Luke Owen celebrates Back to the Future Day…
Well guys and girls, it’s finally here. The day Marty, Doc and Jennifer arrive in “the future”. The day Biff steals the time machine and goes back to 1955 to create an alternate 1985 by giving his younger self the Greys Sports Almanac that tells him every sports result from now (then) until the year 2000 only for Marty and Doc to go back to 1955 – the same day that 1955 Doc is trying to send the other 1985 Marty back to 1985 – to steal back the Almanac and burn it to re-align the time line.
It’s a brilliant film, isn’t it?
We are now officially in the future. And after today, everything in Back to the Future takes place in the past. There is no more future for that franchise. Crazy, right?
So what did Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale get right about October 21st, 2015? Let’s take a look.
1. Hoverboards
Sadly, this has yet to be invented, and certainly not by Mattel. These dingbats are calling this mode of transport a “hoverboard”, but it’s on a big wheel – it’s not hovering over anything. These guys also claim to have created one, but it’s not really designed for use on roads or pavements. Universal did make a clever advert to promote the hoverboard though.
2. Flying cars
Nope. This hasn’t happened. Although to be fair to Back to the Future, The Jetsons reckoned this would happen back in 1999, so they were way off with their estimations. Where we are right now, we still need roads. In fact, there hasn’t really been any news about flying cars at all.
3. Cubs beat Miami to win the World Series
This was quite an out there suggestion for 1989, but sadly this also hasn’t happened. At least, not yet. The first game of the World Series doesn’t start until October 27th, so the Cubs wouldn’t have won the World Series by October 21st. Funnily enough however, Miami did get a baseball team in 1993 called the Flordia Marlins (which was changed to the Miami Marlins in 2011), though they aren’t represented by an alligator as predicted in Back to the Future Part II. And they’re a league team and will therefore not be allowed to compete against the Cubs in the World Series. What is interesting, however, is that The Cubs are favourites to win The World Series this year.
4. Obsession with the 1980s
This one is… mostly correct. Between 2005 and 2010, we were obsessed with all things 1980s (ironically including Back to the Future), but our attention has since moved to things from the 1990s. There are Café 80s style locations though, and there is a chain of night clubs here in the UK called Reflex that exclusively play 80s music and are adorned with garbage from the decade. What could be taken as a correct prediction, however, is our obsession we have with all things nostalgic. This article is sheer proof of that as I obsessively go over every detail of a movie that came out twenty-six years ago. So, in a way, this was a very accurate prediction.
5. Jaws 19 directed by Max Spielberg
Nope, Universal sadly stopped at Jaws 4: The Revenge. Although we do still love shark movies with SyFy’s Sharknado pulling in massive ratings every time a new one is made. As for Max Spielberg, he hasn’t quite followed in his father’s footsteps. Looking at his IMBD profile, his credits include being an assistant to his Mum on The Rage: Carrie 2 and an uncredited acting role on Catch Me If You Can. It’s safe to say that, should Universal decide to reboot Jaws, they won’t be giving it to Max.
6. Movies being shown in ‘Holomax’
Not quite, and the 3D fad is almost all but over. Theme parks still love them though.
7. Pepsi Perfect
Closest we’ve got here is Pepsi Max. Although the Pepsi Company have released a limited edition Pepsi Perfect collectable.
8. They’ve abolished all lawyers
Sadly not…
9. Princess Diana is alive and is Queen of England
Ummm… No…
10. Slamball is a sport
Ummm… No…
11. Fashion trends mean people dress like idiots
This depends on your perception of “idiot”. No one is dressed like cyber punks, but hipsters are a thing. So… this one is up for debate.
12. Self-drying jackets
Nope.
13. Self-tying laces
Nope. Although Nike did say they were working on it.
14. Video phones
Correct! Skype and Face Time are widely used ways of communicating with our friends, families and loved ones. Only we don’t have to use huge TVs to do so, we can actually do it on our smartphones. Many companies also conduct business meetings using webcams, which is basically the same thing. Good prediction guys! With that said, pretty much any movie based in “the future” had video phones, so this wasn’t all that wild of a prediction.
15. Video glasses
Also correct! Google Glass was a thing… for a bit.
16. Fax machines are still used
Nope. I’m pretty sure 60% of the world’s population don’t even know what a fax machine is anymore.
17. You don’t have to use hands to play video games
After the release of the Wii’s motion controls, PlayStation and Microsoft tried to capitalise on their huge success. While Sony ripped them off with the PlayStation Move, The Xbox Kinect removed the peripheral and made you the controller. So, in a sense, this was a correct prediction as you no longer had to use your hands like a baby’s toy. Sadly, the Xbox Kinect wasn’t a bigger seller, and motion controls seem to be a fad that quickly died out. So people are still using their hands like a baby’s toy. Not only that, but arcade games like Wild Gunman are seen as ‘cool’ and ‘hip’ because they’re retro.
19. Mr. Fusion
We are living in a more ‘green’ society, though we still have a way to go. Cars running on biofuel isn’t commonplace, but there are cars that run on electricity. It’s at least step in the right direction. Hey, they were closer with this one than they were with the flying car…
17. Hydrated pizza
Pizza Hut pizzas are still big, and they don’t offer a microwave service.
19. Dogs that walk themselves
Also not possible. However some reckon we will one day be able to use drones as dog walkers.
20. Jaws for the NES and Dustbusters will be sold in antique stores
Not in any antique stores that I’ve ever been in. However, eBay could be considered a sort of antique store where people sell the junk they no longer want, and that would include Jaws for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Dustbusters. And probably plush versions of Roger Rabbit. So, this was also nearly correct.
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In total, Back to the Future Part II predicted 4 (maybe 5 or 6) things that are actually here on the real-life October 21st, 2015, which is better than most guesses made about the future made in 1989. And they also did better than The Terminator predicting the world would be destroyed by 1997. Let’s see if Running Man can get any closer when we get to 2017.
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and a contributor on The Flickering Myth Movie Show. You can follow him on Twitter @ThisisLukeOwen.
