Going Back To The Future: Are We There Yet?

Image via Wikipedia

The Back to the Future film series is an undeniable pop culture staple, with perhaps the most popular instalment of the trilogy being the second. Starring Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd as protagonists Marty McFly and Doc Emmett Brown respectively, it saw the pair travel to the now not so distant future, specifically the 21st of October 2015... and now this date is fast approaching. The film was originally released in 1989 but set in 1985, leaving a good 30 year gap between Back to the Future Part II’s then and now. With each passing year, fans have mourned - perhaps even affectionately mocked - the inaccuracies of the film’s predictions. But exactly how bad are they, and does it look like we’ll manage to get anywhere near flying cars in the precious few years we have left? Well, let’s take a look...

Image via Wikipedia

• Hovercars

Unfortunately, it doesn’t really look like we’ll be getting readily available hovercars - or hover conversions - in the near future. Although there admittedly is the Moller Skycar, progress on this and other similar prototypes has been disappointingly slow.

• Hoverboards

Despite how dangerous these would be (people of all ages do sufficient damage to themselves with skateboards, for example, let alone ones that hover), they are easily the most longed-for piece of tech out of the Back to the Future films.

• Fashion

The collective futuristic fashion sense as seen in Back to the Future Part II was certainly something. With undeniably 80s colours used in a variety of outlandish designs, you never quite knew where to look. Businessmen wore multiple ties, cool kids wore their trousers inside out and jackets automatically adjusted and dried themselves. However, the film did get one thing right (sort of): Nike decided to make and sell the Nike Mag, a replica of the sneakers worn by Marty McFly in the film. Sadly, however, they did not have automatically adjusting power laces (despite Nike filing a patent for them).

• Advertising

In 2015, advertisements are shown to be pretty much omnipresent... and this could arguably be said of advertising today. While we don’t quite have holographic sharks pretending to eat us in order to advertise Jaws 19 just yet (although a tablet PC with hologram technology is apparently getting closer and closer), it’s surely only a matter of time.

• The internet

Back to the Future Part II didn’t really make much mention of this at all, instead relying on faxes (severely outdated by now), video conferencing (actually fairly accurate) and even phone booths (no sign of mobile phones, which is a little bizarre) for communication. If only they knew...

About today's Guest Writer:

Carol Brown is a nerdy film nut and proud (and would definitely have bought a pair of Nike Mags if she could afford it).

Back to the Future (Image via RottenTomatoes.com)

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