What was sci-fi in 1985 is reality today - or worse

In "Back to the Future" by Robert Zemeckis, the hero Marty McFly, played by Michael J. Fox, is catapulted from 1985 to 1955. There, the crazy-brilliant scientist Doc Brown, played by Christopher Lloyd, asks him: "Who is President of the United States in 1985?" Answer: "Ronald Reagan." The incredulous, mocking reaction: "Ronald Reagan? The actor? And who is Vice President - Jerry Lewis?"

Reagan himself had to laugh so loudly at this scene during a screening in the White House that he asked for the film to be rewound briefly because he hadn't caught the subsequent dialog.

When you watch the scene today, you can't help but think about who is holding court in the Oval Office today - and that reality has surpassed all fiction in a way that was hardly imaginable in the past.

In other respects, too, some things are seen differently with the distance of today. But the film trilogy has retained its appeal.

The first film - which was originally intended to be the only one, the two sequels only came about due to the unexpectedly great success - was released in the USA on July 3, 1985 and in Germany on October 3, 1985.

When 2015 was still the distant future

The first two films are characterized by the fact that they are limited to a time frame that does not exceed the span of a human life. Almost all films with time machines either go very far back into the past or very far ahead into the future. In "Back to the Future I" and "II", on the other hand, it is only a few decades.

Today, the fact that tomorrow has turned into yesterday is an additional attraction. The screenwriters - Bob Gale and director Zemeckis - anticipated many things quite correctly: Communication takes place via videophone, there is a rain radar, and a poster advertises surfing vacations in Vietnam - an absolutely bizarre idea at the time the film was made, some 15 years after the end of the war. It was also a correct prediction that the ultra-modern computer of 1985 would become a piece of antiques in the medium term.

The screenwriters did not foresee the Internet

However, the fax machine, which was very modern when the film was made, had already been forgotten by the real year 2015. Flying cars, floating skateboards, self-lacing shoes and clothing that adjusts to the size of the wearer or dries in a matter of seconds did not materialize. Unfortunately. The screenwriters did not foresee the most momentous change from the period between 1985 and 2015: the spread of the internet.

Streaming tip

The three cult films are now available to stream on blue SuperMax.

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