MovieChat Forums > Back to the Future (1985) Discussion > Different Lyon Estates? (Or Lyon Estates...

Different Lyon Estates? (Or Lyon Estates makes no sense)


First, I'd like to point out how strange that whole 'Lyon Estates' thing is. It's just a couple of big concrete slabs just dumped on a normal-looking street. It looks very abnormal.

I mean, no 'fence' or anything, if it's supposed to be some kind of closed community or whatnot. It's basically just two statues dumped on a street.

Secondly, I'd like to point out that the landscape does not match. Marty is clearly at a DIFFERENT 'Lyon Estates'. The angle doesn't look to be the same (the 1950s version seems a bit more 'angled'), but more importantly, the LANDSCAPE is completely different.

You don't just change landscape even in 30 years that way. The road first goes downhill, then uphill in the 1950s version, but in the 1980s, the road is completely straight (or just slight uphill all the way).

This -might- be possible, but why would anyone do this to a road (why would it be worth the hassle and effort)? However, look at the whole LAND! It's ALSO curved in the 1950s version, and completely straight and flat in the 1980s version!

There's NO WAY any house development project would TERRAFORM THIS MUCH just to make something 'straight and flat'!

Also, the road is very narrow in the 1950s version, but in the 1980s version, those 'lion statues' are partiallyo blocking the street, and the street is wider than necessary from this perspective. However, in the 1950s version, the street fits nicely within the confines of 'Lyon Estates'.

Why would they even put the 'statues' first? Wouldn't they construct everything else first, THEN put the statues in place (which the 1980s-version looks like anyway).

The 'statue' bits don't fit very well in the 1980s version, they look INDEED like they were just recently put there, they are not 'cemented' to the asphalt or anything. In the 1950s-version, it looks like they more naturally belong to the road, like they're going to 'asphalt them in place' later on.

When you compare these two versions, it's clear it is a DIFFERENT PLACE; Marty is at the WRONG Lyon Estates road! Why would they make the road so wide anyway, and then narrow it considerably by those statues? Wouldn't it make more sense to make the statues be further apart so you can use the whole road? (I realize some of it is used for parking cars, but think how uncomfortable it's to park a car right next to the statue, you can't just drive off, you have to maneuver uncomfortably first).

This whole "Lyon EStates" stuff makes no sense.

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You're being way too picky about this. I agree the stone gates look rather slapdash, especially in 1985 where they look more like a traffic hazard than anything else, but the purpose was just to give the audience a distinctive landmark so that they would recognise the location in 1955 as being the site of his future neighbourhood.

As for the landscape not being identical or the road not being perfectly level or whatever, it's just a filming location.

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You are either trolling or taking those things waaaay too literally.

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