S T O R Y  L A N E S Back to the Future back We'll change history!

INT. HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM - DAY

INT. STRICKLAND'S OFFICE - DAY

INT. DETENTION CLASSROOM - ON A WALL CLOCK - DAY

EXT. HILL VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL -DAY
EXT. HILLY RESIDENTIAL STREET - DAY
EXT. STREET - TOWN SQUARE - DAY

INT. YMCA - STAGE - DAY

EXT. TOWN SQUARE - DAY

INT. RV - TOWN SQUARE - DAY

EXT. STREET - TOWN SQUARE - DAY

EXT. MCFLY HOUSE - DUSK

INT. AT THE MCFLY DINNER TABLE - NIGHT

INT. MARTY'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

INT. MARTY'S BEDROOM - CLOCK ON MARTY'S NIGHTSTAND

EXT. TWIN PINES MALL PARKING LOT - NIGHT
EXT. MALL, DELOREAN - NIGHT
IN THE CAR
EXT. - CHASE
INT. DELOREAN - INSERT
EXT. MALL PARKING LOT - ON THE VAN
INT. MOVING DELOREAN

EXT. FARM FIELD AND BARN - NIGHT
EXT. NEARBY FARM HOUSE - NIGHT
INT. BARN - NIGHT
EXT. BARNYARD - NIGHT

EXT. THE DELOREAN - MORNING
EXT. STREET - DAY
HIS OWN HOUSE (MATTE PAINTING)
ANGLE ON THE OPEN GARAGE - DAY

EXT. HILL VALLEY TOWN SQUARE - DAY
INT. CAFE - DAY

EXT. HILL VALLEY TOWN SQUARE
EXT. - A RESIDENTIAL STREET - DAY

INT. DARKENED BEDROOM - NIGHT

INT. DINING ROOM - NIGHT

EXT. DR BROWN'S HOUSE

INT. BROWN'S GARAGE/WORKSHOP - NIGHT

INT. BROWN'S GARAGE - A LITTLE LATER - NIGHT

EXT. HILL VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL -DAY
POV THRU A CLASSROOM DOOR

INT. SHOOL CAFETERIA

INT. BROWN'S LIVING ROOM - DAY

INT. BROWN'S GARAGE - DAY

EXT. GEORGE'S HOUSE - NIGHT
INT. GEORGE'S BEDROOM

EXT. TOWN SQUARE - DAY
INT. CAFE - DAY

EXT. CAFE AND STREET
Various outdoor locations ending with:
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TRACKS

EXT. TOWN SQUARE - LATER

INT. BROWN'S GARAGE - NIGHT

EXT. GEORGE'S BACKYARD - DAY

EXT. TOWN SQUARE CLOCK TOWER - NIGHT

INT. CAFE - INSERT - ON A LETTER
INT. CAFE - WIDE ANGLE - NIGHT
EXT. ON STREET - NIGHT

INT. SCHOOL GYMNASIUM - DANCE - NIGHT
EXT. SCHOOL PARKING LOT
INT. PACKARD - MARTY, LORRAINE

INT. SCHOOL GYMNASIUM - THE DANCE

INT. PACKAGE - MARTY, LORRAINE - NIGHT

INT. SCHOOL HALL - NIGHT

INT. PACKARD - NIGHT

EXT. SIDE OF SCHOOL

INT. PACKARD
EXT. PARKING LOT - ON THE PACKARD

EXT. AT THE CADILLAC

EXT. PACKARD

AT THE CADILLAC
MARTY
EXT. FRONT OF SCHOOL

AT THE CADILLAC

INT. SCHOOL GYM

EXT. COCK TOWER - NIGHT
ON THE STREET
Several sluglines, ending with:
THE CLOCK

THE CLOCK - OCTOBER 5, 1985 - NIGHT
EXT. THE BOARDED UP MOVIE THEATER - BUM'S P.O.V.
INT. DELOREAN
MARTY'S P.O.V. THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD - NIGHT
EXT. STREET IN FRONT OF THEATER, DELOREAN - NIGHT

EXT. THE MALL - NIGHT

EXT. MARTY'S HOUSE - NIGHT

INT. MARTY'S BEDROOM - DAY
INT. BEDROOM CORRIDOR - DAY
INT. DINING ROOM - DAY
INT./EXT. MCFLY KITCHEN - P.O.V - DAY

EXT. MCFLY HOUSE - DAY
INT. DELOREAN

Marty gets detention for not paying attention in class.

Strickland crushes Marty's walkman and gives him detention.

Marty pulls off a prank to get himself out of detention.

Marty skateboards in a way that makes it clear he's awfully good on a board.

Marty's band fails in an audition to play at a school dance, though they do play well.

Marty is down about the audition. Suzy cheers him up. We establish they've got a big overnight camping date coming up, and Marty's mom is repressed. We also establish the clock tower was hit by lightning and when.

Doc Brown appears, reminds Marty to come to the mall.

Doc Brown leaves. Marty and Suzy kiss.

We meet George McFly, a complete dweeb. We also meet Biff, George's nemesis and tormenter. Biff wrecked George's car.

We meet the McFly family. None of them are in great shape in life. Lorraine, Marty's mom, is overweight, an alcoholic, in a serious rut, and a bit of a prude. We hear the story of how Lorraine and George met.

Marty throws away a form to submit his demo tape to a record company.

Doc Brown calls Marty, wakes him up, reminds him to come to the mall.

Doc Brown has a time machine in a DeLorean. They do a test run with his dog - it works. Then Libyan terrorists show up because Doc Brown took their plutonium. They shoot Doc. Marty flees them in the DeLorean, goes back in time.

Marty is now back in 1955. He crashes the car into a barn. The farmers show up with guns, think Marty's an invader from space. They chase him off in the car.

Marty goes to his house. But the neighborhood has not been built yet. He realizes he's back in time.

His house is the only one built. It's a model home. He hides the DeLorean in its garage.

Marty comes to town goes into the cafe, finds Doc Brown's address. He meets his dad, 1950's version, and Biff. Biff bullies his dad.

He suggests to the cleaning boy that he's going to be mayor. And he is.

Marty follows George, finds him in a tree, peeping at a girl dressing. George falls out of the tree, is almost hit by a car. Marty saves him, is hit instead.

Marty wakes up in a room, being nursed by a pretty girl his own age. Oops - it's Lorraine, his mom! She's a hot number as a teenager, and she's got the hots for Marty.

Marty has dinner with his mom's family. There's some time-travel comedy. Lorraine is coming on strong to Marty.

Marty goes to Doc Brown's house. Doc Brown is having a party. Marty tries to get Brown to listen to him, fails.

Marty convinces Doc that he's a time traveler and Doc sent him back.

We get the start of the plan of using the lightning strike to power the time travel. We also find out that Marty has changed the past in a way that will eventually cause him to disappear. The photograph with the disappearing figures is introduced.

Marty now has two missions: get his parents together and be ready to go back to the future when lightning strikes the clock-tower.

Marty goes into the high school to make contact with his parents. But Lorraine only has eyes for him. The dance is introduced: it will be a key point.

Marty approaches George, tries to get him to ask Lorraine to the dance.

Biff harasses Lorraine. Marty deals with it. Lorraine falls harder for Marty.

Marty calls George but cannot persuade him to ask out Lorraine.

Doc watches the entire tape, realizes there's going to be a problem in the future. Doc says he doesn't want any warnings about the future.

In order to get him to ask out Lorraine, Marty approaches George dressed as a spaceman and orders him to ask her out.

Marty meets up with George, sends him in to ask Lorraine out in the cafe. George is blowing it.

Then Biff shows up and causes trouble. Marty hits him, then runs away.

Big chase sequence: Marty on a makeshift skateboard vs Biff in his convertible. It ends when Marty gets Biff's car to get hit by a train (but not fatally).

Marty runs into Lorraine. She asks him to the dance. He grudgingly agrees.

Marty tells Doc that he's going to the dance with his mom. Doc shows Marty the model of the town square and how they will make the lightning plan work.

Marty tells George the plan: Marty will get fresh with Lorraine, George will rescue her by punching Marty.

Doc Brown prepares the town square for the plan.

Marty writes a letter to Doc warning him of the terrorists. Doc bribes a cop to let him do the plan. Marty slips the letter in Doc's jacket.

The dance is going on. Marty brings Lorraine in Doc's car, tries to get himself psyched up to harass his mom. It's not easy.

George realizes it's time for the plan, runs outside.

Marty gets ready to do his thing, but then his mom grabs him and kisses him.

George dials the operator to get the time, but is trapped by pranksters in the phone booth.

Boy, that kiss didn't work! Then someone throws open the car door. Marty expects George, but it's Biff. Biff is ready for revenge for his car. But when he sees Lorraine, he decides to, basically, rape her. His goons grab Marty and drag him off as Biff climbs in the car with Lorraine.

Biff's goons lock Marty in a car trunk. It turns out to belong to Marvin Berry and the band playing at the dance. They chase off the goons, but Marty's locked in the trunk with the keys.

Biff is sexually assaulting Lorraine. She tries to fight him off, but has little luck.

George comes to the parking lot, thinking that this is the plan. He throws open the door expecting to confront Marty, but it's Biff. Biff orders George away, but George doesn't go. Biff gets out of the car, grabs George, twists his arm.

Marvin tries to pry open the trunk of the car with a screwdriver. He has little luck.

Biff is twisting George's arm, when George works up his courage and decks Biff. It's his moment of truth and courage, and Lorraine falls for him.

Marvin opens the trunk, but slices his hand. Marty runs to the other car, finds the aftermath of George's heroism. George is now a class hero for taking down Biff, and Lorraine has fallen hard.

But as the photo shows, this isn't enough to fix things - the photo is still fading.

Marty comes back, tells the band they have to play so his parents can kiss on the dance floor and fall in love. But Marvin's hand is cut. So Marty offers to play guitar in his place.

George and Lorraine dance. He's too shy to kiss her. Another boy cuts in. Marty almost collapses - his time is running out. But George gets up his nerve, comes back, kisses Lorraine, and all is good.

Marty is better, celebrates by playing Johnny B. Goode. The crowd loves it! Marvin calls his cousin Chuck Berry and inspires him to invent rock and roll!

Marty goes one step too far, tries more modern stage goofiness. The students just aren't ready for it.

Marty arrives by the clock tower.

Doc registers the fact that George hit Biff, you can see him speculating about the change, but he doesn't say anything.

Doc finds the letter Marty wrote in his jacket, rips it up saying he can't hear about the future, bad things could happen.

There's one last race-against-the-clock complication as a tree branch falls on a wire and Doc has to climb up the clock tower to fix things.

Marty decides to go back ten minutes early to deal with the terrorists.

There's one last bit of shenanigans when the car is slow to start, then Marty returns to 1985.

Marty's back in 1985, but the DeLorean stops working. He sees the terrorists driving toward the mall. He runs after them.

Marty gets to the mall just in time to see Doc shot by the terrorists. Then he sees himself disappear in the DeLorean. Doc is wearing a bulletproof vest! He read Marty's letter!

Doc drops Marty off at the house. Doc is going to go forward 30 years in the future.

Marty wakes up - but his family has changed. His siblings are obviously more successful. And his parents have it all together! And Biff is waxing George's car, and is utterly submissive to George. George is now a successful science fiction author!

And Marty now owns his dream car! Apparently a gift from his successful dad.

Doc Brown appears in the DeLorean, says Marty's kids need help in the future, brings Marty and Suzy along.

And the DeLorean now flies! Apparently they have flying cars in the future!

Begin act one: setup, in the present.

Begin act two: back in 1955.

Begin act three: the climax action in 1955.

Postscript: wrap it up in 1985.

Initial sequence: introduction to Marty. (This sequence is substantially different in the film.)

Sequence: Meet Marty's family.

Sequence: Meet Doc Brown and the time machine, and go back in time.

Sequence: welcome to 1955.

Sequence: Meet Lorraine.

Sequence: Meet 1955 Doc Brown.

Sequence: complications on all fronts. Marty tries to bring his parents together, but it won't be easy.

Sequence: get George to ask out Lorraine, but it fails and there's a major confrontation with Biff.

Sequence: Marty adjusts his plans.

Sequence: George steps up!

Sequence: George kisses Lorraine!

Sequence: send Marty home.

Sequence: resolution of the terrorist plot.

Sequence: the new 1985.

October 25-26, 1985.

All the intro stuff, in 1985. Serves as an act one.

November 5 - November 11, 1955.

The initial setup and complications in the past, setting up all past subplots. Serves as an act two.

Saturday, November 12, 1955.

The climactic action in the past. Serves as an act three.

October 26, 1985

We're back to the present. There's some wrap-up and we get to see the resolution of some key plots. But there's little specific events. It functions more as a postscript than a full act.

Inciting incident

Plot Point 1: Commence Act Two

Midpoint

Plot Point 2: Commence Act Three.

Climax

Opening Image (p1).

While not in the script, the opening image of the film is a whole lot of clocks. This doesn't so much establish the starting point of the protagonist, but the motif of time in the movie.

Theme Stated (p5): this is also the theme stated, dealing with time.

Begin Set-Up (p1)

Catalyst (p12)

End Set-Up (p10).

B Story (p30). The B story is the romance of Marty's parents and the personality of his father.

Break into Two (p25)

Fun and Games (p30-55)

Midpoint (p55)

Bad Guys Close In (p55-75). Sort of. This is certainly where things get serious, where Marty has to get his parents together and it seems impossible.

Break into Three (85).

Finale (p85-110) - except not quite. The finale of the action ends when Marty returns to 1985, having gotten his parents together. But there's still some movie to go!

All is Lost (p75) - Marty is locked in the car, no solution!

Dark Night of the Soul (p75-85)

Final Image (p110). The final image is the DeLorean flying off to the future. It doesn't so much complete Marty's arc as it launches the sequel.

The ordinary world.

Establishment of the hero's status quo.

The Departure begins.

Meeting the Mentor.

The Hero needs help from someone.

The call to adventure.

The hero is called on to do something.

Crossing the First Threshold.

The Hero goes on the adventure.

Start the Adventure.

Tests, Allies, Enemies.

The Hero faces challenges, meets allies.

Note that this is where Marty meets 1955 Doc, who serves as his mentor through the bulk of the film.

Approach to the Inmost Cave.

The Hero gets closer to his goal.

The Road of Trials

Ordeal.

The Hero faces his biggest test of all.

Reward.

The Hero sees the light at the end of the tunnel.

The Road Back.

The challenge to get back is harder than it seems.

Here's where Marty meets the test of getting his parents together.

But there's another road back, and Marty has to get back to 1985. Here's where we see the challenge, and Marty and Doc meet it.

The Return.

The Hero returns with the prize.

The ordinary world.

Establishment of the hero's status quo. George's status quo is that he's hopeless.

The Departure begins.

Meeting the Mentor.

The Hero needs help from someone.

Interestingly, Marty is the mentor in George's journey.

The call to adventure.

The hero is called on to do something.

George is called on to ask out Lorraine.

Refusal of the call.

The hero doesn't want adventure.

Crossing the First Threshold.

The Hero goes on the adventure.

Start the Adventure.

George now agrees to ask out Lorraine. But it doesn't go well - he has Marty as an ally, but Lorraine is a major challenge, an d Biff is an enemy.

Approach to the Inmost Cave.

The Hero gets closer to his goal.

The Road of Trials

Ordeal.

The Hero faces his biggest test of all.

Reward.

The Hero sees the light at the end of the tunnel.

The Road Back.

The challenge to get back is harder than it seems.

But George meets the final challenge and kisses Lorraine on the dance floor.

The Return.

The Hero returns with the prize.

George's prize is a good life with a happy healthy family and a good marriage. He's even a successful author.

We hear the story of how George and Lorraine met, her father hitting George with his car, their kiss at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance.

Marty interrupts his parents' meet cute, thus blocking their romance.

Lorraine falls for Marty instead of George, a major obstacle.

Marty notes the dance and realizes the key point it plays in the romance.

Things look bad in getting those two crazy kids together.

But Marty forces the issue, gets his dad to try for Lorraine.

Still, George is hopeless.

And now Marty is going to the dance with Lorraine. Oops.

But Marty has a plan!

Marty and his mom park. Ugh!

George gets ready to do his part of Marty's plan.

The plan goes seriously south when Biff shows up.

George decides to stand up for Lorraine.

George decks Biff, thus making Lorraine fall fo him.

But not all is good yet - the parents still need to kiss, so someone needs to play music.

George has trouble getting up the nerve to kiss Lorraine. But he finally does, after one more chance to stand up for himself.

And now the marriage between George and Lorraine is a happy one.

This is where Marty goes back in time, getting stranded.

And now Marty is stranded.

Marty starts trying to find the one guy who can get him home: Doc Brown.

Marty finds and meets Doc Brown.

They come up with the plan for Marty to go home.

We see the model of the apparatus that will get Marty home.

Doc gets ready to send Marty home.

There's some complications to getting Marty home, but Doc and Marty succeed at it.

But Marty's in a different present, one where his family's life is a whole lot better.

We meet 1985 Biff. What a jerk!

And a jerk who has George completely under his thumb.

We meet 1955 Biff. What a bigger jerk! And he has an ongoing conflict with George.

Marty first confronts Biff, gets Biff angry at him. But the confrontation is cut short.

Marty hits Biff, defending George, starting his big confrontation with him.

Marty humiliates Biff. There will be retribution.

Biff appears and Marty is in trouble. But so is Lorraine.

Biff's goons lock up Marty for Biff.

George decides to stand up to Biff for Lorraine. It's his big choice.

George finishes off Biff, both for Marty and himself.

And now Biff is completely cowed.

In the opening sequence in the film (but not the script), we see that whoever owns all those clocks also has the case of stolen plutonium, which is the cause of the problems.

The terrorists appear, kill Doc.

1955 Doc now suspects something bad will happen to 1985 Doc. But he won't let Marty tell him out of fear of paradoxes.

Marty tries to warn Doc by writing the letter.

Doc rips up the warning letter. Marty decides to go back 10 minutes early to stop the terrorists.

But the terrorists break down, so Marty can't just drive to the mall to stop them.

Doc is shot after all!

Except he read Marty's warning letter, so he knew to wear a bullet-proof vest.

Marty's band is not selected to play at his school.

There's reference to Marty's audition tape.

Marty doesn't have the nerve to send in his audition tape. (Though this is not in the film.)

Marty's music pays off when he plays the guitar for the final act in the George/Lorraine romance.

Marty's guitar playing saves the day!

But then he goes all 1985 guitar on folks in a funny moment.

Note that the mall is called Twin Pines Mall. We even see a sign calling it that.

When Marty appears in the field with the DeLorean, he runs down one of the twin pines growing there. This will become important later, though in a minor way.

Marty suggests to Goldy that he should run for mayor. This gives Goldy the idea to run. But this screws up causality - why was Goldy mayor in the original timeline if Marty wasn't there to suggest it?

Marvin Berry, and thus Chuck Berry, seem to discover Rock and Roll when Marty plays at the dance. But that messes up causality - Marty didn't do that in the original timeline, so how did he have an impact in this one?

The mall is now named Lone Pine Mall - we see the same sign as before, but the name has changed. Remember, back in 1955 Marty killed one of the twin pines when he appeared. This is the first thing we see where Marty's actions in 1955 changed 1985. (It's awfully subtle, but it's there in the movie.)

That 30 years in the future was 2015. Sigh, his future is our past!

Again, that future was five years ago now (as of this writing). Where's my flying car?

Not in the film.

Not in the film.

Not in the film.

Suzy becomes Jennifer in the film.

This is handled via a phone call in the film. Doc's appearance doesn't come until later. Perhaps this is to give Christopher Lloyd a big entrance?

The Doc Brown stuff is not in the film.

This is not in the film.

In the film, no houses are there. Marty hides the DeLorean behind a sign.

There's no party in the film. Doc Brown is kind of smooth in the 50s in the script, but in the film he's always kind of goofy.

In the film, the climax of the chase was having Biff run into a manure wagon, then having manure fill his car. Which is both more entertaining and probably a lot easier to arrange in the filming.

This was not in the film. Really, it wasn't needed.

The order of scenes is different in the film. At this point in the film, Marvin gets Marty out of the trunk, cutting his hand. Marty then runs toward the car, just in time to see George deck Biff and his parents fall in love.

That feels like something done in editing.

In the film, there's a shot of Doc looking at the time, waiting for Marty.

There's an additional scene in the film here where Marty says goodbye to Lorraine and George.