MovieChat Forums > Back to the Future (1985) Discussion > "What did I tell you? Eighty eight miles...

"What did I tell you? Eighty eight miles per hour!" makes no sense


Why would Doc be so joyous about the SPEED, instead of the time machine actually WORKING?

I mean, would he be completely depressed and felt like a failure, if it had happened at 87 miles per hour?

What difference does it make, AS LONG AS IT WORKS?!

It makes no sense for Doc to be so extatic about the WRONG REASON! He should be so happy that IT WORKED, not that it worked at exactly 88 mph!

It makes no sense.

Not that much about this story makes any sense anyway - for example, it's a time machine. The Libyans are gone. Why would Marty cry?

He has a.. let me reiterate.. WORKING TIME MACHINE and fuel for it, he knows how to install the fuel and how to operate the time machine.

Why would he cry about ANYTHING, when he can always go back in time and just fix it? Doc CAN'T DIE as long as Marty is alive with a functional time machine and plenty of fuel for it!

Marty just sobbing, as if 'everything is lost' because he couldn't save Doc on his _FIRST_ attempt, just doesn't make sense. Ok, Doc died THIS TIME, go back in time and try again, you have a FRGNRGHING TIME MACHINE RIGHT THERE, the plutonium is right there, the radiation protection suits are right there, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?

That the Doc read the letter and decided to wear a vest (as hare-brained as it is to ONLY go that far, instead of RE-THINKING the whole thing where he not only dangered Marty's life (multiple times) with that invention, but also the whole space-time continuum, making huge changes in history and all that) is IRRELEVANT, that the Doc 'didn't die after all' is IRRELEVANT.

Marty can go back in time multiple times to save Doc, he can go back to 1950s and tell Doc to abandon the time machine plan, it being so dangerous, he can go back to 1970s and explain what's going to happen, he can go and prevent himself from ever meeting Doc and so forth and so on (and this would be a more interesting story anyway, how would Marty do it? Must be numerous ways).

In any case, not much about this movie makes any sense, but TIME TRAVEL is the one thing that DOES make sense, why are all these trollers always trying to derail the truth I am telling?

It's hard enough to communicate with these clumsy methods - words, text, advanced animal utterances (speech), we don't need additional layers of obfuscation and stupidity on top of that. Sheesh.

People on this planet make no sense..

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Just to add a thought - after some consideration, I can think of one plausible reason why he'd be at least somewhat excited that reality conformed to his previously theoretical-only numbers and calculations. He's like a math kid that isn't sure if he understood the math, and overly happy, when it turns out he got some complicated calculation right after all.

It's almost as if Doc cares more about whether his identity as a mathematician is intact than that his invention actually travels through time. It's a very nonsensical scene, Doc's ego can't be THAT fragile and THAT dependent on whether he did some mathematical calculation right or not.

It also showcases how crazy Doc really is, endangering a child's life just to prove he can do math correctly, and then not being even relieved that he didn't commit a murder-suicide, but just relieved his god damn MATH was correct!

Time travel working? Who cares. Not having actually murdered a kid while committing a suicide? Not very interesting.

Getting some math calculations correct? THE MOST HAPPY AND EXCITINGLY EUPHORIC THING IN THE WORLD!!

Doesn't make any sense..

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You're right, he was happy about getting the calculation right.
That's how I always understood his joyous insane screaming: "88 MILES PER HOUR!!!!!!"

You have established Doc was a little bit eccentric, if not downright crazy. What a shocker you have discovered. My mouth is hanging open in disbelief.
But we are all crazy. Some are just crazier than others. Free life lesson for you.

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The earth orbits the sun at a speed of 67,000 miles per hour, so the actual speed needed to achieve time travel in the movie is 67,088 mph. That’s assuming the car is travelling in the direction of earth’s orbit, and not taking account of earth’s rotational velocity, which is approximately 1,000 mph, depending on your distance from the equator.

So you’re right. “What did I tell you? Eighty eight miles per hour!” makes no sense.

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But the earth spins in one direction at 67,000 miles per hour. What would the required speed be if the Delorean was traveling north to south?

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If the flux capacitor only responds to movement in the direction that it’s facing, then for north to south travel, you would have to accelerate it by some other means to get to the required velocity of 67,088 mph.

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Do not unearth this guy's comments, he clearly has problems

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