Hadn't seen this in years. Doc explains on the chalkboard that Biff went back and created a new timeline, and if they g
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Back to the Future Part II
Iron_Giant — 9 years ago(August 20, 2016 10:45 PM)
Hadn't seen this in years. Doc explains on the chalkboard that Biff went back and created a new timeline, and if they go forward to 2015, it would be the new 2015-B where Biff is rich. After altering the past and creating the new timeline, how did Biff return to original version? I know they needed to return the car to Doc and Marty or there would be no movie, but this doesn't compute for me.
Please don't call someone a _____tard. -
buddyboy28 — 9 years ago(August 21, 2016 10:41 AM)
Same reason why Marty himself, and his brother and sister in the photo don't instantly disappear when Marty pushes George out of the way of the car in 1.
Any changes in the timeline occurs gradually in the BTTF universe. Some quicker than others depending on the dramatic narrative but that's the basic rules they follow.
In the deleted scene, old Biff erases just as Marty and Doc go back to 1985, supposedly because he was shot and killed by Lorraine in the 90's.
If they'd taken any longer, they'd probably have erased too. -
hovaoc149 — 9 years ago(October 04, 2016 09:20 AM)
good info about that deleted scene. i had always wondered why old biff was in so much agony when he got out of the time machine, i used to think it was because he accidentally stabbed hinself with his broken walking cane.
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Totemkauf — 9 years ago(November 03, 2016 03:02 PM)
I always use the deleted scene to possibly justify that he did in fact return to a 2015B , we just don't notice it because not that much changes.
Our minds refer to the wild 1985A town square when we think about a 2015B, assuming that everything would be trashed in the future too.
But with that whole thing about Biff being killed in 1993 by Lorraine , then we're talking about 22 years worth of history where the Biff Hotel likely was sold/tore down , and everything he made bad improved over time so that come 2015 it was more or less how it was the first time. -
atomicseasoning — 9 years ago(November 03, 2016 03:42 PM)
That's what I wondered too, why 78 yr old Biff suddenly died after returning to the first version of 2015 where Marty was still hanging out in. Did old Biff break his cane in the door of the Delorean? Or did it have something to do with Lorraine and/or the deleted scene?
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EightiesKid — 9 years ago(November 20, 2016 09:53 PM)
Whether or not you want to call the deleted scene canon, Old Biff
did
return to the alternate 2015. It's just implied that because Hilldale is already a dump, the changes around them wouldn't be noticeable there. If Doc and Marty hadn't gone back to 1985 after leaving, and they'd flown to the downtown Courthouse Square, they would've seen the differences. -
sanddragon939 — 9 years ago(December 13, 2016 12:58 PM)
Funnily enough, in the original BTTF2 draft (the one where Biff travels to 1967 to change the past, not 1955), Biff returns to the normal 2015, but as Marty and Doc are leaving 2015 to return to 1985, Marty notices reality changing around them.
Formerly sn939 -
EightiesKid — 9 years ago(December 14, 2016 03:27 AM)
^I've heard of that too. From the movie's point of view, they couldn't give away
too
much since it would ruin the gradual shock of 1985-A but it would've been cool if they changed a few subtle things in the background you could catch later.
Like some of the skyway lane markers could've been messed up, perhaps some hoverbikes, or the self-dog walkers could've come back around the block with a suit of armor or something. -
sanddragon939 — 9 years ago(January 08, 2017 09:10 AM)
That original script actually DID telegraph Biff changing the past a fair bit. For instance, Doc actually notices the 'Last Time Departed' on the time circuit and assumes that its the result of Einstein pawing the controls.
Formerly sn939 -
Kotter7579 — 9 years ago(January 27, 2017 06:59 AM)
Great thread with many great answers and thoughts. You're bringing up some great info! With the heavy focus on the disappearing people in the picture from part one, I think they really should've had the part with him disappearing in the movie and not a deleted scene. It really would've helped in this case, and then it would have honed in on something that we all knew from the first film.
You'll kill everyone!
But Ice Cream Cake! -
Melton1 — 3 months ago(December 20, 2025 02:15 AM)
M’yeah, I think the best would be to have Old Biff just land, get out of the Delorean and hobble off with a grin on his face.
They could have had him disappear but, as we know from the test screenings, it just confused the audience. Gale has said this is because 1985B Lorraine shot him in the 90’s, but we never hear anything about this in the films
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So we’re left with a strange sequence in which Old Biff is in pain and appears to break off the top of his cane as he exits the Delorean and… impales himself with it?
A curious flaw in this otherwise perfect film.