024
NOVEMBER 2015
DONâT BE FOOLED BY THE SEEMINGLY
thousands of fake memes telling you otherwise:
October 21 2015 is the day that Marty McFly
and Doc go to the future in Back To The Future
Part II. And itâs finally upon us. Co-writers Robert
Zemeckis and Bob Gale came up with
a dizzying array of predictions for their future
Hill Valley. Some were inspired and one or
two were way off the money...
SPECIAL REPORT
GREAT
SCOTT!
SCREENWRITER BOB GALE ON
WHAT BACK TO THE FUTURE
PART II GOT RIGHT â AND
WRONG â ABOUT 2015
THE REHYDRATOR
A handy unit that expands dried food in seconds. âThat was
a great gagâ says Gale. âDoesnât seem like anybodyâs working on it
though.â Indeed â Black & Deckerâs website sadly lists no such
product. Get on it B&D R&D.
DRONES
Look closely at the picture. âThereâs aUSA Todayphoto drone that
comes down when Griff (Thomas F. Wilson) is arrestedâ laughs Gale.
âThatâs a pretty damn good prediction!â
FAX MACHINES IN THE HOME
Old Marty gets fired by fax. Yes byfax. âWe didnât predict
the smartphoneâ laughs Gale. âWe had all those fax machines in
Martyâs house!â
JAWS 19
Sadly Steven Spielbergâs son Max hasnât followed him into filmmaking;
nor has he churned out 15 Jaws sequels in time for his October deadline.
âThe film hasnât happened yet but look at what we did predictâ says Gale.
âImax 3D and that people would still be interested in shark movies!â
SELF-DRYING CLOTHES
Wet clothes? In this version of 2015 thatâs no problem.
âThat technology may be beyond peopleâs abilityâ says Gale.
âYouâd need fusion batteries to make that happen.â Maybe in 2045
for the reboot.
HOVERBOARDS
A futuristic skateboard this is the single-most requested invention from
the sequel. âWe envisioned it because of the maglev trains that were
coming out then. If you can levitate a train you can levitate a skateboard!â
A company called Hendo claims to be close to a breakthrough.
WEATHER FORECASTING
Forecasters can predict thesecondit will stop raining. âThat was a joke
but also to solve a problem â if itâs raining you wouldnât see wires on
the car. But we didnât want rain for the rest of the scene.â Weâre not quite
there yet... âBut thereâs an app that almost does that which is amazing.â
MR. FUSION
The portable fusion generator that powers Doc Brownâs car. âIt was the
most wonderful optimistic thing we could think of to show in the
futureâ says Gale. âWe knew the cleanest version of nuclear power
would be fusion power.â
FLYING CARS
The only way to get around Hill Valley. âWe knew that wasnât
going to happen. People have a hard enough time driving in two
dimensions â probably not a good idea giving them a third!â
THE MICROSOFT KINECT
In the Cafe 80âs two kids (including a young Elijah Wood)
dismiss Wild Gunman as âa babyâs toyâ because Marty has to
use his hands. Itâs not referenced directly but theyâre clearly
familiar with a system like the Kinect.