Today is ‘Back to the Future II’ day: What did the movie get right?

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

“Back to the Future” Day is Today (Wednesday, October 21, 2015), and fans are tallying up the 1989 film’s predictions of life in the year 2015.

How did the movie do? Here are some of its hits and misses:



Big-screen televisions and video conferencing: Yes

The film features several scenes of characters watching screens very much like the oversize ones we actually use these days. That’s saying something, because most TVs of the 1980s were heavy, square appliances with bulky picture tubes. Some of them even came in wood-grain cabinets like furniture!

Also, the “BTTF II” characters talk to the screens just like we do today. Not bad, given that videophones â€" though long promised â€" barely existed in 1989.


Hoverboard: No

Despite the recent Lexus commercial showing skateboard aces skimming around a skatepark on maglev hoverboards, the technology just isn’t there yet. The Lexus hoverboard requires a special surface to ride on, as does a rival, the Hendo. Another hoverboard, the Omni, is essentially a skateboard with helicopter rotors. Sorry, we’ll just have to wait a little longer before flying around Hill Valley is commonplace.


News drones: Yes

During a crucial scene in the film, a USA Today drone can be flying around the Hill Valley courthouse taking pictures. Major media companies, including CNN, are now looking into using the tech for news purposes.


Hands-free video games: Yes

Our intrepid time traveler, Marty McFly, plays an arcade game called “Wild Gunman” at Café 80’s in 2015. Two kids are shocked that McFly has to use his hands to play, calling it a “baby’s game.” Thanks to products like Xbox Kinect, hands-free video games are now pretty commonplace.


Fashion: Mixed

The less said about the custom of wearing two ties at the same time, the better. However, the movie did get the concept of everyday athletic apparel right.


Everyday consumer products: Yes, with an asterisk

Pepsi is still around, and the beverage company wasn’t going to miss a chance to put out a limited-edition Pepsi Perfect like the one Marty orders in the film. But the key words are “limited edition.” Similarly, in reality, “Jaws” only made it to “Jaws: The Revenge” (the fourth film in the series), but that didn’t stop Universal from putting out a fake trailer for “BTTF II’s” “Jaws 19.” But there’s a Pizza Hut in town, and the McFly family is shown chowing down on a pie. Some things never go out of style.


Video glasses: Yes

Marty McFly’s troublesome kids wear high-tech goggles to the dinner table, which are remarkably similar in function to Google Glass, Oculus Rift and Samsung VR.


The World Champion Chicago Cubs: ?

Some futures just aren’t knowable … yet.

[TheFugitive]

I wish I could find that 80's Café.   I'd eat there regularly.

[Hudsons81]

I wish I could find that 80's Café.   I'd eat there regularly.

There is a place in Westland, Michigan that comes close.

http://www.sliceofthe80s.com

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

USA Today even celebrated the fun, and they will release the Hill Valley Edition of the USA Today newspaper just like the one that appeared in the movie tomorrow.


Fun headlines in its frontpage will include "Cholesterol May Be Cancer Cure", "Swiss Terrorist Threat", "Café '80s Closes Down Moscow Branch", "Thumb Bandits Strike", "Slamball Playoffs Begin", and "Pitcher Suspended For Bionic Arm Use", as well as others. (see below)

[MikeRa]

“Back to the Future” Day is Today (Wednesday, October 21, 2015), and fans are tallying up the 1989 film’s predictions of life in the year 2015.

How did the movie do? Here are some of its hits and misses:

The World Champion Chicago Cubs: ?

Some futures just aren’t knowable … yet.

The Cubs don't make it to the World Series in 2015, having been swept by the New York Mets

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

“Back to the Future” Day is Today (Wednesday, October 21, 2015), and fans are tallying up the 1989 film’s predictions of life in the year 2015.

How did the movie do? Here are some of its hits and misses:

The World Champion Chicago Cubs: ?

Some futures just aren’t knowable … yet.

The Cubs don't make it to the World Series in 2015, having been swept by the New York Mets

Robert Zimeckis and Bob Gale missed the mark on that one big time.

[TheFugitive]

I wish I could find that 80's Café.   I'd eat there regularly.

There is a place in Westland, Michigan that comes close.

http://www.sliceofthe80s.com

Cool, thanks!  I may have to take a drive up there the next time I am
visiting the kid unit in Toledo.

[Ameskid]

I saw multiple news reports about this. The "real" self-tying shoes are just ridiculous...they sound like a dying raccoon.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Tomorrow will mark the 60th anniversary of Doctor Emmett Lathrop Brown's invention of the flux capacitor, which makes time travel possible. He drew out the blueprints for flux capacitor after slipping off of his toilet seat while installing a clock, which would explain why he had patched up the bump on his head that day, he first met Marty McFly after he accidentally traveled back in time, and Marty knew about 1955 Doc's vision because his 1985 self told Marty about the flux capacitor and showed him how it works, during the DeLorean time machine demonstration on the Twin Pines Mall parking lot in the early morning hour of Oct 27, 1985, right before the Libyan terrorists showed up in their Volkswagen and raised hell.

[Hudsons81]

In real life, the Twin Pines Mall is actually the Puente Hills Mall in the City of Industry, California, near Los Angeles. The JCPenney that appears in the DeLorean time machine demonstration scene closed in 1996 and is now a Burlington Coat Factory. The Robinson's store that appears in that same scene (filmed in January 1985) is now a Macy's.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

In real life, the Twin Pines Mall is actually the Puente Hills Mall in the City of Industry, California, near Los Angeles. The JCPenney that appears in the DeLorean time machine demonstration scene closed in 1996 and is now a Burlington Coat Factory. The Robinson's store that appears in that same scene (filmed in January 1985) is now a Macy's.

Actually, the JCPenney was subdivided, with a Burlington Coat Factory on the first floor, and a 24-Hour Fitnness Center and Toys "R" Us on the second floor.

The Puente Hills Mall was designed by Victor Gruen, who also designed Southdale Mall in Edina, Minneapolis, Minnesota as well as Port Plaza Mall in downtown Green Bay, Wisconsin (now demolished), and Cherry Hill Mall in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

[Hudsons81]

The Puente Hills Mall was designed by Victor Gruen, who also designed Southdale Mall in Edina, Minneapolis, Minnesota as well as Port Plaza Mall in downtown Green Bay, Wisconsin (now demolished), and Cherry Hill Mall in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

...as well as Metro Detroit's four directional malls (one of which closed this year).