The future was yesterday if Back to the Future is to be believed.
The celebration of the so-called “Back to the Future Day” yesterday marked the date — Oct. 21, 2015 — that the characters Marty McFly, Emmett “Doc” Brown and Jennifer Parker famously journeyed from 1985 to this year in the sci-fi film trilogy’s second installment in 1989.
Back to the Future Part II envisioned a colorful 2015 with flying cars, hoverboards and self-tying shoelaces. While those doodads are hardly prevalent today, the film did accurately tease the rise of such technology as flatscreen televisions, biometric scanning and hands-free gaming.
Photo: EPA / Paul McErlane / Queen’s University handout
It also predicted the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series — an actual possibility with the Cubs contenders in the real-world playoffs, although maybe not for long.
“Back to the Future Day” is being celebrated in Southern California with a four-day “We’re Going Back” fan event taking place at locations featured in the film series, including a tour of the Hill Valley town square on the Universal Studios lot, an “Enchantment Under the Sea” dance at the Hollywood United Methodist Church and a screening in the parking lot of the Puente Hills Mall, where McFly famously blasted off in Doc’s time-traveling DeLorean.
A “Million McFly March,” a gathering of fans dressed as McFly was scheduled to begin later in the day at the Burbank location of Burger King depicted in the film.
The town of Reston, Virginia, ceremoniously changed its name to Hill Valley, McFly’s hometown.
“Back to the Future Day” was also marked in other nations.
Police in Queensland issued a spook statement saying that they had deployed their “hoverboard unit” after a silver sedan crashed into a pole near a movie theater, causing a power cut and stopping the town clock.
The crash described in the police press release mirrors the key moment in the movie, when McFly, 17, and Doc go forward in time.
It police also posted an edited image of officers rushing to the scene on their hoverboards.
The Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology also issued a statement outlining its guidelines for hoverboard use.
Its Web site describes a hoverboard as a “small vehicle for use outside of the road” and says a special license is needed for rocket-driven “Pit Bull” models.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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