gale, once Fox replaced Stoltz, the atmosphere on set improved. Thompson anecdotally said while Stoltz ate lunch alone in his trailer, Fox ate lunch with the cast and crew. The production used many locations in and around Los Angeles . The clock tower is a structure on the Universal Studios Lot in Universal City, California . When filmed from below, Lloyd was positioned on
24510-470: The next song he wrote, which was " The Power of Love ". Lewis maintains "Power of Love" was his first submission, but Zemeckis recalled a different first song that was rejected. Lewis later acquiesced to Zemeckis's request for a second song, " Back in Time ". Musician Eddie Van Halen performed the guitar riff Marty (dressed as "Darth Vader") uses to wake George. The filmmakers wanted to use Van Halen 's music, but
24700-449: The offer stating, "Doc Brown does not drive a f-cking Mustang". For the character's signature expression, Gale stated that Zemeckis had come up with the idea of using " Great Scott! ". He initially thought Doc Brown would use the phrase "Great Caesar's Ghost!" because it was from a Superman television series they had grown up watching. The phrase "Great Scott!" was spoken by another character that he could not remember. Filming for Back to
24890-401: The older George. Glover lost his voice during filming and later dubbed in some lines. Deluise, Zane, Tim Robbins , and J. J. Cohen were considered to play Biff Tannen. Cohen was not considered intimidating enough against Stoltz, and the role went to Thomas F. Wilson, his first feature starring role. Zane and Cohen were cast as Biff's minions Match and Skinhead instead. Tannen's name
25080-418: The peak summer season. The new date reduced the post-production schedule to just nine weeks for special effects and editing. Zemeckis spent much of June rushing to finish the film. Deleted scenes include: Doc looking at an issue of Playboy , remarking the future looks better; a scene of 1985 George being coerced into buying a large amount of peanut brittle from a young girl; a scene of young George trapped in
25270-414: The producers to show them the footage; they agreed Stoltz was not right for the part. Stoltz was performing the role with an intense and serious tone, not the " screwball " energy they desired. Gale characterized Stoltz as a good actor in the wrong role. Stoltz utilized method acting and stayed in character as Marty when not filming, refusing to answer to his own name. This resulted in feuding with some of
25460-414: The project was Spielberg, but with their previous collaborations considered relative failures, Gale and Zemeckis feared another misstep would suggest they could get work only through being friends with Spielberg. Zemeckis accepted the next project offered to him, Romancing the Stone (1984). Against expectations, the film was a significant success and gave Zemeckis enough credibility to return to Back to
25650-405: The relationship to happen. The second draft was completed by April 7, 1981. Price opted not to green-light the second draft; although he liked it, he did not believe it would appeal to anyone else. The most successful comedies at the time, such as Animal House (1978), Porky's (1981), and Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), featured sexual and bawdy elements; Back to the Future
25840-469: The release of Transformers (2007) and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), both of which resulted in worldwide box office success. In 2009, James Cameron 's Avatar garnered worldwide box office success, and would later become the highest-grossing movie of all time. This movie was also an example of political commentary. It depicted humans destroying the environment on another planet by mining for
26030-486: The release of their comedy Used Cars (1980), Gale visited his parents and came across his father's high school yearbook . He wondered if he and his father would have been friends had they attended school together. He did not think so, but realized he could test his theory if he could travel back to a time when he and his parents were a similar age. He shared the idea with Zemeckis, who recalled his mother's childhood stories were often contradictory. Gale and Zemeckis began
26220-568: The repetitions of the Korova Milkbar make the alien decor seem more familiar. As well, familiar images become alien, as in the films Repo Man and Liquid Sky . For example, in Dr. Strangelove , the distortion of the humans make the familiar images seem more alien. Finally, alien images are juxtaposed with the familiar, as in The Deadly Mantis , when a giant praying mantis is shown climbing
26410-664: The residential locations were filmed in Pasadena: Lorraine's and George's 1955 homes, and Doc Brown's 1955 home. (Its exterior is the Gamble House ; interiors were shot at the historic Blacker House .) Puente Hills Mall in City of Industry, California serves as the Twin Pines mall, which later becomes the Lone Pine mall after Marty knocks over one of the trees at Twin Pines ranch in 1955, which
26600-435: The role as Lloyd's "biggest legacy". MovieWeb named Doc Brown as "one of the greatest movie characters of all time" and the "greatest sidekick in film history". GamesRadar+ listed Doc Brown as one of the greatest movie characters of the 1980s alongside Marty, particularly praising their onscreen chemistry. He was selected by Empire magazine as one of the greatest movie characters of all time. Paste noted that
26790-453: The role because of her commitment to the short-lived television series Off the Rack (1984). Actresses Kyra Sedgwick and Jill Schoelen were also considered; Schoelen was told she looked too "exotic" and not sufficiently All-American. Doc Brown's pet, a dog named Einstein, was originally scripted as a chimpanzee named Shemp. Sheinberg insisted films featuring chimps never did well. James Tolkan
26980-476: The role of Doc Brown. Producer Neil Canton suggested Lithgow, having worked with him and Christopher Lloyd on Buckaroo Banzai (1984). Lithgow was unavailable, and the role was offered to Lloyd. He was reluctant to join the production until a friend encouraged him to take the part. Albert Einstein and conductor Leopold Stokowski inspired Lloyd's wild, white hair. Lloyd affected a hunched posture to lower his 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 meters) height closer to
27170-446: The scene, which would have been created using sets and miniatures . With the ending moved to the clock tower, ILM researched storms to achieve the right aesthetic. Clouds were constructed from polyester fiberfill , suspended in a net, and filmed from above while Ralston shone a powerful light from below. He used a rheostat to rapidly change the lights' intensity to imitate lightning. Developed by Wes Takahashi 's animation department,
27360-403: The science fiction film". In the 1950s, public interest in space travel and new technologies was great. While many 1950s science fiction films were low-budget B movies , there were several successful films with larger budgets and impressive special effects. These include The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), The Thing from Another World (1951), When Worlds Collide (1951), The War of
27550-429: The science fiction props were removed. Common motifs also include voyages and expeditions to other planets, and dystopias , while utopias are rare. Film theorist Vivian Sobchack argues that science fiction films differ from fantasy films in that while science fiction film seeks to achieve our belief in the images we are viewing, fantasy film instead attempts to suspend our disbelief. The science fiction film displays
27740-460: The scientist has varied considerably in the science fiction film genre, depending on the public perception of science and advanced technology. Starting with Dr. Frankenstein , the mad scientist became a stock character who posed a dire threat to society and perhaps even civilization. Certain portrayals of the "mad scientist", such as Peter Sellers 's performance in Dr. Strangelove , have become iconic to
27930-475: The script took issue with the idea. Marty's father also became a boxer, a result of his knockout punch on Biff. The time machine was a stationary object moved around on the back of a truck. Inspired by the documentary The Atomic Cafe , the drained time machine was written to be powered by Marty driving it into a nuclear explosion, combined with an additional ingredient: Coca-Cola . Gale and Zemeckis took inspiration from tales of legendary scientists, opting to make
28120-412: The second draft. Although the script was rejected more than 40 times, Steven Spielberg showed interest in producing the film at Amblin Entertainment . Sid Sheinberg , the head of Universal Pictures also liked the story but wanted to make certain changes. Originally Emmett was given the title "Professor Brown" but Sheinberg thought viewers would dislike it and changed it to "Doc Brown". He also rejected
28310-528: The set designers were told to not change the 1955 set, and a scene involving a discussion between Marty and Doc was filmed showing only Doc. Stoltz had shot numerous key scenes including Marty traveling to 1955 in the DeLorean, its breaking down as he prepares to return to 1985, and his final scene was Marty's return to 1985. Filming fell behind schedule, with 34 days of filming lost and an additional cost of $ 3.5–$ 4.0 million, including Stoltz receiving his salary in full. Universal Pictures' marketing team
28500-437: The side of empiricism, and happy films and sad films on the side of transcendentalism. However, there are numerous well-known examples of science fiction horror films, epitomized by such pictures as Frankenstein and Alien . The visual style of science fiction film is characterized by a clash between alien and familiar images. This clash is implemented when alien images become familiar, as in A Clockwork Orange , when
28690-493: The sixties and seventies including A Clockwork Orange and The Manchurian Candidate coincided with secret real-life government experimentation during Project MKULTRA . Voluntary erasure of memory is further explored as themes of the films Paycheck and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind . Some films like Limitless explore the concept of mind enhancement. The anime series Serial Experiments Lain also explores
28880-404: The special effects' quality. Ralston was disappointed by the scene where Marty's hand fades away as his future is altered. Fox was filmed separately from his hand and the two were composited together; the hand was filmed with a wide-angle lens, making it appear too large, and it had to be scaled down. Zemeckis wanted a subtle fade, but it resulted in a small circle of the hand fading away and there
29070-493: The studio would violate Universal Pictures' copyright. With production imminent, McElwaine asked for the rights from Price; in exchange, Price obtained the rights to Back to the Future . Sheinberg suggested modifications to the film, including changing the title to Space Man from Pluto , believing Back to the Future would not resonate with audiences. Gale and Zemeckis did not know how to reject Sheinberg's suggestions without risking his ire. Spielberg intervened, sending Sheinberg
29260-502: The studio's investment in the project. Amblin executives Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall joined Spielberg as the film's executive producers . However, rights to Back to the Future remained with Columbia Pictures. Price's successor at Columbia Pictures, Guy McElwaine , was developing a satire of the Universal-owned noir film Double Indemnity (1944) called Big Trouble (1986). Its similarities to Double Indemnity meant
29450-485: The teenager was about 14 years old. Marty sneaked into Doc's lab after learning that he was considered a lunatic and was discovered there by Doc. Marty considered Doc to be cool and this resulted in Doc hiring Marty as his part-time lab assistant. Doc was born into a wealthy family and in 1955 lives in a mansion, but spends thirty years burning through his wealth to realise his vision of time travel. By 1985, his mansion has been destroyed by fire, so he subsequently resides in
29640-399: The time machine's creator an individual instead of a faceless corporation or government. The pair wanted the inciting time-travel incident to be an accident so that it would not appear that the hero was seeking personal gain. Gale and Zemeckis drew humor from the cultural contrasts between 1955 and 1985, such as Marty entering a 1955 soda shop in 1985 clothing; the shop owner asks Marty if he
29830-409: The times, these fantasy elements often employed a technological source instead of a magical one. Only a few films, like Cocoon and Prizzi's Honor , targeted adults. Science fiction film The genre has existed since the early years of silent cinema , when Georges Méliès ' A Trip to the Moon (1902) employed trick photography effects. The next major example (first in feature-length in
30020-640: The title monster attacking Tokyo, gained immense popularity, spawned multiple sequels, led to other kaiju films like Rodan , and created one of the most recognizable monsters in cinema history. Japanese science fiction films, particularly the tokusatsu and kaiju genres, were known for their extensive use of special effects , and gained worldwide popularity in the 1950s. Kaiju and tokusatsu films, notably Warning from Space (1956), sparked Stanley Kubrick 's interest in science fiction films and influenced 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). According to his biographer John Baxter , despite their "clumsy model sequences,
30210-649: The transmission of sound or maneuvers employing wings, yet the soundtrack is filled with inappropriate flying noises and changes in flight path resembling an aircraft banking. The filmmakers, unfamiliar with the specifics of space travel , focus instead on providing acoustical atmosphere and the more familiar maneuvers of the aircraft. Similar instances of ignoring science in favor of art can be seen when movies present environmental effects as portrayed in Star Wars and Star Trek . Entire planets are destroyed in titanic explosions requiring mere seconds, whereas an actual event of this nature takes many hours. The role of
30400-454: The two best human Jeopardy (game show) players in 2011 and a NOVA documentary film, Smartest Machine on Earth , was released in the same year. Building-size robots are also becoming a popular theme in movies as featured in Pacific Rim . Future live action films may include an adaptation of popular television series like Voltron and Robotech . The CGI robots of Pacific Rim and
30590-535: The unfamiliar and alien in the context of the familiar. Despite the alien nature of the scenes and science fictional elements of the setting, the imagery of the film is related back to humankind and how we relate to our surroundings. While the science fiction film strives to push the boundaries of the human experience, they remain bound to the conditions and understanding of the audience and thereby contain prosaic aspects, rather than being completely alien or abstract. Genre films such as westerns or war movies are bound to
30780-440: The vehicle to look fixed together from common parts. The time machine was originally conceived as a stationary device; at one point it was a refrigerator. Spielberg vetoed the idea, concerned child viewers might attempt to climb into one. Zemeckis suggested the DeLorean because it offered mobility and a unique design; the gull-wing doors would appear like an alien UFO to a 1950s family. The Ford Motor Company offered $ 75,000 to use
30970-444: The viewpoint of the observer. Many science fiction films include elements of mysticism, occult , magic, or the supernatural , considered by some to be more properly elements of fantasy or the occult (or religious) film. This transforms the movie genre into a science fantasy with a religious or quasi-religious philosophy serving as the driving motivation. The movie Forbidden Planet employs many common science fiction elements, but
31160-475: The way for the blockbuster hits of subsequent decades. Screenwriter and scholar Eric R. Williams identifies science fiction films as one of eleven super-genres in his screenwriters’ taxonomy , stating that all feature-length narrative films can be classified by these super-genres. The other ten super-genres are action , crime , fantasy , horror , romance , slice of life , sports , thriller , war , and western . According to Vivian Sobchack ,
31350-426: The year 1955. He returned alongside Marty in Back to the Future Part II , in which they travel into the future to 2015. In Back to the Future Part III , he is accidentally transported back to 1885 and there builds another time machine using a steam engine locomotive. Emmett Brown has been ranked by critics as one of the greatest film characters of the 1980s and is regarded as Lloyd's most memorable film role. He
31540-487: The younger Doc decides that the only other way to power the DeLorean is with a bolt of lightning. When conducting his science experiments, Doc Brown often uses his pet dogs as test subjects. In 1985, he tests the DeLorean by sending his dog Einstein one minute into the future. When Marty meets up with the younger Doc Brown in 1955, his dog is named Copernicus and is used as a test subject for Doc's "brain wave analyzer". When Doc and Marty travel to 2015, he leaves Einstein in
31730-527: The youth who interrupts George's and Lorraine's dance. James Tolkan portrays Hill Valley high school principal Strickland in both 1955 and 1985. Long-time collaborators Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis conceived Back to the Future in 1980. They wanted to develop a film about time travel but struggled to create a satisfying narrative, and were desperate for a successful project after the critical or commercial failures of their recent efforts in collaboration with Zemeckis's mentor, Steven Spielberg . Following
31920-497: Was being fired. Zemeckis described it as "the hardest meeting I've ever had in my life and it was all my fault. I broke [Stoltz's] heart." Stoltz was reported to have told his makeup artist he was not a comedian and did not understand why he was cast. The producers informed the principal cast and the rest of the crew much of the film would be re-shot. Cundey said most of the crew saw Stoltz's removal as "good news". Crew members later said there were obvious signs Stoltz would be replaced;
32110-412: Was bullying George even then. George falls into the path of an oncoming car while spying on the teenage Lorraine changing clothes, and Marty is knocked unconscious while saving him. He wakes to find himself tended to by Lorraine, who becomes infatuated with him. Marty tracks down and convinces a younger Doc that he is from the future, but Doc explains the only source available in 1955 capable of generating
32300-423: Was cast as Emmett Brown. Devo co-founder Mark Mothersbaugh also recalled being approached by Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg for the role, but turned it down because he was not interested in acting. Producer Neil Canton suggested Lloyd to Bob Gale and Zemeckis, as he had previously worked with him on The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension . Lloyd initially turned it down as he
32490-467: Was completed (although it was later continued, but at the time it was not intended to be) with the darkly themed Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith . Science-fiction also returned as a tool for political commentary in films such as A.I. Artificial Intelligence , Minority Report , Sunshine , District 9 , Children of Men , Serenity , Sleep Dealer , and Pandorum . The 2000s also saw
32680-401: Was completed by July 1984. The lengthy development allowed Gale and Zemeckis to refine the script's jokes, especially ones that had become dated since 1980. The joke about former actor Ronald Reagan becoming President of the United States remained following his re-election in 1984 . Michael J. Fox was the first choice to portray Marty McFly. Gale and Zemeckis believed his acting timing in
32870-582: Was considered too tame in comparison. The project went into turnaround (a process allowing other studios to purchase the idea). The script was rejected some forty times, sometimes multiple times by the same studios. Reasons given included the concept being unappealing to contemporary rebellious youth and the failures of other time travel films, such as The Final Countdown (1980) and Time Bandits (1981). Walt Disney Productions turned it down because they considered Marty's fighting off his future mother's advances too risqué for their brand. The only supporter of
33060-427: Was effective in the part of a romantic male lead. Zemeckis said that during production of the first film, they decided to write a scene to explain Doc Brown's disinterest in women, in which he is forced to choose between a relationship and science and ends up choosing science. The scene was eventually left out of the second film. Zemeckis explained that the third film illustrates the character's growth from an eccentric to
33250-421: Was fattened, given sideburns, and a comb over hairstyle to hide a growing bald spot. The prosthetics were combined with makeup and lighting to further age the characters. Chase found the work frustrating compared to his experiences with more fantastical prostheses that made it easier to hide defects. The rubber latex did not reflect light the same way as natural skin, so Chase used a stippling process (creating
33440-756: Was filmed at the Walt Disney Studios-owned Golden Oak Ranch in Newhall, Santa Clarita, California . Other locations include the basement of the Hollywood United Methodist Church where the school dance was filmed, and Griffith Park , where Marty begins his drive to the courthouse to return to 1985, passing by a lamp post outside the Greek Theatre . Filming concluded after 107 days on April 26, 1985. The final day of filming included pick-up shots of Marty and Einstein
33630-509: Was keen to work with the pair. Gale recalled having to rein in Zemeckis's enthusiastic pitch before Price had time to change his mind. Gale and Zemeckis completed the first draft for Price on February 21, 1981, but Price believed it needed significant refinement. Some early concepts were abandoned. Originally, Marty's actions in 1955 had a more significant impact on the future, making 1985 more futuristic and advanced, but every person who read
33820-479: Was listed by Empire as one of the greatest film characters of all time. During development of Back to the Future , several actors were considered for the role, including Jeff Goldblum , John Lithgow , Dudley Moore , Ron Silver , Robin Williams , John Cleese , Mandy Patinkin , Gene Hackman , James Woods , and Mark Mothersbaugh . Jeff Goldblum auditioned for the part but lost out when Christopher Lloyd
34010-557: Was no time or budget to re-edit afterward. A rough version of the movie was cut together for a test screening at the Century 22 theater in San Jose, California , in mid-May 1985, just three weeks after filming concluded. The audience was seemingly uninterested at the exposition-heavy opening but became engaged after the DeLorean appeared. At a test screening in Long Beach, California , 94% of
34200-428: Was no time to fix it. In the same scene, Marty and his siblings fade away from a photo. ILM found it difficult to fade the photo's individual aspects, especially as it was moving on the neck of a guitar. A replica of the guitar neck was constructed at four times the normal size; the guitar strings were made of cable up to a quarter-inch thick. An 11-by-14 aluminum plate was attached to hold the enlarged photograph. ILM used
34390-401: Was not familiar with Zemeckis, but was encouraged by his wife to reconsider. Despite his reluctance, Zemeckis knew immediately that he was the right actor for the role, commenting "He just had everything the character needed." Lloyd was significantly younger than his character, being 46 years old at the time of filming Back to the Future , so the makeup artists made him look older. The Back to
34580-404: Was one of the more difficult writing challenges. Gale and Zemeckis attempted to take the concept as far as possible to keep the audience on edge. They believed it had to be Lorraine who stopped the relationship; she remarks that kissing Marty feels like kissing her brother. Gale jokingly said no one asked how she could make that comparison, but that audiences would accept it because they did not want
34770-483: Was reduced, but the bolt did not look chaotic enough. Zemeckis picked out a single frame of the bolt in an "S" formation and asked that the effect focus on that shape and be reduced to twenty frames. The bolt was drawn in black ink on white paper; diffusion effects and a glow were added by the optical department. The DeLorean was developed under the supervision of Lawrence Paull, who designed it with artist Ron Cobb and illustrator Andrew Probert . They intended for
34960-452: Was secured with Universal Pictures following Zemeckis's success directing Romancing the Stone (1984). Fox was the first choice to portray Marty but was unavailable; Eric Stoltz was cast instead. Shortly after principal photography began in November 1984, Zemeckis determined Stoltz was not right for the part and made the concessions necessary to hire Fox, including re-filming scenes already shot with Stoltz and adding $ 4 million to
35150-412: Was taken from Universal Studios executive Ned Tanen , who had been unpleasant with Gale and Zemeckis. Melora Hardin was cast as Jennifer Parker on a two-film contract. After Stoltz's replacement, the crew were polled about Hardin being taller than Fox; the female crew overwhelmingly voted Marty should not be shorter than his girlfriend. Hardin was replaced by Claudia Wells , who had previously declined
35340-406: Was tasked with mitigating the negative publicity from a project replacing its main star. Fox's first day on set was January 15, 1985. He filmed Family Ties during the day before traveling to the Back to the Future filming location. Often, he would not return home until early the following morning, and on weekends, the schedule was pushed back further as Family Ties was filmed in front of
35530-426: Was the first choice for Principal Strickland after Zemeckis saw him in the crime drama Prince of the City (1981). Singer and soundtrack contributor Huey Lewis cameos as a Battle of the Bands judge. Lewis agreed to appear as long as he was uncredited and could wear a disguise. Gale cameos as the hand in the radiation suit tapping the DeLorean time display. Principal photography began on November 26, 1984, on
35720-665: Was the frontrunner, but Sheinberg preferred Eric Stoltz , who had impressed with his portrayal of Rocky Dennis in an early screening of the drama film Mask (1985). With the filming date approaching, Zemeckis opted for Stoltz. Sheinberg promised that if Stoltz did not work out, they could reshoot the film. The character's name was derived from Used Cars production assistant Marty Casella. Zemeckis suggested McFly because it sounded "All-American". Among others, Jeff Goldblum , John Lithgow , Dudley Moore , Ron Silver , Robin Williams , John Cleese , Mandy Patinkin , Gene Hackman , James Woods , and Mark Mothersbaugh were considered for
35910-451: Was used to produce more complicated effects. It also enabled filmmakers to enhance the visual quality of animation, resulting in films such as Ghost in the Shell (1995) from Japan, and The Iron Giant (1999) from the United States. During the first decade of the 2000s, superhero films abounded, as did earthbound science fiction such as the Matrix trilogy. In 2005 , the Star Wars saga
36100-520: Was very different from the original film, falling more into the action/science fiction genre, it was both a critical and commercial success and Sigourney Weaver was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the Academy Awards . The Japanese cyberpunk anime film Akira ( 1988 ) also had a big influence outside Japan when released. In the 1990s, the emergence of the World Wide Web and
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