Back To The Future has inspired many films and television shows that came after it, and due to the iconic nature of the film, it’s easy to spot when a piece of media is doing more than just referencing the work. Paying homage to a beloved film is a time-honored tradition, and there’s nothing wrong with intertextual references in film, it’s what creates the vocabulary of cinema. However, for comedic effect or not, copying the plot, themes, and style of the original film too closely can take the viewer out of the story.
The first Back To The Future film was released in 1985, starring Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Emmett Brown. Their dynamic was between an unmotivated high school student and a scientist who accidentally sent Marty back in time. From there, Marty must adapt to life in the 1950s, get his teenage parents to fall in love, and figure out a way to get himself back to the 1980s. With so many moving parts and a unique blend of sci-fi with family drama, it’s no wonder that Back To The Future can’t stop being copied.
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The prospect of time travel has always ensnared audience attention, and there are a lot of great movies besides Back to the Future that feature it.
10 Rick And Morty (2013 – )
A boy and his grandpa travel the universe
Rick and Morty
- Release Date
- December 2, 2013
- Cast
- Spencer Grammer , Kari Wahlgren , Chris Parnell , Sarah Chalke , Ian Cardoni , Harry Belden
- Seasons
- 7
- Network
- Cartoon Network
- Streaming Service(s)
- Hulu , Max
- Franchise(s)
- Rick and Morty
- Directors
- Dan Harmon , Ryan Ridley , Lee Hardcastle
- Showrunner
- Dan Harmon
The relationship between Morty and Rick is similar to that of Marty and Doc in more ways than one. Marty and Morty are regular young men along for the ride as an eccentric older inventor puts them into dangerous situations, and finds themselves as the reluctant sidekick who is frequently underestimated. Though Rick and Morty pushes the boundaries of what can be shown on television and gets much darker than Back to the Future, it’s constantly asking the same question of how changing the past would affect the reality of the present.
In many episodes, Rick and Morty return home to find that everything is different, but they just travel to a parallel universe to fix it. The series owes a lot to Back to the Future, and though it does make tongue-in-cheek comments about the relationship between Rick and Morty, as well as how time travel is portrayed in media, there’s a lot of love for the works that inspired the show. Though the series may have started as a send-up of the movie, it’s gone on to become its own entity.
9 Action Replayy (2010)
A man goes back in time to make his parents fall in love
Action Replayy doesn’t try to hide the fact that it stole the plot of Back to the Future, but it does include some fun additions that make the film enjoyable. In the movie, Bunty (Aditya Roy Kapur) goes back in time to make his parents fall in love to prevent their future divorce. However, Bunty intentionally goes back and wants to be involved, whereas Marty only meddles because he has to. Despite the sweet nature of the film and Bunty’s devotion to his parents, the movie lacks the necessary stakes to make the audience care about the plot.
8 Back To The Future Part II (1989)
Back To The Future all over again
Back to the Future Part II
- Release Date
- November 22, 1989
- Director
- Robert Zemeckis
- Cast
- Lea Thompson , Elisabeth Shue , Christopher Lloyd , Michael J. Fox , Thomas F. Wilson
- Runtime
- 108 minutes
- Writers
- Bob Gale
- Studio(s)
- Universal Pictures
- Distributor(s)
- Universal Pictures
There are many reasons Back To The Future never improved on the first movie, and one of them is that they never invented a concept that was different enough from the original plot. This time Doc and Marty go forward in time, but their end goal is the same. They have to return everything to the status quo and get home without changing the present. While the second film has more to do with Marty facing his flaws and getting serious about his future, he learns a similar lesson to the one he did in the first film.
7 Doctor Who (1963 – )
The time traveler who deals in paradoxes
Doctor Who
- Release Date
- November 23, 1963
- Cast
- Jenna Coleman , Jodie Whittaker , Alex Kingston , David Tennant , Matt Smith , Peter Capaldi
- Seasons
- 26
- Franchise
- Doctor Who
- Story By
- Sydney Newman C. E. Webber Donald Wilson
- Writers
- Mark Gatiss , Toby Whithouse , Neil Cross , Steven Moffat , Chris Chibnall
- Network
- BBC
Doctor Who is rife with references to almost every sci-fi film and television show out there, but owes a few of its episodes to Back to the Future. Specifically, season 3, episode 10, “Blink”, in which the Doctor (David Tennant) and Martha (Freema Agyeman) are trapped without the TARDIS, and their only hope is a woman in the future. By the end of the episode, it turns out that the tape and information Sally (Carey Mulligan) uses to help them are given to them by her. The three of them exist in a loop, much like Marty and his parents.
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Why Doctor Who’s Weeping Angels Episodes Still Haven’t Topped Blink
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6 The Flash (2014 – 2023)
The fastest man in the universe can outrun time
The Flash
- Release Date
- October 7, 2014
- Cast
- Rick Cosnett , jesse l martin , Candice Patton , Tom Cavanagh , Grant Gustin , Danielle Panabaker
- Seasons
- 9
- Story By
- Greg Berlanti
- Writers
- Andrew Kreisberg , Greg Berlanti , Geoff Johns
- Network
- The CW
- Franchise(s)
- Arrowverse
- Showrunner
- Eric Wallace
Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) may start as a typical superhero with a heart of gold, but he soon uses his considerable powers for his own ends. At the end of season 2, he travels back in time to save his mother, which results in an alternate timeline that’s nothing like what he remembered. It takes a while for him to set things right and even then the damage is irreversible. Like Marty, he witnesses what the world could become without him, and how delicate the balance of time is.
5 About Time (2013)
A love story across every timeline
About Time
- Release Date
- September 4, 2013
- Director
- Richard Curtis
- Cast
- Domhnall Gleeson , Rachel McAdams , Bill Nighy , Tom Hollander , Margot Robbie , Lydia Wilson , Lindsay Duncan , Richard Cordery
- Runtime
- 123 minutes
- Writers
- Richard Curtis
- Studio(s)
- Universal Pictures
- Distributor(s)
- Universal Pictures
About Time is as much a love story between Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) and Mary (Rachel McAdams) as it is between Tim and his father (Bill Nighy). Tim and his father share the ability to go back in time and change past events. Neither of them uses this for evil, but to relive their happiest moments and fix their minor mistakes. Besides the time travel, what makes About Time so similar to Back To The Future is the relationship between Tim and his father.
Marty and his dad learn how to connect and know each other better similarly, and using time travel allows each pair of father and son to spend more time together than they might have otherwise. Additionally, there’s a moment when Tim goes too far and changes the past so that it alters his present too much. After that, like Marty, he must do everything he can to reverse his mistake, even if that comes with sacrifice.
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8 Sci-Fi Movies That Break Their Own Time Travel Rules
Even the most beloved of sci-fi movies break their own time travel rules, prioritizing plot and impactful scenes over maintaining consistent lore.
4 12 Monkeys (1995)
A man must travel back to find the source of humanity’s destruction
12 Monkeys
- Release Date
- December 29, 1995
- Director
- Terry Gilliam
- Cast
- Joseph Melito , Bruce Willis , Jon Seda , Michael Chance , Vernon Campbell , H. Michael Walls
- Runtime
- 129 minutes
- Writers
- Chris Marker , David Webb Peoples , Janet Peoples
- Studio(s)
- Universal Pictures
- Distributor(s)
- Universal Pictures
Though 12 Monkeys takes place in a distant future and gambles the fate of the entire population rather than one family, it still could not have existed without Back to the Future. James Cole (Bruce Willis) travels from the 2030s to the 1990s to discover the origins of a plague. The world that he travels from is a dystopian nightmare, and his experience in the ’90s is not much better. James attempts to change the future, but the twist at the end of the movie reveals that he has always been intertwined with his own timeline, as Marty has.
3 Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
Two high schoolers romp through time to pass their finals
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is a light and satirical take on the traditionally dark tone of time travel in science fiction. This comedic style is more in line with that of Back to the Future, as are the events that kick off Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted’s (Keanu Reeves) journey through time. A man travels to the boys’ present to give them the power of time travel to ensure that they get to keep playing in their band. The time travel, dedication to music, high school setting, and the lessons learned through history are the backbone of both films.
2 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
This time the robot is here to save the boy
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
- Release Date
- July 3, 1991
- Director
- James Cameron
- Cast
- Arnold Schwarzenegger , Linda Hamilton , Robert Patrick , Edward Furlong
- Runtime
- 137 Minutes
- Writers
- James Cameron , William Wisher
- Studio(s)
- Carolco Pictures , Pacific Western Productions , Lightstorm Entertainment , Le Studio Canal+
- Distributor(s)
- Tri-Star Pictures
- Franchise(s)
- Terminator
Unlike The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day flips the role of the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) to be one of a father figure to the young John Connor (Edward Furlong) rather than a villain. Instead of trying to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), he is trying to protect her and her son so that they can live to save humanity. Though both of the first two Terminator films are easily comparable to Back to the Future, the second one takes more from the film because of the father-son dynamic that forms between the Terminator and John.
1 Avengers: Endgame (2019)
The final chance to save the universe
Avengers: Endgame
- Release Date
- April 26, 2019
- Director
- Joe Russo , Anthony Russo
- Cast
- Chris Hemsworth , Anthony Mackie , Paul Rudd , Robert Downey Jr. , Scarlett Johansson , Mark Ruffalo , Evangeline Lilly , Sebastian Stan , Josh Brolin , Elizabeth Olsen , Tom Holland , Don Cheadle , Samuel L. Jackson , Bradley Cooper , Karen Gillan , Brie Larson , Paul Bettany , Chris Evans , Jeremy Renner , Chadwick Boseman
- Runtime
- 3 hours, 2 minutes
- Writers
- Stephen McFeely , Christopher Markus
- Studio
- Marvel Studios
- Franchise
- Marvel Cinematic Universe
- prequel(s)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron , Avengers: Infinity War , The Avengers
After the events of Avengers: Infinity War, it seemed like all hope was lost for the MCU’s greatest heroes. Endgame picks back up years after Thanos (Josh Brolin) has succeeded in wiping out half of the population. However, the story manages to save everyone by stealing from Back to the Future. In the film, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) creates a time machine, so the Avengers can travel back to find the infinity stones. Additionally, each of the characters must interact with people from their past and reckon with them much like in Back to the Future.
