One of the most sensational aspects of 1989's Back to the Future II was its depiction of the year 2015. Well, today is finally October 21st, 2015, the day that Marty McFly traveled to in the future, and no one can resist comparing the film's version of the future to our current reality.
This despite the fact that director Robert Zemeckis was no futurist, but was just trying to create a fun film. "Rather than trying to make a scientifically sound prediction that we were probably going to get wrong anyway," he said on a Q&A featured on the 2010 Blu-Ray, "we figured, let's just make it funny." Hence the prediction that the Chicago Cubs would win the World Series.
Sports gags aside, what did Zemeckis and the writers get right and wrong about life in 2015? Hoverboards are here, though they look a bit different than what McFly was rocking. And while the film missed some of the larger developments of modern society—er, the internet—they surprisingly got a lot right, from wearables to flatscreens to videochats:
I always thought the dog-walking drone featured in the movie was neat…
…but after seeing this guy actually develop one, I've changed my mind and decided it's kind of disturbing:
Dogs are supposed to be Man's Best Friend, not some chore that you hand off to a piece of technology!
One prediction that would have been easy to make back in '89 is that corporations would shamelessly try to capitalize on the movie's success in 2015. Pepsi is actually rolling out the "Pepsi Perfect" featured in the movie:
The collectible bottles will sell for $20.15. (Groan.)
Lyft and Verizon have shipped Deloreans from around the country to New York City, as today they're offering free rides in the (non-Flux-Capacitor-equipped) cars:
While Delorean has long been defunct, Ford has upgraded their Focus and Fiesta models with Flux Capacitors as of today:
Sadly, the one product tie-in we'd actually like to see happen…
…hasn't materialized yet, though Nike once suggested they would. And last night they stirred up massive speculation by Tweeting this at Michael J. Fox:
— Nike (@Nike) October 21, 2015 "> Enter a caption (optional)With any luck we'll have a "Breaking News!" entry later today…but we suspect they're just teasing.
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