Back to the Futureremains one of the most beloved movie trilogies of all time, regardless of genre, and the fact that it’s riddled with plot holes proves something really interesting. Everything fromBack to the Future’s castto its ambitious storyline allowed it to be one of themost consistently good trilogies ever made. However, the legendary film series ran into the same roadblocks as so many other great time travel movies released before and since. In short, the plot holes may be numerous, but the more there are across the trilogy, the more they prove one specific point.
Time travel is easily one of themost overused sci-fi tropes used in TV showsand movies. That being said, there’s a good reason for that - time travel is really fun. Narratives that follow its characters' journeys backward and forward through the timeline can often be cerebral affairs, andevery project seems to approach the quirks of temporal mechanics a little differently.Back to the Futurewasn’t an outlierin this regard, as it too had its own rules about time travel. While those laws largely served the franchise well, several moments slipped through the cracks.
Back To The Future’s Many Plot Holes Make The Movies More Impressive
No one seems to REALLY care about Back to the Future’s inconsistencies
TheBack to the Futuretrilogy painted itself into a cornerwith its own logic on numerous occasions. Although some plot holes have been officially addressed and even resolved by those who made the movies, others remain in place as a nonsensical byproduct that can happen in time travel stories. For example, Marty’s parents should really recognize him as “Calvin Klein” in the movie’s present day, as they both spent time with him under that moniker in 1955. Interestingly, despite its various narrative issues,Back to the Future’s overall quality hasn’t suffered.
Back to the Future
1985
93%
1989
63%
1990
81%
The entire trilogy is still just as brilliant today as it was when it was released. If anything, the fact it holds up so well is a testament to just how wellBack to the Futurewas written. Many of its successors have been inarguablyinspired byBack to the Future, and some of what were once viewed as plot holes have now been folded into the official time travel laws of other sci-fi franchises. In short, almostevery misstep in theBack to the Futuremovies is forgivablebecause the positives still far outweigh the negatives.
A Lot Of Great Time Travel Movies Are Full Of Plot Holes
Back to the Future isn’t alone in its lack of temporal perfection
It’s almost impossible to look at some of thegreatest time travel movies of all timeand not find at least one plot hole regarding its temporal logic. Eventime travel movies that don’t involve sci-fialso suffer this curse. The stark truth of the matter is thattime travel remains a largely fictional affair- at least in the way it’s used in movies. So, it’s impossible to properly establish what would happen if an individual were to move unconventionally through time to the extent of characters like Marty McFly and Doc Brown.
To criticize a time travel movie too harshly for its lapses in logic is a paradox in itself, as time travel as shown in sci-fi is pretty fantastical as it stands.
Time travel movies aren’t documentaries. As such, the best any of them can do is try to establish strict rules to abide by, and sometimes those rules need to be sacrificed or ignored for the good of the story. To criticize a time travel movie too harshly for its lapses in logic is a paradox in itself, as time travel as shown in sci-fi is pretty fantastical as it stands. While this doesn’t excuse low-quality or lazy writing, it does explain why it’s so difficult to find a flawless time travel story - butBack to the Futurecomes close.
Back To The Future Gets The Most Important Thing About Time Travel Right
The fun factor is a big part of what gives Back to the Future its appeal
Adventures concerning the concept of time travel can generally go one of two ways. One approach is to make the story’s timeline intentionally immovable. In other words, there’s only one version of events, and while the timeline can be traversed, said traveling has already been accounted for in the bigger picture and nothing is actually being changed. Essentially, it’s all fate. However,Back to the Futureadheres to the approach of the butterfly effect being relevant. This means changes in the past affect the future, which is often a much more run and rewarding experience for the viewers.
Back To The Future: All 8 Timelines In The Movies Explained
Back to the Future’s classic time travel trilogy has been delighting viewers for decades. Here’s a breakdown of all eight timelines in the movies.
Back to the Future’s comical approach makes it a perfect candidate for a time travel story where actions matter. If Doc and Marty were merely observers of events that couldn’t be altered, the saga just wouldn’t have been the same. Allowing their actions and decisions to directly transform future events puts much more on the line as well as allowing exciting glimpses into various alternate timelines where things turned out differently.Back to the Futurecould have gone the other way with its story, but it’s great news that they didn’t.
Cast
Back to the Future follows teenager Marty McFly as he is inadvertently sent back to 1955, where he disrupts his parents' meeting. With the assistance of eccentric inventor Doc Brown, Marty must restore the timeline by ensuring his parents fall in love and find a way back to 1985.
It should be fun (at least for this type of movie) and allow you to play around with the story, especially through the butterfly effect.
