As any true “Back to the Future II” fan knows, Oct. 21, 2015, is the date Doc Brown, Marty McFly and Jennifer traveled to, in the second installment of the blockbuster movie trilogy, in an effort to save Marty’s future son from some serious jail time. Admirers of the 1989 flick have been awaiting 10/21/2015 for 26 years, with the same enthusiasm as an apocalyptic cult prepping for the rapture.
Vince Insalaco, who hosts a weekly trivia night at Bart and Urby’s, in Wilkes-Barre, is dedicating this week’s event to the movie series. The special themed trivia begins at 9 p.m. on Oct. 22, followed by a free showing of the second movie.
“I remember watching the movies as a kid, and (2015) seemed like it was really far away,” Insalaco said. “I remember when Doc Brown said, ‘Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.’ I really thought there would be flying cars by 2015 — and hoverboards, and shoes that could lace themselves.”
Some of the predictions may be left unfulfilled, such as the Mattel hoverboard at a store near you, but a surprising amount of director Robert Zemekis’s vision has actually proven true.
How about them Cubs?
Marty couldn’t believe it when he went to the future and learned the Cubs won the World Series.
Neither could audiences.
Bob Gale, who co-wrote the screenplay, intended the prediction to be a joke. In a recent interview with Chicago’s Daily Herald, Gale said: “Being a baseball fan, I thought, ‘OK, let’s come up with one of the most unlikely scenarios we can think of.’”
In the film, Gale wrote a scene where Marty, played by Michael J. Fox, sees a hologram-like news report announcing a Cubs World Series victory. The Chicago Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908. The ill-fated team has not played in a World Series since 1945. Now, thanks to a wild card victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Oct. 7, and possibly a silly futuristic movie prediction, the team has a shot.
Gale pointed out a second baseball prediction from the movie in a recent interview with ESPN.com.
“It’s a double joke because they win against Miami — which (didn’t have) Major League Baseball in 1989. The second prediction, which people don’t automatically realize when they watch the movie today, but we were predicting there would be a major league team in Miami,” Gale told ESPN.
How’s that for trying to be funny?
Pepsi
Marty ordered a new Pepsi flavor, Pepsi Perfect, in a stylish bottle, at the nostalgic Cafe 80s — and now anyone can indulge in the ‘perfect’ product as of Oct. 21.
Pepsi decided to have a little fun celebrating the day Marty traveled to the future by releasing a limited edition Pepsi Perfect bottle. The bottle will be sold online at Pepsi.com for — wait for it — $20.15. USA Today reported only 6,500 bottles will be sold.
Die-hard fans of the movies will no doubt drink to that.
Handheld computers
Remember that guy from the Hill Valley Preservation Society who held out a tablet for Marty to sign electronically when he asked him to donate money to save the clock tower? That’s basically an iPad, which didn’t hit the market until 2010.
The film’s prophetic look into advanced technological devices is pretty spot on. The device in the movie was a bit bulkier than the present day iPad and similar handheld computers, but it’s the same idea: a device that’s small and wireless that people can do some cool things on. Like save clock towers.
Power Laced Shoes
As soon as the Nike MAG sneakers, designed by Tinker Hatfield for “Back to the Future II,” made their debut on the big screen, they became a part of pop culture and catapulted into sneaker lore. The self-lacing power laces can’t be seen on a pair of Nike’s in stores yet, but they’re so close, according to the shoe’s designer.
Nicekicks.com reported in January that Hatfield took the stage at the Agenda Trade Show to confirm his team was hard at work so the Nike MAG’s, with the power laces, could be marketed before the end of 2015.
The shoes were released in 2011, with a limited quantity of 1,500, and without the power laces, to raise money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Fox began showing signs of Parkinson’s disease in the early 1990s, before going public with his illness and starting a foundation to raise money for the disease in 1998.
Donald Trump
So what does Donald Trump have to do with “Back to the Future II?” He could be the example of everything that’s wrong with altering the future.
In the movie, an elderly Biff steals the DeLorean and travels back to 1955 to give a younger version of himself a sports almanac. Young Biff then bets his way into a fortune, becoming a blonde-coiffed maniac who pretty much rules a dystopian Hill Valley and has his name all over a casino.
His appearance, and desired autocratic demeanor, resembles a modern-day Trump. With the business mogul running for president, will Trump’s possible takeover be the next prediction to come in to place?
For now, that will have to be continued …
