A Very Quotable "Back to the Future" Quiz

Answer: Marty McFly

This confusing quote is from "Back to the Future Part III", as Marty finds himself back in 1955 once again, after the young 1955 Doc has just finished sending Marty back to 1985 (the events of "Back to the Future"). It is the morning after young Doc has sent Marty back to 1985, and he wakes up only to find that Marty is there once again, this time with a different quest - to find the DeLorean once again and go even further back, this time to 1885.

Answer: Doc Brown

This quote is spoken by Doc Brown, played by the actor Christopher Lloyd, in the first "Back to the Future" film. It comes in the final scene of the film, when Marty McFly, played by Michael J. Fox, has finally arrived back in 1985 after escaping from 1955.

He has just reunited with his girlfriend, Jennifer, when Doc Brown's DeLorean, albeit restyled, appears suddenly on the street in front of them and Doc jumps out, urging both of them to come with him to the future, where the course of events needs correcting.

When Marty comments, "Hey, Doc, we better back up. We don't have enough road to get up to 88," because 88 miles per hour is the speed needed to drive Doc's DeLorean into different eras, Doc replies with the quote above. They are heading into 2015, when air travel is used.

Answer: George McFly

After Marty McFly realizes that he has altered the course of history by appearing in 1955 and causing his mother to not meet his father, Marty does his best to reunite his parents. Unfortunately, however, the young George McFly is a chicken, and doesn't have the courage to ask Lorraine Baines, his future wife, to the school dance. Seizing on his father's love of science fiction, Marty dresses in his radiation suit and enters his father's bedroom at night, putting his Walkman headphones over George's ears and playing Van Halen music at full blast. Once George starts awake, Marty tells him that he is Darth Vader from Vulcan.

The next morning, George tells Marty the quote above.

Answer: Marty McFly

This quote comes in "Back to the Future Part II" (1989), when Doc Brown and Marty go to 2015 to pick up the 1985-aged Jennifer Baines before she encounters her future self. Marty makes the comment above when told the year that they are going. Doc explains that encountering his, or her, future self could be disastrous. Humorously, Marty calls his 2015 self an "old man"... when he would only have been about 47. Still, to the 17-year-old Marty, this is old, and in fact the 2015 Marty has changed very much, including not being able to play his guitar any more due to an injury.

The course of the movie will change this reality, however.

Answer: George McFly

This quote comes from a failed effort of George's to ask Lorraine to the school dance. Encouraged by Marty, the timid George writes down some pickup lines, and confronts Lorraine at the local restaurant. Unfortunately, however, he not only bungles his lines but the scene is stolen by Marty and Biff Tannen, the local bully, who get into a confrontation outside of the shop windows. Marty ends up outsmarting Biff, which only makes him more of a hero in Lorraine's eyes.

The situation becomes worse as Marty's future mother falls in love with him instead of her future husband.

Answer: Doc Brown

This classic line is spoken by Doc when he sees Marty's pamphlet from 1985 which mentions the local clock tower being struck by lightning on a specific day in 1955. Seeing the lightning strike as a chance to harness enough energy to power the DeLorean back to 1985, Doc rigs a system whereby the electricity is channeled through a cable which a rod on the top of the DeLorean touches.

Unfortunately, however, Marty is almost late arriving in time to power the car during the lightning strike, and Doc's cable is just too short, so Doc accidentally becomes a conductor of the electricity.

Answer: Biff Tannen

Interestingly, this quote is spoken by Biff Tannen to Biff Tannen - that is, by his younger 1955 self to his older 2015 self. This quote is from "Back to the Future Part II", and occurs when the old Biff gets a chance to take an Almanac to his young self through time, so that his young self can make money by placing accurate bets on situations that will come up.

In this alternate reality, Biff makes a fortune off of horse race betting, which leads to him eventually marrying Marty's mother Lorraine. Old Biff still manages to make himself unpleasant by reprimanding his younger self on his misquotation above, telling him, "It's make like a tree and leave! You sound like an idiot when you get it wrong!"

Answer: Marty McFly

Marty might be Doc Brown's friend, but the inventor can still surprise Marty on occasion. In this instance, Doc introduces Marty to his latest invention, the Flux Time Capacitor. This he has installed in a DeLorean car; however, it requires plutonium to run. Unfortunately, Doc has relied on terrorists to supply the plutonium, with life-threatening results to Doc.

Answer: Doc Brown

This quote, from Doc Emmett Brown, is spoken in "Back to the Future Part III", in response to a comment from Marty's girlfriend Jennifer, who notices that a note from the future, 2015, has gone blank upon her return to 1985. Doc replies that the erasing of the note "means your future hasn't been written yet. No one's has. Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one, both of you." Marty and Jennifer agree that they will.

Answer: Biff Tannen

Although every car has a blind spot, this fact doesn't stop Biff Tannen from trying to avoid any blame or expense when he wrecks George McFly's car in "Back to the Future" (1985). Not only that, but since Biff spilled beer on himself when he wrecked George's car, he attempts to fob off the cleaning bill for his clothes onto George as well. George responds to Biff's complaint with the weak, "Blind spot? Now, now, Biff, now I never noticed that the car had any blind spot before when I would drive it." It is this sort of behavior from George that has Marty disrespecting his father.