You, uh, DO know that this weekend is the 25th anniversary of Back to the Future, right? RIGHT?
And you also know it's going to be shown in select AMC theaters across the U.S. both this Saturday afternoon and Monday night, right?John and I are hoping to make the Saturday matinee. Or perhaps I should say: we're hoping I'll be able to sit through the whole movie without any problems. I haven't been in a theater since the last Star Trek movie due to some pesky health issues, but by golly, I'm chancing it for this!
Not to mention it'll be a great time for John to wear the new Woot shirt I got him:
If you're a fellow BttF fan, you'll also want to see the original props and wardrobe currently being auctioned off by Profiles in History. There's no way any of us plebeians could afford so much as a matchbook, of course, but it's fabulous fun to gawk at:
This shoe (that's singular, mind you) is estimated to go for $12,000 - $15,000.And compared with how it looked on screen, it looks terrible. Heh. Funny how props are like that. I saw a screen-used Storm Trooper helmet from the original trilogy once, and it had peeling stickers on it. Seriously.
Here's the real jackpot, though:
Marty's jacket here is expected to go for up to $50,000 at auction. Unlike the shoes there was only one ever made, though, so I can see why - and the money goes to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which is awesome.
Oh, and did you ever wonder how Marty's re-sizing jacket worked?
Prepare to be amazed.
Or at least to laugh:
Yep, the movie magic was achieved with lots of tubes and cables operated by guys lying at Fox's feet. Ha! Love it.
For more affordable souvenirs, I found replica Hoverboards, OUTATIME license plates, and of course those ridiculous color-changing hats all on Ebay:
They sold these hats (or ones just like them) at Universal for the longest time, back when the BttF ride was still there. Man, I miss that ride. [sob] Curse you, Simpsons!!
Ahem.
It's surreal seeing someone else in those scenes, isn't it? And you can see what people mean when they say it was a much darker look for the film; Fox really was the perfect choice.
UPDATE: Oh! Almost forgot! Spike TV teamed up with Michael J. Fox to recreate a BttF teaser trailer, frame-for-frame. Which is cool. You can see both vids (for comparison) here on GeekDad.
And finally, for the real BttF geeks, here's a great post discussing the alternate drafts for Back to the Future 2 (plus a truly bizarre clip of Cripin Glover losing it on Letterman.) Fascinating stuff.
So, guys, do you have any favorite Back to the Future merchandise or memories? Or are you throwing any BttF parties this weekend? Tell me in the comments!
I liked that shirt so much when I first saw it, I had to buy two! And yes, hubby and I will be at BttF Monday night, thanks to your heads up on FB!
ReplyDeleteWe were just discussing which showing we were going to make! Very excited about this, and they're only off a day from "the day Marty went back in time" ...Oct 26 1985.
ReplyDeletePlus you mentioned shirt dot woot dot com. Very cool indeed.
My son and I love the BttF movies, so we were thrilled to see a DeLorean in a parking lot last summer. No flux capacitor on board.
ReplyDeleteAh, bittersweet nostalgia. I went to a sneak-preview of the movie when I was 16 with a guy I thought was "it". Being a sheltered teenager, I'd never heard of the movie which was shot at my local mall in Puente Hills CA and I didn't even know about it!
ReplyDeleteThey gave us all Back to the Future buttons at the screening. Sure like to know what I did with mine...
Thank you so much for posting that link to the shirt! I just got one for my hubby for Christmas! He's going to be ecstatic! :)
ReplyDeleteI always watch BTTF 2 when I need comfort. There have been days where I just had it on a loop (it also helps me sleep when I have insomnia because I have seen it so often).
ReplyDeleteAnd I saw this just today:
Doc Brown discovers there are no hoverboard in the future
gotta love michael j fox! what a great actor!
ReplyDeleteFirst time Commenter... Hi!!
ReplyDeleteYou needed to plan another trip to Disneyland this week! My friends are going to see the movie this weekend at the mall where they filmed the movie!!
Big Back to the Future nerd here so it's perhaps unsurprising that this is the post that brings me out of my lurkdom. I've been obsessed with time travel (the fictional concept of) since I saw this movie at age 6 and for a very long time (like, too long) I thought it was my density to marry Michael J. Fox. I love it so much that my children, ages 5 and 7, have seen it (they are very sheltered--we pretty much only allow Disney/Pixar and PBS) multiple times. I have almost bought that shirt many times but the gray washes me out. :/ However, it does remind me of a comment my 7 year old randomly made a couple of months ago: "Which time machine do you think is more aerodynamic? The DeLorean or the Tardis? I think it's the DeLorean." Ahhh, my little geek in the making.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping to have BttF birthday party for my husband, because his birthday is November 12, date of the Hill Valley lightning storm. When I saw the prop auction, I was hoping one of the newspapers would have that date so I could splurge on a gift. Sadly, they did not, and we are doing something else for his birthday now as well. It's still an awesome birthday to have, though.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't a huge BttF geek, but we thought it was cool enough to make it our baby announcements last year: http://lh3.ggpht.com/_DFnG3pawC64/TMDY7xn3_XI/AAAAAAAAApA/IvxKahnBqw0/s512/IMG_20101021_201947.jpg
ReplyDeleteI can't believe it's 25 years old already. Then again, I can't believe I'm... well, older than that :)
I've owned that Time Crash shirt for over a year now! It's such a great conversation starter; everyone knows either on time machine of the other. It's also a great geek barometer. One of my friends actually recognized the TARDIS, but had no idea what the DeLorian was! Have fun wearing it to the movie! I only wish we had an AMC Theater where I live, or I would do the same.
ReplyDeleteThis is probably geekery blasphemy but I couldn't get into the BttF movies. I didn't enjoy them one bit. Ok, so I may be a weird geek or not a geek at all because of this....but yeah....just not my taste.
ReplyDeleteI had a tortoise named Doctor Emmett Brown. I moved across the country last year and my mom was tortoise sitting until I could figure out how to move him out here with me, and he died in her care (she has successfully killed every animal I leave in her care. RIP MC Hamster). When I announced on Facebook and Twitter Doctor Emmett Brown died while in my mother's care, there was a brief rumor Christopher Lloyd died. HA! Oops. I also had an equal number of people ask me who Doctor Emmett Brown was and why I named my tortoise after him. I'm not sure if I should be more shocked that my friends would think my mother of all people would be caring for Christopher Lloyd or that I'm actually friends with people who aren't familiar with the BttF trilogy. I may need to re-evaluate my friends.
ReplyDeleteRIP Doctor Emmett Brown
He was two years old when he passed.
not to have a seizure but ... THEY GOT RID OF THE BACK TO THE FUTURE RIDE?????? .... I know - I live under a rock but dang ... the last time I was in Orlando they still had the E.T. ride. I clearly need to go back.
ReplyDeleteBTTF has always held a special place in my heart. I grew up watching it, and whenever it's referenced I feel truly nostalgic. My family and I went to California in 2000, and my brother Isaiah and I waited in line for an hour just to go on the BTTF ride (totally worth it). In 2004, Isaiah passed away in Iraq. When we got his few possessions back, he had a couple DVD's in a bag, without cases; one of them was BTTF I, II, and III all on one badly damaged disc. It won't play very well, but I kept it anyways because it will always remind me of my childhood and that trip. And of my ridiculous crush on Michael J. Fox.
ReplyDeleteOMG how did I not know about this? BttF is one of my all-time favorite movies/trilogies--one of the few movies I can watch again, and again, and again without getting sick of it. Off to buy tickets for this Saturday's showing! So. Excited!!!
ReplyDeleteJust this week I was telling someone how when I was 9 I was at EXPO '86 and there was a booth where you could take photos with cutouts of celebrities.
ReplyDeleteMJF's cut out was wearing the orange vest from BttF and was slightly squinty and wind-blown. The best part was that some guy crouched behind me and the cutout with his hand on my shoulder so it looked like MJF had his arm around me.
I was 9 and thought it was pretty rad.
My birthday is Saturday-Happy Birthday to me! Guess where I will be! BttF 3 was filmed in part in the mining towns of Sonora and Jamestown, CA (where my grandparents lived), where they have a steam engine that runs a short trip for tourists (I rode on it when I was 5-my cousin accidentally stomped on my toe whilst looking out at the caboose and it later fell off (my toenail, not the caboose). Why do I tell you about my poor lost toenail? Because it was trod upon on the very train used in the filming! Boo-YA!
ReplyDeleteWV: prian: The fuel-efficient offspring of a Dalorian and a Prius mate.
My son was about 3 years old when he became obssessed with both the Back to the Future and Teen Wolf movies. Try explaining to a 3 year old "How can Scott Howard be Marty McFly?" in both movies. He alternated these movies with Labyrinth so I did get a break some of the time. I see an actual Delorean every morning on my commute to work, somewhat surreal. I did ride the BTTF ride at Universal here in CA, it was awesome!!
ReplyDeleteI still have the BttF soundtrack. On cassette tape. I play by old school rules.
ReplyDeleteI have that shirt. I couldn't not get it, since I am a Back to the Future and a Doctor Who fan. Unfortunately, it does not appear that any theater within 40 miles is showing the movie, so I can't wear it to the show. You would think being in the state capital would get us the good movies.
ReplyDeleteDH actually has a DeLorean in the garage and is almost done modding it into a BTTF time machine (from the beginning of the movie, not the one at the end with Mr. Fusion). He knows and shares stuff with the guys who did the cars in Entertainment Weekly's Reunions Issue, the Scream 2010 awards, and that one being auctioned. I think his next project will be the Ghostbusters car, if he can get his hands on the hearse it was made from. I should have seen this coming, ten years ago when he used my nice, new Wilton cake pans to build part of the Ghostbusters proton pack! Oh, and there will be a huge week-long celebration in Southern California November 5-12. Check out We're Going Back
ReplyDeleteI haven't been to Universal since the mid 90's. I didn't know the BttF ride was gone. Sob!!! I planned on taking my sons to Universal next summer and that was the only ride I was looking forward to.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest son, 6, watched BttF 2 with me the other night.It was his first time ever seeing it. He loved it! I know I have a geek in training, now if he'd just sit long enough to watch Star Wars I'd be thrilled.
I adored the ride at Universal! It was the best simulator, even better than Body Wars. My husband adores BttF, so I assume we'll be watching them!
ReplyDeleteRosalind
Girls Are Geeks
I'll always remember watching all three movies on the bus with my University marching band. During the second movie, when Marty is trying to get the book back, Biff's radio is listing off all the football scores for that day. When they announced that OU had beaten Texas (our biggest rivals, of course), the whole bus started cheering and clapping. That's my absolute favorite BttF moment! ^_^
ReplyDeleteAfter my car wreck in June, I came very close to buying a rebuilt DeLorean... partly because they are just so cool and partly because of BTTF. :)
ReplyDeleteAARrggghhh! 25 years?? Seriously???
ReplyDeleteAm I really that old....
I think it's so random how you posted that shirt since mine came in the mail from Woot yesterday and when I discovered my roommate left it on the kitchen table for me this morning, i changed out of the feminine girly outfit right there in the living room to wear this shirt. Ah happy day.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6n0KdxtSmo
ReplyDeleteFrom the Spike TV Scream 2010 Awards - Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox reunited. :)
I love BTTF! I have the trilogy which I got for a whopping $10 (which was great but sad that they would only think it worth that, too). Also, it happens to be Christopher Lloyd's birthday today(or so the local radio station mentioned)! Pretty sweet.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I don't live in the U.S. at the moment, so I can't go to a screening. :( I might have to have my own this weekend, though.
Wow. I didn't know about the 25th anniversary. Spare me. I was excited by the 25th anniversary of Les Miserables on Sunday. They're doing a special showing of the new Les Mis near my suburb :) Unfortunately, it has Joe Jonas as Marius, but he's meant to be really good.
ReplyDeleteSo there's a fun fact for you!
xx <3
Jen, thank you for once again reminding me how old I am (it's been 25 years, really?!?!?). :)
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I'll have to miss out on seeing BttF in the theater. I'll be in Orlando this weekend. We will be at Universal Islands of Adventure (Harry Potter!) on Monday, though. I'll keep an eye out for BttF specials.
I will be wearing that same tee to the Saturday afternoon showing.
ReplyDelete"Say hello to your mom/grandma for me"
ReplyDelete"What you looking at, butthead?"
"McFly: what are you some kind of Irish Bug?"
Just to name a few! This is a family favorite movie!!!!
I'm taking my friend who has never seen the movie. What a perfect opportunity!
ReplyDeleteThe film has been in the cinemas in the UK for a couple of weeks. I went with my boyfriend for the perfect date. We were whispering facts to each other all the way through and it looked amazing on the big screen. So worth whatever it takes to see it. I miss the ride too!!!
ReplyDeleteI have that shirt too!! Which I'll be wearing to the Monday night show, thanks to you.
ReplyDeleteYay!!
Do you watch Castle? Last week's episode "Punked" had a DeLorean, and steam punk! You must watch if you didn't! It's online at Hulu and ABC.
ReplyDeleteI stayed up until 4 AM for 2 nights watching Profiles in History's LOST auction so that I could score something from the LOST set. (Which I finally did... yay!) Now they are sending me catalogs of more things to buy, including all the BttF stuff. As much as I want something, I'm still paying off my Claire sonograms/polaroid/diaper bag from Season 6 LOST.
ReplyDeleteOMG! other people live near Puente Hills Mall, too?!?
ReplyDelete(it's just so funny to learn that other epbot/cake wrecks fan live so close to me lol)
i remember when the mall parking lot was blocked off for some "random filming". when the movie came out, my sister and i literally starting jumping up and down and screaming about how that was filmed at OUR MALL!!!!!
I just learned from this post that the Back to the Future ride is no longer at Universal Studios. (I apparently live in a black hole.) I may never want to go back to Universal now... :(
ReplyDeleteA friend bought me that shirt last year and I adore it!
ReplyDeleteI showed it to my brother, who is a bigger Back To The Future fan than I am by a mere fraction, and he said he wanted the shirt too but... he thought the TARDIS was Bill and Ted's phonebooth.
*sigh*
Geek cred point goes to me. I <3 Doctor Who as well as BttF.
Have you seen this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GheAd59anbU
It's old but PURE GENIUS.
- Gyp
sadly we don't have AMC theaters in this area - but thanks for enabling, ordered the tardis/delorean t-shirt for the hubby!
ReplyDeleteOn 6/13/10 the Alamo Drafthouse had a special Back to the Future Trilogy fest. They screened all three movies in one day, with seven courses of awesome food and drinks created to match the movie. The Delorian club of Austin was there to show off cars and give away prizes like old movie toys and models. Then Christopher Lloyd arrived in a fourth Delorian!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, it was amazing and delicious. (We also attended the Indian Jones trilogy feast this summer. My spouse and I actually met at the EPIC Lord of the Rings Trilogy feast in 2006. It's an annual event.)
It's funny, I've been around as long as the movie and I STILL haven't seen it! My younger sisters have and they tell me it's amazing, but for some reason I haven't gotten around to it. Too busy catching up on classic Doctor Who episodes, I suppose (loved the t-shirt, by the way).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the heads up on the showings! I don't know if we'll be able to make it unfortunately, but I'll look into it. Maybe the movies will be on tv this weekend.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any merchandise, but I went to Universal and that ride so many times in my teens I had it memorized. I haven't been back since they changed it to the Simpsons. Is it really bad or just not the same? We are planning on going back soon to see Harry Potter and I hope we can get into both parks (getting passes from a family member) but it will be strange not to see the BttF ride. I don't think any of the old school rides are left anyway, like Jaws, King Kong, ET, etc. It's kinda sad...
I'm with Catherine--this is a family favorite. We went to see it in the theater as a family. My dad would gun the '85 Chevy Silverado truck on the way home saying that famous line: "When this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious sh*t." He thought that line was so funny. We still quote that movie, and we'll laugh like George did at the Honeymooners episode at the kitchen table before Marty goes back in time. My mom and I used to have fun looking for the little tidbits that had changed after Marty got back, like from Twin Pines Mall to Lone Pine Mall...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the heads up! I'll be sending my family BTTF stuff via email today!
Wait, wait -- what??!@? THe BttF ride is gone? Oh, man. I guess that's what happens when I don't visit Universal for a few years. :(
ReplyDeleteMan...was I the only one who couldn't finish the Crispin Glover debacle on Letterman? I have no clue whether he is that crazy or just a consummate weirdo a la Andy Kaufman.
ReplyDeleteLoved your woot link. I've been debating on buying that shirt for months!
I was able to time it just right with the two videos - it's fantastic how well they track, every cut was spot-on.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link!
I was looking around YouTube for BTTF music to post on Facebook, and came across "Biff's Question Song." This is Tom Wilson's answer to all the questions he gets about playing Biff in the movies. Funny!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmjYimspW-4
I can't believe I was there... and now I'm here. If you know what I mean. :/ I'm going to check around for local AMC showings, thanks for the tip. Meanwhile, I recently read Michael J. Fox's (latest) book, which was a quick and interesting story about his career and personal life. (A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Future...)
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing you've already seen it, but just in case you haven't...This Charlie Chaplin movie form 1928 apparently has a time traveler in it...someone is talking on a mobile phone- in 1928! I haven't procured a copy of the film myself, just this bit on youtube...so see for yourself :) history.icanhascheezburger.com/2010/10/20/funny-pictures-history-chaplin-phone-video/
ReplyDeleteMy little brother was first obsessed with Luke Skywalker and then Marty Mcfly, he was 4 turning 5.
ReplyDeleteHe got the same white Nikes with the red swoop. He got the same acid wash jean jacket. He also insisted on being called Marty, Marty Mcfly. Us older kids were scoffers, but this didn't deter him.
The first day of Kindergarten came and the bus was waiting for him to board in front of the house. The bus driver said "Well, Hello Kelly! I'm your new bus driver, are you ready for your first day of school?"
My brother wouldn't get on the bus until the bus driver referred to him by his real name, Marty. This was made even more endearing with the fact that Kelly couldn't say his R's. The bus driver quickly played along and "Mawty" hopped on the bus.
Everyday he'd get picked up the bus driver would say, "Good morning Marty!"
That lasted most the year before he went back to his good old standby of Luke.
Those movies are so ingrained and beloved by my family and I. I love so many scenes and lines, but my brother is what made that movie immortal.
Hope you read all that. : )
Now, I'll make like a tree, and get outta here.
My BTTF moments? I interviewed 3 of the behind-the-scene guys for the Official BTTF magazine. And, I JUST found one of them on a floppy disk. Yes, indeed. It was that long ago. Of course, I still have the larger format floppy (and a drive) which probably has the Other interviews on it....
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I have truly cursed living in a small town in Iowa. I will have to settle for picking up the Blu-ray when it comes in at work (I work for an online DVD store).
ReplyDeleteEEeee! I have that shirt too! And my hubby has one. Somebody on my facebook friends posted the link, and I showed it to my hubby knowing he would laugh. To my surprise he said "Quick! Order two!"
ReplyDeleteSee, I've been a fan of Doctor Who since I was about 5 years old. And he's been a fan of BttF since it came out. As in, every time it's on TV he HAS to watch it. Even though he owns the DVD boxed set.
So this shirt is both of our favorite sci-fi "worlds" merged into a whole bunch of awesome. I have had people ask to take a picture of it out of the blue.
I hope you are able to enjoy the movie(s) in peace.
My husband loves BttF---when we first started dating almost 11 years ago I bought him the box set on VHS, then about 5 years ago the box set on DVD...now I'm going to have to get him the 25th anniversary addition! :ox (And maybe that t-shirt, love it!)
ReplyDeleteThank you so, so much for the heads-up! I was one of the many that went to see it today... Although, I am ashamed to say that it was for the first time! I don't know how, growing up in the 80s, I never actually saw any of the BttF films!
ReplyDelete(To help regain my geek points: my sister and I watched all three original Star Wars movies every Saturday for about a year... we can quote them verbatim, including lines in Huttese.)
My husband and his family also thanks you--BttF is one of their favorite films, and they couldn't believe that I had never seen it. Now, at last, I can understand more of their quotes!
I used to work in Crystal Lake, IL, home of one of the only remaining DeLorean repair-places in the country. One night coming home from work (about midnight) I saw a DeLorean headed down the street with the license plate "NOROADS" ... made me laugh, it was so awesome.
ReplyDeleteNo showings near me. :-( . They are playing the movie today on channel g4 though.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for mentioning this. I found a theatre an hour away from us, just outside Toronto that was playing it so I took my kids and had a really cool day. Sooo much fun. They even gave out posters at the end. Woohoo. thanks again.
ReplyDeleteyou mean the BttF ride is NO LONGER there? :C
ReplyDeleteshoot, I lost my chance in 1997 (the ONE and only time I've been to the States, and I was to damn small for the rides, dang)
I, too, live in a small town in Iowa, and the closest AMC theaters are in Minneapolis and Kansas City, so no theater showing for me, although I did go to the original(s) in the theater. Loved the stories about BttF, particularly Elsie's about Isaiah, and Heidi D's about Marty/Luke/Kelly.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe the BttF ride is gone. It was enough of a blow that they took out E.T., but BttF, too?
I'm sad to say I'm only as old as the movie (25 today, woo!) but I grew up with all three since I have a sister 10 years older. My husband and I geeked out with our friends at the Monday showing at our AMC and I won a trivia raffle! If you haven't gotten your hands on it yet, you should try out the card game. That was my prize and it was really a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteYou know, I've always been a fan of Cake Wrecks but now I totally love you. I mean, you're crafty, a Disney geek AND love BttF too? Are you my long-lost sister? :)
ReplyDeleteI saw BttF here in Tampa on Monday. Man was it awesome. I watched parts II and III in the theater when they came out but never saw the first on the big screen. I was like bouncing off the walls for days waiting for our showing.
The auction items are FASCINATING. I loved the "fading family photos" with Stoltz. That's pretty darn cool.
Anyway, I totally wish you were my friend because you're made of pure awesomeness. *laughs*
That's funny you posted the YouTube footage of Eric Stolz because I noticed he directed the Duets episode of Glee that just aired less than a few weeks ago. I've never seen that footage, thanks!
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of the game Fluxx and they recently came out with a BttF card game (http://wunderland.com/LooneyLabs/BTTF/Default.html) that is pretty fun. They're the ones that tipped me off to the theater showings and I managed to catch a Monday night show. We don't have any BttF parties planned now but we will be attending one in 2015 and my husband is already trying to plan his outfit.
ReplyDelete