MovieChat Forums > Back to the Future Part II (1989) Discussion > The whole movie is one big PLOT HOLE

The whole movie is one big PLOT HOLE

posted 8 years ago by robert-durant-626-472948
7 replies | jump to latest

Ok try to keep up now.

First off, Doc has already been to the FUTURE. He knows what is going to happen to Marty and his family on October 21, 2015. He knows that Marty's family will be destroyed due to Griff forcing Marty Jr. into the robbery. So Doc goes back to 1985 and warns Marty about the future.

Ok at this point this is all Doc had to do, warn Marty. There was no reason to take Marty (and Jennifer) back to 2015 and change anything.....because it's the future, NONE OF IT HAS HAPPENED YET. Doc could have told Marty, " look I've been to the future, one day Biff's grandson is going to force your son into helping his gang in a robbery and your son and daughter will end up in prison and who knows what else for your familly."

So now with this information about an event 30 years into the future all Marty has to do is make sure his son doesn't go around Griff that day and go along with the robbery as well as warn the police that day that a robbery is going to happen and tip off the cops about who is involved.

Second, if Doc is so worried about Marty's family being ruined by Griff and the robbery why not go to the cops himself while he's there in the future and warn them about the impending robbery?

Third, by the time Marty actually becomes old Marty and that day in 2015 arrives....would there be two Marty's and two Docs since Doc already arrived there the first time?

Fourth, the whole point of going into the future becomes pointless anyway by the end of Part III. Since Marty doesn't crash into the Rolls Royce and doesn't injure himself his entire future will change so most likely Marty Jr. will never be there for Griff to threaten him into the robbery thus Doc need not persuade Marty to help him make sure it doesn't happen because it wouldn't anyway.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] robert-durant-626-472948 8 years ago

Which again is something Doc already has knowledge of and if he had only warned Marty right then and there that he's going to crash his truck into a Rolls Royce in a few hours, Marty's future as we saw it would have never happened. By the way, isn't it a bit hypocritical for Doc to make sure he didn't get killed by the Lybians based off Marty's warning but he doesn't warn Marty about an impending crash that will ruin Marty's life?

[–] GordonGekko_ 8 years ago

Doc is one of the most inconsistent characters of a film/book franchise I've ever seen. From the middle of the first film, you see him violently hesitant for anyone to know about their own future. Then, by the end of BTTF I, when the topic comes up on why he taped Marty's letter back together he says, "what the hell" or something like that.

Then, after travelling to the future, he comes back to take Marty and Jennifer (because "this concerns her too") to 2015 to do something about their "kids". (Sometimes, I wonder if BTTF II was originally planned/written to be much more involved regarding both saving his son and daughter, but through budget restrictions they broke BTTF II into II (first act), I.B (second act) and I.5 (third act). I've not read, but I'd be interested to know how much Zemeckis had to cut to appease the studio. I was ten when I first saw this film in theaters. Even then I felt like I got jipped when the scenes from 2015 only made up 1/3 of BTTF II.) Then, once Marty starts asking questions, Doc gets upset and says something like, "no one should know too much about their own future". I can feel Marty's frustration because Doc was so insistent on taking him to the future to fix everything. Doc goes into a tyrant when Marty buys the almanac for financial gain and says "I didn't invent the time machine to make money; but to travel through time". Whats the difference between using the time machine to change the history (or future) and using it for financial gain (little or big)? Then, once they go back to 1985B, Doc debates to himself the philosophical and moral implications of time travel and becomes regretful that 2015-Biff used it to change his own history. Doc fails to realize that in every movie, Marty and Doc have used the time machine to completely change the social standing of the Tannen family.

Be that as it may, as an adult, I've grown somewhat sympathetic to the Tannen movie in the BTTF trilogy. Although the Tannen's were the obvious villains within the BTTF franchise, to me it seems as though they are living with both arms tied behind their back (in the form of a DeLorean). This is all for another post, though.

There is more of Doc's double-standard approach to time travel in BTTF III. I just find Doc as one of the more frustrating characters in the BTTF universe.

[–] EmpireKing 8 years ago

Good thing it's a comedy then isn't it?

I noticed you rated Used Cars a 10 which is another Robert Zemeckis movie I'm a big fan of so I'll use that as an example.

Luke Fuchs tells Rudy to make sure his twin doesn't get his hands on his business but he never signs any papers that makes sure Rudy gets his business if he does die. Of course if he does that, no story, no fun and one hell of a boring movie. Right?

[–] Panthro44 8 years ago

Yep. Dad Marty could've just raised Son Marty a little better ( or a lot better) and all that would've been avoided.

Lol. I guess the plot seemed like a good idea at the time, to somebody at least.

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When we're thinking about our own brain, would that be a mental paradox??

[–] McGannahanSkjellyfetti 8 years ago

...not to mention The Cubs NEVER won the World Series in 2015!!! They LIED to us all!!!!!!! 

[–] punkgirly 7 years ago

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