time travel back to the future

How Back To The Future's Time Travel Works

Back to the Future Part III Marty, Doc, and Clara dramatically check the time

If you read the words “time travel” on a site like CinemaBlend, you can almost be assured that one thing will instantly come to mind. With the smell of burnt rubber and a familiar twinkle of well-worn musical notes, you can bet that the Back to the Future trilogy is one of those things that almost immediately presents itself in the pop culture consciousness. But we’re not here to talk about whether or not Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s landmark sci-fi trilogy is good, we already know the original is one of the best sci-fi movies of all time. No, we’re here to talk about something much more important: how the time travel in the world of Doc Brown and Marty McFly actually works.

Better still, this academic exercise in temporal studies will open the door to even more examinations in how time travel works at the movies. Just as we’ve previously discussed with Avengers: Endgame , the subject of traveling through the past, present, and future of any given timeline is going to be something we’re going to invest a lot of time into. So if you like what you see here, there’s a great big beautiful tomorrow and/or yesterday waiting for you after! For now though, let’s go back… to the past, present, and future of Hill Valley, California!

Back to the Future Doc explains the DeLorean to Marty

The Time Travel In Back To The Future

Now, you can stop me if you’ve heard this story before, as Back to the Future itself has turned 35 this very year. However, a refresher is always a good idea when it comes to the moving pieces that you’ll see moving through the story of Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s legendary sci-fi trilogy. So here’s a quick and basic rundown of what happened throughout the Back to the Future saga:

Who's Time Traveling

Throughout the course of three movies, we see Einstein the Dog, Marty McFly (Sr), Doctor Emmett L. Brown, Jennifer Parker, Biff Tannen, and Clara Clayton all zoom back and forth through time. Oh, don’t forget Jules and Verne, Doc and Clara’s kids. This concerns them too, though just barely.

From When To When

For the intents and purposes of the Back to the Future series, “the present day” is 1985. From that particular point on the timeline, the Back to the Future trilogy’s time travel adventures span between the final film’s trip to 1885 to the then far flung future of 2015 . Two stops in 1955 and a trip to alternate 1985 also take place, because who would have thought time travel was such a dangerous, life altering thing?

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The Purpose Of Their Trip

It all started with a science experiment in Back to the Future , which saw Doc Brown testing his time machine to see if it’d work. But then, Marty McFly accidentally goes back to 1955, and has to correct the mistake of throwing off his parent’s first meeting and falling in love. That’s a simple enough beginning, but then Marty has a double shot of intentional time travel adventures, as Back to the Future Part II starts with Doc bringing Marty and Jennifer to 2015 to save their kids from going to jail, but leads to having to correct old Biff Tannen’s betting streak starting in 1955, and preventing Doc from being murdered by Mad Dog Tannen in 1885. Last, but not least, Marty has to go home to 1985 when all is said and done; because the time continuum.

Back to the Future Part II Marty and Doc flying in the DeLorean

How Time Travel Happens In Back To the Future

The two main methods of travel in Back to the Future’s trilogy are a converted DeLorean and a converted locomotive. Both vehicles, whether through nuclear radiation, burning garbage, or steam power, need to get to 88 miles per hour, and generate a charge of 1.21 Gigawatts in order to do the thing. When your vehicle of choice hits those milestones, you’re going to see some serious shit… time travel shit!

One very important thing to keep in mind is you need to be mindful of where you’re travelling. The exact spot you’re traveling from is where you’ll arrive when you reach the date of your destination, and what was once a mall parking lot in 1985 could be a pine tree farm in 1955. Hover conversion is recommended, so that whenever and wherever you’re going, you won’t need roads. And thanks to some script changes early on in the franchise’s history, you won’t need Coca Cola either!

Back to the Future Part II Biff's casino sign

Can History Be Changed As A Result Of Time Travel In Back to the Future?

Oh boy, can it. Throughout Back to the Future history, we’ve seen the McFly kids almost wiped out of existence, Doc Brown almost murdered over a simple amount of money, and an entirely different 1985 where Biff Tannen runs Hill Valley, and is rich beyond his wildest dreams. There is a lot of history that’s almost changed in the Back to the Future saga. However, some pieces of history do change permanently, and for the better. One of the most classic examples of the perils of time travel, the Back to the Future trilogy is a single timeline, rewritten as events progress.

Artifacts like photographs, faxes, and matchbooks change as quickly as events are being changed in the timeline. So the better your chances of seeing an event come to pass, the longer that evidence is going to stick around. See also: Jennifer’s fax from Back to the Future Part II surviving until the end of Back to the Future Part III , when a newly wisened Marty rewrites his future by not engaging in 1985’s fateful drag race.

Back to the Future Part III Doc introduces his family to Marty and Jennifer

What Are The Consequences Of Time Travel In Back To The Future?

While Back to the Future’s time travel was a messy affair, the end result could be seen as a net positive. And the consequences present themselves in very similar scenarios that hit three main characters in pretty unique ways.

Doc's Consequences

As Doc Brown, his wife Clara, and their sons Jules and Verne are still traveling through the whole of space and time in their souped up locomotive, this could lead to even more chaos throughout the timeline. That’s great for a film and media franchise, but that’s horrible if you want to sleep at night knowing you won’t have to adjust for a consequences of an accidentally generated tangent timeline. Still, Doc got a happy ending, finally finding himself bound to a family he never even knew he wanted until he met Clara, whisking her away to be his companion for all of time and space. Now, why does that sound so familiar ?

Marty's Consequences

Seeing the consequences of the actions his children, his enemies, and even his own self take in their lifetimes, he learns to have more confidence in himself. Marty, much like Doc, found himself a changed man, in relationships that will keep him grounded. But learning not to give in to his more impulsive nature, and to turn the cheek when called a chicken, puts Marty on the presumed path to success as a musician; instead of the working stiff he’d have become if he got into the accident with the Rolls Royce. Like famed science fiction author/father George McFly once said, when you put your mind to it… you can accomplish anything. Which brings us to the evolution of Marty’s father being one of the lynchpins of the Back to the Future series’ altered history.

George McFly's Consequences

George McFly never traveled through time, but he certainly benefited from time travel.

When George McFly and Lorraine Baines first meet, their relationship begins out of pity after he falls out of a tree… while trying to creep on an undressing Lorraine. The course of their love runs in a safe and predictable manner, with a first kiss acting as the highlight to their steady but waning romance. However, once Marty helps his young father discover confidence, and thanks to the timeline presenting George with the opportunity to dethrone Biff Tannen as the big dog, the new George and Lorraine McFly are a pair of lovers that embrace romance and confidence. Proving that so long as you follow the rules of time travel, and know how to play a ripping guitar solo 30 years before it’s ever invented, you too could change the future for the better.

Back To The Future Marty works the crowd after his guitar solo

Let's Do Another One!

So there you have it: the world of Back to the Future’s time travel explained, in a simple guide! It’s a process that’s so much fun, we here at CinemaBlend are dedicating ourselves to keeping this subject going. Time travel is a well-beloved staple in sci-fi, and with so many variants on the subject, it’s a handy topic to be an expert on… just in case you find yourself somewhere, or some time, you don’t belong.

If there’s any particular time travel stories you’d like to send to our labs for deconstruction, feel free to suggest them in the comments below! As for the next time you’ll see us in the mood for time travel, it feels like a good time for a Star Trek! And dear readers, if you thought we went on a tangent about tangent timelines this time out, just wait until we break down one of the most iconic installments of that series, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home .

Though that could always change, as the timeline could always skew in the course of events between here and now. Wibbley wobbley, timey wimey… stuff always comes up, and you never know where or when you’ll be until you get there. So until our next meeting, don’t swipe any sports almanacs, and if a crazy wild-eyed scientist or a kid show up asking about this write up, send them our way. We’ve got some further questions we need to ask them. See you in the future!

Mike Reyes is the Senior Movie Contributor at CinemaBlend, though that title’s more of a guideline really. Passionate about entertainment since grade school, the movies have always held a special place in his life, which explains his current occupation. Mike graduated from Drew University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, but swore off of running for public office a long time ago. Mike's expertise ranges from James Bond to everything Alita, making for a brilliantly eclectic resume. He fights for the user.

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Back to the Future timeline

View history

The Back to the Future film trilogy presents a detailed local history of the fictitious city of Hill Valley and the genealogies, information, and histories of its residents.

Each event described in this timeline is either depicted in the films (or on other artifacts such as newspapers depicted in the films), in the novels, in screenplays to the films, or described in interviews by the Bobs (director/co-writer Robert Zemeckis and producer/co-writer Bob Gale ). Additionally, some dates (e.g. Verne 's birthdate and Clara 's birth year) are derived from episodes of the animated series , although whether or not that information is canon is subject to dispute by fans. Information from fan fiction is not included.

According to Dr. Emmett Brown in Back to the Future Part II , whenever a time traveler alters key events occurring in the past, they effectively bring an alternate timeline into existence at their point-of-entry, and their original timeline is erased, even though its events are not forgotten by the time-traveler. Thus, every time travel jump into the past depicted in the Back to the Future saga "destroys" a current timeline and "creates" a new one, although Doc Brown often uses the phrase "erased from existence" to describe the deleterious effects of this process. Because of this, events from later timelines do not make their way backward into previous ones; for example, Bob Zemeckis has specifically denied the presence of a second Marty at Twin Pines Mall in Timeline 1. [1]

As a time traveler acquires multiple recollections of these altered timelines, a fourth-dimensional latticework begins to emerge which can be expressed graphically, as Doc Brown actually does for Marty McFly (in a crude blackboard drawing) in Back to the Future Part II . Doc further explains that the new timeline causes the world to "change around" the time traveler (e.g. Jennifer and Einstein in 1985A), leaving him or her unaffected unless the new timeline precludes the time traveler's existence (e.g. Old Biff, in a scene deleted because, according to Bob Gale, the audience likely would not understand the reasoning behind it). [2] Accordingly, there is no second version of the time traveler, as had been suggested by Imagineer Bob Gordon in issue #108 of Starlog Magazine, years before the second film was released. [3]

Chart of alternate timelines [ ]

The multiple Back to the Future timelines.

In the graphic above, the term Timeline 1 describes the original timeline. The blue stars represent the ensuing jumps by Doc’s DeLorean depicted in the trilogy. The resulting timelines, from 2 to 8, are represented by each successive horizontal arrow. Some timelines, such as Timeline 5 in which the events of 1985A take place, are drastically different in terms of their respective events and effects. Accordingly, the events within each timeline are listed (chronologically) as they are understood to have occurred, but most often where they differ (often radically, or else subtly) from those of their "parent" timelines. For instance, permanently unaltered events in Timeline 1 during the 1960s are common to all BTTF timelines and are listed only once. Events that occur prior to a timeline split date are of course identical to those described in the lower-numbered timeline.

Timeline 1 [ ]

This is the original, unaltered timeline. In this timeline, Biff Tannen becomes George McFly 's supervisor and continues bullying him.

Date unknown : Hill Valley is founded.
Date unknown : Clara Clayton is born in New Jersey .
Date Unknown : Buford Tannen is born.
Dates unknown : The earliest of Doc's emergency money is printed. [4]
Date unknown : Jules Verne 's novel From the Earth to the Moon is first published. [5]
Tuesday, September 5 : Hill Valley becomes a city. [6] .
Date unknown : 11-year-old Clara comes down with diphtheria and is quarantined for three months. As a result, her father places a telescope next to her bed for her to use, which sparks her lifelong interest in astronomy and science. [7]
Date unknown : Jules Verne's novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is published for the first time. [8]
Seamus McFly , his wife Maggie McFly and his brother Martin emigrate from Ireland to the United States. They take a few years to get to California , shortly setting in Virginia City, Nevada along the way. Martin starts a bar fight there after someone calls him " yellow ," and is stabbed to death with a bowie knife as a result.
Date unknown : Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen shoots twelve men, not including Indians or Chinamen, before the end of this year according to a newspaper article. The article has no follow-ups because Tannen killed its editor for writing an unfavorable article about him. [9]
Thursday: January 1 : Buford Tannen presumably hires an unknown Blacksmith to shoe his horse, but does not pay him.
April : William Sean McFly born, first son to Seamus and Maggie and the first McFly born in America.
Saturday: July 4 : Hill Valley's Fourth of July Celebrations held in the Palace Saloon , and Chester , the bartender gives additional drinks such as Whiskey to the locals.
Saturday, August 29 : There is a meeting of the townspeople over who will pick up the new schoolteacher on September 4 . No one volunteers.
Wednesday, September 2 : Native American Horseback-archers are chased near Hill Valley by the United States Cavalry.
Thursday, September 3 : Stinky Lomax is hanged in Haysville , California , for an unknown crime and Marshall Strickland is a witness of the hanging.
A train pulls into Hill Valley Station, carrying the new clock for the Hill Valley Courthouse [10] - and Clara Clayton (who had been commissioned to be the new teacher at the schoolhouse near Carson Spur , outside Hill Valley) aboard as a passenger. With no one to meet Clara upon her arrival, she rents two horses and a wagon buckboard from Joe Statler, then sets out to find the schoolhouse on her own.
A snake spooks the horses pulling Clara's wagon. They then ride madly into Shonash Ravine , killing her instantly. The ravine where she dies is renamed Clayton Ravine in her memory. [11]
Saturday, September 5 : The Hill Valley Festival . As part of Hill Valley’s anniversary festivities, the new courthouse clock is started at exactly 8:00 p.m. PST. Photographs with the clock are offered to townspeople wishing to pose with the new timepiece. The clock will remain in faithful service to Hill Valley for the next seven decades.
Sunday, September 6 : Buford Tannen and his gang, rob the Pine City Stage
Tuesday, September 8 : Hill Valley holds a funeral for Clara Clayton .
Tuesday, December 1 : Shonash Ravine is renamed Clayton Ravine.
Date unknown : Scheduled completion of the railroad bridge over Clayton Ravine. [12]
Date unknown : Marty's grandfather and George's father, Arthur McFly is born.
Date unknown : Marty's grandmother and George's mother, Sylvia McFly is born.
Date unknown : Doc's parents, known as the Von Brauns , arrive in Hill Valley. [13]
Date unknown : Marty's grandfather and Lorraine's father, Sam Baines , is born.
Date unknown : Marty's grandmother and Lorraine's mother, Stella Baines , is born.
Friday, April 6 : The United States declares war on Germany . Due to hostility against German-Americans during World War I , Emmett's father, Judge Erhardt Brown , changes his family's name from Von Braun to Brown. [13]
Date unknown : Emmett Brown is born. [14]
Date unknown : Grays, the future publisher of Grays Sports Almanac , is founded.
Final year covered in A History of Hill Valley, 1850-1930 .
Saturday, May 31 : Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr., American film actor, director, producer, and composer (and Marty's alter ego in 1885 Timeline 8 ) is born. [15]
Date unknown : A History of Hill Valley, 1850-1930 is published.
Date unknown : At age 11, young Emmett Brown reads the works of Jules Verne for the first time and decides to dedicate his life to science.
Date unknown : At age 12, young Emmett tries digging to the center of the Earth, inspired by Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth .
Date unknown : Goldie Wilson is born.
Thursday, March 27 : Biff Tannen is born. [16]
Dates unknown : Biff's future gang members, Match , Skinhead , and 3-D are born.
Friday, April 1 : George McFly is born to Arthur and Sylvia McFly . [17] .
Date unknown : Lorraine Baines is born to Sam and Stella Baines.
Date unknown : Emmett Brown works on the Manhattan Project . [18]
Date unknown : Milton Baines is born to Sam and Stella Baines.
Thursday, November 19 : Calvin Richard Klein, American fashion designer (and Marty's alter ego in 1955 Timeline 2 ) is born. [19]
Date unknown : Toby Baines is born to Sam and Stella Baines.
Date unknown : Suitable parts for Doc's time circuits are invented. [20]
Date unknown : Sally Baines is born to Sam and Stella Baines.
Date unknown : 12-year-old George McFly tries standing up for his friend Billy Stockhausen , but fails to do so.
Date unknown : Joey Baines is born to Sam and Stella Baines.
Date unknown : George McFly reads How to Win Friends and Influence People .
Autumn : The copy of Fantastic Story that George is reading in 1955 is published.
Date unknown : Otis Peabody tries to breed Pine trees on his farm, Twin Pines Ranch . He grows a pair of twin pines. [21]
Doc Brown slips off his toilet whilst hanging a clock and has a vision of the flux capacitor . [22]
Biff Tannen and his gang pick on George McFly at Lou's Café , warning George to never go into the café again. The café's busboy , Goldie Wilson , gives George advice on standing up for himself, but George ignores it.
While ' birdwatching ', i.e. spying on a girl (Lorraine Baines) changing through her window, George McFly slips and falls out of a tree into the street right in front of Sam Baines's car. After hitting him with the car, Baines takes him in, and his daughter Lorraine takes care of George. The two fall in love. [23]
Monday, November 7 : On the first day of school after George was hit by Sam Baines's car, Lorraine is infatuated with George as a result of the Florence Nightingale effect . With his attentions focused on Lorraine, George stops writing science fiction stories and having missed Science Fiction Theatre on the 5th (due to his injury), apparently has no problem missing the show scheduled for Saturday the 12th - the night of the Enchantment Under the Sea dance. George then asks Lorraine to the dance, and she accepts. Biff, meanwhile, apparently leaves them alone for awhile.
Tuesday, November 8 : Biff and his gang stop by Lou's Cafe to make sure that George McFly isn't there, then drive off, perhaps commenting on a manure truck that is parked nearby.
Doc continues to think about the vision he had had a week earlier about the flux capacitor. If Doc is conducting an experiment, it is probably in his home rather than in Courthouse Square.
Lorraine, accompanied by her friend Babs , goes to Ruth's Frock Shop in downtown Hill Valley to pick up a dress she had made for the dance later that night. There is nobody else present.
The Enchantment Under the Sea dance takes place at the Hill Valley High School gym. Marvin Berry and the Starlighters play a set of music, taking a break at 9 o'clock.
Biff and his gang spend the evening drinking, but avoid going to the dance.
During Marvin Berry and the Starlighters' second (and final for the night) set, George and Lorraine share their first kiss on the dance floor. It is at that moment that Lorraine realizes that she is going to spend the rest of her life with George.
10:04 p.m. : The Hill Valley Courthouse is struck by lightning , stopping its clock after 70 years, 2 months, 7 days, 2 hours and 4 minutes of continuous ticking. Despite repeated attempts over the intervening years, the clock is never successfully repaired; in fact, most Hill Valley residents voice a desire for its preservation as is to memorialize the unusual occurrence.
Date unknown : The youngest Baines sibling is born to Sam and Stella Baines (name and sex are never mentioned, but Stella is visibly pregnant in November 1955).
Date unknown : Lyon Estates , the future home of George and Lorraine McFly and their kids in 1985, is completed.
Wednesday, June 20: George McFly and Lorraine Baines McFly graduate from Hill Valley High School .
Date unknown : Toyota begins exports to the U.S. market. Earliest possible date for Statler Motors to take on the franchise. [24]
Monday, March 31 : Chuck Berry releases the single " Johnny B. Goode ". [25]
Thursday, March 27 : Biff Tannen turns 21, the legal gambling age. [26]
Sunday, December 7: George McFly and Lorraine Baines get married.
Date unknown : George McFly and Lorraine Baines earliest possible time for them to move to Lyon Estates.
Wednesday, August 1 : Doc Brown's mansion is destroyed by fire, except for the detached garage (which Doc moves into). [27]
Date unknown : Doc sells off the rest of the land. [27]
Date unknown : Tab (which Marty will ask for in Timeline 2 and onward) is introduced. [28]
Date unknown : Dave McFly is born to George and Lorraine McFly.
Date unknown : Riverside Drive , the street of Doc Brown's residence, is renamed John F. Kennedy Drive in honor of the recently assassinated United States president.
Date unknown : Linda McFly is born to George and Lorraine McFly.
Date unknown : Studebaker halts all remaining automobile production. [29] The Statler Motors' dealership has switched to selling Toyota cars by then.
Wednesday, January 18 : A Fistful of Dollars , starring Clint Eastwood, is released to US cinemas. [30]
Thursday, June 9 : Marty McFly is born to George and Lorraine McFly. [31]
Tuesday, August 6 : Douglas J. Needles is born.
Tuesday, October 29 : Jennifer Parker is born.
Date unknown : Ito T. Fujitsu is born. In Timeline 2 and 3 , he will be Marty's boss in 2015.
Date unknown : 8-year-old Marty accidentally sets fire to the living room rug . His parents don't go easy on him in this timeline. [32]
Date unknown : The DeLorean car that Doc Brown ends up buying is first manufactured.
Date unknown : Biff Tannen Jr. is born to Biff Tannen and an unknown woman.
Date unknown : Pepsi Free , the drink Marty tries to order in 1955 (in Timeline 2 and onward), is introduced. [33]
Date unknown : Marty and Doc meet and become friends. According to the original Part I script, Doc shows up at Marty's house and hires Marty to sweep his garage in the year 1983 . Doc gave Marty total access to his record collection, and they became friends.
Sunday, May 22 : Ronald Reagan announces he will run for a second term in office. Although a newspaper headline, seen in Timeline 2 , mentions that Doc Brown is commended and wins an award, it is unknown whether this happened in the original timeline (because in 1985, Dr. Brown is described by Stanford S. Strickland as "a real nutcase").
June : Linda McFly graduates in the Class of '84.
Saturday, October 12 : Libyan terrorist steal plutonium from the local power plant so Doc can build them a nuclear weapon . [22] It is dismissed by the FBI as a "simple clerical error". [34]
8:18 a.m. Opening titles of " Back to the Future ": all the clocks in Doc's lab are set 25 minutes slow, displayed incorrectly as 7:53 a.m.
8:25 a.m. Doc asks Marty to meet him at Twin Pines Mall at 1:15 a.m. next morning.
Marty arrives to school late then fails his audition with his band, The Pinheads , later after school.
Marty admires a black Toyota Hilux 4X4 on a flatbed truck at the Texaco gas station.
A woman asks Marty for a donation to preserve the non-functioning clock tower, handing him a flyer containing specific date and time details about the lightning strike to the clock. Marty puts the flyer in his pocket.
Biff borrows George's car. He crashes it while drinking and driving (at the same time!), and the two get into an argument about whether or not George knew about a blind spot.
Lorraine's brother Joey fails to make parole again.
12:28 a.m. Doc calls Marty to stop by at his garage to pick up his JVC camcorder .
1:16 a.m. Marty arrives at Twin Pines Mall.
1:18 a.m. Doc demonstrates Temporal Experiment #1 .
1:20 a.m. Temporal Experiment #1 proves to be a success. Einstein becomes the world's first time traveler by departing one minute into the future. (This time jump does not create a new timeline; timelines are only created by going back in time. Einstein merely moves one minute forward on Timeline 1 . The Doc states this is the case with timelines in the blackboard scene in Part II.)

The DeLorean's time circuits as they appeared one minute after the first demonstration.

1:33 a.m. Emmett Brown is shot dead by Libyan terrorists.
1:35 a.m. Marty flees from the Libyans in the DeLorean and accidentally departs 1985 for 1955 by accelerating to 88 m.p.h. His arrival there brings Timeline 2 into existence, and Timeline 1 fades from existence.

Timeline 2 [ ]

This is the timeline brought into existence by Marty's accidental time journey into 1955. It is the timeline that is current at the end of the first movie , before Doc takes Marty and Jennifer into 2015. In this timeline, George becomes an author and Biff becomes an auto detailer.

6:15 a.m. Marty McFly arrives in 1955 from Timeline 1 , on Old Man Peabody 's farm , and knocks down one of Otis Peabody's twin pine trees. After fleeing from an angry Old Man Peabody, Marty drives over to Lyon Estates, only to discover it under construction. Immediately after, the DeLorean gets depleted of plutonium, rendering it useless for time travel. Marty then hides it behind the Lyon Estates signboard, then makes it to Hill Valley on foot. [35]
8:29 a.m. Marty arrives in downtown Hill Valley, and steps into Lou's Cafe, where he meets George McFly. Biff Tannen and his gang enter shortly afterwards. As they pick on George, Marty directly witnesses his future father's inability to stand up to them, even as Biff warns George not to come back into the cafe. Goldie Wilson gives George advice on standing up for himself, but George ignores it, even as Marty hints about Goldie running for Mayor (which inspires Goldie to go for it, much to the amusement of his boss, the cafe's owner Lou Carruthers ).
Marty pushes George out of the way of Sam Baines's car and gets knocked unconscious, thus interfering with George's first meeting with Lorraine Baines. After a 9-hour sleep, Marty wakes up in Lorraine's care. She then invites him to dinner with her family. Just as they are about to offer Marty a night's stay, he suddenly runs off, leaving Lorraine's mom Stella to regard him as a "strange young man", and her dad Sam threatening to disown Lorraine if she ever has a kid acting like him.
Marty finds the young Doc Brown and shows him the time machine from thirty years in Doc’s future.
After Doc tells Marty that only "a bolt of lightning" could provide the power to make the time machine function, Marty shows him the flyer with the details of the clock tower lightning strike (which he got in 1985). The two then devise a plan to channel the lightning exactly one week from this date.
Sunday, November 6 : Doc learns that Marty has interfered with his parents' first meeting and that he and his siblings will be “erased from existence” unless Marty can get his parents together.
Monday, November 7 : Marty, assuming the name " Calvin Klein ", goes to Hill Valley High School to try and get George and Lorraine together, but she has developed a crush on Marty instead of George. Biff is not amused by this development.
1:21 a.m. Marty, in a radiation suit as " Darth Vader from the planet "Vulcan", visits George to try and make him take Lorraine to the dance that Saturday.
George reports his weird alien experience to "Calvin," telling him that Darth Vader said he would melt his brain if he failed to ask out Lorraine. After George helps Marty open a Pepsi bottle, they go into the cafe, where George talks with Lorraine. The plan is successful at first, until Biff and his gang interfere. Biff and his gang chase Marty around Courthouse Square , and Marty improvises a skateboard to escape. Lorraine ignores George in favor of Marty. Biff’s car has its first recorded encounter with a manure truck.
After fitting the DeLorean with a detachable pole and hook (directed into the flux capacitor when attached), Doc uses a model of the town — plus a wind-up toy car and a live electric cable — to demonstrate to Marty the plan on getting him back to the future. Immediately after, Lorraine arrives, having followed Marty, asking him to take her to the dance, much to Marty's empathy.
Wednesday, November 9 : George and Marty come up with a plan for Saturday night that will see George become a "fighter" for Lorraine Baines.
Afternoon. Biff picks up his car from Western Auto , and is billed $302.57 — much to his shock. After an argument with Terry the mechanic, Biff approaches Lorraine, who, accompanied by Babs, has just picked up her dress for the dance from Ruth's Frock Shop (near Western Auto). As he boasts to her that he will marry her someday, she rebuffs his advances: "I wouldn’t be your girl even if you had a million dollars". Biff then jumps into his car to drive home and get ready for the evening. There is nobody with him.
Marty observes that Dave, and then Linda, have disappeared from his photograph from the future, indicating that the current timeline has already changed into a timeline in which they will never be born. He looks noticeably concerned.
9:00 p.m. Marty borrows Doc’s car to take Lorraine to the dance, but Biff steals her away. As 3-D, Match and Skinhead lock Marty inside the trunk of Reginald 's car , they have a brief altercation with the band. Given the keys fell inside the trunk, Marvin is forced to use a screwdriver to open it, cutting his hand in the process. George arrives while Marty is suddenly absent. George punches Biff before he has his way with Lorraine, but she hasn’t fallen for him quite yet. George and Marty have more to do before Marty’s future is restored, and Marty’s photo proves it. Marty himself begins to be "erased from existence."
9:28 p.m. As Marvin's injured hand prevents him from playing guitar , Marty subs up for him on stage. While George and Lorraine are finally beginning to enjoy themselves at the dance, Dixon cuts in. George nevertheless takes what is rightly his and the future Mr. and Mrs. McFly finally share their first kiss. The timeline in which George's and Lorraine's three children were never born has been averted, as Marty observes from his photo. Marvin asks if Marty would like to do one more number, and he plays " Johnny B. Goode " (leading Marvin to phone his cousin Chuck about "that new sound you've [Chuck] been looking for"). Before parting with his young future parents, Marty offers them additional advice in order to assure he will have a nice life back in 1985. [36]
9:57 p.m. A gust of wind blows down a tree branch, snapping the lightning cable.
10:00 p.m. As Doc Brown tries reconnecting the cable, Marty attempts to tell him about the future, only to be interrupted by the clock striking 10 (for the last time!). With less than 4 minutes left, Doc then tells Marty to get into the DeLorean and drive it to the starting line, where Marty attaches the hooked pole into the flux capacitor.
10:02 p.m. While reconnecting the cable, Doc breaks part of the Courthouse building's ledge just below the clock face.
10:04 p.m. Lightning strikes the Hill Valley Courthouse, sending Marty in the DeLorean back to 1985 via a complex utilization of the energy of the lightning strike itself devised by Doc Brown, and thanks to Marty’s precise foreknowledge of this local historic event. There are no reported immediate witnesses to this event. Doc celebrates sending Marty back to the future.
10:05 p.m. The young Doc Brown returns home, unnoticed, having witnessed the earliest successful demonstration of time travel in human history. He is carrying a note Marty has handed him in lieu of verbal information about his own future, but is hesitant about reading it. While he has torn it up, he does not discard it. Doc must wait almost three decades before acquiring the technology required to build the device he has just seen with his own eyes, and is careful enough not to further interfere with McFly family events as they unfold over the next decades (see Timeline 1 above for these events, which are for the most part unaltered (although the McFly family is more affluent as a result of George being more assertive over the next 30 years); and will also occur as part of Timeline 7 below).
Thursday, March 15 : George McFly wins an award for his writing.
Date unknown : 8-year-old Marty accidentally sets fire to the living room rug. His parents supposedly do go easy on him in this timeline.
1:24 a.m. Marty B arrives from 1955 in DeLorean B, crashing into the front of the Assembly of Christ church (formerly the Town Theater ). Immediately after, the DeLorean's engine fails, forcing Marty to run from Courthouse Square over to Lone Pine Mall — just as the Libyans drive by on their way there.
1:33 a.m. Doc is shot by the Libyans in front of Marty A. Witnessing this and hearing his A counterpart's scream, Marty B is even more horrified at having arrived too late to save Doc.
1:35 a.m. Fleeing from the Libyans, Marty A accelerates DeLorean A to 88 m.p.h., disappearing through time for 1955. Blinded and disoriented, the Libyans lose control of their van, crashing into and totaling a Fox Photo stand.
Marty B, much to his relief, finds out Doc survived because he was forewarned by the note Marty gave Doc just moments ago in 1955 about the Libyans (and that Doc finally had the courage to read in his long interim). (Before anyone comes to investigate the crash of the Libyans' van into the Fox Photo stand, Doc drives his truck away from Lone Pine Mall, taking Marty to Courthouse Square for him to retrieve the DeLorean from the Assembly of Christ building before any witnesses arrive downtown. With no charges lodged, Marty and Doc then drive the DeLorean and the truck, respectively — back to the lab.)
Sometime later that morning. Doc takes Marty back to his home , and then travels with Einstein to 2015 on this timeline. As Doc and Einstein travel forward 30 years along this timeline, the next 30 years of timeline 2 are revealed below.
10:28 a.m. Marty awakes from a badly-needed night’s rest to discover he has a much-improved family life and circumstances, including ownership of a black Toyota 4X4. His father also seems to have become an author (see below).
Jennifer arrives to see the new 4x4. Marty and Jennifer finally kiss and presumably take it up to the lake .
Biff wants to show Marty his new Biff's Auto Detailing matchbook he has just had printed. Marty and Jennifer may or may have not left at that point.
Sunday, October 27 : Marty races Needles and crashes into a Rolls-Royce , causing his future to be rotten (see entries below).
October/November : George McFly's first novel, A Match Made in Space , is published. The cover alludes to young George, young Lorraine, and " Darth Vader " (Marty's radiation suit, utilized as a costume in 1955).
Date unknown : Roberta Needles , older daughter of Douglas, is born.
Date unknown : Marty and Jennifer are married at the Chapel O' Love .
Date unknown : Amy Needles , younger daughter of Douglas, is born.
Date unknown : Marlene McFly is born to Marty and Jennifer McFly.
Date unknown : Griff Tannen is born to Biff Tannen Jr. and an unknown woman.
Date unknown : Rafe "Data" Unger , future gang member of Griff's, is born.
Date unknown : Leslie "Spike" O'Malley , future gang member of Griff's, is born.
Date unknown : Chester "Whitey" Nogura , future gang member of Griff's, is born.
Date unknown : Marty McFly Jr. is born to Marty and Jennifer McFly.
Date unknown : Bottoms Up! , a plastic surgery place, opens in Courthouse Square.
Date unknown : The Hill Valley Telegraph closes or sells its printing and news-gathering operations to USA Today to create a HILL VALLEY EDITION of the nationwide newspaper.
Date unknown : Invention of hover conversion , Mr. Fusion , the Black & Decker hydrator , hoverboards , power-lacing shoes , auto-adjusting and auto-drying jackets , skyways , rejuvenation clinics , suspended animation kennels , automated gas stations , automatic dog-walkers , portable thumb units , multi-channel video screens , hovercams (as used by USA Today ) and scene screens (which in the McFly residence shows The Scenery Channel ).
Date unknown : The United States abolishes the trade of lawyers and replaces them with data-courts , allowing the justice system to move with far greater speed and efficiency.
Date unknown : With the justice system operating more quickly and efficiently, the courthouse is converted into Hill Valley Courthouse Mall, complete with a glass center facade. Thanks to the continuing efforts of the Hill Valley Preservation Society , the 130-year-old (as of 2015) clock remains stuck at 10:04 (along with the burnt lightning rod above it and the damaged ledge below it).
Date unknown : The National Weather Service develops the ability to control the weather, being able to either end or predict the end of rainfall to the exact second.
Date unknown : Relations with Vietnam improve and now there are promotions to surf there.
Date unknown : Pepsi introduces Pepsi Perfect , a vitamin enriched cola (Marty orders this from a video waiter at the Cafe 80's ).
Date unknown : Pizza Hut introduces the dehydrated pizza that Lorraine McFly cooks in the hydrator.
Date unknown : Grays Sports Almanac is published.
Date unknown : Statler Toyota moves to another location in Hill Valley. Their former spot in Couthouse Square becomes a Pontiac dealership .
Date unknown : A woman becomes President of the United States (she is mentioned in the 2015 newspaper).
Doc spends an unknown amount of time in 2015 and later. While he's there, he places Einstein in a suspended animation kennel, outfits the time machine with a Mr. Fusion and a hover conversion, undergoes personal rejuvenation surgery, and learns as much as he can about Marty Jr.'s meeting with Griff on the 21st. Eventually, Doc leaves for 1985 to fetch Marty and Jennifer. This creates Timeline 3 which begins at the Doc's entry point of 1985 and timeline 2 fades away.
Date unknown : Jaws 19 debuts at the theater: this time, it's really really personal.
The Chicago Cubs win the World Series .
Marty Jr. is pushed by Griff to participate in robbing the Hill Valley Payroll Substation on 8th Street.
The 47-year-old Marty, dared by Needles , illegally lets Needles scan his CusCo credit card , and subsequently is fired by Ito Fujitsu in typical real-estate mogul fashion: "Read my fax !"
1:28 a.m. Marty Jr. attempts to rob the Hill Valley Payroll Substation and is apprehended by police. [37]
Two hours later : Marty Jr. is tried, convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Friday, October 23 : Queen Diana visits Washington .
Wednesday, October 28 : Marlene McFly attempts to break her brother out of jail. She is sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Thursday, October 22 : Marty Jr. is scheduled to be released from prison in the California State Penitentiary .
Wednesday, October 28 : Marlene is scheduled to be released from prison in the California State Penitentiary .

Timeline 3 [ ]

This is the timeline which Doc brings into existence by traveling to 1985 to seek Marty and Jennifer's help. In this timeline, the fate of the McFly children ought to have been greatly improved. Unfortunately, "Old" Biff's stealing the DeLorean and traveling back to 1955 retroactively changes the events of this timeline and bring Timeline 4 into existence instead. Biff quickly returns the DeLorean to 2015 undetected (before any past alterations have taken place), and Doc, Marty and Jennifer depart moments before it fades away. It is implied that Doc would bring both Marty and Jennifer back to 1985 after the future excursion, due to their future selves still existing and appropriately aged in 2015.

Doc returns from 2015, sans Einstein, and crashes the DeLorean into the garbage cans in the McFlys' driveway. Doc then informs Marty that "something has got to be done about (his) kids." Doc then proceeds to take Marty (and Jennifer by circumstance) forward along this new timeline to 2015.
Biff Tannen, wanting to show Marty the matchbooks he had printed for his auto detailing business, witnesses the DeLorean hovering briefly before taking off for the future. He will remember this for the next 30 years.
4:29 p.m. Doc, Marty and Jennifer arrive in 2015 to save Marty Jr. from Griff. Marty poses as Marty Jr. and turns down Griff's proposal. After the hoverboard chase which ensues, only Griff and his gang are arrested for damaging the courthouse. At some point Marty acquires a Grays Sports Almanac with the intention of using it to his advantage once he returns to his own decade.
Doc returns to pick up Marty, having retrieved Einstein from his suspended animation kennel, and witnesses Marty's success in changing his family's future, as indicated on his newspaper changing due to the ripple effect.
Old Biff, age 78, who has been waiting for this opportunity for three decades, steals the DeLorean and heads back to 1955 with Marty’s sports almanac, which Doc angrily threw into a convenient trash receptacle, bringing Timeline 4 into existence six decades in the past.
Jennifer, rendered unconscious due to her non-necessity in saving Marty Jr., is taken to her future home. There, she hides in a closet and witnesses Marty's future family life. She witnesses Marty getting fired from his job and receives a fax about it. She attempts to escape the house, but encounters her 2015 counterpart and faints. Doc takes her out of the house safely.
Biff returns the DeLorean to 2015 shortly thereafter without Doc and Marty immediately noticing. He is able to do this because his younger self is not immediately able to act on the knowledge contained in the almanac, so the past remains unchanged until 1958 arrives. However, Timeline 4 has been brought into existence between the time Biff leaves 1955 and returns to 2015, and collapses in pain. He fades from existence (as seen in a deleted scene) after having been presumably murdered by Lorraine in 1996. (see below)
7:28 p.m. Doc, Marty, Einstein and Jennifer depart 2015 for the "alternate 1985", bringing Timeline 5 into existence.
Date unknown : Doc returns to the suspended animation kennel to retrieve Einstein.

Timeline 4 [ ]

This is the timeline Old Biff brings into existence in 1955 by arriving from 2015 in the stolen DeLorean, almanac in hand. It is replaced with a virtually identical Timeline 5 on October 26, 1985 when Doc, Marty, Einstein and Jennifer arrive from 2015, and observe the damage Biff has accomplished.

1:40 p.m. 78-year-old Biff Tannen arrives from 2015 with Grays Sports Almanac in hand. After hiding the DeLorean in an undetermined location, he then ventures into town to locate his younger self, who has just survived an automotive encounter with a manure truck, creating a lasting memory. As old Biff recalls correctly, his younger self will have to pick up his car from Western Auto later that afternoon.
After an argument with Terry over the $302.57 bill, young Biff approaches Lorraine, who, accompanied by Babs, has just picked up her dress for the dance from Ruth's Frock Shop. As he boasts to her that he will marry her someday, she rebuffs his advances. Biff is then about to jump into his car to drive home and get ready for the evening, when he encounters an elderly stranger occupying the driver’s seat. Although the stranger is mysteriously able to start the car (which young Biff claims nobody can do except himself), Biff apparently fails to recognize him as his older self, who then informs him that "Today’s your lucky day."
Old Biff, entirely in secret, demonstrates the power of the almanac and convinces his younger self to hold on to it and "keep it locked up ". He also informs him to kill anyone who has knowledge about the almanac, specifically "some kid" or "a crazy, wild-eyed old man who claims to be a scientist" (referring to Marty and Doc, respectively).
6:38 p.m. Old Biff departs 1955 to return the DeLorean undetected, not realizing his younger self might eventually lose the almanac. Doc Brown will fail to notice Old Biff’s departure time on the time readouts in the DeLorean, having distracted himself with thoughts of women and the old West.
Thursday, March 27 : Biff Tannen, now at the legal age of 21, wins his first million on a horse race using the sports almanac, which he has managed to hold on to successfully. [26]
Wednesday, October 14 : Biff Tannen wins another large sum of money at a sports event. He is seen smiling on the cover page of the next day's edition of the newspaper, with the almanac partially visible in his pocket. [38]
Date unknown : Biff Tannen wins again and again, gaining the nickname, "The Luckiest Man On Earth." [26]

Unknown dates [ ]

As Biff's wealth tremendously increases by his continuous betting on winnings noted in the almanac (but heeding his older self's advice to keep it a secret), he invests his winning streak into a financial empire he names BiffCo , which builds, operates, and maintains nuclear power plants, toxic waste disposals, and chemical process facilities (dioxin plants, among others) in and around Hill Valley. By this, he gains power and influence over the people of Hill Valley, even acquiring the Hill Valley Police Department and taking over Lyon Estates as a BiffCo subsidiary.

During this period, Biff also attempts romantic relationships with (and even marrying) two unknown women. However, both of these marriages end in divorce (because in 1973, when a reporter asks Biff about his marriage to Lorraine McFly, he proudly states "Third time's the charm!").

Biff's former high school gang members Match, 3-D and Skinhead, become his bodyguards .

Thursday, March 15 : George McFly, apparently against BiffCo's policies [38] , is shot dead by Biff Tannen on his way to pick up his award for writing. Survived by his wife Lorraine and their children Dave, Linda, and Marty, he is buried at Oak Park Cemetery .
Date unknown : Biff marries Lorraine and becomes stepfather to Dave, Linda, and Marty. (They then move out of Lyon Estates; an African-American family - who chase Marty away in 1985, see Timeline 5 below - moves in possibly soon afterwards.) Having been twice-divorced from both of his previous wives (see "Unknown dates" above), Biff is convinced that his marriage to his former high school rival's widow is the one that will last. However, Lorraine - missing George terribly - is not entirely thrilled with this idea.
Date unknown : Biff Tannen's lobbying is successful as the state of California (or perhaps all of the United States) legalizes gambling. [26]
Date unknown : The Clock Tower, described as "Hill Valley's dilapitated courthouse", is re-built as Biff's Pleasure Paradise Hotel and Casino.
Date unknown : Hill Valley High School is burnt down.
Date unknown : As Marty enters High School, Biff, his stepfather, ships him off to boarding school in Switzerland.
Sunday, May 22 : Doc Brown is committed after being declared legally insane. Richard Nixon announces he will run for a fifth term in office, vowing to end the Vietnam War by 1985. BiffCo's representatives announce that the company is going to build a new dioxin plant in Hill Valley. [38]
Date unknown : Something causes Biff's death, but exact details are unknown. (A theory suggested by the Bobs says that Lorraine found out Biff had killed George, and shot him out of revenge.) This would seem to have the effect of erasing Old Biff from existence in 2015, as depicted in a scene deleted from BTTF Part II .

Timeline 5 [ ]

This is the alternate timeline brought into existence when Marty, Doc, Jennifer and Einstein return from 2015. This is referred to by Doc as 1985A , which is depicted in BTTF Part II . The key difference between this timeline and Timeline 4 is the simultaneous presence of two Martys (his doppelganger overseas at boarding school), two Docs (his doppelganger committed to a mental institution and unable to invent the time machine) and the alternate Einstein and Jennifer, the latter whom is still unconscious from what she has witnessed in 2015 (their 1985A doppelgangers, if they have any, are never seen or mentioned).

9:00 p.m. Doc, Marty, Einstein and Jennifer arrive back from 2015. As Doc and Marty leave Jennifer on her porch swing, Marty's first indication of something not being right are the bars he notices on the Parker residence's windows. (There is also a wrecked car in the driveway, which neither he nor Doc notice.)
After Doc drives Marty to (what are thought to be in the "normal" timelines as) his home, Marty is chased away by an African-American family living there. Immediately afterwards, he ventures into another part of town, only to discover the ruins of Hill Valley High School, which had been destroyed by fire 6 years before (see Timeline 4 above). Then after a not-so-pleasant (and violent) encounter with (former) Principal Strickland, Marty finally discovers the biggest radical change into Hill Valley: Biff's Pleasure Paradise Hotel and Casino built over the Clock Tower courthouse - complete with the Biff Tannen Museum: dedicated to "Hill Valley's #1 Citizen and America's Greatest Living Folk Hero". Marty also runs into his older brother Dave, now a heavily-drinking bum.
Upon discovering even more nightmarish changes to the town - and now his family's - history, Marty is caught by Match, Skinhead and 3-D, who then knock him unconscious.
12:00 a.m. After a 2-hour sleep, Marty wakes up with a shock at how his mother Lorraine had also changed with the time - and is even more horrified to discover that she was now married to Biff. Not understanding what has been going on and upset at no one being able to explain anything, Marty then asks his mother where his father George is: he had died 12 years before and is buried at Oak Park Cemetery. The only relief Marty gets from this "nightmare" is Doc arriving at the cemetery to pick him up.
In his now-abandoned and messy lab, Doc explains to Marty what has happened in the past with Biff and the almanac from the evidence Biff has carelessly left behind, but he has no way of knowing when and where the transfer occurred.
Returning to Biff's Casino undetected, a courageous Marty confronts Biff about his secret document and easily extracts the needed information from the smug mogul. Biff, recalling the advice given by his future self, grabs his gun to kill Marty. A chase with Match, Skinhead and 3-D naturally ensues. Marty successfully evades them, only to be cornered by Biff, who then admits having murdered George (using the same gun with which he intends to kill Marty). Doc then arrives with the DeLorean just in time, knocking Biff out and rescuing Marty.
2:42 a.m. Doc and Marty then head back to 1955 to put back on track the history they remember. Much to Marty's worry, they leave Jennifer asleep in her porch and Einstein in Doc's lab, but Doc assures Marty that they will not be erased when 1985A is. At this point, Timeline 5 fades away, to be replaced by the nascent Timeline 6 .

Timeline 6 [ ]

This is the key timeline brought into existence when Doc and Marty arrive in 1955 to relieve Biff of his newly acquired almanac from the future, thus preventing Timeline 4 and Timeline 5 from coming into existence, but without disturbing Timeline 2 as Marty has previously accomplished. This is the timeline that is depicted in the "1955" part of Back to the Future Part II . For purposes of clarification, this timeline can be thought of as a "patched" version of Timeline 2, with double Docs and Martys. It bears noting that for several hours during this day, three instances of Doc’s DeLorean are present in Hill Valley simultaneously.

6:00 a.m. Doc and Marty arrive from 1985 ( Timeline 5 ) in a DeLorean technologically improved than the one (with depleted plutonium) in which the younger Marty has already arrived ( Timeline 2 ). Doc advises Marty against interfering with young Biff’s initial acquisition of the almanac, so that old Biff will return the DeLorean to 2015 thinking he's succeeded.
1:40 p.m. Old Biff arrives (in yet another instance of the DeLorean) from 2015 ( Timeline 3 ) with the almanac. He then locates his younger self later that day at Western Auto, picking up his car - and having an argument with Terry over the $302.57 repair bill. As this goes on, Marty smuggles himself into the back seat of Biff's car.
Lorraine, accompanied by Babs, picks up her dress for the dance from Ruth's Frock Shop. As young Biff boasts to her that he will marry her someday, she rebuffs his advances. Biff is then about to jump into his car to drive home and get ready for the evening, when he encounters an elderly stranger occupying the driver’s seat. Although the stranger is mysteriously able to start the car, Biff apparently fails to recognize him as his older self, who then informs him that "Today’s your lucky day."
Marty, hiding in the back seat of the car, is an intimate witness to Old Biff’s demonstration of the power of the almanac, but he heeds Doc's advice not to interfere. Young Biff tells his older self he’ll "...take a look at it."
6:38 p.m. : Thinking he’s done enough to change the future, and intending to escape detection, Old Biff departs in the DeLorean to the same moment he departed in 2015.
9:28 p.m. Marty retrieves the Sports Almanac from an unconscious Biff (after having been punched by George - see Timeline 2 ), while Doc departs the Lyon Estates construction site to fly towards the roof of Hill Valley High School.
A more mature and foreknowledgeable Marty fights off Match, Skinhead and 3-D and keeps them from jumping the naive Marty (from Timeline 2 ), allowing the events of that timeline to occur as they had before (i.e., as Marty recalls it from his point of view). Marty avoids any direct contact with his day younger self, until he loses the almanac to Biff again.
After much wasted time and effort, Marty ultimately retrieves the almanac from Biff’s car. Biff, who has not paid for the $300 repairs after his first wreck, crashes his '46 Ford a second time, an event that has never happened in any previous timeline. Burning the almanac causes this timeline to fade back to closely match Timeline 3 , making Old Biff's visit to the past mostly inconsequential, except for Biff's extra encounters with Marty. Marty and Doc are able to visually confirm the erasure of 1985A from items they’ve retrieved from that alternate future.
9:44 p.m. The hover-converted DeLorean from 2015 and 1985-A, with Doc on board, gets unexpectedly struck by lightning just outside Lyon Estates and sent back to January 1, 1885 due to an on-board malfunction Doc neglected to correct. This brings Timeline 7 into existence, seven decades further in the past. [39]

Timeline 7 [ ]

This is the timeline Doc and Marty exist in, separated by 7 decades of time, at the end of Back to the Future Part II and the beginning of Part III (before Marty’s trip back to 1885). It is a timeline in which Doc lives in 1885, without Marty, for only eight months and almost seven days, and is shot by Buford Tannen .

It seems the careful Doc's presence has little impact on known history (until 1955 when his DeLorean is unearthed), this timeline is nearly identical to Timeline 2 with Timeline 6 .

Because of Doc's unintended trip to 1885, there are four DeLorean time machines that exist on November 12, 1955 in this timeline, because this is a timeline where a DeLorean has been stored in a mine for more than 70 years. Even as 1955 Doc is planning to send DeLorean "A" back to the future, 2015 Biff has brought DeLorean "B" with an almanac inside, and 1985 Doc and Marty have brought DeLorean "C" to retrieve the almanac -- there is DeLorean "D" inside the Delgado Mine.

12:00 a.m. Dr. Emmett Brown accidentally arrives from 1955 ( Timeline 6 ). The DeLorean 's time circuits have been scrambled and shorted out by an overload caused by the lightning bolt, rendering the car useless for time travel and stranding Doc in the past. The overload also permanently damages the car's flying circuits, disabling its hover-conversion feature for good.
Stranded in 1885, Doc settles in Hill Valley, where he sets himself up as a blacksmith. He then tries improvising methods in attempting repairs on the DeLorean, only to realize that most of the technology he needs will not be available until the next century (i.e. suitable replacement parts for the time circuits yet to be invented around 1947 at the earliest.) Nevertheless, Doc becomes adept at shoeing horses and repairing wagons, alongside his own experiments using the primitive technology available for the time.
With the DeLorean's time circuit control microchip shorted out by the lightning bolt, Doc writes detailed instructions (including drawing schematic diagrams) on rebuilding it with 1955-era vacuum tubes and transistors. (In a sense, 1985 Doc teaches his younger self how to repair the time machine.) He then places these in the DeLorean before burying it in the Delgado Mine , where he hopes it will remain undisturbed and preserved until his younger self and Marty unearth it 70 years hence.
Blacksmith Emmett Brown is hired by Buford Tannen to shoe Buford's horse, but is not paid. After getting thrown off his horse and breaking a bottle of whiskey , Buford blames Doc for the accident and demands a total of eighty dollars from him; five dollars for the whiskey and seventy-five dollars for the horse, which was shot.
Saturday, July 4 : Doc passes out after drinking one shot of whiskey at the 4th of July celebrations.
Saturday, August 29 : There is a meeting of the townspeople over who will pick up the new schoolteacher on September 4 . Doc volunteers.
Tuesday, September 1 : Having lived in 1885 for 8 months [20] , Doc writes a letter to be delivered personally by Western Union to Marty McFly on November 12 , 1955 exactly at 9:45 p.m. to the exact stretch of road he was hovering above when he was struck by lightning.
Friday, September 4 : A train pulls into Hill Valley Station, carrying the new clock for the courthouse - and Clara Clayton aboard as a passenger. Doc meets her at the platform and brings her to the schoolhouse, where the two fall in love. Unknowingly, Doc also prevents Clara's death that day, and Shonash Ravine is never renamed Clayton Ravine in her memory.
Saturday, September 5 : The Hill Valley Festival . A photographer takes a portrait of Doc posing next to the new courthouse clock (this photo is discovered by Marty and young Doc in 1955 at the library). While Doc dances with Clara, Buford Tannen shoots Doc in the back because he never paid Buford the eighty dollars.
Monday, September 7 : Doc dies of the bullet wound Tannen caused, and is buried in Boot Hill Cemetery - which is fittingly adjacent to Delgado Mine, where the DeLorean (with repair instructions) is safely buried. Clara, grief-stricken over the loss of her man, erects a headstone on his grave in eternal memory of him.
9:45 p.m. A vehicle driven by a Western Union agent arrives at the entrance to Lyon Estates. The agent delivers to Marty, on time at that specified location, in the pouring rain, the letter Doc dispatched in 1885. (This event in Timeline 6 is created by a ripple effect transforming Timeline 6 into Timeline 7)
10:05 p.m. Lightning having just struck the clocktower, Marty scares the young Doc by "returning" on foot seconds after Doc sent the younger Marty back to the future, in effect creating an unexpected closed loop (from the young Doc’s point of view). Doc utters "Great Scott!" and suddenly faints. Marty drives the unconscious Doc back to his house in Doc's car.
7:01 a.m. : Young Doc reads the soggy old letter his 30-year-older self wrote seventy years in the past.
Marty insists on going back to 1885 to rescue his friend.
Tuesday, November 15 : Doc repairs and "soups up" the unearthed DeLorean, building a new time circuit with vacuum tubes and transistors. He also fits the DeLorean with new whitewall tires , and installs fresh oversized batteries on his and Marty's walkie talkies.
10:00 a.m. Marty leaves 1955 and heads back to 1885 to rescue Doc. This would be the DeLorean's last trip through time on its own power. This act initiates the ultimate timeline, Timeline 8 . Young Doc is left behind in this timeline undisturbed to wait a few decades until the DeLorean is built, and avoids further contact with the McFlys until the 1980s as outlined above ( Timeline 1 and Timeline 2 ). [40]

Timeline 8 [ ]

This timeline comes into existence when Marty arrives in 1885, to try to prevent the events that led to Doc's death in Timeline 7 at the hands of Buford Tannen. It is this timeline in which Doc and Marty appear for most of Back to the Future Part III . It is also the final timeline depicted in the trilogy, as the DeLorean will no longer travel backwards in time. Since Marty chooses not to race Needles upon his return to 1985, the future is changed once again, and the alternate futures Doc and Marty have experienced in Timeline 2 and Timeline 3 are erased by this timeline. Note: Two DeLoreans exist in this timeline for five days in 1885, from September 2 when Marty arrived, until September 7 when he departed for 1985.

8:00 a.m. Marty McFly arrives in 1885 to rescue Doc from impending doom. Native American Horseback-archers , who were on the run of the Federal Forces, shoot the DeLorean's fuel line, damaging it and leaving the car with no fuel at all. Marty then hides the DeLorean in a cave, but on fleeing from an angry bear living there, he runs across the desert, then falls down a hill, getting knocked out upon hitting a fence outside McFly farm.
Later that day. After a 6-hour sleep, Marty wakes up in the care of his ancestors Seamus , Maggie , and William McFly , assuming the name " Clint Eastwood ". Seamus and Maggie invite Marty to stay for dinner, then offer him a night's stay.
After riding out with Seamus down the railroad track, Marty arrives in Hill Valley, and upsets Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, great grandfather of Biff Tannen , at the Palace Saloon, causing Tannen to nearly hang Marty. Doc saves Marty in time. Marty informs Doc of his impending death involving Buford and his infatuation with Clara Clayton . Aware that he will fall in love with Clara and worried about changing his future, Doc decides not to pick her up, as he has already volunteered to do five days ago. He and Marty then decide to leave 1885 and go back to 1985, but Marty notes about the DeLorean's damaged fuel line, realizing that there's no way to get the car up to 88 mph without gasoline, which will not be available until the next century.
With 6 horses, Doc and Marty ride out to the cave where Marty hid the DeLorean. They attempt to get it to up 88 mph on the way back to Hill Valley, but this proved unsuccessful as Doc explains that even the fastest horses in the world can reach nowhere near that speed.
Doc tries using whiskey as fuel for the DeLorean's engine, but this only blows the fuel injection manifold, rendering the car completely powerless. He and Marty then think of various alternative methods to get the DeLorean up to 88 mph, but none of them seem practical.
A train pulls into Hill Valley Station, carrying the new clock for the courthouse - and Clara aboard as a passenger. This gives Doc and Marty the idea of borrowing the locomotive to push the DeLorean. (They fail to recognize Clara standing behind them at the platform, waiting to be picked up. With no one to meet her, she then rents two horses and a wagon from Joe Statler, then sets out to find the schoolhouse on her own.)
Doc and Marty ride out to Carson Spur, near the incomplete Shonash Ravine Bridge, ultimately deciding it is the perfect stretch of level track on which to push the DeLorean up to 88 mph with the locomotive just before they reach the edge of the ravine (over which the completed bridge would then exist upon arriving back in 1985).
As Doc and Marty survey the bridge (which is scheduled for completion the following year), Clara's wagon runs away after a snake spooks the horses pulling it. Doc then comes to her rescue, saving her life. It is love at first sight. Much to Marty's horror, he and Doc realize that they unknowingly altered future history, resulting in Shonash Ravine not being re-named in memory of Clara. Marty nevertheless insists on getting the DeLorean ready to get them back to the future.
After fitting the DeLorean with flanged steel railroad wheels, Doc uses a makeshift model railroad to demonstrate to Marty the plan on getting them back to the future. Immediately after, Clara arrives, asking Doc to repair her telescope, which had been damaged when it fell off the wagon during the rescue the day before. Doc, agreeing to perform the repair job without charge, becomes even more smitten with her.
Evening. The Hill Valley Festival . Doc and Marty have a photograph taken, posing next to the new courthouse clock (this photo is given to Marty in 1985 by Doc at the spot where the DeLorean was destroyed by a locomotive near Eastwood Ravine). Later on, while Doc and Clara dance, Buford Tannen arrives and attempts to shoot Doc, but Marty interferes and saves him. Buford, angered by Marty's action, calls him " yellow ", challenging him to a duel on Monday morning. Aiming to prove himself to Buford that he isn't "yellow", Marty agrees to the face-off, setting it for 8 a.m. that morning.
7:00 a.m. Marty wakes up. After being confronted by Doc about the dangers of fighting Buford, Marty checks his photograph of the tombstone from 1955, and gets a shock. The future of timeline 8 in which Doc is killed is replaced by one in which Marty, aka "Clint Eastwood", is likely to be killed.
Evening. Doc and Marty haul the DeLorean out to Carson Spur, where they unload the car onto the tracks in preparation for their trip back to the future. Later that night, while an exhausted Marty sleeps, Doc tells Clara the truth and says goodbye to her, but she doesn't believe him. Both are broken-hearted: Doc heads back to town and gets a drink at the Palace Saloon, while Clara prepares to leave Hill Valley.
Buford and his gang rob the Pine City stage.
8:00 a.m. Marty has a showdown scheduled with Buford Tannen outside Palace Saloon. Marty and Doc escape through the saloon's back door when Buford spots Marty, and again calls him "yellow". Marty still decides not to face Buford, showing an incredible amount of growth from a mere day earlier, and is about to walk away when Buford and his gang get a hold of Doc and threaten to shoot him.
A train pulled by Locomotive 131 pulls into Hill Valley Station. Clara, deeply upset over losing Doc, then boards it before it departs for San Francisco.
Marty decides to face Buford, who then shoots Marty in the chest. Using a trick learned from the Clint Eastwood movie A Fistful of Dollars (which was being watched by Biff in 1985A, in timeline 5), Marty survives, much to Buford's surprise. Marty then throws several punches at Buford, finally knocking him face-first into a manure cart, to the delight of the townspeople.
Buford and his gang are arrested for the robbery of the Pine City stage.
Taking one last look at the photo of the tombstone, Marty and Doc are relieved as it disappears (after having been damaged from Marty's punch-out with Buford). The future of timeline 8 in which Marty is killed is replaced by one in which both Doc and Marty survive. They then head off to the railroad line to follow the train that had just departed.
Meanwhile, on board the train, Clara overhears a passenger talking about the heartsick Doc; her belief restored, she stops the train and jumps off to find him. She discovers clues at the blacksmith shop and rides on horseback towards Carson Spur . She must reach Doc before he vanishes forever.
Doc and Marty ride after the train which had just left Hill Valley earlier that morning. They then stop it just before it hits the switchtrack with Carson Spur, then hijack its locomotive to push the DeLorean up to 88 mph toward Shonash Ravine so they may both go back to the future ( 1985 ). Marty succeeds in doing so, but Doc, who has gone to Clara's rescue on the accelerating locomotive, is forced to stay behind with her - keeping the hoverboard and one of the walkie talkies. Since "Clint" was observed stealing the locomotive and is presumed to have gone down with it, he enters the town's folklore as the man who beat Mad Dog Tannen, and Shonash Ravine is renamed Eastwood Ravine.
9:00 a.m. Marty finally departs 1885. This is the DeLorean's last ever trip through time.
Tuesday, December 15 : Doc and Clara are married. [41]
Date unknown : Doc and Clara's elder son, Jules Eratosthenes Brown, is born. [42]
Monday, October 29 : Doc and Clara's younger son, Verne Newton Brown , is born. [43]
Date unknown : Doc finishes building his second time machine , out of a steam locomotive, and he, Clara, Jules and Verne make a trek to 1985.
11:00 a.m. Marty McFly returns from 1885. Almost immediately after, Marty jumps out of the stopped DeLorean just before it is demolished head-on by a diesel locomotive approaching the Eastwood Ravine Bridge in the opposite direction.
On foot, Marty returns to Lyon Estates to see everything - his home, his family and all - back to normal (as per Timeline 2 ), much to his delight! He then drives over to Jennifer's house in his Toyota 4x4 to check on her: she is just as Doc predicted.
In a virtuosic display of uncharacteristic self-restraint, Marty decides not to race Needles, and avoids crashing into a Rolls Royce, thus erasing the future experienced in Timeline 2 . Jennifer surprises Marty with the fax she retrieved from 2015 in that very timeline, and as it "ripples" into a blank sheet of paper, she discovers the hidden truth about time travel, exclaiming: “It erased!”
Marty takes Jennifer to the DeLorean's crash site. Shortly after, Doc, Clara and their sons arrive in their time locomotive to briefly check up on Marty and Jennifer, to retrieve Doc's dog, Einstein (who was not erased by the timeline as Doc predicted), and to present them with a souvenir: the Courthouse Clock photo (with Doc AND Marty together!). As Jennifer shows Doc the blank fax, he dispenses some sound advice about its significance. Then finally, after giving Marty and Jennifer a parting advice on making their future a good one (with Marty promising they will), Doc activates the locomotive's time circuits, flux capacitor, and hover-conversion - and then he, Clara, their children, and Einstein depart for times and places unknown. This is where the Back to the Future trilogy's depiction on film ends.

Marty's Timeline [ ]

From the moment Marty steps into Doc's lab at the beginning of BTTF 1 until the moment he arrives on the railroad tracks at the end of BTTF 3, the "real world" of Hill Valley experiences an elapsed time of 2 days, 3 hours and 42 minutes*. But Marty, in a whirlwind of time travel spanning a century, experiences an elapsed time of 18 days, 8 hours and 51 minutes*.

*On October 27, 1985 at 2:00am PDT, the clocks were turned backward 1 hour to 1:00am PST.

Notes and references [ ]

↑ Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, Q&A , Back to the Future [DVD], recorded at the University of Southern California
↑ Bob Gale, "Deleted Scenes", Back to the Future Part II [DVD]
↑ Template:Cite magazine
↑ Back to the Future Part II : The money was visible in Doc's suitcase.
↑ Historical fact. See From the Earth to the Moon for details. The book is mentioned in Back to the Future Part III .
↑ based on an 1885 issue of the Hill Valley Telegraph that commemorates the 20th anniversary of the event
↑ Clara mentions this in conversation with Doc in Back to the Future Part III
↑ Historical fact. See Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea for details. The book is mentioned in Back to the Future Part III .
↑ Back to the Future Part II : Doc and Marty read the newspaper in 1955.
↑ Back to the Future Part III : The clock was seen in the background at the train station in 1885.
↑ Back to the Future Part III : Marty McFly tells the tale to Doc in 1885.
↑ Back to the Future Part III : A sign reading "scheduled completion summer 1886" can be seen next to the unfinished bridge in 1885.
↑ 13.0 13.1 Back to the Future Part III : Doc tells Marty about it in 1955.
↑ based on a mention in the BTTF novel that in 1985, Doc is 65 years old.
↑ Historical fact. See Clint Eastwood for details.
↑ as established in Back to the Future Part II , which recounts Biff's life story and "how a trip to the races on his 21st birthday made him a millionaire overnight," and shows a newspaper dated March 28, 1958 reporting on the previous day's events
↑ as seen on George's tombstone in 1985A in Back to the Future Part II ; names of parents are from the BTTF novel at page 91
↑ from DVD commentary by Bob Gale in Back to the Future
↑ Historical fact. See Calvin Klein for details.
↑ 20.0 20.1 Back to the Future Part III : Part of Doc's letter.
↑ Back to the Future . Doc tells Marty about this in the parking lot of Twin Pine Mall in 1985, and the farm is seen when Marty gets in 1955.
↑ 22.0 22.1 Back to the Future Part I . Doc tells Marty about this in the parking lot of Twin Pine Mall in 1985.
↑ Back to the Future . Lorraine tells her kids part of this story in 1985. The rest is witnessed by Marty in 1955.
↑ Historical fact. See history of Toyota for details.
↑ Historical fact. See Johnny B. Goode for details.
↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 Back to the Future Part II . Mentioned in the video presentation on the life of Biff in the Biff Tannen museum, in the alternate 1985.
↑ 27.0 27.1 Back to the Future Part I . According to newspaper clippings framed on the wall of Doc's house.
↑ Historical fact. See Tab (soft drink) for details.
↑ Historical fact. See Studebaker's exit from the auto business for details.
↑ Historical fact. See A Fistful of Dollars for details. The film is depicted in Back to the Future Part II and homaged in Back to the Future Part III .
↑ As shown on Marty's driver's license
↑ from Back to the Future
↑ Historical fact. See Caffeine-Free Pepsi for details.
↑ Back to the Future . According to a TV news program heard in the background.
↑ There are two ways to deduce the exact time Marty arrives to 1955. Short answer: The 2002 DVD features an animation showing 6:15am. Long answer: Using a sunrise calender, the sunrise for Los Angeles on Nov 5th 1955 was at 6:16 am. The entire Peabody scene plays for 2 minutes, and by the 2 minute mark when Marty leaves the ranch, the sky is already glowing from the sunrise. Although Hill Valley is set in North California, the sunrise time for Los Angeles is used. This is because in BTTF2 when Doc & Marty arrive to Nov 12, 1955 at 6:00am, Doc says "sunrise will be in approx. 22 minutes" This coincides with the actual sunrise time in Los Angeles for that date (06:22am.) However, the sun does not rise in Northern California for another 30 minutes.
↑ The timestamp can be evidenced in Back to the Future II while Doc is heading towards the high school roof.
↑ Timestamp taken from Youth Jailed newspaper in Back to the Future II
↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 Back to the Future Part II . According to a newspaper Doc showed to Marty.
↑ Page 42 of the Back to the Future part III novel shows the Last Time Departed display as 9:44 pm while Doc prepares to send the DeLorean to Sept. 2 1885.
↑ 10 AM is the time given in page 41 of the Back to the Future III novelization
↑ from the animated episode, Solar Sailors ; Doc and Clara are celebrating their anniversary on December 15, 1991, and Doc jokes that they've been married almost 106 years.
↑ conjecture from Jules being two years older than Verne, and apparently being about 9 years old when the family first leaves 1895, and conceived after his parents' marriage
↑ from the animated episode, " By Any Other Name "
1 Flux capacitor
2 Emmett Brown
3 Marty McFly

Back to the Future screenwriter says time travel has become “too convenient”

Co-writer Bob Gale explores Back To The Future’s massive influence on the time-travel genre.

Few movies have impacted the public’s perception of time travel more than Back to the Future .

Alongside co-writer and director Robert Zemeckis , Back to the Future co-writer Bob Gale crafted his vision of how time travel would actually function and what rules should apply — and those rules continue to impact our real-life understanding of time travel to this day. (Just ask Ant-Man !).

Gale tells Inverse when they set out to make Back to the Future , they deliberately wanted to make the rules of time travel clear to audiences… and to make time traveling seem difficult, keeping it from being the sole driver of the plot.

“We created a history of the McFly family that we then changed,” he explains, “but the rest of history stayed the same.”

And that, he says, is why audiences went along for the ride with them.

Back to the Future set the cinematic world on fire upon its release in 1985, grossing almost $400 million and sparking two almost-as-profitable sequels. Millions (if not billions) of people have spent time absorbing the trials and tribulations of Marty McFly and Doc Brown, along with considering the movie’s rules of time travel as real-life science.

More than three and half decades later, Inverse sat down with Gale to talk about everything he knows about the rules of time travel, Back to the Future’s impact, and our perceptions of how time travel works — even when, in his opinion, it doesn’t work as well in other films.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The Rules of Time Travel is an Inverse special issue exploring the evolution of science fiction's most imaginative sub-genre. From Marty McFly to Avengers: Endgame .

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 20: Writer Bob Gale sits inside the Delorean at the "Back To The Future" We...

Bob Gale sits inside the DeLorean at a "Back To The Future" event in 2016.

Inverse : Many people’s ideas about the rules of time travel are shaped by fictional properties — including Back to the Future . Why do you think that is?

Bob Gale : Because nobody knows. It gives you a certain level of speculation.

In Back to the Future , we made the rules pretty clear — so clear, in fact, that Alan Silvestri (our composer who also scored the last two Avengers movies) told me that the reason that they have that scene [in Avengers: Endgame ] where Ant-Man says, "So, Back to the Future's a bunch of bullshit?” was added afterward because they showed the movie to test audiences and they said, "Wait a minute. You can't do that because in Back to the Future , Marty..." So they realized they had to hit that nail right on the head.

We did too good of a job, I guess.

How did you establish your rules of time travel for Back to the Future ?

One of the things we did in Back to the Future that turned out to be really smart, if I do say so myself, is that we created a history of the McFly family that we then changed, but the rest of history stayed the same. So when you went to see Back to the Future , Ronald Reagan was president of the United States when you went into the theater, and when you came out of the theater, he was still president of the United States.

We didn't change anything about the world of the audience. We only changed the world of our fictional characters, and the audience was totally cool with going along with that version.

“There isn’t a damn thing in Blade Runner that looks like Los Angeles.”

Whereas, if we got rid of Hitler, what would the world look like? Well, that's just total speculation. If you did something like that in a movie, it would have to turn out that, even though you thought you killed Hitler, he survived the assassination attempt, everything still remained the same, and the train still stayed on that immovable track, or you'd end up in a world so entirely different that it put off the audience.

We always would plot our movies with index cards, and sometimes we really had to depend on that stuff to keep in mind, "OK, wait a minute, he's going to do this, so we'd better set this up." It was really important for us: "How do we do it? How do we make the 1885 version of a Frisbee? What have we shown before that everybody understands?”

The hoverboard came about, obviously, because of the skateboard sequence.

In the Back to the Future mythology or universe, we were always trying to say, "Let's take this element and either project it into the future or put it back into the past." One of the most fun ways to do that was with the whole town because the town almost became a character. In 1985, the town square was a parking lot, but in 1955, it was a grassy area, and in 2015, they restored it. That stuff was all based around the story of towns.

You see so many movies that go into the future, and it looks like they tore everything down and started all over again. I love the original Blade Runner , I really do, but there isn't a damn thing in Blade Runner that looks like Los Angeles . But if you were to take somebody from New York in 1955 and bring him to New York today, they would know where all the streets were, they would know how to go to Central Park, and the subways are still going to the same places. Lots of stuff has been torn down and rebuilt, but the grid of the city is exactly the way it's been for over 150 years.

“Doctor Strange basically can do anything, and that's too convenient.”

Have other writers come to you for time travel tips?

In all the various interviews that I've given, the one element that I stress above all is a lesson that people don't seem to learn — you cannot use time travel as a plot device. You can't use it as a way to get yourself out of a plot. Somebody gets killed, "Oh, we'll just go back in time and stop the bullet from reaching his heart." That's lazy writing. It's too convenient that you happen to have the technology to solve a dramatic problem like that.

That's why, in Back to the Future , we made time travel really difficult to do. You had to go 88 miles an hour, and you had to have 1.21 gigawatts of electricity. It was tricky; you couldn't just cavort around time.

That's why a lot of time travel TV series are not that successful, because after a while, the audience just kind of shrugs and says, "OK, they can travel through time and do this because the writer or the director says they can," as opposed to feeling connected or that we're discovering something through the characters.

Think about a movie like Primer , one of the best time travel movies of the last 20 years, and it was made for no money. They were honest about the concept and true to what their rules were. Then look at a movie like Looper , which I know some people think is really good, but I had a lot of problems with Looper because the premise was that the only way you could get rid of undesirable people was to send them through time, as opposed to just dumping them in an incinerator?

I mean, Doctor Strange basically can do anything, and that's too convenient. Like, "OK, you can just do a time spell, and that solves all the problems of the last Spider-Man movie?" Doctor Strange makes a spell that doesn't work right the first time and then goes, "You know what, I can fix it." I felt like saying, "Why did I watch, then?" The two hours in between weren't necessary.

Where did you first learn about time travel?

My conception of time travel came from seeing the George Pal movie adaptation of [H.G. Wells'] The Time Machine back in 1960. I was nine years old, and I had read the comic book adaptation before I saw the movie. My mother wasn't sure I should be seeing a movie that had a picture of a green monster on the poster, but nevertheless, I managed to go, and it pretty much fried my mind.

Then, I read the actual book, and from there, I discovered various time-travel science fiction, notably Ray Bradbury and Robert Heinlein. When I got older, I read Robert Silverberg, who wrote some wonderful time travel novels. Of course, the Twilight Zone was also on TV at the time, and uncharacteristic of my mother, she loved the Twilight Zone, so I would watch that with her. They did a number of fascinating time travel episodes.

It just was a fascinating idea that there was a way that you could travel through time the same way that you could travel through three-dimensional space.

Ray Bradbury's great short story A Sound Of Thunder was another one that always stayed with me. I was probably in seventh or eighth grade the first time I read that, and the idea that just stepping on a butterfly could change the outcome of the whole political movement was a pretty cool concept.

And then, of course, there were the Twilight Zone episodes where somebody would go back in time and try to prevent some historic event from happening and fail. Those are all those kinds of questions that people wonder about.

DETROIT, MI- JANUARY 14 - Interiors of the DeLorean DMC-12 from Back to the Future II is on displa...

The interior of the DeLorean DMC-12 from Back to the Future II.

When we think of time travel, we think about going forward, but something you did with Back to the Future is that you went backward — at least initially. What intrigued you about going backward?

I remember reading DC Comics, and they had a series called The Legion Of Superheroes . They'd have stories in the 30th century, and Superboy would travel to various centuries and have all these adventures with the superheroes of that era. But I always had a problem with it because it was like, "That's what you think the 30th century is going to be like."

The idea of predestination also never sat well with me, either — the idea that, no matter what you do, you're powerless because you're stuck on a track that's always going to go this direction. That kind of defeats the whole purpose of life, if you will.

So, with the idea of going backward, it makes sense that where or when you're going, you'd have an idea of what that world is going to be like. And then, of course, the inevitable question is whether you could change anything.

Before the first Back to the Future movie came out, there were time-travel movies, but there were many more afterward. How do you think Back to the Future affected the sci-fi movie market?

Time-travel movies before Back to the Future were not successful at the box office, which was one of the reasons we had such a hard time getting it made. We'd pitch this idea to people, and they'd read the script and say, "It's a great script, but time travel movies don't make any money. Forget it."

Once we proved that the right kind of time-travel movie could make money, they started making them.

The devil's advocate argument is that maybe they didn't make money because the vast majority were poorly written or just plain bad.

Well, no. Take a movie like The Final Countdown , which was pretty good. To understand it, though, it requires you to have enough knowledge of what happened at Pearl Harbor to get it. But then viewers were also in a situation where they'd see it and say, "They can't prevent Pearl Harbor because we already know that it happened."

Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future .

Did you hear anything anecdotally around the release of Back to the Future in terms of how your movie affected pitches coming into studios, movies being greenlit, or anything like that?

I'm not sure if I heard anybody specifically say that, but I would imagine that if Back to the Future hadn’t been a success, they would never have tried to make Bill & Ted .

They had a great idea with that movie because going in, you know it's a comedy about these two goofballs who don't know anything about history. So let's have a-rockin' good time with their ignorance. That worked because the audience said, "Okay, these guys are bozos, and we can get down with them."

Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future .

Would you travel through time?

There's a fun game you can play with people, and it's a good icebreaker if you're in a group of people at some event and you want to try to get to know something about them. You ask, "Say you have a time machine, and you get to take two trips. One of them is personal, and one of them is historic. Where do you go? What do you do?"

My mom was a musician. She played the violin, and in the 1940s, she had an act called Maxine and Her Men that played in various nightclubs in the St. Louis area. I would love to go back in time and catch her act. That would be a real trip to see my mom in her 20s as a virtuoso musician.

For the historic question, I used to say I want to go back to Dallas and the Kennedy assassination to find out if the shots really did come from the grassy knoll. Now, since Covid, I'd want to travel 20 years in the future and get my hands on a book about what happened in 2020. The other option is since Mark Twain is one of my literary heroes, I think it'd be cool to go back in time and catch a lecture by Mark Twain.

“People think going back in time would be so romantic, but it wouldn't be.”

People think going back in time would be so romantic, but it wouldn't be. We tried to give you a little flavor of that in the third Back to the Future because if you go back to the Old West, you can't take a hot shower. And every street would smell like horse shit. That's not really romantic.

We did the horse shit gag in Back to the Future 3 , and Marty walked around the town and saw how bad the conditions were for the Chinese people, too. We wanted to put some of that reality in there.

One of the great things about Sergio Leone’s westerns is that he always shows amputees. It's like, "That's right! That's how crude medicine was." Somebody got a bullet in their forearm, so they'd just cut it off. You see that and say, "Maybe I don't want to go to a time when they don't have penicillin or indoor plumbing."

Why do you think people love the concept of time travel?

Lots of different reasons. First of all, we're always seeing history after it’s been revised. You're hearing stories about the thing that they said happened. "This happened this way. This is what could have happened to the dinosaurs. These maybe had feathers." There's a history detective aspect to it.

There's also the thing about traveling to the future where you're wondering, "If I take this job, is it going to be okay?" You want to take a peek behind the curtain to find out if you're making the right decision or not. Everybody thinks when they're lying in bed before they go to sleep, "Dammit, why didn't I do this instead of that? Why didn't I tell that guy to go fuck himself? If I had another chance at doing that, I think I would tell him to go fuck himself."

It's just a very human thing.

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Scott Thill

Inside Back to the Future 's Novel Take on Time Travel

“[Director Robert Zemeckis] and I quickly came to the conclusion, ‘You know what? It’s not about the visual effects,'” says Back to the Future producer Bob Gale in the video. “It’s not about how long does it take them to travel through time. Because traveling through time should be instantaneous.”

Unlike other films with dizzying time-travel special effects, Back to the Future ‘s version, created with the help of Industrial Light & Magic , translated mostly into flaming tire treads, a flash of light, glowing neon and not much else.

The approach paid off: Back to the Future became one of the most successful sci-fi films in history, empowered by the manic comedy of Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd.

Win Back to the Future: 25th Anniversary Trilogy

We’re teleporting five free copies of the $80 Back to the Future: 25th Anniversary Trilogy Blu-ray collection, which hits stores Oct. 26, to five clever readers who let us know in the comments section below what they think about Back to the Future ‘s conception of time travel.

With a caveat: No one should make the argument that Eric Stoltz should have stayed in Marty McFly’s time-traveling DeLorean . That spaceship has sailed. Entries must be received by 12:01 a.m. Pacific on Oct. 27, 2010.

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Doc Brown's Entire Back To The Future Timeline Explained

Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) may be the main character of the Back to the Future trilogy, but Emmett "Doc" Brown ( Christopher Lloyd ) manages to have quite an adventure as well — one which starts before Marty's and keeps going long after Marty's is complete. In fact, none of Marty's romps through time would've ever come to pass if not for Doc's scientific curiosity, his drive to innovate, and of course, his fascination with time travel.

Although Doc Brown is never the central focus of Back to the Future , his actions often drive the story, and his journey as he bounces around in time runs the full gamut of human experience, from falling in love and having children to dying (twice) ... although not necessarily in that order. While Doc's timeline does overlap with Marty's quite a bit, they're not entirely the same, and tracing Doc's trajectory through the movies leads to some interesting places, splitting into seven separate timelines. To make sense of them, we'll start when Doc first invented time travel, and then follow him as he begins to jump back and forth through time.

Timeline A - Doc Brown gets the idea for time travel

There would be no Back to the Future trilogy without the invention of time travel, and there would be no invention of time travel without — appropriately enough — a clock. On November 5, 1955, Doc Brown decided to hang a clock over the toilet in his bathroom, and the rest was history (and the future ... and alternate history ... and alternate futures). While balancing on his toilet, Doc fell and hit his head, knocking him unconscious. When he came to, he'd had a vision of the flux capacitor, the device that makes time travel possible.

We don't know how long Doc spent translating his vision into reality, but sometime over the following 30 years, he was successful in creating a working flux capacitor, which he then set about installing in a DeLorean. Meanwhile, on November 12, a week after falling off his toilet, while Doc was likely still trying to make sense of his bathroom epiphany, the clock tower at the Hill Valley courthouse was struck by lightning. At the time, this event didn't seem related to Doc's tumble off his toilet, but eventually, they'd wind up inextricably linked.

Timeline A - Doc meets his doom

Three decades after inventing the flux capacitor, Doc finishes his time machine, but there's just one small hitch in testing it out. In order to run, his machine requires 1.21 gigawatts (perplexingly pronounced "jiga-watt" in the film) of power, which is significantly more than your average car battery can produce. Doc's solution? Just juice up the car with a little plutonium.

Of course, as Marty points out, plutonium is hardly something you can just buy at the store, but Doc has an answer for that, too. In a totally foolproof plan, Doc makes a deal with a group of Libyan terrorists to build them a bomb, steals their plutonium, and gives them a bomb casing filled with used pinball machine parts. What can possibly go wrong?

Turns out, quite a bit. In October 1985, Doc asks Marty to come help him document the first test of his time machine in the parking lot of the Twin Pines Mall, but no sooner has he conducted a successful test with his dog, Einstein, than the Libyans show up, incensed that Doc has stolen their plutonium. Marty hides, but Doc knows he's been found and braces for his fate. Sure enough, the terrorists open fire and kill Doc as a traumatized Marty looks on. Marty then tries to escape in the DeLorean, still programmed by Doc for the day he first invented time travel, bringing him back to November 5, 1955.

Timeline B - Marty meets Doc Brown back in 1955

Not long after receiving his vision of the flux capacitor and bandaging the bump on his head, Doc Brown has just decided to test out his latest mind-reading invention when there's a knock on his door. When he opens it, a kid named Marty is standing there, claiming to be from the future and asking for Doc's help returning to 1985. At first, Doc doesn't believe him, but not only does Marty know how Doc got the bump on his head, but he's carrying a videotape that shows a much older version of Doc himself, purportedly testing out a time machine.

Convinced, Doc decides to help Marty hatch a plan to get him back to the future. Doc is initially stumped by the power requirements of the time machine, saying the only thing capable of producing the necessary 1.21 gigawatts is a bolt of lightning, but Marty then informs him that he does, in fact, know exactly when and where lightning will strike — the Hill Valley courthouse clock tower, on the evening of November 12, 1955.

Timeline B - Doc sends Marty back to the future

Over the course of the next week (November 6-12, 1955), Doc spends much of his time making models of the town and fine-tuning his plan to harness a bolt of lightning into the flux capacitor. Due to the tight deadline and much to his chagrin, Doc doesn't have time to paint his model or make it fully to scale, but somehow, he muddles through.

While Doc is trying to make sure all the pieces are in place to get Marty back to the future, a wrench is thrown into his carefully laid plans when he realizes that Marty has accidentally bungled the timeline, preventing his parents from ever falling in love. Horrified at the temporal implications of what Marty has done, Doc assists Marty in making sure his parents get together before Marty is erased from existence.

After successfully matchmaking Marty's parents, Doc and Marty prepare to channel the imminent lightning strike into the DeLorean, but before Marty climbs into the car, he tries to give Doc a letter predicting his future. Furious about the possible effects that knowing his own future could have on the space-time continuum, Doc refuses to read the letter and rips it up. Marty is clearly upset, but he doesn't have time to argue. Lightning strikes, Doc's plan is successful, and Marty disappears in the DeLorean.

Timeline B - Marty's note saves the day

We don't know how long Doc carries around the ripped-up pieces of Marty's letter, but eventually, he decides to tape the torn scraps of paper back together and reads what Marty wrote. When he does, he learns that on the night Marty travels back to the future , Doc will be shot and killed by terrorists. In the letter, Marty urges Doc to "take whatever precautions are necessary to prevent this terrible disaster."

Doc takes Marty's advice to heart (although it doesn't stop him from stealing from terrorists in the first place). This time, when Doc goes to the mall to test his time machine, he wears a bulletproof vest underneath his coveralls and survives the shooting. When Marty asks him what made him change his mind about the disastrous implications for the space-time continuum, Doc gives him an extremely scientific explanation: "I decided, what the hell."

Having survived his formerly fatal encounter with the terrorists, Doc decides his next trip in the time machine should be to the future. On October 26, 1985, accompanied by his dog, Einstein, Doc sets out for the year 2015.

Timeline B - Taking a trip to 2015

When Doc first arrives in 2015, everything about the future seems great. Cars are flying, clothing is self-adjusting, and movie theaters project holograms out into the street. Doc takes full advantage of the advanced technology of the future, placing Einstein in a suspended animation kennel while he modifies the Delorean with a hover conversion and adds a Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor to circumvent the need for plutonium. He also goes shopping for new clothes, picks up a sleep-inducing alpha rhythm generator, and visits a rejuvenation clinic to receive an "all-natural overhaul," which promises to add 30 to 40 years to his life.

However, while Doc is enjoying all of the amenities the future has to offer, he learns some troubling information about Marty's kids. It turns out that Marty's son, Marty Jr., falls in with Biff's (Thomas F. Wilson) grandson, Griff, and his gang, and he's with them when they rob the Hill Valley Payroll Substation. Marty Jr. is arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Even worse, Marty's sister, Marlene, then tries to break him out of prison, and is subsequently sentenced to 20 years for her troubles. Unable to abide this future for Marty's family, Doc returns to 1985 to get Marty and change the future.

Timeline C - Doc and Marty head back to the future again

Having successfully picked up Marty and his girlfriend, Jennifer (Elisabeth Shue), from 1985, Doc pilots the now-flying DeLorean back to the future to prevent the bad choices of Marty and Jennifer's kids. Once they arrive, Jennifer quickly becomes excited with all the possibilities that time travel presents, such as getting to see her wedding, and Doc immediately knocks her out with his sleep-inducing alpha rhythm generator, saying she was asking too many questions. After stowing a sleeping Jennifer in an alley amidst packages of silicon and laserdiscs, Doc gives Marty a crash course on 2015 (kids wear their pants inside out!), then sends him forward with instructions to keep his son from getting arrested.

While Marty heads to the Cafe '80s to meet up with Griff, Doc intercepts Marty Jr. and uses the same sleep-inducing device on him to keep him from interfering in Doc's plan. Doc then goes to pick up Einstein from the suspended animation kennel. After meeting back up with Marty, Doc learns that he's purchased a sports almanac that covers the years 1950-2000. Doc berates Marty for even thinking about meddling with the timeline, and he forces him to throw the almanac away. Doc and Marty then pick up Jennifer and return to 1985.

Timeline D - 1985 is all wrong

When Doc and Marty return to 1985 from 2015, the timeline has already split thanks to Old Biff's tinkering in the past, which means that although the 1985 that Doc and Marty left had only one Doc Brown, the one they return to has two. Unfortunately, the Emmett Brown native to Timeline D has been declared legally insane and committed to the mental ward of Hill Valley Hospital by 1985.

Quickly, the Doc Brown from Timeline B, who's just arrived back from 2015, realizes that something must've happened to alter the timeline in the past, and he heads to the library to do research. Through studying old newspapers, he learns of the unfortunate fate of his Timeline D counterpart and deduces what's caused the divergence in the timeline — the sports almanac Marty purchased in 2015, which he spots in an old photo of Young Biff. As it turns out, when Marty tossed it aside in 2015, Old Biff grabbed it, stole the DeLorean, traveled to 1955, and gave it to his younger self, ensuring a future where he could become insanely wealthy.

Doc explains the concept of diverging timelines to Marty, who decides to head to Biff's massive casino hotel to confront the bully. While Marty is talking to Biff, Doc pilots the DeLorean to hover just below the roofline of the towering building, which is fortunate, since Biff forces Marty up to the roof, where he intends to kill him. Marty jumps on top of the DeLorean, and Doc uses the car's gull-wing doors to knock Biff unconscious. Armed with the correct date — once again, November 5, 1955 — Marty and Doc head back 30 years to restore the timeline.

Timeline E - There are way too many Doc Browns running around

Back in 1955 once more, Doc and Marty work together to steal the sports almanac from Biff in order to restore the timeline. While there, they also have to work to avoid their Timeline A and B counterparts, who are still living through the events of 1955 Timeline B. Doc is sure that if they encounter themselves in the past, it could have disastrous implications on the space-time continuum.

After a few failed attempts, Marty is ultimately successful in retrieving the sports almanac from Biff, grabbing it from the bully's car while riding on a hoverboard after a medium-speed chase. Marty narrowly avoids a potentially fatal crash when Doc drops a rope down to him from the flying DeLorean and pulls him to safety. Doc then tells Marty to burn the almanac, which he does, and they confirm that the timeline is restored.

However, before Doc can land the DeLorean and pick up Marty to return to 1985, the car is struck by lightning, causing the time circuits to go haywire and transport him to 1885. Back in 1955, the Timeline E version of Doc helps Marty figure out how to repair the DeLorean so that Marty can go after him. This version of Doc also dresses Marty in a truly unfortunate "cowboy" outfit, so that he'll fit in when he travels back to the Wild West.

Timeline F - Doc Brown gets stuck in 1885

After realizing what's happened and that the DeLorean has been so damaged by the lightning strike that there's no hope of repairing it enough to return to the future, Doc resigns himself to remaining in 1885. First, he hides the DeLorean in a cave, and he leaves a letter with the Western Union for Marty, telling him how to fix the time machine so he can return to the future. Doc gives the Postal Service extremely specific instructions to hold the letter for 70 years, then to deliver it to the person they'll find at a precise location at a precise date and time.

Satisfied that Marty will be okay, Doc begins building a life for himself. He becomes a blacksmith, using his futuristic scientific know-how to invent things like a mechanical refrigerator and ice maker. After establishing himself in town, Doc is asked to pick up the new schoolteacher, Clara Clayton (Mary Steenburgen), from the train station, and the two quickly fall in love.

Tragically though, not long after meeting Clara, Doc shoes a horse for Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, which later throws Tannen off, causing him to break a $5 bottle of whiskey. Tannen shoots the horse, which he values at $75, and demands Doc pay for both. Doc refuses, and in retaliation, Mad Dog shoots him in the back, killing him.

Timeline G - Marty travels to 1885 to save Doc's life

After leaving the DeLorean for Marty and becoming a blacksmith but before meeting Clara, Doc rescues Marty from Mad Dog and his gang. (They were going to hang him, partially because of the outfit that 1955 Timeline E Doc picked out for him.) Initially, Doc is irritated that Marty traveled back for him, rather than returning to 1985 as he instructed, but after learning about his death in Timeline F, he agrees to return with Marty.

However, returning to 1985 proves easier said than done, since Marty nicked a fuel line in the time machine when he arrived in 1885, and there aren't exactly an abundance of gas stations in the Wild West. Without a way to self-propel the car, Doc hatches a plan to hijack a train and use the engine to push the DeLorean up to the necessary 88 miles per hour. However, after Clara and Doc meet and fall in love, she attempts to follow Doc onto the speeding train and winds up nearly taking a catastrophic tumble onto the tracks.

Instead of joining Marty in the DeLorean, Doc makes a split-second decision to save Clara instead, missing his window to return to the future. Marty goes back to the future alone, and Doc remains in 1885 with Clara. Fortunately, before stealing the train, Doc and Marty foiled Mad Dog's plans to kill Doc, enabling Doc and Clara to live their lives free of tragedy.

Timeline G - Doc Brown's future turns out pretty great

Some time after Marty departs for the future — and destroys the train by running it into a ravine — Doc and Clara get married and have two sons, Jules and Verne. During this time, seemingly inspired by his successful attempt to use a train to help facilitate Marty's time travel, Doc acquires a new locomotive engine, converts it to steam power, and modifies it to become a time machine.

Doc, Clara, and their children ride their new time machine all through the timeline, including a trip to the future where they update the train engine with hover technology and presumably a few other upgrades as well. When Jules and Verne are a few years old, Doc and Clara decide to make a stop in 1985 to pick up Einstein and to introduce Marty to their children. Doc gives Marty a framed photograph that they took together with the Hill Valley courthouse clock back in 1885, then he departs on his train for places and times unknown.

Screen Rant

13 back to the future plot holes & time travel paradoxes (& which ones have been fixed).

Back to the Future is full of time travel plot holes and paradoxes, and while these 13 are the most apparent, some of them have actually been fixed.

Like all time travel stories, Back to the Future has several plot holes and time travel paradoxes, and these 13 are the biggest ones. Due to the nature of time travel and constantly changing timelines, Back to the Future has to keep track of a lot of small details, but some manage to slip through the cracks. Luckily, the Back to the Future trilogy has fixed some of these plot holes and paradoxes, although others are still in existence.

The Back to the Future trilogy mainly takes place in four different time periods. 1985 is the present across all three movies, while Marty and Doc travel to 1955, 2015, and 1885 throughout the trilogy. Due to the constant traversal between the past, present, and future, all kinds of alternate Back to the Future timelines are opened throughout the franchise, leading to some serious paradoxes. So, here are the 13 biggest plot holes and paradoxes from the Back to the Future series as well as which ones were fixed.

13 George & Lorraine Should Recognize Their Son As Marty McFly

One of the biggest plot holes in the Back to the Future series is that George and Lorraine McFly should have definitely realized that their son looked exactly like Calvin Klein in 1955. Although they didn't know Marty's alternate 1955 persona for long, he played a big role in both of their lives. Because of this, it is strange that neither of them ever mentioned how familiar Marty looked, although it makes sense that they wouldn't leap to the idea that Marty was a time traveler.

Related: Why Back To The Future Has Aged So Well (When So Many Scenes Haven't)

12 Marty McFly Shouldn't Have A Hairdryer In 1955

One plot hole that frequently gets brought up is that Marty McFly shouldn't have a hairdryer in 1955, although this has actually been fixed. In the first film, Marty puts on a sci-fi costume in an attempt to scare the 1955 version of George McFly. However, part of his costume is a handheld hairdryer, which shouldn't exist in 1955. The creators of Back to the Future answered this question , explaining that a deleted scene featured Marty pulling a hairdryer out of a suitcase that 1985 Doc put in the DeLorean.

11 The Clock Tower Should Work After Marty Gets Back To 1985

The broken clock tower is one of the most important elements of Back to the Future , with it ceasing to work after being struck by lightning in 1955. However, Marty and Doc change history by rerouting the lightning to Marty's DeLorean, sending him back to the future. Because of this, the clock tower should work when it is seen in Back to the Future Part II , although it is still broken for some unexplained reason.

10 Old Biff's Fate Was Never Revealed

A massive plot hole from Back to the Future Part II is that Old Biff's fate was never revealed, with him simply walking away after returning to 2015. This is another detail that is actually explained by a deleted scene. Since Old Biff gave Young Biff the sports almanac, this changed the future, meaning that Old Biff would cease to exist. Because of this, a deleted scene showed Old Biff falling over and fading away, although it was cut from the final film.

9 Marty Didn't Have To Steal The Almanac On November 12, 1955

The second half of Back to the Future Part II is pretty tense, with it following Marty as he tries to steal the sports almanac from Biff on November 12, 1955. Marty chooses this date because it is when Old Biff gives Young Biff the almanac, but choosing November 12, 1955, adds a lot of unneeded stress to the situation. Biff didn't use the almanac until several years after he got it, meaning Marty could have simply traveled to a time when it was unoccupied and taken it that way.

8 Old Biff Went Back To The Wrong 2015

Another paradox surrounding Old Biff is that he returned to his original 2015 timeline after giving Young Biff the sports almanac, but this actually shouldn't happen. Since Old Biff changed the future, 2015 should be completely different, but it looks the same when Biff returns. The creators have also explained this, saying that the timeline would either change around Old Biff or that the neighborhood he was in simply looked the same despite the timeline changes.

7 Old Marty & Old Jennifer Shouldn't Exist In 2015

Back to the Future Part II introduce Old Marty and Old Jennifer, introducing one of the series' biggest paradoxes. 1985 Marty and Jennifer meet 2015 Marty and Jennifer when traveling to 2015, but their older selves are from a timeline where they didn't travel to 2015. Since 1985 Marty and Jennifer did travel to 2015, this version of their older selves shouldn't exist and they should have been replaced by an Old Marty and Old Jennifer that did travel to the future when they were younger.

6 The DeLorean Time Travels Without Going 88MPH In Back To The Future 2

In Back to the Future II , the DeLorean time machine spins around before time traveling away, breaking the rule that DeLoreans must go 88 miles per hour to time travel. As it turns out, though, this problem has been fixed. Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis have explained that the DeLorean doesn't necessarily have to be moving forward 88 miles per hour, and since it was spinning at that speed, it was able to time travel.

5 There Are Two DeLoreans In 1885

One of the franchise's most famous plot holes occurs in Back to the Future Part III 's 1885 timeline. During the film, there are actually two DeLoreans in the same location: Marty's DeLorean as well as the DeLorean Doc used to travel to 1885. Although they are both broken, Doc and Marty could have combined parts from the two cars in order to make one that worked, solving the film's problems much faster.

4 Doc Brown Should Know About Einstein In Back To The Future 2

In Back to the Future Part III , 1955 Doc smirks when he learns that his future dog is named Einstein. However, Einstein was in the tape that Marty showed 1955 Doc in the first film, meaning that he should have already known this. This plot hole has also been fixed, with the creators explaining that Doc simply didn't see or remember this part of the tape.

3 Doc's Tombstone Shouldn't Exist In Back To The Future 3

In Back to the Future Part III , Marty sees Doc's tombstone from 1885, opening up another paradox. Since Marty went back in time to prevent Doc's murder, the tombstone shouldn't exist, meaning that 1985 Marty would have never seen the tombstone and gone back to 1885 in the first place. This massive paradox ruins the movie's story, although the tombstone had to exist in order to serve as the story's inciting incident.

Related: Back To The Future: Doc's Death Plot Hole Explained

2 Clayton Ravine Should Have A Different Name If Clara Lives

In Back to the Future Part III 's main timeline, teacher Clara Clayton falls into the Shonash Ravine, causing it to be renamed Clayton Ravine. However, when Doc travels back in time, he falls in love with Clara and consequently prevents her from dying. When 1985 Marty sees Doc's grave, he is in the timeline where Clara lived, yet he still knows about the Clayton Ravine legend. Since Clara never died, Marty's knowledge of Clara's death shouldn't exist, and it should still be named Shonash Ravine. However, the franchise's creators have clarified that time travel doesn't affect memory, which is an odd but valid solution.

1 Doc Should Know That "Mad Dog" Tannen Is Going To Kill Him

The final major plot hole and paradox in the Back to the Future series occurs in the third movie, where Doc is killed by "Mad Dog" Tannen. The version of Doc that is killed comes from 1985, meaning that when Marty tells 1955 about Doc's death, 1985 Doc should know as well. Because of this 1985 Doc would be able to prevent "Mad Dog" Tannen from killing him, negating Marty's reason for traveling back to 1885 in the first place. While many of Back to the Future 's plot holes and paradoxes are confusing, this one is one of the most straightforward.

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Paradox-Free Time Travel Is Theoretically Possible, Researchers Say

Matthew S. Schwartz

A dog dressed as Marty McFly from Back to the Future attends the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade in 2015. New research says time travel might be possible without the problems McFly encountered. Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

A dog dressed as Marty McFly from Back to the Future attends the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade in 2015. New research says time travel might be possible without the problems McFly encountered.

"The past is obdurate," Stephen King wrote in his book about a man who goes back in time to prevent the Kennedy assassination. "It doesn't want to be changed."

Turns out, King might have been on to something.

Countless science fiction tales have explored the paradox of what would happen if you went back in time and did something in the past that endangered the future. Perhaps one of the most famous pop culture examples is in Back to the Future , when Marty McFly goes back in time and accidentally stops his parents from meeting, putting his own existence in jeopardy.

But maybe McFly wasn't in much danger after all. According a new paper from researchers at the University of Queensland, even if time travel were possible, the paradox couldn't actually exist.

Researchers ran the numbers and determined that even if you made a change in the past, the timeline would essentially self-correct, ensuring that whatever happened to send you back in time would still happen.

"Say you traveled in time in an attempt to stop COVID-19's patient zero from being exposed to the virus," University of Queensland scientist Fabio Costa told the university's news service .

"However, if you stopped that individual from becoming infected, that would eliminate the motivation for you to go back and stop the pandemic in the first place," said Costa, who co-authored the paper with honors undergraduate student Germain Tobar.

"This is a paradox — an inconsistency that often leads people to think that time travel cannot occur in our universe."

A variation is known as the "grandfather paradox" — in which a time traveler kills their own grandfather, in the process preventing the time traveler's birth.

The logical paradox has given researchers a headache, in part because according to Einstein's theory of general relativity, "closed timelike curves" are possible, theoretically allowing an observer to travel back in time and interact with their past self — potentially endangering their own existence.

But these researchers say that such a paradox wouldn't necessarily exist, because events would adjust themselves.

Take the coronavirus patient zero example. "You might try and stop patient zero from becoming infected, but in doing so, you would catch the virus and become patient zero, or someone else would," Tobar told the university's news service.

In other words, a time traveler could make changes, but the original outcome would still find a way to happen — maybe not the same way it happened in the first timeline but close enough so that the time traveler would still exist and would still be motivated to go back in time.

"No matter what you did, the salient events would just recalibrate around you," Tobar said.

The paper, "Reversible dynamics with closed time-like curves and freedom of choice," was published last week in the peer-reviewed journal Classical and Quantum Gravity . The findings seem consistent with another time travel study published this summer in the peer-reviewed journal Physical Review Letters. That study found that changes made in the past won't drastically alter the future.

Bestselling science fiction author Blake Crouch, who has written extensively about time travel, said the new study seems to support what certain time travel tropes have posited all along.

"The universe is deterministic and attempts to alter Past Event X are destined to be the forces which bring Past Event X into being," Crouch told NPR via email. "So the future can affect the past. Or maybe time is just an illusion. But I guess it's cool that the math checks out."

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What we think we know about time travel

Credit: Universal Pictures

It's strange living in a post- Back to the Future world. Not only have we surpassed the date of the future portrayed in Back to the Future Part II , we're also 30 years removed from the release of the third and final film , which premiered in theaters on May 25, 1990.

Over the course of three movies, we saw Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel throughout recent human history and the near future, going as far back as the Wild West and as far forward as the unimaginably distant 2015. The Back to the Future films are fanciful science fiction comedies, not meant to be taken seriously. The science is accurate only insofar as it serves to tell a good story.

Still, is it possible to go forward and see our mistakes before they happen? Is it possible to go back and fix things that are already in our past? Here's what we know — or think we know — about time travel.

WHAT IS TIME?

Time: the great equalizer. Time doesn't care about you at all. You can't gain more of it, and you can't give it away. Irrespective of any other thing about you, each of us lives through the same 24 hours every day. Right?

Not exactly.

Time is mushy. It's variable. Some have called it wibbly-wobbly. And it turns out, you can manipulate it if you try hard enough, thanks to Einstein.

We evolved in a sort of medium environment. Human beings are medium-sized objects, somewhere between the very small (quarks, electrons, atoms, and the like) and the very large (planets, stars, and supermassive black holes). And we operate at medium speeds, faster than the slow movements of tectonic plates, but slower than the speed of light.

Physics operates in pretty predictable ways in the world we inhabit. Gravity impacts objects in ways we can accurately measure; comets orbit and return at regular intervals. We know when solar eclipses will happen because the cosmic dance of the sun and moon follows along a known path. Time ticks onward in one direction and at a consistent rate. All is as it should be, all is according to plan.

Outside of our medium-sized world, however, things can get weird.

Physics breaks down when you get too small, or too massive. Gravity does things we can't quite work out, quantum effects find their way in. Things cease to play by the rules as we know them. Likewise, the faster we accelerate beyond our medium speed, the weirder time gets.

Special relativity concluded that the speed of light is consistent for all observers. Photons moving through a vacuum travel at a staggering 186,282 miles per second.

That speed is impressive all on its own. It's fast enough that the time delay between when light hits an object, bounces off, and enters our eyes is so short as to not be noticed. Which is good, especially for our ancient ancestors. It would have been difficult to evade predators if we were already half-swallowed by the time we noticed them.

The speed of light, though, becomes even more impressive and bizarre, because of the way it remains constant no matter the position or speed of the observer. Let's break down what that means. The actual speed of any given object is a combination of its personal speed, combined with the speed of any other objects acting upon it.

For instance, let's suppose you're reading this while sitting down. Your personal speed is zero. You aren't moving at all, relative to any objects you're in contact with. Easy enough. But maybe you're on a train on your way to work, and that train is traveling at 75 miles per hour.

Your speed then becomes the combined speed of you and the speed of the train. Let's go further. The train is traveling at 75 miles per hour relative to the Earth, but the Earth is traveling at 67,000 miles per hour around the Sun. Furthermore, the Sun is traveling at 514,000 miles per hour around the center of our galaxy.

Assuming the train, the Earth, and the Sun are all traveling in the same direction, your total speed is actually 581,075 miles per hour.

That doesn't even take into account the speed of the galaxy through space, but you get the point. To someone sitting on the train with you, our speed is zero. Your speed is different to an observer standing on the ground outside the train, it's different to someone observing from the Sun, or from the center of the galaxy. The position of the observer matters, it changes the outcome.

Speeds compound, that's the way things work in the Medium world. Not so with light.

Replace the train traveler with light and everything we expect about compounding speeds goes out the window. The apparent speed of light remains the same, 186,282 miles per second, regardless of the position or relative speed of the observer. Light gets no faster and no slower.

Special Relativity suggests an elegant, if counterintuitive, solution to this problem. As objects increase in speed, time moves more slowly. Changing the length of each tick of the clock allows the speed of light to remain consistent no matter how fast you're traveling in respect to it.

When Special Relativity was published, these ideas were just numbers on a page, but they've been confirmed by observation and experimentation. In fact, engineers have to account for time dilation when designing satellites.

Because they are orbiting at speeds much faster than we're accustomed to on the ground, a satellite's internal clocks will run more slowly. The difference is very small, but can stack up over time. Since satellites often need to have accurate timekeeping, this time dilation has to be accounted and corrected for.

It gets even more complicated because of gravity.

Gravity bends spacetime and, since GPS satellites orbit so far away from the surface of the Earth, they feel the effects of gravity less than we do, which has the opposite effect of causing the clocks to tick more quickly. All told, GPS satellites in orbit would drift 38 microseconds into the future every day if we didn't account for relativity.

It's a small amount, it would take about 72 years for their clocks to drift ahead of ours by one second, but it's enough to wreak havoc with GPS services, pretty quickly.

Besides, the synchronicity of our clocks isn't the important bit. What's important is the reality that those satellites are actually time-traveling at a rate of one second every 72 years. The effect is slow, but that's only because the fraction of the speed of light at which their traveling is small.

Time isn't static. It's personal. We aren't all experiencing the passage of time in the same way or at the same rate. Every time you get in a car, a train, or a plane, every time you go for a jog or even stagger to the bathroom in the middle of the night, you're altering the way you travel through time.

GRAVITY AND SPEED

Now that we know we can alter our relationship to time, by altering our speed or by manipulating gravity, how can we use that to our advantage and travel to distant temporal locales?

Speed is probably our best bet right now.

Considering the timescale of human existence, we've made incredible strides in increasing our maximum speed over the last several decades. It was once believed we would never break the sound barrier; that was accomplished by Chuck Yeager in 1947, a little more than 70 years ago.

That was the first time a human being traveled faster than 343 meters per second. That's about ten-thousandth of a percent of the speed of light. Pretty fast by human standards — very slow on the cosmic scale.

A little more than a decade later, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins blasted off in a rocket, headed for the Moon. Their top speed was 25,000 miles per hour, more than 32 times faster than Yeager. Still, the crew of Apollo 11 was traveling at only 6.94 miles per second, roughly 0.0037 percent of the speed of light.

Getting closer, some of those zeroes are falling off. Still, it's a long way away.

That's about where we top off, for now. At least for crewed vehicles. We have created faster spacecraft.

The Parker Solar Probe, launched in 2018, was sent on a mission to study the Sun's corona. It approached to within 18.7 million kilometers, granting it the honor of closest approach of any artificial object.

At its fastest, it was traveling 430,000 miles per hour, or, 119.4 miles per second. That gets us to 0.064 of the speed of light.

We'd have to get moving more than 15 times faster than the fastest craft we've ever built to hit one percent the speed of light.

Even at those speeds, we'd notice a difference in relative time of about 26 minutes over the course of a year.

If you really want to time-travel in a significant way, you have to get much faster.

At 90 percent of the speed of light (167,653.8 miles per second), a craft traveling for 10 years according to their own clock would arrive back on Earth to discover that nearly 23 years had passed.

At 99.99 percent of the speed of light, a craft traveling for one year would come back to a world that had aged more than 70 years in their absence.

At 99.99999 percent of the speed of light, for a year, more than 2000 years would pass on Earth.

The point is, the closer you get to the speed of light, the more time dilation is experienced.

Achieving those speeds, however, is incredibly unlikely and probably impossible. Physics conspires against us in this regard. Any object with mass increases in mass as it approaches the speed of light . In effect, it gets heavier, which requires more fuel to continue to accelerate. Eventually, you reach an infinite mass and infinite energy requirement. It's like pushing a stone up a continuously inclining hill. It gets harder the closer you get to the top.

Which is too bad, because nearing the speed of light would allow us to travel forward in time, with minimal investment of personal time. And, if we could break the light speed barrier, all bets are off. The math suggests that it might allow us to violate causality and travel back.

If speed isn't the answer, then what about gravity?

Since we know space and time are intimately tied together, and that gravity impacts both (see GPS satellites, above) sufficiently warping space-time would create closed time loops. At least according to research by theoretical physicist Amos Ori at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.

Ori suggests using focused gravitational fields to bend spacetime into a donut-shaped vacuum.

There is one speed bump: A traveler would only be able to go to time-destinations that occurred after the creation of the donut. No going back to see the dinosaurs or save your mom from marrying the wrong person. No preventing things that have already happened before the creation of the machine. Additionally, the gravitational fields required are on the order of those created by black holes, far beyond what we're capable of creating or controlling.

For now, time travel is outside of our capability, at least as it's portrayed in movies. If you really want to evade the ticking of the clock, your best bet is to run as fast as you can.

Back To The Future
Science Behind The Fiction
Time Travel

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A beginner's guide to time travel

Learn exactly how Einstein's theory of relativity works, and discover how there's nothing in science that says time travel is impossible.

Actor Rod Taylor tests his time machine in a still from the film 'The Time Machine', directed by George Pal, 1960.

Everyone can travel in time . You do it whether you want to or not, at a steady rate of one second per second. You may think there's no similarity to traveling in one of the three spatial dimensions at, say, one foot per second. But according to Einstein 's theory of relativity , we live in a four-dimensional continuum — space-time — in which space and time are interchangeable.

Einstein found that the faster you move through space, the slower you move through time — you age more slowly, in other words. One of the key ideas in relativity is that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light — about 186,000 miles per second (300,000 kilometers per second), or one light-year per year). But you can get very close to it. If a spaceship were to fly at 99% of the speed of light, you'd see it travel a light-year of distance in just over a year of time.

That's obvious enough, but now comes the weird part. For astronauts onboard that spaceship, the journey would take a mere seven weeks. It's a consequence of relativity called time dilation , and in effect, it means the astronauts have jumped about 10 months into the future.

Traveling at high speed isn't the only way to produce time dilation. Einstein showed that gravitational fields produce a similar effect — even the relatively weak field here on the surface of Earth . We don't notice it, because we spend all our lives here, but more than 12,400 miles (20,000 kilometers) higher up gravity is measurably weaker— and time passes more quickly, by about 45 microseconds per day. That's more significant than you might think, because it's the altitude at which GPS satellites orbit Earth, and their clocks need to be precisely synchronized with ground-based ones for the system to work properly.

The satellites have to compensate for time dilation effects due both to their higher altitude and their faster speed. So whenever you use the GPS feature on your smartphone or your car's satnav, there's a tiny element of time travel involved. You and the satellites are traveling into the future at very slightly different rates.

But for more dramatic effects, we need to look at much stronger gravitational fields, such as those around black holes , which can distort space-time so much that it folds back on itself. The result is a so-called wormhole, a concept that's familiar from sci-fi movies, but actually originates in Einstein's theory of relativity. In effect, a wormhole is a shortcut from one point in space-time to another. You enter one black hole, and emerge from another one somewhere else. Unfortunately, it's not as practical a means of transport as Hollywood makes it look. That's because the black hole's gravity would tear you to pieces as you approached it, but it really is possible in theory. And because we're talking about space-time, not just space, the wormhole's exit could be at an earlier time than its entrance; that means you would end up in the past rather than the future.

Trajectories in space-time that loop back into the past are given the technical name "closed timelike curves." If you search through serious academic journals, you'll find plenty of references to them — far more than you'll find to "time travel." But in effect, that's exactly what closed timelike curves are all about — time travel

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There's another way to produce a closed timelike curve that doesn't involve anything quite so exotic as a black hole or wormhole: You just need a simple rotating cylinder made of super-dense material. This so-called Tipler cylinder is the closest that real-world physics can get to an actual, genuine time machine. But it will likely never be built in the real world, so like a wormhole, it's more of an academic curiosity than a viable engineering design.

Yet as far-fetched as these things are in practical terms, there's no fundamental scientific reason — that we currently know of — that says they are impossible. That's a thought-provoking situation, because as the physicist Michio Kaku is fond of saying, "Everything not forbidden is compulsory" (borrowed from T.H. White's novel, "The Once And Future King"). He doesn't mean time travel has to happen everywhere all the time, but Kaku is suggesting that the universe is so vast it ought to happen somewhere at least occasionally. Maybe some super-advanced civilization in another galaxy knows how to build a working time machine, or perhaps closed timelike curves can even occur naturally under certain rare conditions.

An artist's impression of a pair of neutron stars - a Tipler cylinder requires at least ten.

This raises problems of a different kind — not in science or engineering, but in basic logic. If time travel is allowed by the laws of physics, then it's possible to envision a whole range of paradoxical scenarios . Some of these appear so illogical that it's difficult to imagine that they could ever occur. But if they can't, what's stopping them?

Thoughts like these prompted Stephen Hawking , who was always skeptical about the idea of time travel into the past, to come up with his "chronology protection conjecture" — the notion that some as-yet-unknown law of physics prevents closed timelike curves from happening. But that conjecture is only an educated guess, and until it is supported by hard evidence, we can come to only one conclusion: Time travel is possible.

A party for time travelers

Hawking was skeptical about the feasibility of time travel into the past, not because he had disproved it, but because he was bothered by the logical paradoxes it created. In his chronology protection conjecture, he surmised that physicists would eventually discover a flaw in the theory of closed timelike curves that made them impossible.

In 2009, he came up with an amusing way to test this conjecture. Hawking held a champagne party (shown in his Discovery Channel program), but he only advertised it after it had happened. His reasoning was that, if time machines eventually become practical, someone in the future might read about the party and travel back to attend it. But no one did — Hawking sat through the whole evening on his own. This doesn't prove time travel is impossible, but it does suggest that it never becomes a commonplace occurrence here on Earth.

The arrow of time

One of the distinctive things about time is that it has a direction — from past to future. A cup of hot coffee left at room temperature always cools down; it never heats up. Your cellphone loses battery charge when you use it; it never gains charge. These are examples of entropy , essentially a measure of the amount of "useless" as opposed to "useful" energy. The entropy of a closed system always increases, and it's the key factor determining the arrow of time.

It turns out that entropy is the only thing that makes a distinction between past and future. In other branches of physics, like relativity or quantum theory, time doesn't have a preferred direction. No one knows where time's arrow comes from. It may be that it only applies to large, complex systems, in which case subatomic particles may not experience the arrow of time.

Time travel paradox

If it's possible to travel back into the past — even theoretically — it raises a number of brain-twisting paradoxes — such as the grandfather paradox — that even scientists and philosophers find extremely perplexing.

Killing Hitler

A time traveler might decide to go back and kill him in his infancy. If they succeeded, future history books wouldn't even mention Hitler — so what motivation would the time traveler have for going back in time and killing him?

Killing your grandfather

Instead of killing a young Hitler, you might, by accident, kill one of your own ancestors when they were very young. But then you would never be born, so you couldn't travel back in time to kill them, so you would be born after all, and so on …

A closed loop

Suppose the plans for a time machine suddenly appear from thin air on your desk. You spend a few days building it, then use it to send the plans back to your earlier self. But where did those plans originate? Nowhere — they are just looping round and round in time.

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Andrew May holds a Ph.D. in astrophysics from Manchester University, U.K. For 30 years, he worked in the academic, government and private sectors, before becoming a science writer where he has written for Fortean Times, How It Works, All About Space, BBC Science Focus, among others. He has also written a selection of books including Cosmic Impact and Astrobiology: The Search for Life Elsewhere in the Universe, published by Icon Books.

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Is Time Travel Possible?

We all travel in time! We travel one year in time between birthdays, for example. And we are all traveling in time at approximately the same speed: 1 second per second.

We typically experience time at one second per second. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's space telescopes also give us a way to look back in time. Telescopes help us see stars and galaxies that are very far away . It takes a long time for the light from faraway galaxies to reach us. So, when we look into the sky with a telescope, we are seeing what those stars and galaxies looked like a very long time ago.

However, when we think of the phrase "time travel," we are usually thinking of traveling faster than 1 second per second. That kind of time travel sounds like something you'd only see in movies or science fiction books. Could it be real? Science says yes!

Image of galaxies, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

This image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows galaxies that are very far away as they existed a very long time ago. Credit: NASA, ESA and R. Thompson (Univ. Arizona)

How do we know that time travel is possible?

More than 100 years ago, a famous scientist named Albert Einstein came up with an idea about how time works. He called it relativity. This theory says that time and space are linked together. Einstein also said our universe has a speed limit: nothing can travel faster than the speed of light (186,000 miles per second).

Einstein's theory of relativity says that space and time are linked together. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

What does this mean for time travel? Well, according to this theory, the faster you travel, the slower you experience time. Scientists have done some experiments to show that this is true.

For example, there was an experiment that used two clocks set to the exact same time. One clock stayed on Earth, while the other flew in an airplane (going in the same direction Earth rotates).

After the airplane flew around the world, scientists compared the two clocks. The clock on the fast-moving airplane was slightly behind the clock on the ground. So, the clock on the airplane was traveling slightly slower in time than 1 second per second.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Can we use time travel in everyday life?

We can't use a time machine to travel hundreds of years into the past or future. That kind of time travel only happens in books and movies. But the math of time travel does affect the things we use every day.

For example, we use GPS satellites to help us figure out how to get to new places. (Check out our video about how GPS satellites work .) NASA scientists also use a high-accuracy version of GPS to keep track of where satellites are in space. But did you know that GPS relies on time-travel calculations to help you get around town?

GPS satellites orbit around Earth very quickly at about 8,700 miles (14,000 kilometers) per hour. This slows down GPS satellite clocks by a small fraction of a second (similar to the airplane example above).

Illustration of GPS satellites orbiting around Earth

GPS satellites orbit around Earth at about 8,700 miles (14,000 kilometers) per hour. Credit: GPS.gov

However, the satellites are also orbiting Earth about 12,550 miles (20,200 km) above the surface. This actually speeds up GPS satellite clocks by a slighter larger fraction of a second.

Here's how: Einstein's theory also says that gravity curves space and time, causing the passage of time to slow down. High up where the satellites orbit, Earth's gravity is much weaker. This causes the clocks on GPS satellites to run faster than clocks on the ground.

The combined result is that the clocks on GPS satellites experience time at a rate slightly faster than 1 second per second. Luckily, scientists can use math to correct these differences in time.

Illustration of a hand holding a phone with a maps application active.

If scientists didn't correct the GPS clocks, there would be big problems. GPS satellites wouldn't be able to correctly calculate their position or yours. The errors would add up to a few miles each day, which is a big deal. GPS maps might think your home is nowhere near where it actually is!

In Summary:

Yes, time travel is indeed a real thing. But it's not quite what you've probably seen in the movies. Under certain conditions, it is possible to experience time passing at a different rate than 1 second per second. And there are important reasons why we need to understand this real-world form of time travel.

If you liked this, you may like:

Time travel: Is it possible?

Science says time travel is possible, but probably not in the way you're thinking.

time travel graphic illustration of a tunnel with a clock face swirling through the tunnel.

Albert Einstein's theory

General relativity and GPS
Wormhole travel
Alternate theories

Science fiction

Is time travel possible? Short answer: Yes, and you're doing it right now — hurtling into the future at the impressive rate of one second per second.

You're pretty much always moving through time at the same speed, whether you're watching paint dry or wishing you had more hours to visit with a friend from out of town.

But this isn't the kind of time travel that's captivated countless science fiction writers, or spurred a genre so extensive that Wikipedia lists over 400 titles in the category "Movies about Time Travel." In franchises like " Doctor Who ," " Star Trek ," and "Back to the Future" characters climb into some wild vehicle to blast into the past or spin into the future. Once the characters have traveled through time, they grapple with what happens if you change the past or present based on information from the future (which is where time travel stories intersect with the idea of parallel universes or alternate timelines).

Related: The best sci-fi time machines ever

Although many people are fascinated by the idea of changing the past or seeing the future before it's due, no person has ever demonstrated the kind of back-and-forth time travel seen in science fiction or proposed a method of sending a person through significant periods of time that wouldn't destroy them on the way. And, as physicist Stephen Hawking pointed out in his book " Black Holes and Baby Universes" (Bantam, 1994), "The best evidence we have that time travel is not possible, and never will be, is that we have not been invaded by hordes of tourists from the future."

Science does support some amount of time-bending, though. For example, physicist Albert Einstein 's theory of special relativity proposes that time is an illusion that moves relative to an observer. An observer traveling near the speed of light will experience time, with all its aftereffects (boredom, aging, etc.) much more slowly than an observer at rest. That's why astronaut Scott Kelly aged ever so slightly less over the course of a year in orbit than his twin brother who stayed here on Earth.

Related: Controversially, physicist argues that time is real

There are other scientific theories about time travel, including some weird physics that arise around wormholes , black holes and string theory . For the most part, though, time travel remains the domain of an ever-growing array of science fiction books, movies, television shows, comics, video games and more.

Scott and Mark Kelly sit side by side wearing a blue NASA jacket and jeans

Einstein developed his theory of special relativity in 1905. Along with his later expansion, the theory of general relativity , it has become one of the foundational tenets of modern physics. Special relativity describes the relationship between space and time for objects moving at constant speeds in a straight line.

The short version of the theory is deceptively simple. First, all things are measured in relation to something else — that is to say, there is no "absolute" frame of reference. Second, the speed of light is constant. It stays the same no matter what, and no matter where it's measured from. And third, nothing can go faster than the speed of light.

From those simple tenets unfolds actual, real-life time travel. An observer traveling at high velocity will experience time at a slower rate than an observer who isn't speeding through space.

While we don't accelerate humans to near-light-speed, we do send them swinging around the planet at 17,500 mph (28,160 km/h) aboard the International Space Station . Astronaut Scott Kelly was born after his twin brother, and fellow astronaut, Mark Kelly . Scott Kelly spent 520 days in orbit, while Mark logged 54 days in space. The difference in the speed at which they experienced time over the course of their lifetimes has actually widened the age gap between the two men.

"So, where[as] I used to be just 6 minutes older, now I am 6 minutes and 5 milliseconds older," Mark Kelly said in a panel discussion on July 12, 2020, Space.com previously reported . "Now I've got that over his head."

General relativity and GPS time travel

Graphic showing the path of GPS satellites around Earth at the center of the image.

The difference that low earth orbit makes in an astronaut's life span may be negligible — better suited for jokes among siblings than actual life extension or visiting the distant future — but the dilation in time between people on Earth and GPS satellites flying through space does make a difference.

Can wormholes take us back in time?

General relativity might also provide scenarios that could allow travelers to go back in time, according to NASA . But the physical reality of those time-travel methods is no piece of cake.

Wormholes are theoretical "tunnels" through the fabric of space-time that could connect different moments or locations in reality to others. Also known as Einstein-Rosen bridges or white holes, as opposed to black holes, speculation about wormholes abounds. But despite taking up a lot of space (or space-time) in science fiction, no wormholes of any kind have been identified in real life.

Related: Best time travel movies

"The whole thing is very hypothetical at this point," Stephen Hsu, a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Oregon, told Space.com sister site Live Science . "No one thinks we're going to find a wormhole anytime soon."

Primordial wormholes are predicted to be just 10^-34 inches (10^-33 centimeters) at the tunnel's "mouth". Previously, they were expected to be too unstable for anything to be able to travel through them. However, a study claims that this is not the case, Live Science reported .

The theory, which suggests that wormholes could work as viable space-time shortcuts, was described by physicist Pascal Koiran. As part of the study, Koiran used the Eddington-Finkelstein metric, as opposed to the Schwarzschild metric which has been used in the majority of previous analyses.

In the past, the path of a particle could not be traced through a hypothetical wormhole. However, using the Eddington-Finkelstein metric, the physicist was able to achieve just that.

Koiran's paper was described in October 2021, in the preprint database arXiv , before being published in the Journal of Modern Physics D.

Alternate time travel theories

While Einstein's theories appear to make time travel difficult, some researchers have proposed other solutions that could allow jumps back and forth in time. These alternate theories share one major flaw: As far as scientists can tell, there's no way a person could survive the kind of gravitational pulling and pushing that each solution requires.

Infinite cylinder theory

Astronomer Frank Tipler proposed a mechanism (sometimes known as a Tipler Cylinder ) where one could take matter that is 10 times the sun's mass, then roll it into a very long, but very dense cylinder. The Anderson Institute , a time travel research organization, described the cylinder as "a black hole that has passed through a spaghetti factory."

After spinning this black hole spaghetti a few billion revolutions per minute, a spaceship nearby — following a very precise spiral around the cylinder — could travel backward in time on a "closed, time-like curve," according to the Anderson Institute.

The major problem is that in order for the Tipler Cylinder to become reality, the cylinder would need to be infinitely long or be made of some unknown kind of matter. At least for the foreseeable future, endless interstellar pasta is beyond our reach.

Time donuts

Theoretical physicist Amos Ori at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, proposed a model for a time machine made out of curved space-time — a donut-shaped vacuum surrounded by a sphere of normal matter.

"The machine is space-time itself," Ori told Live Science . "If we were to create an area with a warp like this in space that would enable time lines to close on themselves, it might enable future generations to return to visit our time."

Amos Ori is a theoretical physicist at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel. His research interests and publications span the fields of general relativity, black holes, gravitational waves and closed time lines.

There are a few caveats to Ori's time machine. First, visitors to the past wouldn't be able to travel to times earlier than the invention and construction of the time donut. Second, and more importantly, the invention and construction of this machine would depend on our ability to manipulate gravitational fields at will — a feat that may be theoretically possible but is certainly beyond our immediate reach.

Graphic illustration of the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions in Space) traveling through space, surrounded by stars.

Time travel has long occupied a significant place in fiction. Since as early as the "Mahabharata," an ancient Sanskrit epic poem compiled around 400 B.C., humans have dreamed of warping time, Lisa Yaszek, a professor of science fiction studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, told Live Science .

Every work of time-travel fiction creates its own version of space-time, glossing over one or more scientific hurdles and paradoxes to achieve its plot requirements.

Some make a nod to research and physics, like " Interstellar ," a 2014 film directed by Christopher Nolan. In the movie, a character played by Matthew McConaughey spends a few hours on a planet orbiting a supermassive black hole, but because of time dilation, observers on Earth experience those hours as a matter of decades.

Others take a more whimsical approach, like the "Doctor Who" television series. The series features the Doctor, an extraterrestrial "Time Lord" who travels in a spaceship resembling a blue British police box. "People assume," the Doctor explained in the show, "that time is a strict progression from cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff."

Long-standing franchises like the "Star Trek" movies and television series, as well as comic universes like DC and Marvel Comics, revisit the idea of time travel over and over.

Related: Marvel movies in order: chronological & release order

Here is an incomplete (and deeply subjective) list of some influential or notable works of time travel fiction:

Books about time travel:

A sketch from the Christmas Carol shows a cloaked figure on the left and a person kneeling and clutching their head with their hands.

Rip Van Winkle (Cornelius S. Van Winkle, 1819) by Washington Irving
A Christmas Carol (Chapman & Hall, 1843) by Charles Dickens
The Time Machine (William Heinemann, 1895) by H. G. Wells
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Charles L. Webster and Co., 1889) by Mark Twain
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Pan Books, 1980) by Douglas Adams
A Tale of Time City (Methuen, 1987) by Diana Wynn Jones
The Outlander series (Delacorte Press, 1991-present) by Diana Gabaldon
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Bloomsbury/Scholastic, 1999) by J. K. Rowling
Thief of Time (Doubleday, 2001) by Terry Pratchett
The Time Traveler's Wife (MacAdam/Cage, 2003) by Audrey Niffenegger
All You Need is Kill (Shueisha, 2004) by Hiroshi Sakurazaka

Movies about time travel:

Planet of the Apes (1968)
Superman (1978)
Time Bandits (1981)
The Terminator (1984)
Back to the Future series (1985, 1989, 1990)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Galaxy Quest (1999)
The Butterfly Effect (2004)
13 Going on 30 (2004)
The Lake House (2006)
Meet the Robinsons (2007)
Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
Midnight in Paris (2011)
Looper (2012)
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Interstellar (2014)
Doctor Strange (2016)
A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
The Last Sharknado: It's About Time (2018)
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Tenet (2020)
Palm Springs (2020)
Zach Snyder's Justice League (2021)
The Tomorrow War (2021)

Television about time travel:

Image of the Star Trek spaceship USS Enterprise

Doctor Who (1963-present)
The Twilight Zone (1959-1964) (multiple episodes)
Star Trek (multiple series, multiple episodes)
Samurai Jack (2001-2004)
Lost (2004-2010)
Phil of the Future (2004-2006)
Steins;Gate (2011)
Outlander (2014-2023)
Loki (2021-present)

Games about time travel:

Chrono Trigger (1995)
TimeSplitters (2000-2005)
Kingdom Hearts (2002-2019)
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (2003)
God of War II (2007)
Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack In Time (2009)
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (2013)
Dishonored 2 (2016)
Titanfall 2 (2016)
Outer Wilds (2019)

Additional resources

Explore physicist Peter Millington's thoughts about Stephen Hawking's time travel theories at The Conversation . Check out a kid-friendly explanation of real-world time travel from NASA's Space Place . For an overview of time travel in fiction and the collective consciousness, read " Time Travel: A History " (Pantheon, 2016) by James Gleik.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

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Ailsa is a staff writer for How It Works magazine, where she writes science, technology, space, history and environment features. Based in the U.K., she graduated from the University of Stirling with a BA (Hons) journalism degree. Previously, Ailsa has written for Cardiff Times magazine, Psychology Now and numerous science bookazines.

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Is Time Travel Possible?

The laws of physics allow time travel. So why haven’t people become chronological hoppers?

By Sarah Scoles

yuanyuan yan/Getty Images

In the movies, time travelers typically step inside a machine and—poof—disappear. They then reappear instantaneously among cowboys, knights or dinosaurs. What these films show is basically time teleportation .

Scientists don’t think this conception is likely in the real world, but they also don’t relegate time travel to the crackpot realm. In fact, the laws of physics might allow chronological hopping, but the devil is in the details.

Time traveling to the near future is easy: you’re doing it right now at a rate of one second per second, and physicists say that rate can change. According to Einstein’s special theory of relativity, time’s flow depends on how fast you’re moving. The quicker you travel, the slower seconds pass. And according to Einstein’s general theory of relativity , gravity also affects clocks: the more forceful the gravity nearby, the slower time goes.

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“Near massive bodies—near the surface of neutron stars or even at the surface of the Earth, although it’s a tiny effect—time runs slower than it does far away,” says Dave Goldberg, a cosmologist at Drexel University.

If a person were to hang out near the edge of a black hole , where gravity is prodigious, Goldberg says, only a few hours might pass for them while 1,000 years went by for someone on Earth. If the person who was near the black hole returned to this planet, they would have effectively traveled to the future. “That is a real effect,” he says. “That is completely uncontroversial.”

Going backward in time gets thorny, though (thornier than getting ripped to shreds inside a black hole). Scientists have come up with a few ways it might be possible, and they have been aware of time travel paradoxes in general relativity for decades. Fabio Costa, a physicist at the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics, notes that an early solution with time travel began with a scenario written in the 1920s. That idea involved massive long cylinder that spun fast in the manner of straw rolled between your palms and that twisted spacetime along with it. The understanding that this object could act as a time machine allowing one to travel to the past only happened in the 1970s, a few decades after scientists had discovered a phenomenon called “closed timelike curves.”

“A closed timelike curve describes the trajectory of a hypothetical observer that, while always traveling forward in time from their own perspective, at some point finds themselves at the same place and time where they started, creating a loop,” Costa says. “This is possible in a region of spacetime that, warped by gravity, loops into itself.”

“Einstein read [about closed timelike curves] and was very disturbed by this idea,” he adds. The phenomenon nevertheless spurred later research.

Science began to take time travel seriously in the 1980s. In 1990, for instance, Russian physicist Igor Novikov and American physicist Kip Thorne collaborated on a research paper about closed time-like curves. “They started to study not only how one could try to build a time machine but also how it would work,” Costa says.

Just as importantly, though, they investigated the problems with time travel. What if, for instance, you tossed a billiard ball into a time machine, and it traveled to the past and then collided with its past self in a way that meant its present self could never enter the time machine? “That looks like a paradox,” Costa says.

Since the 1990s, he says, there’s been on-and-off interest in the topic yet no big breakthrough. The field isn’t very active today, in part because every proposed model of a time machine has problems. “It has some attractive features, possibly some potential, but then when one starts to sort of unravel the details, there ends up being some kind of a roadblock,” says Gaurav Khanna of the University of Rhode Island.

For instance, most time travel models require negative mass —and hence negative energy because, as Albert Einstein revealed when he discovered E = mc 2 , mass and energy are one and the same. In theory, at least, just as an electric charge can be positive or negative, so can mass—though no one’s ever found an example of negative mass. Why does time travel depend on such exotic matter? In many cases, it is needed to hold open a wormhole—a tunnel in spacetime predicted by general relativity that connects one point in the cosmos to another.

Without negative mass, gravity would cause this tunnel to collapse. “You can think of it as counteracting the positive mass or energy that wants to traverse the wormhole,” Goldberg says.

Khanna and Goldberg concur that it’s unlikely matter with negative mass even exists, although Khanna notes that some quantum phenomena show promise, for instance, for negative energy on very small scales. But that would be “nowhere close to the scale that would be needed” for a realistic time machine, he says.

These challenges explain why Khanna initially discouraged Caroline Mallary, then his graduate student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, from doing a time travel project. Mallary and Khanna went forward anyway and came up with a theoretical time machine that didn’t require negative mass. In its simplistic form, Mallary’s idea involves two parallel cars, each made of regular matter. If you leave one parked and zoom the other with extreme acceleration, a closed timelike curve will form between them.

Easy, right? But while Mallary’s model gets rid of the need for negative matter, it adds another hurdle: it requires infinite density inside the cars for them to affect spacetime in a way that would be useful for time travel. Infinite density can be found inside a black hole, where gravity is so intense that it squishes matter into a mind-bogglingly small space called a singularity. In the model, each of the cars needs to contain such a singularity. “One of the reasons that there's not a lot of active research on this sort of thing is because of these constraints,” Mallary says.

Other researchers have created models of time travel that involve a wormhole, or a tunnel in spacetime from one point in the cosmos to another. “It's sort of a shortcut through the universe,” Goldberg says. Imagine accelerating one end of the wormhole to near the speed of light and then sending it back to where it came from. “Those two sides are no longer synced,” he says. “One is in the past; one is in the future.” Walk between them, and you’re time traveling.

You could accomplish something similar by moving one end of the wormhole near a big gravitational field—such as a black hole—while keeping the other end near a smaller gravitational force. In that way, time would slow down on the big gravity side, essentially allowing a particle or some other chunk of mass to reside in the past relative to the other side of the wormhole.

Making a wormhole requires pesky negative mass and energy, however. A wormhole created from normal mass would collapse because of gravity. “Most designs tend to have some similar sorts of issues,” Goldberg says. They’re theoretically possible, but there’s currently no feasible way to make them, kind of like a good-tasting pizza with no calories.

And maybe the problem is not just that we don’t know how to make time travel machines but also that it’s not possible to do so except on microscopic scales—a belief held by the late physicist Stephen Hawking. He proposed the chronology protection conjecture: The universe doesn’t allow time travel because it doesn’t allow alterations to the past. “It seems there is a chronology protection agency, which prevents the appearance of closed timelike curves and so makes the universe safe for historians,” Hawking wrote in a 1992 paper in Physical Review D .

Part of his reasoning involved the paradoxes time travel would create such as the aforementioned situation with a billiard ball and its more famous counterpart, the grandfather paradox : If you go back in time and kill your grandfather before he has children, you can’t be born, and therefore you can’t time travel, and therefore you couldn’t have killed your grandfather. And yet there you are.

Those complications are what interests Massachusetts Institute of Technology philosopher Agustin Rayo, however, because the paradoxes don’t just call causality and chronology into question. They also make free will seem suspect. If physics says you can go back in time, then why can’t you kill your grandfather? “What stops you?” he says. Are you not free?

Rayo suspects that time travel is consistent with free will, though. “What’s past is past,” he says. “So if, in fact, my grandfather survived long enough to have children, traveling back in time isn’t going to change that. Why will I fail if I try? I don’t know because I don’t have enough information about the past. What I do know is that I’ll fail somehow.”

If you went to kill your grandfather, in other words, you’d perhaps slip on a banana en route or miss the bus. “It's not like you would find some special force compelling you not to do it,” Costa says. “You would fail to do it for perfectly mundane reasons.”

In 2020 Costa worked with Germain Tobar, then his undergraduate student at the University of Queensland in Australia, on the math that would underlie a similar idea: that time travel is possible without paradoxes and with freedom of choice.

Goldberg agrees with them in a way. “I definitely fall into the category of [thinking that] if there is time travel, it will be constructed in such a way that it produces one self-consistent view of history,” he says. “Because that seems to be the way that all the rest of our physical laws are constructed.”

No one knows what the future of time travel to the past will hold. And so far, no time travelers have come to tell us about it.

A pair of hands hold a disintegrating white round clock

Can we time travel? A theoretical physicist provides some answers

Emeritus professor, Physics, Carleton University

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Peter Watson received funding from NSERC. He is affiliated with Carleton University and a member of the Canadian Association of Physicists.

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Time travel makes regular appearances in popular culture, with innumerable time travel storylines in movies, television and literature. But it is a surprisingly old idea: one can argue that the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex , written by Sophocles over 2,500 years ago, is the first time travel story .

But is time travel in fact possible? Given the popularity of the concept, this is a legitimate question. As a theoretical physicist, I find that there are several possible answers to this question, not all of which are contradictory.

The simplest answer is that time travel cannot be possible because if it was, we would already be doing it. One can argue that it is forbidden by the laws of physics, like the second law of thermodynamics or relativity . There are also technical challenges: it might be possible but would involve vast amounts of energy.

There is also the matter of time-travel paradoxes; we can — hypothetically — resolve these if free will is an illusion, if many worlds exist or if the past can only be witnessed but not experienced. Perhaps time travel is impossible simply because time must flow in a linear manner and we have no control over it, or perhaps time is an illusion and time travel is irrelevant.

a woman stands among a crowd of people moving around her

Laws of physics

Since Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity — which describes the nature of time, space and gravity — is our most profound theory of time, we would like to think that time travel is forbidden by relativity. Unfortunately, one of his colleagues from the Institute for Advanced Study, Kurt Gödel, invented a universe in which time travel was not just possible, but the past and future were inextricably tangled.

We can actually design time machines , but most of these (in principle) successful proposals require negative energy , or negative mass, which does not seem to exist in our universe. If you drop a tennis ball of negative mass, it will fall upwards. This argument is rather unsatisfactory, since it explains why we cannot time travel in practice only by involving another idea — that of negative energy or mass — that we do not really understand.

Mathematical physicist Frank Tipler conceptualized a time machine that does not involve negative mass, but requires more energy than exists in the universe .

Time travel also violates the second law of thermodynamics , which states that entropy or randomness must always increase. Time can only move in one direction — in other words, you cannot unscramble an egg. More specifically, by travelling into the past we are going from now (a high entropy state) into the past, which must have lower entropy.

This argument originated with the English cosmologist Arthur Eddington , and is at best incomplete. Perhaps it stops you travelling into the past, but it says nothing about time travel into the future. In practice, it is just as hard for me to travel to next Thursday as it is to travel to last Thursday.

Resolving paradoxes

There is no doubt that if we could time travel freely, we run into the paradoxes. The best known is the “ grandfather paradox ”: one could hypothetically use a time machine to travel to the past and murder their grandfather before their father’s conception, thereby eliminating the possibility of their own birth. Logically, you cannot both exist and not exist.

Read more: Time travel could be possible, but only with parallel timelines

Kurt Vonnegut’s anti-war novel Slaughterhouse-Five , published in 1969, describes how to evade the grandfather paradox. If free will simply does not exist, it is not possible to kill one’s grandfather in the past, since he was not killed in the past. The novel’s protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, can only travel to other points on his world line (the timeline he exists in), but not to any other point in space-time, so he could not even contemplate killing his grandfather.

The universe in Slaughterhouse-Five is consistent with everything we know. The second law of thermodynamics works perfectly well within it and there is no conflict with relativity. But it is inconsistent with some things we believe in, like free will — you can observe the past, like watching a movie, but you cannot interfere with the actions of people in it.

Could we allow for actual modifications of the past, so that we could go back and murder our grandfather — or Hitler ? There are several multiverse theories that suppose that there are many timelines for different universes. This is also an old idea: in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol , Ebeneezer Scrooge experiences two alternative timelines, one of which leads to a shameful death and the other to happiness.

Time is a river

Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote that:

“ Time is like a river made up of the events which happen , and a violent stream; for as soon as a thing has been seen, it is carried away, and another comes in its place, and this will be carried away too.”

We can imagine that time does flow past every point in the universe, like a river around a rock. But it is difficult to make the idea precise. A flow is a rate of change — the flow of a river is the amount of water that passes a specific length in a given time. Hence if time is a flow, it is at the rate of one second per second, which is not a very useful insight.

Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking suggested that a “ chronology protection conjecture ” must exist, an as-yet-unknown physical principle that forbids time travel. Hawking’s concept originates from the idea that we cannot know what goes on inside a black hole, because we cannot get information out of it. But this argument is redundant: we cannot time travel because we cannot time travel!

Researchers are investigating a more fundamental theory, where time and space “emerge” from something else. This is referred to as quantum gravity , but unfortunately it does not exist yet.

So is time travel possible? Probably not, but we don’t know for sure!

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Time travel is theoretically possible, calculations show. But that doesn't mean you could change the past.

Time travel is possible based on the laws of physics, according to researchers.
But time-travelers wouldn't be able to alter the past in a measurable way, they say.
And the future would essentially stay the same, according to the reseachers.

Imagine you could hop into a time machine, press a button, and journey back to 2019, before the novel coronavirus made the leap from animals to humans.

What if you could find and isolate patient zero? Theoretically, the COVID-19 pandemic wouldn't happen, right?

Not quite, because then future-you wouldn't have decided to time travel in the first place.

For decades, physicists have been studying and debating versions of this paradox: If we could travel back in time and change the past, what would happen to the future?

A 2020 study offered a potential answer: Nothing.

"Events readjust around anything that could cause a paradox, so the paradox does not happen," Germain Tobar, the study's author previously told IFLScience .

Tobar's work, published in the peer-reviewed journal Classical and Quantum Gravity in September 2020, suggests that according to the rules of theoretical physics, anything you tried to change in the past would be corrected by subsequent events.

The grandfather paradox

Physicists have considered time travel to be theoretically possible since Albert Einstein came up with his theory of relativity. Einstein's calculations suggest it's possible for an object in our universe to travel through space and time in a circular direction, eventually ending up at a point on its journey where it's been before – a path called a closed time-like curve.

Still, physicists continue to struggle with scenarios like the coronavirus example above, in which time-travelers alter events that already happened. The most famous example is known as the grandfather paradox: Say a time-traveler goes back to the past and kills a younger version of his or her grandfather. The grandfather then wouldn't have any children, erasing the time-traveler's parents and, of course, the time-traveler, too. But then who would kill Grandpa?

A take on this paradox appears in the movie "Back to the Future," when Marty McFly almost stops his parents from meeting in the past – potentially causing himself to disappear.

To address the paradox, Tobar and his supervisor, Dr. Fabio Costa, used the "billiard-ball model," which imagines cause and effect as a series of colliding billiard balls, and a circular pool table as a closed time-like curve.

Imagine a bunch of billiard balls laid out across that circular table. If you push one ball from position X, it bangs around the table, hitting others in a particular pattern.

The researchers calculated that even if you mess with the ball's pattern at some point in its journey, future interactions with other balls can correct its path, leading it to come back to the same position and speed that it would have had you not interfered.

"Regardless of the choice, the ball will fall into the same place," Dr Yasunori Nomura, a theoretical physicist at UC Berkeley, previously told Insider.

Tobar's model, in other words, says you could travel back in time, but you couldn't change how events unfolded significantly enough to alter the future, Nomura said. Applied to the grandfather paradox, then, this would mean that something would always get in the way of your attempt to kill your grandfather. Or at least by the time he did die, your grandmother would already be pregnant with your mother.

Back to the coronavirus example. Let's say you were to travel back to 2019 and intervene in patient zero's life. According to Tobar's line of thinking, the pandemic would still happen somehow.

"You might try and stop patient zero from becoming infected, but in doing so you would catch the virus and become patient zero, or someone else would," Tobar said, according to Australia's University of Queensland , where Tobar graduated from.

Nomura said that although the model is too simple to represent the full range of cause and effect in our universe, it's a good starting point for future physicists.

Watch: There are 2 types of time travel and physicists agree that one of them is possible

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The best time travel movie ever isn't 'Back to the Future,' based on data. Find out the top 25.

Posted: April 27, 2024 | Last updated: April 27, 2024

<p>Many films come with an escapism element, the ability to separate ourselves from our current timeline and reality to imagine an alternate time or place. It is a common feature in entertainment, which can serve as an outlet to explore our fears, dreams, and hopes for the future. Many movies take their characters on a journey to the past or future in hopes of teaching profound lessons, offering new perspectives, or simply presenting a challenge or a solution to a problem that they are facing in their current timeline. They expand the reach of what we think is possible in our current lives.</p> <p>To celebrate these innovative and time-twisting tales, <a href="https://stacker.com">Stacker</a> compiled data on the top time travel movies to come up with a Stacker score—a weighted index split evenly between <a href="https://imdb.com">IMDb</a> and <a href="https://metacritic.com">Metacritic</a> scores. To qualify, the film had to involve some sort of time travel (be it literal, like "Back to the Future," or metaphysical, like "Donnie Darko"), have a Metascore, and have at least 5,000 votes. Ties were broken by Metascore and further ties were broken by IMDb votes. These films are some of the most memorable and culturally significant time-travel adventures in American cinema.</p>

Best time travel movies

Many films come with an escapism element, the ability to separate ourselves from our current timeline and reality to imagine an alternate time or place. It is a common feature in entertainment, which can serve as an outlet to explore our fears, dreams, and hopes for the future. Many movies take their characters on a journey to the past or future in hopes of teaching profound lessons, offering new perspectives, or simply presenting a challenge or a solution to a problem that they are facing in their current timeline. They expand the reach of what we think is possible in our current lives.

To celebrate these innovative and time-twisting tales, Stacker compiled data on the top time travel movies to come up with a Stacker score—a weighted index split evenly between IMDb and Metacritic scores. To qualify, the film had to involve some sort of time travel (be it literal, like "Back to the Future," or metaphysical, like "Donnie Darko"), have a Metascore, and have at least 5,000 votes. Ties were broken by Metascore and further ties were broken by IMDb votes. These films are some of the most memorable and culturally significant time-travel adventures in American cinema.

<p>- Director: Leonard Nimoy<br> - Stacker score: 82.3<br> - Metascore: 71<br> - IMDb user rating: 7.3<br> - Runtime: 119 minutes</p> <p>The famous space travel franchise's fourth film takes well-known USS Enterprise crew members Captain Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and others into an interesting mission. The crew, living in 2286, must travel back in time to 1986 to find humpback whales. The extinct animals are the only species that can understand messages from a foreign probe threatening Earth.</p>

#25. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

- Director: Leonard Nimoy - Stacker score: 82.3 - Metascore: 71 - IMDb user rating: 7.3 - Runtime: 119 minutes

The famous space travel franchise's fourth film takes well-known USS Enterprise crew members Captain Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and others into an interesting mission. The crew, living in 2286, must travel back in time to 1986 to find humpback whales. The extinct animals are the only species that can understand messages from a foreign probe threatening Earth.

<p>- Directors: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig<br> - Stacker score: 82.3<br> - Metascore: 69<br> - IMDb user rating: 7.5<br> - Runtime: 97 minutes</p> <p>Ethan Hawke plays a time traveler who races against time to keep a foe from killing innocent people. The film spans through several points in the 1960s and 1970s, taking its protagonist on a twisty trip that brings up surprises until the last minutes. "Predestination" is based on "All You Zombies," a science-fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein, about paradoxes that happen due to time traveling.</p>

#24. Predestination (2014)

- Directors: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig - Stacker score: 82.3 - Metascore: 69 - IMDb user rating: 7.5 - Runtime: 97 minutes

Ethan Hawke plays a time traveler who races against time to keep a foe from killing innocent people. The film spans through several points in the 1960s and 1970s, taking its protagonist on a twisty trip that brings up surprises until the last minutes. "Predestination" is based on "All You Zombies," a science-fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein, about paradoxes that happen due to time traveling.

<p>- Director: Gary Ross<br> - Stacker score: 83.4<br> - Metascore: 71<br> - IMDb user rating: 7.5<br> - Runtime: 124 minutes</p> <p>This comedic film takes brother and sister duo David (Tobey Maguire) and Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) on a strange trip. David's love for 1950s television leads to him meeting a man who is able to put him and his sister inside an ongoing program. Jennifer stirs up drama among the cookie-cutter people to the chagrin of David.</p>

#23. Pleasantville (1998)

- Director: Gary Ross - Stacker score: 83.4 - Metascore: 71 - IMDb user rating: 7.5 - Runtime: 124 minutes

This comedic film takes brother and sister duo David (Tobey Maguire) and Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) on a strange trip. David's love for 1950s television leads to him meeting a man who is able to put him and his sister inside an ongoing program. Jennifer stirs up drama among the cookie-cutter people to the chagrin of David.

<p>- Director: Duncan Jones<br> - Stacker score: 85.1<br> - Metascore: 74<br> - IMDb user rating: 7.5<br> - Runtime: 93 minutes</p> <p>A military pilot (Jake Gyllenhaal) sees the last minutes of a man's life during a mission that takes him back to that point in time. He's supposed to deduce who the responsible party is in the train accident to bring him to justice. But, the pilot takes things to the next level, going against the clock to attempt to prevent things from going awry in the first place.</p>

#22. Source Code (2011)

- Director: Duncan Jones - Stacker score: 85.1 - Metascore: 74 - IMDb user rating: 7.5 - Runtime: 93 minutes

A military pilot (Jake Gyllenhaal) sees the last minutes of a man's life during a mission that takes him back to that point in time. He's supposed to deduce who the responsible party is in the train accident to bring him to justice. But, the pilot takes things to the next level, going against the clock to attempt to prevent things from going awry in the first place.

<p>- Director: Terry Gilliam<br> - Stacker score: 85.1<br> - Metascore: 79<br> - IMDb user rating: 7.0<br> - Runtime: 110 minutes</p> <p>Kevin (Craig Warnock) is a preteen history lover who meets dwarves in his room. The tiny beings work for a Supreme Being and are slipping through holes in time to take treasures. Kevin goes with them as they hop around and meet famous historical people while trying to stay two steps ahead of the Supreme Being.</p>

#21. Time Bandits (1981)

- Director: Terry Gilliam - Stacker score: 85.1 - Metascore: 79 - IMDb user rating: 7.0 - Runtime: 110 minutes

Kevin (Craig Warnock) is a preteen history lover who meets dwarves in his room. The tiny beings work for a Supreme Being and are slipping through holes in time to take treasures. Kevin goes with them as they hop around and meet famous historical people while trying to stay two steps ahead of the Supreme Being.

<p>- Director: Doug Liman<br> - Stacker score: 85.7<br> - Metascore: 71<br> - IMDb user rating: 7.9<br> - Runtime: 113 minutes</p> <p>Tom Cruise stars as William Cage, a military officer who dies and ends up in a time loop. He continues to relive his terrible (and deadly) final moments until he levels up his knowledge and skills. Cage slowly moves towards the initial mission to fight aliens threatening Earth. Emily Blunt stars opposite Cruise as a sergeant who understands what he is experiencing and works with him.</p>

#20. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

- Director: Doug Liman - Stacker score: 85.7 - Metascore: 71 - IMDb user rating: 7.9 - Runtime: 113 minutes

Tom Cruise stars as William Cage, a military officer who dies and ends up in a time loop. He continues to relive his terrible (and deadly) final moments until he levels up his knowledge and skills. Cage slowly moves towards the initial mission to fight aliens threatening Earth. Emily Blunt stars opposite Cruise as a sergeant who understands what he is experiencing and works with him.

<p>- Director: Sam Raimi<br> - Stacker score: 85.7<br> - Metascore: 72<br> - IMDb user rating: 7.8<br> - Runtime: 84 minutes</p> <p>Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) continues his battle against demons as his girlfriend Linda (Denise Bixler) becomes possessed by an evil spirit. He realizes that he may be stuck in this remote cabin in the woods and must fight foes who arise from a mysterious audiotape. Towards the end of the film, Ash and his car travel through a portal and end up in 1300 A.D. for a bizarre ending that no one could predict.</p>

#19. Evil Dead II (1987)

- Director: Sam Raimi - Stacker score: 85.7 - Metascore: 72 - IMDb user rating: 7.8 - Runtime: 84 minutes

Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) continues his battle against demons as his girlfriend Linda (Denise Bixler) becomes possessed by an evil spirit. He realizes that he may be stuck in this remote cabin in the woods and must fight foes who arise from a mysterious audiotape. Towards the end of the film, Ash and his car travel through a portal and end up in 1300 A.D. for a bizarre ending that no one could predict.

<p>- Director: Harold Ramis<br> - Stacker score: 86.9<br> - Metascore: 72<br> - IMDb user rating: 8.0<br> - Runtime: 101 minutes</p> <p>What would you do if you had to live the same day over and over again? This is what happens to Phil Connors (Bill Murray), a TV weatherman covering Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney who ends up in a time loop. He begins to realize some things about himself, and others, while stuck in this seemingly endless day. The film's popularity led to the term "groundhog day" becoming synonymous with being stuck in a time loop.</p>

#18. Groundhog Day (1993)

- Director: Harold Ramis - Stacker score: 86.9 - Metascore: 72 - IMDb user rating: 8.0 - Runtime: 101 minutes

What would you do if you had to live the same day over and over again? This is what happens to Phil Connors (Bill Murray), a TV weatherman covering Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney who ends up in a time loop. He begins to realize some things about himself, and others, while stuck in this seemingly endless day. The film's popularity led to the term "groundhog day" becoming synonymous with being stuck in a time loop.

<p>- Director: Tom Tykwer<br> - Stacker score: 87.4<br> - Metascore: 77<br> - IMDb user rating: 7.6<br> - Runtime: 80 minutes</p> <p>Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), a Berlin criminal, brings stolen goods to his boss and loses money he owes him. The boss gives him 20 minutes to conjure the funds, leading Manni to enlist his girlfriend Lola (Franka Potente) to come up with the money in a race against the clock, which keeps running through that same period as she makes choices.</p>

#17. Run Lola Run (1998)

- Director: Tom Tykwer - Stacker score: 87.4 - Metascore: 77 - IMDb user rating: 7.6 - Runtime: 80 minutes

Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), a Berlin criminal, brings stolen goods to his boss and loses money he owes him. The boss gives him 20 minutes to conjure the funds, leading Manni to enlist his girlfriend Lola (Franka Potente) to come up with the money in a race against the clock, which keeps running through that same period as she makes choices.

<p>- Director: Richard Donner<br> - Stacker score: 87.4<br> - Metascore: 80<br> - IMDb user rating: 7.3<br> - Runtime: 143 minutes</p> <p>Based on the iconic DC Comics character, this film follows Kal-El's (Christopher Reeve) journey from his home planet, Krypton, to becoming Superman, an all-American hero. He goes from being adopted by Midwestern farmers to discovering his powers and fighting an evil force while working undercover as a reporter. At one point, Superman flies around the world so quickly that the Earth spins another way, making time go back so he can undo events with tragic consequences. </p> <p><strong>You may also like: </strong> <a href="https://admin.stacker.com/stories/10115/best-streaming-services-2021">The best streaming services in 2021</a> </p>

#16. Superman (1978)

- Director: Richard Donner - Stacker score: 87.4 - Metascore: 80 - IMDb user rating: 7.3 - Runtime: 143 minutes

Based on the iconic DC Comics character, this film follows Kal-El's (Christopher Reeve) journey from his home planet, Krypton, to becoming Superman, an all-American hero. He goes from being adopted by Midwestern farmers to discovering his powers and fighting an evil force while working undercover as a reporter. At one point, Superman flies around the world so quickly that the Earth spins another way, making time go back so he can undo events with tragic consequences.

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<p>- Director: Terry Gilliam<br> - Stacker score: 88<br> - Metascore: 74<br> - IMDb user rating: 8.0<br> - Runtime: 129 minutes</p> <p>Bruce Willis plays James Cole, an incarcerated man living in the 2030s. Humans live underground after an apocalyptic event nearly kills everyone. He's given a chance to travel back to the '90s and gather information about a plague that will have big future consequences. The goal is to find out more information about the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, who may have been responsible for this earth-shattering event. But things don't go as expected, a classic trope in time travel tales.</p>

#15. 12 Monkeys (1995)

- Director: Terry Gilliam - Stacker score: 88 - Metascore: 74 - IMDb user rating: 8.0 - Runtime: 129 minutes

Bruce Willis plays James Cole, an incarcerated man living in the 2030s. Humans live underground after an apocalyptic event nearly kills everyone. He's given a chance to travel back to the '90s and gather information about a plague that will have big future consequences. The goal is to find out more information about the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, who may have been responsible for this earth-shattering event. But things don't go as expected, a classic trope in time travel tales.

<p>- Director: Bryan Singer<br> - Stacker score: 88<br> - Metascore: 75<br> - IMDb user rating: 7.9<br> - Runtime: 132 minutes</p> <p>Wolverine, played by Hugh Jackman, goes back in time to 1973 to gather past X-Men to change a moment in time to help save them from the Sentinels. The latter group is a killing collective eradicating anyone who possesses a mutant gene. The film gained an Oscar nomination for its visual effects.</p>

#14. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

- Director: Bryan Singer - Stacker score: 88 - Metascore: 75 - IMDb user rating: 7.9 - Runtime: 132 minutes

Wolverine, played by Hugh Jackman, goes back in time to 1973 to gather past X-Men to change a moment in time to help save them from the Sentinels. The latter group is a killing collective eradicating anyone who possesses a mutant gene. The film gained an Oscar nomination for its visual effects.

<p>- Director: Max Barbakow<br> - Stacker score: 89.7<br> - Metascore: 83<br> - IMDb user rating: 7.4<br> - Runtime: 90 minutes</p> <p>Two strangers meet at a wedding in Palm Springs and end up stuck in a time loop. They relive the same day over and over again with weird circumstances taking over while they eventually fall in love with each other. The pair have to find a way to get out of this wedding day circle so they can resume their lives once again.</p>

#13. Palm Springs (2020)

- Director: Max Barbakow - Stacker score: 89.7 - Metascore: 83 - IMDb user rating: 7.4 - Runtime: 90 minutes

Two strangers meet at a wedding in Palm Springs and end up stuck in a time loop. They relive the same day over and over again with weird circumstances taking over while they eventually fall in love with each other. The pair have to find a way to get out of this wedding day circle so they can resume their lives once again.

<p>- Director: Woody Allen<br> - Stacker score: 90.3<br> - Metascore: 81<br> - IMDb user rating: 7.7<br> - Runtime: 94 minutes</p> <p>Writer Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) is on vacation in Paris when he decides to traverse around the city. Gil runs into a strange collective who take him back in time every night at midnight. He meets iconic people from yesteryear and starts to reevaluate his life, and romance with his fiancée.</p>

#12. Midnight in Paris (2011)

- Director: Woody Allen - Stacker score: 90.3 - Metascore: 81 - IMDb user rating: 7.7 - Runtime: 94 minutes

Writer Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) is on vacation in Paris when he decides to traverse around the city. Gil runs into a strange collective who take him back in time every night at midnight. He meets iconic people from yesteryear and starts to reevaluate his life, and romance with his fiancée.

<p>- Director: Rian Johnson<br> - Stacker score: 90.3<br> - Metascore: 84<br> - IMDb user rating: 7.4<br> - Runtime: 113 minutes</p> <p>In this film, time travel is a commodity that only certain people can afford. People like Joe, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, capitalize on it by using their hitman skills to complete jobs for a crime group. Set in 2044, Joe goes back several times in the past before his employer aims to stop his loop by sending future Joe (Bruce Willis) to kill his younger self. "Looper" is written and directed by Rian Johnson of "Star Wars" and "Knives Out" fame.</p>

#11. Looper (2012)

- Director: Rian Johnson - Stacker score: 90.3 - Metascore: 84 - IMDb user rating: 7.4 - Runtime: 113 minutes

In this film, time travel is a commodity that only certain people can afford. People like Joe, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, capitalize on it by using their hitman skills to complete jobs for a crime group. Set in 2044, Joe goes back several times in the past before his employer aims to stop his loop by sending future Joe (Bruce Willis) to kill his younger self. "Looper" is written and directed by Rian Johnson of "Star Wars" and "Knives Out" fame.

<p>- Director: Franklin J. Schaffner<br> - Stacker score: 90.9<br> - Metascore: 79<br> - IMDb user rating: 8.0<br> - Runtime: 112 minutes</p> <p>A group of astronauts crash onto a planet in the far future where apes have the upper hand over humans. The primates can walk, talk, and have a complex social system that includes enslaving humans. The group finds themselves having to switch roles and become the "lesser" species. "Planet of the Apes" sparked a film franchise years later and was inducted into the Library of Congress' Film Registry in 2001.</p>

#10. Planet of the Apes (1968)

- Director: Franklin J. Schaffner - Stacker score: 90.9 - Metascore: 79 - IMDb user rating: 8.0 - Runtime: 112 minutes

A group of astronauts crash onto a planet in the far future where apes have the upper hand over humans. The primates can walk, talk, and have a complex social system that includes enslaving humans. The group finds themselves having to switch roles and become the "lesser" species. "Planet of the Apes" sparked a film franchise years later and was inducted into the Library of Congress' Film Registry in 2001.

#9. Interstellar (2014)

- Director: Christopher Nolan - Stacker score: 91.4 - Metascore: 74 - IMDb user rating: 8.6 - Runtime: 169 minutes

Set in 2067, this film shows Earth on the brink of destruction from storms and farming woes. Professor Brand, played by Michael Caine, plans to save the planet by sending people into a wormhole to another place. A few researchers test this travel plan and end up in different places and times to see where people can possibly inhabit.

<p>- Director: James Cameron<br> - Stacker score: 91.4<br> - Metascore: 75<br> - IMDb user rating: 8.5<br> - Runtime: 137 minutes</p> <p>Linda Hamilton returns as Sarah Connor, who aims to protect her young son John (Edward Furlong) from yet another (and more dangerous) Terminator. The cyborg intends to kill John, thereby preventing him from his future role in a resistance movement. Sarah, John, and T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) work together to keep John, and the future resistance, alive.</p>

#8. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

- Director: James Cameron - Stacker score: 91.4 - Metascore: 75 - IMDb user rating: 8.5 - Runtime: 137 minutes

Linda Hamilton returns as Sarah Connor, who aims to protect her young son John (Edward Furlong) from yet another (and more dangerous) Terminator. The cyborg intends to kill John, thereby preventing him from his future role in a resistance movement. Sarah, John, and T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) work together to keep John, and the future resistance, alive.

<p>- Director: Alfonso Cuarón<br> - Stacker score: 92<br> - Metascore: 82<br> - IMDb user rating: 7.9<br> - Runtime: 142 minutes</p> <p>Titular hero Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) continues his studies at the magical Hogwarts School. He realizes Sirius Black, an escaped prisoner, wants to kill him. Harry and his friends Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) must work together to defend the school while Harry realizes his true connection to Black.</p>

#7. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

- Director: Alfonso Cuarón - Stacker score: 92 - Metascore: 82 - IMDb user rating: 7.9 - Runtime: 142 minutes

Titular hero Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) continues his studies at the magical Hogwarts School. He realizes Sirius Black, an escaped prisoner, wants to kill him. Harry and his friends Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) must work together to defend the school while Harry realizes his true connection to Black.

<p>- Director: J.J. Abrams<br> - Stacker score: 92<br> - Metascore: 82<br> - IMDb user rating: 7.9<br> - Runtime: 127 minutes</p> <p>A modern take on the classic space traveling series, this film goes back in time to show James T. Kirk, Spock, and Uhura's (Zoe Saldana) journeys in their younger days. Kirk, portrayed by Chris Pine, inadvertently makes his way onto the USS Enterprise and rises to power while they fight dangerous threats. Spock's (Zachary Quinto) future self makes an appearance to aid him in making a sage decision.</p> <p><strong>You may also like:</strong> <a href="https://stacker.com/stories/13517/best-streaming-services-sports-2021">The best streaming services for sports in 2021</a></p>

#6. Star Trek (2009)

- Director: J.J. Abrams - Stacker score: 92 - Metascore: 82 - IMDb user rating: 7.9 - Runtime: 127 minutes

A modern take on the classic space traveling series, this film goes back in time to show James T. Kirk, Spock, and Uhura's (Zoe Saldana) journeys in their younger days. Kirk, portrayed by Chris Pine, inadvertently makes his way onto the USS Enterprise and rises to power while they fight dangerous threats. Spock's (Zachary Quinto) future self makes an appearance to aid him in making a sage decision.

You may also like: The best streaming services for sports in 2021

<p>- Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo<br> - Stacker score: 92.6<br> - Metascore: 78<br> - IMDb user rating: 8.4<br> - Runtime: 181 minutes</p> <p>Five years after Thanos eliminated half of the living beings across the universe, the remaining Avengers band together to bring everyone back. The film includes the Quantum Realm, where time does not pass as it does on Earth and time travel is possible. Things end with a battle royale between the purple genocidal titan and all the super beings on Earth. The film marked the penultimate offering from the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase Three of its release/storytelling schedule.</p>

#5. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

- Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo - Stacker score: 92.6 - Metascore: 78 - IMDb user rating: 8.4 - Runtime: 181 minutes

Five years after Thanos eliminated half of the living beings across the universe, the remaining Avengers band together to bring everyone back. The film includes the Quantum Realm, where time does not pass as it does on Earth and time travel is possible. Things end with a battle royale between the purple genocidal titan and all the super beings on Earth. The film marked the penultimate offering from the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase Three of its release/storytelling schedule.

<p>- Director: James Cameron<br> - Stacker score: 93.7<br> - Metascore: 84<br> - IMDb user rating: 8.0<br> - Runtime: 107 minutes</p> <p>The current year is 2029. A killer cyborg known as a "Terminator" goes back to 1984 to hunt Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). The killing machine (Arnold Schwarzenegger) stays on Connor's tracks as she uncovers the truth about her role in affecting humanity's future. Sarah must protect her family and stay alive so her son can fulfill a specific role.</p>

#4. The Terminator (1984)

- Director: James Cameron - Stacker score: 93.7 - Metascore: 84 - IMDb user rating: 8.0 - Runtime: 107 minutes

The current year is 2029. A killer cyborg known as a "Terminator" goes back to 1984 to hunt Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). The killing machine (Arnold Schwarzenegger) stays on Connor's tracks as she uncovers the truth about her role in affecting humanity's future. Sarah must protect her family and stay alive so her son can fulfill a specific role.

<p>- Director: Richard Kelly<br> - Stacker score: 96<br> - Metascore: 88<br> - IMDb user rating: 8.0<br> - Runtime: 113 minutes</p> <p>In 1988, the title character (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a teenager dealing with sleepwalking episodes. He goes outside one night to encounter a massive, scary rabbit who tells him that the world will end in 28 days. Donnie, unsure of what is real or not, starts to go into a dark direction as time seems to go into flux for him, taking him into a different timeline.</p>

#3. Donnie Darko (2001)

- Director: Richard Kelly - Stacker score: 96 - Metascore: 88 - IMDb user rating: 8.0 - Runtime: 113 minutes

In 1988, the title character (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a teenager dealing with sleepwalking episodes. He goes outside one night to encounter a massive, scary rabbit who tells him that the world will end in 28 days. Donnie, unsure of what is real or not, starts to go into a dark direction as time seems to go into flux for him, taking him into a different timeline.

<p>- Director: Robert Zemeckis<br> - Stacker score: 98.3<br> - Metascore: 87<br> - IMDb user rating: 8.5<br> - Runtime: 116 minutes</p> <p>Michael Fox stars as Marty McFly, a teenager in 1985 who is friends with a strange scientist (Christopher Lloyd) named Doc. The latter's latest experiment goes wrong, throwing him back into 1955. He must find a young Doc and try to help him figure out how to get back to his correct timeline. Meanwhile, Marty also encounters his parents as their younger selves. The film has become a sci-fi classic, spawning its own franchise.</p>

#2. Back to the Future (1985)

- Director: Robert Zemeckis - Stacker score: 98.3 - Metascore: 87 - IMDb user rating: 8.5 - Runtime: 116 minutes

Michael Fox stars as Marty McFly, a teenager in 1985 who is friends with a strange scientist (Christopher Lloyd) named Doc. The latter's latest experiment goes wrong, throwing him back into 1955. He must find a young Doc and try to help him figure out how to get back to his correct timeline. Meanwhile, Marty also encounters his parents as their younger selves. The film has become a sci-fi classic, spawning its own franchise.

<p>- Director: Frank Capra<br> - Stacker score: 100<br> - Metascore: 89<br> - IMDb user rating: 8.6<br> - Runtime: 130 minutes</p> <p>George Bailey is a man who is in over his head with family and general life problems. He considers dying by suicide but his family's prayers reach the heavens. His life is shown in flashbacks and an angel comes down to show him how much he matters to those closest to him. The now-iconic Christmas film was shot during the summer—in a heat wave, no less.</p>

#1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

- Director: Frank Capra - Stacker score: 100 - Metascore: 89 - IMDb user rating: 8.6 - Runtime: 130 minutes

George Bailey is a man who is in over his head with family and general life problems. He considers dying by suicide but his family's prayers reach the heavens. His life is shown in flashbacks and an angel comes down to show him how much he matters to those closest to him. The now-iconic Christmas film was shot during the summer—in a heat wave, no less.

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Las Vegas Sphere: Ultimate guide to seats, prices and how to see Dead Forever in 2024

Competing for attention in Las Vegas with neon signs, billboards and mega-resorts that resemble European palaces and Egyptian pyramids is no easy feat.

But an eight-month-old orb with a talent for shapeshifting is stealing a little of their thunder.

Sphere at The Venetian Resort , an entertainment venue that opened September 2023 just off the Las Vegas Strip , has garnered much attention since its debut for its immersive audio-visual experiences.

See the 366-foot-tall venue from the outside at night and it captivates people for its ability to project images from its exterior shell (also called the Exosphere) containing 580,000 square feet of LED lights, whether it's the Earth, the surface of Mars, a blinking eye, or an emoji. It developed a reputation for causing traffic gridlock since the projections began last year during the Fourth of July.

Inside, the venue's 160,000-square-foot display with 16K by 16K resolution displays immersive visuals, backed by the world's largest beamforming audio system, according to The Venetian .

If you're planning a trip to Las Vegas, check our guides on the best ways to get there from Phoenix , free things to do , which hotels offer free parking , and how to check for bedbugs in hotels .

If you can't get to Vegas just yet, the newly opened Caesars Republic Scottsdale hotel and upcoming VAI Resort in Glendale offer the luxury of Vegas in the Valley, though neither has a casino.

Here's everything to know about the Las Vegas Sphere.

What is the Sphere in Las Vegas?

Described on its website as "a next-generation entertainment medium that is redefining the future of live entertainment," Sphere is an immersive venue that uses haptics (seats that can move and vibrate), atmospheric simulations and visual effects to "transport audiences to places real and imagined."

The Sphere Experience, the main attraction inside the Sphere, is a two-part attraction. The first part, guided by a humanoid robot called Aura, includes a 360-degree avatar capture and a 50-foot-high holographic installation.

The second part is a viewing of an immersive film called "Postcard From Earth" by director Darren Aronofsky on Sphere's largest, highest-definition screen. "Postcard From Earth" is described as part nature documentary, part science fiction movie.

Sphere has also hosted concerts, with U2 inaugurating it with a 40-show residency that launched on Sept. 29, 2023. Sporting events are coming as well: UFC President Dana White said in February that he booked Sphere for UFC 306, scheduled for Sept. 14, 2024.

Where is the Sphere in Las Vegas?

Sphere is at the intersection of Sands Avenue and Koval Lane, just off the Las Vegas Strip and about 1 mile east of The Venetian.

Its address is 255 Sands Ave., Las Vegas.

Who owns the Sphere in Las Vegas?

Sphere is owned by Sphere Entertainment Co., which was spun off from Madison Square Garden Entertainment in April 2023.

Can you go inside the Vegas Sphere?

Yes, but it will cost you. Every guest must have a ticket for a show to enter the Sphere.

How many people does the Sphere hold?

Sphere can seat 17,500 people and has a standing room capacity of 20,000, according to The Venetian .

Do the seats move in the Sphere?

Of the Sphere's 17,500 seats, 10,000 of them are described as "haptic seats," or seats that are capable of moving and vibrating.

Where are the bad seats in the Sphere?

Any seats with an overhang of upper levels will obstruct the view of the stage and/or screen.

USA Today's 10Best suggests avoiding certain seats in the far right and far left sections in the 100 level, where rows 30 and higher are completely obstructed by the overhang.

The 200, 300 and 400 levels offer the best seats.

How long does the Sphere Experience last?

The Sphere Experience lasts just under two hours, with 60 minutes for the interactive experiences and 50 minutes for the "Postcard From Earth" film.

How long will U2 be at the Sphere?

U2 played the final show of its U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere residency on March 2, 2024.

Who is performing at the Sphere in 2024?

After U2's residency ended, the jam band Phish became the second music act to play Sphere. Their four-show residency ran April 18-21.

Members of Dead & Company, a spinoff of the Grateful Dead featuring former members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart along with singer and guitarist John Mayer, will perform a 24-show Sphere residency called Dead Forever. The residency, which runs from May 16 to July 13, will begin a year after their final tour made a stop in Phoenix .

How much does it cost to go to Sphere Vegas?

It depends on the show and what day you plan to visit.

The Sphere Experience starts at $79 per person during the week and $99 per person on weekends.

Tickets for Dead & Company's Dead Forever residency start at $145 per person.

Is the Sphere worth going to?

Sphere has attracted an assortment of highly positive and highly negative reviews from travelers.

It has a user rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars on Google. One user, Phillipe Beaumier , called Sphere "a once in a lifetime experience" and described the immersive audio and visual as "so incredible, you feel like you are part of the travel!"

Tripadvisor users gave Sphere more mixed reviews, with an overall rating of 3 out of 5 stars. Most of its bad reviews were critical of the message of the "Postcard From Earth" film in the Sphere Experience.

A one-star review from a Tripadvisor user named Kathryn W. expressed disappointment with the Sphere Experience's humanoid robots and how "a couple of robots that are comparable to (Amazon's virtual assistant) Alexa can't answer a question." Kathryn added that the moving seats "could be mistaken for someone kicking the back of your chair."

Michael Salerno is an award-winning journalist who’s covered travel and tourism since 2014. His work as The Arizona Republic’s consumer travel reporter aims to help readers navigate the stresses of traveling and get the best value for their money on their vacations. He can be reached at [email protected] . Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @salerno_phx .

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

The 10 Best Time-Travel K-Dramas, Ranked

Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.

Time traveling is a popular plot device that has been used across various genres, from science fiction to romance, in movies and TV shows like Back to the Future , Looper , and Outlander . This intriguing concept has also become a popular theme in Korean dramas. As K-dramas continue to captivate audiences worldwide, viewers are diving into the rich archives of past productions — unearthing hidden time-traveling K-drama gems that showcase a refreshing take on a popular trope .

Many historical dramas explore this concept in depth, oftentimes bringing a modern character to a more conservative past. These are also, more often than not, romance stories with a bit of mystery involved. Many times, time-traveling K-dramas incorporate a lot of humor and comedy, as one character (or multiple) exists in a timeline that they don't belong in. They don't know the ins and the outs, and that sets up for comedic scenarios. From the romantic fantasy of Splash Splash Love to the mystifying plot of Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo , each K-drama brings a different perspective to time traveling as a concept.

10 'The Great Doctor' (2012)

Created by kim young-hyun and park sang-yeon.

The Great Doctor takes place during the Goryeo Dynasty. An attack is launched on King Gongmin ( Ryu Deok-hwan ) and Queen Noguk ( Park Se-young ) one night, and it’s up to Captain Choi Young ( Lee Min Ho ) and his guards to protect them both. However, Queen Noguk is gravely injured, and no doctor in the Goryeo Dynasty is capable of saving her. The King then commands his guards to go find the doctor from the Kingdom of Heaven. When a portal opens up, it turns out that the Kingdom of Heaven is actually the modern era of Korea. Choi Young then finds a plastic surgeon – Eun Soo ( Kim Hee-Sun ) – and brings her back to his era, where she is trapped serving King Gongmin with no way to return home.

A must-see medical K-drama , The Great Doctor has a slow start, but it builds up quickly as the show progresses . A romance, forbidden by time itself, ignites between Choi Young and Eun-Soo , and viewers will be rooting for them and praying for a happy ending. The show also includes fantastical elements, such as extraordinary powers and magic.

Watch on Kocowa

9 'Tomorrow With You' (2017)

Created by heo sung-hye.

Yoo So-Joon ( Lee Je-Hoon ) is a CEO who has time-traveling abilities. Any time he uses the subway, he can travel into the future. Meanwhile, Ma-Rin ( Shin Min-A ) is a photographer trying to make ends meet after an unsuccessful career in the entertainment industry. Unbeknownst to her, So-Joon discovers when Ma-Rin is about to get into an accident, so he tries to save her, though he comes off weird and awkward. However, intentions aside, their fates become intertwined.

The concept of Tomorrow With You is interesting, and it’s rarely explored in time-traveling K-dramas. Usually, characters time travel unintentionally by supernatural means. But in So-Joon’s case, he decides when he wants to time travel . The romance will definitely grow on the viewers as they grow invested in the connection between Ma-Rin and So-Joon.

Watch on Roku

8 'Queen and I' (2012)

Created by song jae-jung.

Queen and I joins the ranks of Love in the Moonlight as an excellent historical K-drama due to its enthralling story. It follows two protagonists, Kim Boong-Do ( Ji Hyun-Woo ) and Choi Hee-Jin ( Yoo In-Na ), in their respective timelines. Hee-Jin is an actress in modern-day Korea, while Boong-Do is a scholar from the Joseon Dynasty. After almost being assassinated, Boong-Do ends up in present-day Korea on Hee-Jin’s film set. He soon learns that he is able to teleport back and forth in time, and the more time he spends with Hee-Jin, the more he falls in love with her, as she does with him.

Many time-traveling K-dramas focus on a prince and a lowly maiden — however, in rare cases like Queen and I and The Great Doctor , the cast consists of lower-ranking characters , like a scholar. There are plenty of comedic moments in the K-drama that make it worth watching, and viewers who love romantic comedies, heartfelt stories, and time-traveling will love this drama.

Watch on Tubi

7 'Familiar Wife' (2018)

Created by yang hee-seung.

Cha Joo-Hyuk ( Ji-Sung ) is a married man with two kids of his own. The problem is, he loathes his wife, and he has a negative outlook on life. Life at home is not perfect, and neither is his work life. He lives a somewhat miserable life, from his perspective. Life for Joo-Hyuk changes, however, after he visits a toll booth and puts 1000 won in it. He loses control of his car as it drives on his own, and he wakes up in the past, back before he got married. He shortly learns after traveling back and forth in time that he can change it if he so desires. And that is what he does — he alters his path by making deliberate choices to end up where he wants to be and wakes up in the present time with a new wife, Hye-Won ( Kang Han-na ).

Familiar Wife is a K-drama that is heartfelt, focusing on the idea that if one could change their life willingly, would they ? Most time-traveling K-dramas start off with a funny introduction, where characters are confused or startled by the sudden change in atmosphere and era. However, Familiar Wife starts off rather dark, making the viewer feel uncomfortable or miserable due to the realism incorporated. But such is necessary in order to provide a meaningful K-drama, which is what Familiar Wife grows to be.

6 'Splash Splash Love' (2015)

Created by kim ji-hyun and song jae-jung.

Jang Dan-Bi ( Kim Seul-Gi ) is a high schooler preparing to take entrance exams, which will ultimately decide the fate of her future. The problem is, she is bad at math, and she doesn’t know what she wants for her future. When the day comes, Dan-Bi becomes too overwhelmed and runs off. She sits on a bench all by herself, praying for a different life, when suddenly she hears drums coming from a rain puddle. She examines it and falls in, finding herself in the Joseon period. There, she is hired by the King to train him in mathematics, among other things.

Splash Splash Love is a very fun show that has all the defining characteristics of K-drama , which means it's focused on the characters. Taking place in the Joseon period, the main characters of Splash Splash Love , Dan-Bi and Prince Lee Do (Yoon Doo-Joon), are a fun pair that play off each other very well! Viewers will appreciate the common tropes: a woman disguises herself as a man, the prince falls for the maiden, a jealous queen , and a quiet bodyguard. It’s short and sweet, and any fan of K-dramas will love this one.

5 'Rooftop Prince' (2012)

Created by lee hee-myung.

Crown Prince Lee Gak ( Park Yoochun ), from the Joseon era, wakes up in the middle of the night as he finds his wife, the Crown Princess ( Jeong Yu-Mi ), dead in the lake. Many assume that she tripped and fell into the pond, but Lee Gak knows – with the help of three special advisors – that she was murdered. While an investigation is underway, Rooftop Prince cuts to the present time, following Park-Ha ( Han Ji-Min ) as she travels back to Korea to meet with her blood father with whom she lost connection after her stepsister abandoned her and ignored her pleas for help. Then four Joseon men are then transported to the present time after being chased by masked assassins and jumping off a cliff. From there, Lee Gak and his crew learn to live in the modern world while trying to go back to the Joseon period.

Rooftop Prince is full of K-drama tropes that fans know and love. It deals with amnesia–attained by Park-Ha after an accident, and she finds herself unable to answer why she was separated from her family. Rooftop Prince also deals with evil, second-female leads, goofy scenarios, and gimmicky love triangles. It’s also a unique drama where characters jump to the present time as opposed to past eras , which is always refreshing to watch in a time-traveling K-drama. Anyone looking for mystery in their time-traveling K-dramas will enjoy this classic.

4 'The King: Eternal Monarch' (2020)

Created by kim eun-sook.

In modern-day Korea, there exist two parallel universes. One universe follows the everyday life of modern-day Seoul, where there are prime ministers and presidents. However, in the other universe, Korea is still run by a monarchy, though it exists under present-day advancements. One day, in an alternate reality of Korea, a young prince by the name of Lee Gon ( Lee Min-Ho ) watches his father be murdered by an Uncle, and he is next until a mysterious stranger saves him. Meanwhile, in present-day Korea, a detective by the name of Tae-Eul ( Kim Go-Eun ) investigates that same man – Lee Gon’s uncle – who shows up covered in blood. Years go by for Lee Gon, and he grows into a King who searches for the person who saved him. He travels to the parallel universe of present-day Korea through a portal, and he meets his savior, Tae-Eul.

Initially, the Netflix K-drama The King: Eternal Monarch might be a little confusing. It deals a lot with parallel universes, and the information can be overwhelming and confusing at first , considering this is one of the first times – if not the only time – that a K-drama explores a universe where modern-day Korea is still ruled under a monarchy. But the slow build-up is well worth the wait, as a romance is ignited between the two leads. It’s a K-drama with a unique twist that viewers will enjoy and appreciate.

Watch on Netflix

3 'Tunnel' (2017)

Created by lee eun-mi and choi jin-hee.

Unlike most time-traveling K-dramas that focus on historical eras, Tunnel i s a K-drama that takes place in a fairly recent time period. Detective Gwang-Ho ( Choi Jin Hyuk ) is investigating a string of murders in 1985 involving young women, and upon chasing the suspect through a tunnel, Gwang-Ho loses sight of the perpetrator. He is then knocked out by getting hit in the head. Gwang-Ho then wakes up and discovers soon after that he is no longer in 1985, but rather, thirty years in the future.

Tunnel is a thriller K-Drama that differs from a lot of time-traveling shows. The romance is a subplot to the main plot and doesn’t exist for the most part. Rather, Tunnel focuses on familial love . The murder plot is an exciting bonus that will keep viewers and fans on their feet as they try to determine who the serial killer is and how Gwang-Ho will return to the time he belongs in.

2 'Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo' (2016)

Created by tong hua.

Make-up artist Ha-Jin ( IU ) has just broken up with her boyfriend after catching him cheating on her with her best friend. Stuck in a slump, Ha-Jin sits out on a pier, drinking, when she sees a child drowning. She jumps in to save the child, and just as she swims to the surface after doing so, she is mysteriously pulled back down into the water. She then awakes in a hot water spring where several men are bathing. To her surprise, she finds out that she is in the Goryeo Dynasty, and the men she met were the Princes. She also eventually learns that she is no longer Ha-Jin but a woman named Hae-Soo who knows the princes well. With no way back home, Hae-Soo has to learn how to live in the Goryeo Dynasty and stay alive.

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo is another fun K-drama that plays around with the concept of body-switching as opposed to teleporting into a different era . It includes several male leads that the viewer will fall in love with and several love triangles that viewers will love. Not to mention, the show has its dramatic moments that will have viewers on the verge of tears. Buy on Amazon

1 'Mr. Queen' (2020)

Created by park kye-ok.

Jang Bong-Hwan ( Choi Jin Hyuk ) is one of the youngest chefs at Blue House, with a dream to become the first chef who “feeds the strongest.” He has a perfectionist, self-centered nature, and because of his insanely high ego, he mishandles a meal prepared specially for the Chinese Ambassador. This results in Bong-Hwan being chased by Seoul police, and he falls head-first into a pool of water. Upon waking, he learns that he is no longer Bong-Hwan, but rather Princess Kim So-Yong of the Joseon period.

Not only is Mr. Queen a classic time travel K-drama that many viewers will fall in love with, but it also includes the infamous body-switching trope seen in many classics, such as Secret Garden . This K-drama is filled with mystery as viewers are left to uncover the secret behind the attempted murder of So-Yong and the controversies behind her character. Mr. Queen is a worthwhile watch filled with lots of humor, provided excellently by the narration of Choi Jin Hyuk.

NEXT: The Best Heartwarming K-Dramas On Netflix Right Now

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Sunderland Greats: Steed Malbranque

The mercurial Frenchman arrived from Tottenham in the summer of 2008 and became a real fans’ favourite during his three years at the Stadium of Light. Mark Wood looks back at ‘Steeeeeed’s’ time in red and white

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What makes a ‘Sunderland great’?

First and foremost, this series is titled ‘Sunderland Greats’ and not ‘Sunderland Legends ’ for good reason, because ‘legend’ is a term that’s bandied around far too easily.

For instance, the 1973 FA Cup-winning team achieved legendary status because they brought home a piece of major silverware, and the sadly-missed Charlie Hurley, as well as Raich Carter and Len Shackleton would also fit into this category.

However, this series is about players and managers from all eras of our clubs history, and not just those that we consider to be ‘legends’, as if it was, there would be a much smaller pool to choose from.

In this series, a Sunderland ‘great’ is someone you can look at and say ‘He was great for us’.

It’s subjective, of course, and as much as this series is about greats from all eras, even from a century ago, it should also include figures from the modern era and the last twenty years, and this is where it becomes more difficult, because in the modern era, players and managers generally remain at the club for a much shorter period of time than in the past.

Also, the memories of the people who count in judging such matters - that is us, the fans - are a lot fresher. The odd sub-par season hasn't been forgotten, nor have any off-field misdemeanours or a less-than-classy departure when their time at the club came to an end.

For example, Darren Bent was a top end Premier League striker for us and got into the England team while he was on Wearside. He only scored two fewer goals for Sunderland (and in one season less) than another great striker in Jermain Defoe.

Unfortunately, thirteen years later, he still hasn't been forgotten by many for the way in which he left the club.

Contrast that with Paul Bracewell, who had three different spells at Sunderland, the first of which was forty years ago.

He was a phenomenal player, particularly during his first spell, and nobody would bat an eyelid if he was included as a ‘Sunderland great ’, but what’s been forgotten over time is that he was the subject of two contentious departures from Sunderland, one of them to Newcastle United.

Next, we have Lee Cattermole, with ten years as a Sunderland player, of which eight were in the Premier League, yet a few fans posted ‘Good riddance’ messages when he left.

Contrast him with Gordon Armstrong, a first team regular for a similar amount of time over three decades ago, but with only one season spent in the top flight. He’d be in with a shout as one of the greats from his era.

Soccer - FA Cup Semi Final - Sunderland v Norwich City

I saw both of them play and if you ask who’d win a midfield battle between the two of them at their peak, in my opinion it wouldn’t be Armstrong.

So, you get the point being made, because we’ve seen some great players in red and white during the past twenty years, of which a full decade was spent in the Premier League, and to consider them fairly, the focus should remain on what they did on the pitch.

This leads me to the first great of the modern era: Steed Malbranque.

Born in Belgium but capped at international level by France, ‘Steeeeeed’ was an established Premier League player long before he arrived on Wearside. After cutting his teeth at Lyon, he moved to Fulham in 2001 and then to Tottenham, becoming a crowd favourite at both clubs.

Sunderland v West Bromwich Albion - Premier League

Roy Keane signed Malbranque in the summer of 2008, along with his Tottenham teammates Teemu Tainio and Pascal Chimbonda, as he looked to inject some Premier League quality into a squad that had battled against relegation during 2007/2008, our first campaign back in the top flight.

Of the three, it was hoped that Tainio would become the midfield kingpin we were crying out for at the time, yet Keane himself wasn't impressed with the attitudes of the trio from the bright lights of London, commenting that they seemed to feel like they were doing everyone a favour by being here.

As it was, Keane didn’t last much longer as Sunderland manager, and after a fallout with new club owner Ellis Short, he departed Wearside.

It eventually took a new manager in the shape of Steve Bruce for Malbranque to start producing his best football in a Sunderland shirt, starting with the following season.

A creative attacking midfielder, he could play on the right but was typically deployed on the left.

He was consistent and would be one of our better performers most weeks. During his time on Wearside, he won over the Sunderland fans with his ability to drive forward, and his vision and eye for a pass. He also had great close control and fabulous dribbling and crossing ability.

Aged twenty eight when he joined Sunderland, his fitness often had to be managed in a match and it wasn’t unusual to see him substituted.

However, his managers on Wearside knew that just like Jan Kirchhoff a few years later, his presence on the pitch, even for an hour, would be worth his selection.

2010/2011 was Malbranque’s final season for Sunderland, as a member of what was probably our last good Premier League side.

The team was reshaped substantially during the season and into the summer, with the Sunderland sides that followed caught up in an annual relegation battle.

When he played his final game for us in a 3-0 win at West Ham in May 2011, he’d played over one hundred games for Sunderland, scoring two goals.

When you think of quality players from our decade-long stay in the Premier League, Steed Malbranque was one of the greats.

Kristjaan Speakman: Why Sunderland might not realise what they had until it's gone

A view from the away end: at least the lads didn’t have to travel far back from watford..., the ongoing dilemma of patrick roberts’ sunderland future, loading comments..., sign up for the newsletter sign up for the roker report daily roundup newsletter, thanks for signing up.

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Money latest: State pensions 'could be in doubt for future generations'

A pensions expert has told Money that if he was 20 today, he would be "sceptical" about the promise of a state pension. Read this and all the latest consumer and personal finance news below, plus leave a comment in the box.

Tuesday 30 April 2024 10:28, UK

State pensions could be in doubt for future generations, expert warns
Higher food prices and shortages warning - as new Brexit checks begin
Royal Mail pausing £5 charge for post carrying counterfeit stamps
Tesco offering up to £50 in points through 'Clubcard Challenges' campaign

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Ask a question or make a comment

Average advertised rents have hit a new high in the UK, according to Rightmove .

Across Britain, excluding London, the average monthly rent being asked for a property coming on the market in the first quarter of 2024 was £1,291, the property website found. This was 8.5% higher than a year earlier.

The average advertised rent in London also hit a fresh high in the first quarter of 2024 at £2,633 per month but this was just £2 higher than the average asking rent in the fourth quarter of 2023.

While average rents have climbed, the property website says there are signs that the pace of the increases is slowing.

There are also indications that more landlords are having to reduce their asking rents, particularly for bigger homes, to meet what tenants can afford.

Rightmove's director of property science, Tim Bannister, said the rental market was "no longer at peak boiling point" but it "remains at a very hot simmer".

By James Sillars , business reporter

The index rose by 0.3% to 8,174 points at the open.

Only real estate stocks were proving any kind of drag.

Among the companies leading the gainers was HSBC.

It climbed by more than 2.6% in London after the Asia-focused bank announced a rise in shareholder awards despite a slight drop in quarterly profits.

The share price reaction also reflected news that chief executive Noel Quinn is to retire - read the full story of that here ...

Among the other gainers in early dealing was Whitbread.

The Premier Inn owner's annual results revealed a sharp rise in annual profits but also a new focus on hotel investment at the expense of its restaurant brands.

That was placing 1,500 jobs at risk, it warned - read the full story here ...

By Jess Sharp , Money team

We first came across Tom McPhail when he posted this on X...

The pensions expert appeared to be suggesting state pensions were at risk of disappearing.

After speaking to him on the phone, he confirmed that was exactly his concern, warning something needed to be done sooner rather than later to avoid a "catastrophic" situation.

He described state pensions as a social contract – each generation pays taxes and national insurance, which funds the pensions of today's older people, and they hope the following generation will do the same for them.

But with population growth slowing, there's a worry there may simply not be enough people to keep the system afloat in the future.

"There's a significant demographic shift going on in the UK. It started before the Second World War, cohorts of people born in the 1930s have been experiencing significantly longer lives than was the case prior to that, so people now in their 80s are living quite a lot longer," he said.

"But at the same time, we've got fewer children coming through. And so this exacerbates the shift in the age of the population."

He said if he was 20 today, he would be "sceptical" about the promise of a state pension because he isn't sure how it's going to be paid for.

At the moment, the state pension system costs around £120bn a year and more than half of retired people rely on it to make up at least 50% of their income, he added.

Over the next 50 years, Tom predicts the proportion of GDP the state spends on older people will increase from around 16% to 25%.

"I hesitate to use the word unsustainable, but it will certainly start to look challenging," he said.

"If we suddenly switched off the state pension or significantly reduced it, people would be in trouble, so the government can’t do that.

"You can't keep on progressively ratcheting up a more and more generous state pension. The costs of state pensions is going to become increasingly difficult for the younger cohorts to bear."

He pointed to a few ways to potentially salvage the state pension – policy change, more babies being born or people working until they are in their 70s.

"Politicians are going to have to make decisions about how to get out of this kind of political bind," Tom added.

"Time and time again it's just kick the can down the road on the pension question, just put a sticking plaster on it and let the next government deal with the problem.

"You can't keep doing that. So I would really like to see, on the other side of this forthcoming general election... whoever's in power, in collaboration with whoever's in opposition, to just really open it up to some honest conversations about where the demographics are going to take us."

He does note there is one piece of good news: "This happens quite slowly, so we do have time on our side."

Basically, swap rates dictate the pricing of fixed-rate mortgages.

Lenders, such as banks and building societies, borrow in order to lend.

They borrow from financial markets and often these transactions are made using Sterling Overnight Index Average (SONIA) swap rates, which can move around.

By contrast, most domestic mortgages are set on what is known as a "term" rate – in other words, the borrower knows how much interest they will be paying for a set period of time.

To avoid a situation where the SONIA rate goes above the rate it is charging borrowers, which would leave the bank or building society lending at a loss, the lender will seek to enter a "swap" arrangement which protects them from such a situation.

Under such agreements, two parties exchange cash flows with each other. The lending bank will swap the variable payments it may make to service a mortgage (which is fixed to the SONIA rate) for payments at a fixed rate. This insulates the lending bank from unexpected increases in the SONIA rate.

Once a deal is struck based on the swap rate, mortgage providers set their fixed deals for customers, with their own profit margin priced in.

How are swap rates decided?

Swap rates are based on what the markets think will happen to interest rates in the future.

When they go up, so do the rates being offered on the high street, as we have seen in the last week or two amid uncertainty over whether forecasts for a summer base rate cut are accurate.

Read other entries in our Basically... series:

Train drivers will stage a fresh wave of strikes and overtime bans in May, causing disruption to the rail network.

The strikes are part of a long-running dispute over pay.

Members of Aslef union at 16 rail companies will walk out on different days from 7 to 9 May. Additionally, all members will refuse to work any overtime from 6 May to 11 May.

Here is a full list of the services affected by strikes and when.

Rail strike dates

Tuesday 7 May

Strikes will affect c2c, Greater Anglia, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, Southeastern, Southern, Gatwick Express and South Western Railway.

Wednesday 8 May

Strikes will affect Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway and West Midlands Trains.

Thursday 9 May

Strikes will affect LNER, Northern Trains and TransPennine Express.

Overtime ban dates

From Monday 6 May to Saturday 11 May union members will not work overtime.

Overtime bans, an action short of a strike, means some services may not be running or may be reduced as drivers refuse to work their rest days.

People are advised to check before they travel, as some areas may have no service.

How do strikes and overtime bans affect services?

Strikes tend to mean services on lines where members are participating are extremely affected or cancelled entirely, whereas overtime bans often lead to reduced services.

How can I stay in the loop?

You can use the National Rail's journey planner to see when trains are running.

Be sure to check it close to when you plan to travel, as it will be updated regularly.

Why are the strikes still happening?

Aslef rejected a two-year offer of 4% in 2022 and another 4% this year, saying this was way below inflation, and was linked to changes in terms and conditions.

Aslef says train drivers have not had an increase in salary for five years, since their last pay deals expired in 2019.

Royal Mail is temporarily waiving a £5 charge for unsuspecting members of the public who receive post sent with a fake stamp.

The company said it was developing a new scanner in its app which will let customers scan stamp barcodes and check whether they are recognised counterfeits.

While this takes place, the £5 charge for people who receive the post will be paused, Royal Mail said.

It added that it would work to ensure the sender of items posted with counterfeit stamps are charged instead of the recipient where possible.

Royal Mail chief commercial officer Nick Landon said new security measures alongside its barcoded stamps have "led to a 90% reduction" in counterfeits.

"We want our customers to buy stamps with confidence and always recommend that customers only purchase stamps from post offices and other reputable high street retailers," he said.

Tesco Clubcard users have the chance to secure up to £50 in points over the next six weeks as part of its new "Clubcard Challenge" initiative.

Three million Clubcard holders will be invited to take part in the campaign. If they accept, they'll receive 20 challenges that Tesco says will be "personalised just for them" - of which they can choose up to 10 to complete.

The supermarket giant said it was working with AI company EagleAI to offer the "hyper-personalised" promotion.

Challenges will involve spending a certain amount on a range, such as its BBQ food offering, or type of product, such as plant-based food. Customers who complete the "challenges" will be handed extra Clubcard points.

Lizzie Reynolds, group membership and loyalty director at Tesco, said the company was "very excited" to see how its customers responded.

Let us know what you think of this in the comments box above.

Strikes at Heathrow Airport are taking place over the next few weeks, with the first one already under way.

Staff at the UK's biggest airport are set to walk out during the early bank holiday in May, with their union warning planes could be "delayed, disrupted and grounded".

Click here to find out when all the strikes are, what disruption is expected and which airlines are affected...

The average price paid for comprehensive motor insurance rose 1% in the first quarter of the year, according to industry data indicating an easing in the steep rises seen last year.

The latest tracker issued by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) showed a 1% increase on the previous three months to £635.

That was despite the average claim paid rising 8% to reach a record of £4,800, the body said.

The ABI said the disparity showed that its members were "absorbing" additional costs and not passing them on.

Nevertheless, the average policy was still 33%, or £157, higher between January and March compared to the same period last year.

Read the full story here ...

Getir , the grocery delivery app, has abandoned a European expansion that is set to result in the loss of around 1,500 jobs in the UK.

Sky News had previously revealed that the Turkey-based company, which means "to bring" in Turkish, had successfully raised money from investors to fund its withdrawals from the UK, Germany and the Netherlands.

It had already departed other countries including Italy and Spain.

The exits were prompted by growing losses linked to the company's rapid expansion.

Waitrose is launching an exclusive range of products with popular chef Yotam Ottolenghi today.

The Israeli-British chef is famous for his Middle Eastern and Mediterranean-inspired food, and has worked with the supermarket to release products including a pasta sauce, spice blend and shawarma marinade.

It is the first time Ottolenghi has partnered with a supermarket in such a way.

The full range will be available in Waitrose shops, Waitrose.com and Ottolenghi.co.uk from today, while a selection of products will be available from the supermarket on Deliveroo and Uber Eats.

An introductory 20% off offer is being launched until 18 June.

The range includes:

Ottolenghi Miso Pesto 165g (£4)
Ottolenghi Kalamata Olive & Harissa Sauce 350g (£4.50)
Ottolenghi Pomegranate, Rose & Preserved Lemon Harissa 170g (£5)
Ottolenghi Green Harissa 170g (£5)
Ottolenghi Aleppo & Other Chillies Blend (£3.95)
Ottolenghi Sweet & Smokey Blend (£3.95)
Ottolenghi Citrus & Spice Blend (£3.95)
Ottolenghi Red Chilli Sauce (£4.50)
Ottolenghi Shawarma Marinade (£4)

Ottolenghi said he had "always been super eager to get our flavours onto people's dinner plates nationwide, not just in London, without having to cook it from scratch every single time".

He added: "I hate to admit it but the pasta sauce already features heavily in my home kitchen, when no one is looking."

The cost of bread, biscuits and beer could increase this year due to the impact of the unusually wet autumn and winter on UK harvests.

Research suggests that production of wheat, oats, barley and oilseed rape could drop by four million tonnes (17.5%) compared with 2023.

The wet weather has resulted in lower levels of planting, while flooding and storms over winter caused farmers more losses.

The predictions come just as the rate of price increases on many food items begins to slow as inflation falls.

The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) analysed forecasts from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHBD) and government yield data.

It found a "real risk" of beer, biscuits and bread becoming more expensive if the poor harvest increases costs for producers, according to its lead analyst Tom Lancaster.

Beer prices could be affected because the wet weather is still disrupting the planting of spring crops such as barley, the ECIU said.

And potatoes might also see a price hike in the coming months, with growers warning of a major shortage in the autumn due to persistent wet weather.

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The Time Travel In Back To The Future

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Can History Be Changed As A Result Of Time Travel In Back to the Future?

What Are The Consequences Of Time Travel In Back To The Future?

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Back to the Future timeline

Chart of alternate timelines [ ]

Timeline 1 [ ]

Timeline 2 [ ]

Timeline 3 [ ]

Timeline 4 [ ]

Unknown dates [ ]

Timeline 5 [ ]

Timeline 6 [ ]

Timeline 7 [ ]

Timeline 8 [ ]

Marty's Timeline [ ]

Notes and references [ ]

Back to the Future screenwriter says time travel has become “too convenient”

Inside Back to the Future 's Novel Take on Time Travel

Win Back to the Future: 25th Anniversary Trilogy

Doc Brown's Entire Back To The Future Timeline Explained

Timeline A - Doc Brown gets the idea for time travel

Timeline A - Doc meets his doom

Timeline B - Marty meets Doc Brown back in 1955

Timeline B - Doc sends Marty back to the future

Timeline B - Marty's note saves the day

Timeline B - Taking a trip to 2015

Timeline C - Doc and Marty head back to the future again

Timeline D - 1985 is all wrong

Timeline E - There are way too many Doc Browns running around

Timeline F - Doc Brown gets stuck in 1885

Timeline G - Marty travels to 1885 to save Doc's life

Timeline G - Doc Brown's future turns out pretty great

Screen Rant

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10 Old Biff's Fate Was Never Revealed

9 Marty Didn't Have To Steal The Almanac On November 12, 1955

8 Old Biff Went Back To The Wrong 2015

7 Old Marty & Old Jennifer Shouldn't Exist In 2015

6 The DeLorean Time Travels Without Going 88MPH In Back To The Future 2

5 There Are Two DeLoreans In 1885

4 Doc Brown Should Know About Einstein In Back To The Future 2

3 Doc's Tombstone Shouldn't Exist In Back To The Future 3

2 Clayton Ravine Should Have A Different Name If Clara Lives

1 Doc Should Know That "Mad Dog" Tannen Is Going To Kill Him

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