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1. Who plays Marty McFly?
Michael J. Fox
Fox was the first choice but was tied up with Family Ties, so Eric Stoltz was cast and shot for five weeks before being replaced. Fox then filmed the sitcom by day and the movie by night, sleeping in the car between the two.
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2. What kind of car is the time machine?
A DeLorean DMC-12
Chosen because its gull-wing doors and steel body would look like a spaceship to a family in 1955. Early drafts put the time machine in a refrigerator, which was dropped for fear that children would climb into fridges.
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3. How fast does the DeLorean need to go to travel through time?
88 miles per hour
The number was picked because it looked good on the speedometer prop and was easy to remember. The real car struggled to reach it, so the needle was adjusted.
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4. What powers the flux capacitor?
Plutonium, and later a lightning bolt
Doc gets the plutonium from a group of Libyan terrorists who wanted a bomb built, which is why they turn up at the mall. Stranded in 1955 without any, he has to work out how to catch lightning instead.
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5. Who plays Doc Brown?
Christopher Lloyd
Lloyd based the voice on the conductor Leopold Stokowski. John Lithgow was the first choice and was unavailable.
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6. Which song does Marty play at the school dance?
"Johnny B. Goode"
The band leader, Marvin Berry, phones his cousin Chuck to let him hear 'that new sound', a joke that hands Chuck Berry his own song three years early. 'Earth Angel' is the slow dance just before it.
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7. What's the dance called?
The Enchantment Under the Sea Dance
November 12, 1955, the night Marty's parents first kissed. It's also the night of the storm Doc has read about in the old newspaper, which is why he can plan around it.
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8. What does the mall's name change to after Marty's trip?
From Twin Pines to Lone Pine
Marty flattens one of farmer Peabody's two pines on arrival in 1955, and the sign has changed when he gets back. The film is full of touches like that.
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9. What's Doc's dog called?
Einstein
Einstein is the first time traveller in history, sent one minute into the future in the mall car park. In 1955 Doc has a dog named Copernicus instead.
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10. Who plays Biff Tannen?
Thomas F. Wilson
Wilson played Biff and his relatives across all three films and still fields questions about the part at every appearance. Billy Zane and Casey Siemaszko are two of Biff's gang.
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11. How does George McFly finally stand up to Biff?
He knocks him out with one punch
Outside the dance, when he finds Biff in the car with Lorraine. The punch changes everything about the family Marty comes home to, which is the film's quiet way of saying that one moment can matter.
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12. Who produced the film?
Steven Spielberg
Spielberg's name opened the door after every studio had turned the script down, Disney among them, because of the mother-and-son plot. Robert Zemeckis directed, and wrote it with Bob Gale.
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13. What title did the head of the studio want instead?
"Spaceman from Pluto"
Sid Sheinberg at Universal thought no film with 'future' in the title had ever done well. Spielberg sent back a memo thanking him for the hilarious joke, and the matter was dropped.
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14. Which Huey Lewis and the News song opens the film?
"The Power of Love"
It went to number one and was nominated for an Oscar. 'Back in Time' plays over the end credits, and Huey Lewis himself appears as the teacher who tells Marty's band they're 'just too darn loud'.
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15. In 1955, what does young Lorraine call Marty?
Calvin Klein
She sees the name on his purple underwear and assumes it's his. Darth Vader is who Marty claims to be when he visits George in the night, in a radiation suit, playing Van Halen.
