A 40-year-old Back to the Future teaser perfectly highlights how Marty McFly and Doc Brown were never supposed to be the movie’s center of attention. Often touted as one of the best and most influential time travel movies, Back to the Future left an indelible mark on sci-fi cinema. Even to this day, many light-hearted sci-fi movies attempt to recreate its formula but fail to be as fun and memorable. While many factors contributed to Back to the Future‘s timelessness, its characters played a crucial role in shaping its legacy.
Marty McFly serves as the movie trilogy’s heart, with his wit and charm adding a layer of relatability to an otherwise fantastical story. Meanwhile, Doc Brown’s unpredictability and quirkiness instill a sense of wild enthusiasm and excitement in viewers. Together, the two characters also share a warm dynamic, perfectly complementing one another’s flaws and strengths. However, even though Marty and Doc Brown are the main characters in Back to the Future, an old, forgotten teaser suggests they are not the real stars of the story.
Back To The Future’s Original Teaser Trailer Focused Almost Entirely On The DeLorean
It Almost Comes Off As A Car Commercial
One would expect Back to the Future‘s teaser to give away a few details about how the movie adopts time travel as a narrative device. It would also make sense for the teaser to revolve around primary characters like Marty McFly and Doc Brown. However, instead of unfolding like a typical movie teaser, it plays out like a car commercial. The camera slowly glides over the cool features the car accommodates as Marty flicks its switches to turn it on.
With what follows, the final shot features a voice-over that asks Marty how far he is going. Marty takes one look at the camera and says, “About 30 years.” The teaser then ends with the DeLorean speeding out of sight, leaving a trail of fire behind. Back to the Future‘s teaser is unique in the sense that it makes its primary narrative device the center of its attention. Instead of hinting at the movie’s plot points and character beats, it subtly gives away that the DeLorean is the real star and will serve as the primary trigger for Marty McFly’s time travel adventures.
Why The DeLorean Was So Important To Back To The Future’s Success
The DeLorean Perfectly Represents The Movie’s Brand Of Sci-Fi
The DMC DeLorean failed to leave its mark on the car market when it was released in the early 80s. It was also heavily criticized for its build quality and performance, which contributed to its short-lived production run. However, despite its inability to be sold to the masses, the DMC DeLorean became a cultural icon after being featured in Back to the Future. The time travel movie could have easily used any other car as the primary plot device for its time travel. Reports even suggest that the Ford Mustang was the original choice for Back to the Future‘s central vehicle.
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Back To The Future: Why Doc Brown Used A DeLorean As His Time Machine
Why does Doc Brown retrofit a DeLorean DMC-12 sports car with a flux capacitor to use it as a time machine throughout the Back to the Future trilogy?
However, changing it to DeLorean greatly benefited the movie because it perfectly reflected Doc Brown’s eccentric genius and unconventional thinking. With its gull-wing doors and slightly unpleasant appearance, the car perfectly embodies Doc Brown’s brilliance and quirkiness. Like Doc Brown, the car comes off as an anomaly that a typical sci-fi narrative would never adopt as a time travel device. It also establishes that, despite adopting some fairly complex sci-fi concepts and ideas, Back to the Future refuses to take itself too seriously.
While having any car would still have been a unique way to represent a time travel device, a Ford Mustang would have been too familiar of a car to give the movie the distinctiveness and sense of adventure it needed.
If Back to the Future had settled for a more mainstream car, like the Ford Mustang, it would not have been able to capture Doc Brown’s carelessness and defiance towards conventionality. While having any car would still have been a unique way to represent a time travel device, a Ford Mustang would have been too familiar of a car to give the movie the distinctiveness and sense of adventure it needed. Not to mention, despite being criticized, the DMC DeLorean looked quite futuristic for its time, making it the perfect fit for Back to the Future.
Back To The Future’s Teaser Shows How Different Movie Marketing Was In 1985
It Sets An Example Of How Movie Marketing Should Be Done
Without giving away any details surrounding the character beats and storylines adopted in Back to the Future, the teaser perfectly sells the movie by evoking a sense of intrigue in viewers. While many modern movie trailers and teasers give away a little too much to lure audiences to theaters, Back to the Future‘s teaser invites viewers without revealing too much. It hints that its main character, Marty, will travel 30 years back in time but also allows audiences to wonder how the car will factor into the protagonist’s time travel adventures.
Back to the Future
‘s original script did not even have a car. It merely featured a chamber that would zap Marty to the past.
Back to the Future‘s teaser shows how, even though movie marketing has evolved because of the emergence of social media platforms, its emphasis is more on reaching the masses instead of engaging with audiences. Owing to this, movie teasers and trailers often feel dumbed-down, created solely to grab attention rather than provoke genuine curiosity. While it is understandable how shortened attention spans have triggered this change, modern marketing campaigns for movies like Longlegs prove that Back to the Future‘s approach can still work wonders.
Back to the Future
“Back to the Future” is a science fiction adventure franchise that follows the time-traveling adventures of Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown. Created by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, the series is known for its clever use of time travel, memorable characters, and iconic DeLorean time machine. The franchise explores themes of causality, destiny, and the impact of individual actions on the future. Its blend of humor, heart, and innovative storytelling has made it a beloved classic in film history.
- Created by
- Robert Zemeckis , Bob Gale
- First TV Show
- Back To The Future
- Latest TV Show
- Back To The Future
- First Episode Air Date
- September 14, 1991
- Spin-offs
- Back To The Future
- TV Show(s)
- Back To The Future
- Character(s)
- Marty McFly , Dr. Emmett Brown , Lorraine Baines , George McFly , Biff Tannen , Jennifer Parker , Clara Clayton , Jules Brown , Verne Brown
- Video Game(s)
- Back to the Future: The Game
Summary
“Back to the Future” is a science fiction adventure franchise that follows the time-traveling adventures of Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown. Created by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, the series is known for its clever use of time travel, memorable characters, and iconic DeLorean time machine. The franchise explores themes of causality, destiny, and the impact of individual actions on the future. Its blend of humor, heart, and innovative storytelling has made it a beloved classic in film history.
