Greatest movie franchise

I saw the newest Batman movie. A lot like Prometheus, the Batman movie was attempting to create a mythology of the Batman, like a series of ancient sagas. I am not sure that I was all that crazy about the idea, as the movie runs on forever with a half a dozen plot lines that have to be tied together. There are many references to the previous movies, which make the film difficult to understand on it's own.

In any event, the franchise will clearly go on. The director is going to move on to Superman, to try and do something with Superman.

In your opinion, what has been the greatest movie franchise? James Bond is the oldest franchise, and clearly the highest aggregate total tickets sold, but with 23 movies there were a lot of turkeys. Star Wars has by far the highest average, but many of the films were almost unwatchable.

Obviously, franchises rely on boys under the age of 20 for much of their sales. Some of them appeal to broader families.

Franchise	Millions tickets	# Movies	Average
James Bond	592.9	23	25.8
Star Wars	503.6	7	71.9
Harry Potter	354.1	8	44.3
Batman	300.6	7
Star Trek	237.7	11	21.6
Avengers	224.8	6	37.5
Indiana Jones	224.4	4	56.1
Shrek	214.3	5	42.9
Spider-Man	207.9	4	52.0
Pirates of the Caribbean	190.2	4	47.6
Rocky	186.8	6	31.1
The Lord of the Rings	173.3	3	57.8
Jaws	181.1	4	45.3
Jurassic Park	168.1	3	56.0
Superman	149.9	5	30.0
Toy Story	148.2	4	37.1
Transformers	146.1	4	36.5
X-Men	142.9	5	28.6
Twilight	139.5	4	34.9
The Exorcist	129.9	5	26.0
Mission: Impossible	128.1	4	32.0
The Godfather	119.9	3	40.0
Beverly Hills Cop	116.6	3	38.9
Lethal Weapon	116.5	4	29.1
Home Alone	116.2	3	38.7
Alien	112.8	7	16.1
Men in Black	109.5	3	36.5
Back to the Future	109.1	3	36.4
Planet of the Apes	109.0	7	15.6
The Pink Panther	105.0	10	10.5
The Fast and the Furious	103.8	5	20.8
The Matrix	103.5	3	34.5
Terminator	101.7	4	25.4

Some movies have sold as many tickets as a franchise, all by themselves

The Sound of Music, 142.4 million tickets
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, 141.8
Titanic, 135.6
The Ten Commandments, 131.0
Doctor Zhivago 124.1

In some cases, what is called a franchise, was one extremely popular movie followed by some very mediocre copies that did poorly at the boxoffice.

Jaws, 128.1
The Exorcist. 110.6

That is a tough one. If it wasn't for Terminator 4 I would go with that series. If it wasn't for Alien 4 I would go with that one. If it wasn't for Rocky 4 I would go with that one. What is it with the part fours being so lousy? The Bond movies certainly have their flaws, but I'll have to go with them, by default.

I think you have to give the nod to James Bond. Although not all of the movies have been of the highest quality the staying power of the franchise is remarkable. It has survived multiple lead actors and continued to attract viewers from 3 generations of teen viewers.

Although they aren't always sequels, I tend to think of anything coming out of Pixar as a must see. I can't recall a bad Pixar movie. I especially liked Up even though they murdered the best character in the first 10 minutes.

Quote: Wizard

What is it with the part fours being so lousy?

Trek IV was the best. "No, I am from Iowa. I work in outer space."

Quote:

The Bond movies certainly have their flaws, but I'll have to go with them, by default.

You know, after a while they sort of all blurr together...

Thanks for ranking them by tickets rather than dollars. Why do the studios prefer to rank by dollars?

Looking at the list, I'm kinda shocked at some of the numbers of films per franchise. I'm not a big movie goes, but it's still surprising.

Most surprising to me was the Star Wars count. I saw, and loved the original 3 (numbers 4, 5, 6). I never bothered to see the 3 "new" films (numbers 1, 2, 3). But there was a seventh Star Wars film? That's news to me.

Quote: s2dbaker

Although they aren't always sequels, I tend to think of anything coming out of Pixar as a must see. I can't recall a bad Pixar movie. I especially liked Up even though they murdered the best character in the first 10 minutes.

I picked the Toy Story movies. But reading about how bad the fourth movies tend to be, I hope they stop at Toy Story 3!

Quote: DJTeddyBear

But there was a seventh Star Wars film? That's news to me.

It's an animated film about the "Clone Wars."

Good call about the prequels. They stink.

Back in the seventies the rumor was that there were supposed to be nine Star Wars movies, with the last three to come out also last in the chronology. Has anyone else heard this, or am I getting senile too early?

Quote: Wizard

Back in the seventies the rumor was that there were supposed to be nine Star Wars movies, with the last three to come out also last in the chronology. Has anyone else heard this, or am I getting senile too early?

Yes the last three were to be titled "Send in the Clones", "Yessir, That's my Boba" and "Makin' Wookie"

The seventh was "Clone Wars" ? Oh. No great loss, I suppose.

There's a 1/2 hour cartoon show on TV called Clone Wars. Is that the movie, cut into pieces, or a continuation?

---

I heard about the 9 Star Wars movies, too.

I think DrJohn was trying to be funny with his response.


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For the record, I've seen all of the Star Trek movies.

I thought #2 was the best from a context and being true to the original concept point of view. #4 was the most entertaining.

I can see that my taste in movies either isn't represented or else didn't sell enough tickets.
Saw
Hostel
Scream
Friday The 13th
Nightmare On Elm Street
House of 1000 Corpses and the sequel, The Devil's Rejects

Guess I like horror movies.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

---

I heard about the 9 Star Wars movies, too.

I think DrJohn was trying to be funny with his response.


----


.

You think?

Check out redlettermedia.com for the best reviews of the Star Wars prequels!!!!

Quote: Wizard

Back in the seventies the rumor was that there were supposed to be nine Star Wars movies, with the last three to come out also last in the chronology. Has anyone else heard this, or am I getting senile too early?

I've heard that, but in the 80s...

There is a trilogy in print, often called "The New Star Wars Trilogy," by Timothy Zahn. It's a sequel to the original three movies, and it's really, really good. The setup is that the Empire has been reduced to 1/4 its size, while the New Republic controls the rest of the galaxy.

In this situation, and amid political infighting in the Republic, arises a brilliant, ruthless Imperial Admiral who begins to deal the New Republic one spectacular loss after another. There's some stuff about an old, insane Jedi, a race of assasins in the service of the Empire, Han and Leia expecting twins, a lost pre-Empire era fleet, private armies, smugglers galore, and other stuff. but it's well-worth reading. Much better than any of the movies.

Can 2 movies be a franchise ? Then I nominate The Hustler & The Color of Money.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

There's a 1/2 hour cartoon show on TV called Clone Wars. Is that the movie, cut into pieces, or a continuation?

I've seen bits of the show <yawn> but didn't see the ninth movie at all. Sorry.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Thanks for ranking them by tickets rather than dollars. Why do the studios prefer to rank by dollars? Most surprising to me was the Star Wars count. I saw, and loved the original 3 (numbers 4, 5, 6). I never bothered to see the 3 "new" films (numbers 1, 2, 3). But there was a seventh Star Wars film? That's news to me.

I tried to go through the list an remove the animated ones in the series, but I missed one. "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" was an animated film released about 4 years ago for kids that sold less than 5 million tickets.

There was an animated BATMAN which I took off the list, and there was a BATMAN movie in the 1960's based on the campy TV series.

I think a lot of the talent will sign up for two movies or a trilogy. After that they are afraid of being typecast, or that the franchise will go downhill. You neglected to mention one of the most notorious 4th films in a franchise, the Batman and Robin movie with George Clooney and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze. Even George Clooney has said in interviews how it feels to kill one of the most popular movie franchises in history. They didn't make another one for 8 years. But to be fair to the people involved in making Batman and Robin, they were put under huge pressure to make a children's movie that would sell toys. They caved to the pressure and made a horrific movie.

Quote: texasplumr

I can see that my taste in movies either isn't represented or else didn't sell enough tickets.
Saw
Hostel
Scream
Friday The 13th
Nightmare On Elm Street
House of 1000 Corpses and the sequel, The Devil's Rejects

Guess I like horror movies.

I restricted the list to franchises that sold 100 million tickets domestically or more. So two movies can technically be a franchise, but it is more often referred to as a sequel.

PIXAR is often called a "brand" rather than a franchise. It is a widely recognized type of movie, but with different characters.

Stephen King has had a whopping 38 movies made from his work. As a "brand name" he is probably the most widely used.

Brand	Millions tickets	# Movies	Average
Marvel Comics	733.5	28	26.2
DreamWorks Animation	591.9	24	24.7
DC Comics	529.2	23	23.0
Pixar	509.8	13	39.2
Stephen King	244.3	38	6.4
MTV	226.1	35	6.5
Nickelodeon	222.7	20	11.1
Walden Media	196.5	27	7.3
Hasbro	180.1	8	22.5
Blue Sky Animation	157.9	7	22.6
John Grisham	142.9	10	14.3
Tim Burton-Johnny Depp	134.4	8	16.8
National Lampoon	127.3	17	7.5
Tyler Perry	87.0	12	7.3

Tyler Perry is incredibly rich for someone who has made 12 movies over 7 years with box office sales between 12.6 to 4.4 million. But his movies are inexpensive to make, and he controls so much of the movie, from writing to directing to acting.

Marvel Brand	MillionsTickets	Franchise
Marvel's The Avengers	77.7	Avengers
Spider-Man	69.5
Spider-Man 2	60.2
Spider-Man 3	48.9
Iron Man	44.3	Avengers
Iron Man 2	39.3	Avengers
X-Men: The Last Stand	35.8
X2: X-Men United	35.6
The Amazing Spider-Man	29.3
X-Men	29.2
Fantastic Four	24.1
X-Men Origins: Wolverine	24.1
Thor	22.5	Avengers
Captain America: The First Avenger	22.2	Avengers
Hulk	21.9	Avengers
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer	19.2
The Incredible Hulk	18.8
X-Men: First Class	18.2
Daredevil	17.0
Ghost Rider	16.8
Blade	14.9
Blade II	14.2
Blade: Trinity	8.4
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance	6.5
The Punisher	5.4
Howard the Duck	4.4
Elektra	3.8
Punisher: War Zone	1.1
	733.5

Quote: pacomartin

Some movies have sold as many tickets as a franchise, all by themselves

The Sound of Music, 142.4 million tickets

Well, I've been waiting for Sound of Music II, and III.


There's some related themes that aren't technically franchises like disaster movies of the 80s like Airport, The Towering Inferno, Posiden Adventure, Earthquake.

Quote: rxwine

There's some related themes that aren't technically franchises like disaster movies of the 80s like Airport, The Towering Inferno, Posiden Adventure, Earthquake.

Well with genre movies it is sometimes difficult to come up with a definitive list. Disaster movies were big in the 1970's. But a lot of movies try to cross genres. There are all kinds of horror movies, supernatural and stalker movies. There are different kinds of post-apocalyptic world movies. Some movies like Cabin in the Woods which I thought was very clever, deliberately cross standard genre boundaries. There are "date" movies which presumably women drag their husbands or boyfriends to. But you might classify Fatal Attraction as a "date movie" since so many women took men to that movie to show them what would happen if they go out looking for some strange.

Even the classic "biography movies" differ greatly in how accurate they want to portray their subject.

Quote: rxwine

Well, I've been waiting for Sound of Music II, and III.

You missed them? In the second one Maria, impersonating a British nanny, infiltrates Hitler's HQ and steals a vital component of the Enigma machine. She creates a diversion by singing "Springtime For Hitler" in the bunker. The third one wasn't so good... :P

Quote:

There's some related themes that aren't technically franchises like disaster movies of the 80s like Airport, The Towering Inferno, Posiden Adventure, Earthquake.

Weren't those in the 70s? There were at least four "Airport" movies. the original with the bomb in the lavatory, the one with the mid-air crash, the one with the 747 that could dive better than a submarine, and the one with the Concorde :)

But the best is "Airplane!"

"I am serious. And don't call me Shirley."

Quote: DJTeddyBear

There's a 1/2 hour cartoon show on TV called Clone Wars. Is that the movie, cut into pieces, or a continuation?

There was a theatrically released "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" animated movie, which featured many of the actors from the prequel trilogy. After that the 30-minute Cone Wars episodes started on Cartoon Network.

Some of those ep's are better than others, but in general I like them as they explore other worlds in the Star Wars universe. I stopped letting my 5 year old watch them because some started getting a little dark, particularly when Anakin/Obi-Wan/Ashoka was drawn to the planet Mortis which was a nexus of the force.

I like the Bourne movies. I have all 3 and have watched them many times.
There's a new one coming out this summer and it will survive just fine with
a different lead actor, its a mostly silent role anyway. Thats why Bond has
done well, he's not very chatty either.

For me, I think the greatest franchise has to be "Clint Eastwood". The movies change, and the characters change, but the Eastwood stamp is all over everything.

I'm hesitant about the new Bourne..but will go see it

Quote: Mosca

For me, I think the greatest franchise has to be "Clint Eastwood". The movies change, and the characters change, but the Eastwood stamp is all over everything.

Thats true. Dirty Harry was the Man With No Name in a suit.
I saw Clint Eastwood once in Carmel in the 70's . He was sitting
at an outside bar and a constant stream of young women came
up and asked for his autogaph. I understand he was a real shit
with women, treated them like crap if he got involved with them.

Quote: rxwine

Well, I've been waiting for Sound of Music II, and III.


There's some related themes that aren't technically franchises like disaster movies of the 80s like Airport, The Towering Inferno, Posiden Adventure, Earthquake.

Revenge of the Nazis and Maria Strikes Back. I'm writing the score as we speak.

Quote: s2dbaker

Revenge of the Nazis and Maria Strikes Back. I'm writing the score as we speak.

Okay, so those I might like. The original gives me diabetes.

Quote: EvenBob

I like the Bourne movies. I have all 3 and have watched them many times.

There are actually 4 Bourne movies - and the 1988 one is, at least, worth a mention for being reasonably faithful to the books. The new ones are very loose and simplify Bourne to a more generic hero like Pierce Brosnan's (1990s) Bond.

Quote: pacomartin

In your opinion, what has been the greatest movie franchise?

"Greatest" has to be Star Wars. Even though I don't like any of it, I think half of it sucks and the other half is only OK to good. But it managed to create a ridiculous amount of hype out of... well, nothing.

James Bond is better and I'll take it over SW any time of the day, but it started with Fleming's books, and it has been marred by excessive direction changes. Bond doesn't seem to be near as hyped as SW, you don't have all the action figures, games, conventions, people fighting over it, etc.

Star Trek just isn't a movie franchise as much as TV series.
LOTR is based on a legendary book and forms a continuous trilogy.
Potter could be good if it started out on a more serious note. As it is, it's a few spots of greatness amidst a lot of mediocrity. Until I saw the reviews of the last movie, I never thought I'd even consider watching any part of it.


Also, just noticed.
Out of the top 20 franchises here, only 5 can be considered to be in a real-life setting. Two are cartoons and the other 14 clearly belong to SF&F genres, with 5 identifiable as high fiction settings. Yet the "Sci-Fi Ghetto" persists...

Quote: FarFromVegas

Okay, so those I might like. The original gives me diabetes.

Just you wait 'enry 'iggins! My sequels will be every bit as cloying as the original! Bring extra insulin!

Quote: s2dbaker

Just you wait 'enry 'iggins! My sequels will be every bit as cloying as the original! Bring extra insulin!

I'll be rooting for the Nazis. :p

Quote: FarFromVegas

Okay, so those I might like. The original gives me diabetes.

Its the songs. This movie was the partial reason for the
divorce of a couple I know. It was the guys favorite
movie and he'd watch it and sing along with the songs
in a loud voice. His wife hated the movie and eventually
ended up hating him, in part, because of it. How this
can anybodies favorite is a mystery. Its so sweet and
surgary and fomulaic. I enjoyed it in 1965, but c'mon.

I have confidence in sunshine
I have confidence in rain
I have confidence that spring will come again
Besides which, you see, I have confidence in me!!

Quote: s2dbaker

Just you wait 'enry 'iggins! My sequels will be every bit as cloying as the original! Bring extra insulin!

I could definitely see "The Sound of Music 2" as something that would end up as a Vegas show. Someone should contact Andrew Lloyd Webber about that. And perhaps Donny & Marie.

...and Cirque du Soleil

Quote: DrJohn

Yes the last three were to be titled "Send in the Clones", "Yessir, That's my Boba" and "Makin' Wookie"

There was always early talk of the 9-episode version, I can remember this back in the late 70's-early 80's. I'm not sure how this panned out, if all 9 got compressed in to the remaining 5 or not.
From what I recall, what turned out to be episode 6 was NOT supposed to be the last chapter, rather the central turning point of the series, with future battles yet to come. Princess Leia's homeworld was destroyed, and Yoda is gone... there was to be further adventures for Luke and Leia Skywalker.

Quote:

For me, I think the greatest franchise has to be "Clint Eastwood". The movies change, and the characters change, but the Eastwood stamp is all over everything.

Thats a good actor franchise, I would aslo put Harrison Ford in as a top choice. This would include Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Blade Runner, and The Fugitive among others.

James Bond, and why are we having this discussion? :)

23 movies over a 50 year span. It's survived new actors, new styles... from the original very British Dr. No to the overly campy Roger Moore, take itself too serious Dalton and the very gritty Daniel Craig.

It's THE movie franchise every other wants to be.

James Bond gave birth to the whole spy genre. In the 60's,
the Bond movies were insanely popular. Goldfinger was
talked about for months, some people saw it 5 or 6 times.
There were spin off's on spin off's of Bond on TV. I read
the Bond books in HS and thought I would go crazy wanting
to be James Bond.

Paco, what about "Godzilla" Those movies have been around since forever, and have spawned a ton of other movies, including the horribbbbbbible Ferris Bueller U.S. edition.

Quote: thecesspit

James Bond, and why are we having this discussion? :) 23 movies over a 50 year span. It's survived new actors, new styles... from the original very British Dr. No to the overly campy Roger Moore, take itself too serious Dalton and the very gritty Daniel Craig. It's THE movie franchise every other wants to be.

It's a very rare movie that sells 70 million tickets today. In 1967 the population of the country was only 200 million vs 315 million today. Of course, TV was still largely black and white, and many people did not have home air conditioning. Last year, only 15 movies sold 20 million or more tickets.

Millions Tickets	Title	Studio	Actor	Date
18.9	Dr. No	UA	Connery	5/8/1963
26.7	From Russia, with Love	UA	Connery	4/8/1964
66.3	Goldfinger	UA	Connery	12/22/1964
74.8	Thunderball	UA	Connery	12/21/1965
35.9	You Only Live Twice	UA	Connery	6/13/1967
16.0	On Her Majesty's Secret Service	UA	Lazenby	12/18/1969
26.6	Diamonds Are Forever	UA	Connery	12/17/1971
20.0	Live and Let Die	UA	Moore	6/27/1973
11.2	The Man with the Golden Gun	UA	Moore	12/18/1974
21.0	The Spy Who Loved Me	UA	Moore	7/13/1977
28.0	Moonraker	MGM	Moore	6/29/1979
19.7	For Your Eyes Only	MGM	Moore	6/26/1981
21.6	Octopussy	MGM	Moore	6/10/1983
17.6	Never Say Never Again	WB	Connery	10/7/1983
14.2	A View to a Kill	MGM	Moore	5/24/1985
13.1	The Living Daylights	UA	Dalton	7/31/1987
8.7	License to Kill	UA	Dalton	7/14/1989
24.4	GoldenEye	MGM	Brosnan	11/17/1995
26.9	Tomorrow Never Dies	MGM	Brosnan	12/19/1997
24.9	The World Is Not Enough	MGM	Brosnan	11/19/1999
27.6	Die Another Day	MGM	Brosnan	11/22/2002
25.4	Casino Royale	Sony	Craig	11/17/2006
23.4	Quantum of Solace	Sony	Craig	11/14/2008
592.9

I can't really say how many tickets these movies sold in Europe, but James Bond was obviously popular in the UK. Franchises like Godzilla sold most of their box office tickets in Japan. You can't get those high ticket sales in Japan because there are not as many people.

Ticket sales is not a good indicator. In the 60's and 70's movies often stayed
in theatres for months. Sound of Muzak was in my local theatre for over a
year. Goldfinger and Thunderball played here at theatres and drive in's for at
least 6 months, they were extremely popular.

Paco,

I'm sorry to point this out, but GoldenEye was Brosnan, not Moore, it was Brosnan's first Bond film.

Quote: Mission146

Paco,

I'm sorry to point this out, but GoldenEye was Brosnan, not Moore, it was Brosnan's first Bond film.

Bad error on my part. I did leave out the original Casino Royale, with Peter Sellars.

I think that the greatest franchise of all time has to be Star Wars. It is not my favorite franchise, though.

Star Wars is just completely unbeatable for popularity, and I think there can be little question that in measuring a, "Great," franchise, captivation of the masses is certainly a requirement. I'm probably in the minority here, but I thought that The Phantom Menace wasn't God-awful, I thought it was interesting how they made the development of, "The Force," in Anakin and Luke Skywalker so similar. I guess this movie got panned worse than the other two, though, so I am in the minority.

The Revenge of the Sith also was not the worst movie I have ever seen in my entire life. I'd give it a 3.5 on a 1-10 scale, the dialogue was pathetic and the last twenty (or so) minutes of the movie were just awful. "You were my brother, I loved you!!!!"

I believe that many people (including myself) agree that Attack of the Clones was a rancid piece of crap from beginning to end. The whole movie, in my opinion, was slow-moving and pointless and it really didn't do much to develop the overall story...in my opinion. It almost seemed like a RPG sidequest, except those are usually fun and entertaining...

I don't know what it is about the Star Wars movies that people find so engaging, but the formula worked. I've always thought that the drama in them was just a little too over-the-top for my taste, but I'm no critic and I can't argue with what works. Here is how I rank the movies, btw, I've never seen the cartoon one.

The Phantom Menace-7

Attack of the Clones-2

Revenge of the Sith-3.5

A New Hope-5

The Empire Strikes Back-6

Return of the Jedi-7.5

I am probably going to get panned for that.

Favorite

Before anyone tells me:

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/16532/the-plot-holes-and-paradoxes-of-the-back-to-the-future-trilogy

Yes, I know. Plot holes, plot holes and more plot holes...

Here's a bonus, things B2tF predicted correctly:

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/15396/7-things-back-to-the-future-guessed-correctly

I thought that Part 2 easily had the best storyline, but the dialogue was great in all of the movies. The movies themselves were largely silly, but the comedic aspects were spot on and it is capable of getting you thinking, "What if..."

I suppose there are many people who disliked Back to the Future Part III, personally, I think it would have been much better were it not for Doc's reappearance at the end. It just doesn't make sense. He found a way to turn a train into a time machine, but despite all of their efforts, he couldn't find a way to get the time machine to 88 MPH of its own accord? I also understand that Marty wasn't the smartest character in movie history, and Doc was occasionally forgetful, but don't you think someone would have thought to throw a full gas can in the back, just in case?

"I didn't invent the time machine to win at gambling, I invented the time machine to travel through time!!!"-Doc Brown Part II

Honorable Mention-Kids Movie

I thought that every, Toy Story movie was spot on and engaging enough for adults. I suppose the reason I like it the best is because if I am ill, any one of those movies is guaranteed to keep my son in one place for a couple hours!

Quote: Mission146

"I didn't invent the time machine to win at gambling, I invented the time machine to travel through time!!!"-Doc Brown Part II

The dialogue isn't that great....

Anyway, the paradoxes can be explained away making use of Asimov's Eternity, as described in Asimov's novel "The End of Eternity." Briefly, the timelines change, but the time travelers don't.

Quote: Nareed

Quote: Mission146

"I didn't invent the time machine to win at gambling, I invented the time machine to travel through time!!!"-Doc Brown Part II

The dialogue isn't that great....

Anyway, the paradoxes can be explained away making use of Asimov's Eternity, as described in Asimov's novel "The End of Eternity." Briefly, the timelines change, but the time travelers don't.

Dialogue???

That hurt, Nareed.

Marty: "Within two hours of his arrest, Martin McFly Jr. was tried, convicted and sentenced to fifteen years in the state penitentiary."? Within two hours?"

Doc: "The justice system works swiftly in the future now that they've abolished all lawyers."

---

Doc: "I foresee two possibilities. One, coming face to face with herself 30 years older would put her into shock and she'd simply pass out. Or two, the encounter could create a time paradox, the results of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the space time continuum, and destroy the entire universe! Granted, that's a worse case scenario. The destruction might in fact be very localized, limited to merely our own galaxy."

Marty: "Well, that's a relief."

---

(Future) Biff Tannen: Hey kid, say hello to your grandma for me.




That's fair enough about the paradoxes, but check out that first link in my post above. There are a few plot holes not explained by that such as:

1.) George and Lorraine would have recognized their son:

-I think this can be fairly explained as not really having a huge impact on anything. He looks like who he looks like, and given that we only see the (second) 1985 George and Lorraine for a grand total of about two minutes, who is to say they never discussed the similarities? Further, Marty McFly and, "Calvin Klein," might have been spot on identical twins, but there was never a picture of, "Calvin Klein," so it's possible that they may have thought their son looked somehwat similar, but that'd be about it.

2.) Couldn't the Doc make gasoline?

-Of course he could.

3.) The Doc would know he was going to die and about Clara because he found out in 1955.

-Maybe. The problem with that theory is that the Doc of 1955 never travelled to the future, the past or anywhere else. He exists in 1955 prior to all of these events, and assuming that he would know about these things, this knowledge is not going to make a difference in what happened in the Past Future (WHAT?) in which all of the events that take Doc to 1885 have already taken place. In other words, yes, he does find out...and he finds out before the events in question happen, yet after it is too late to do anything about it. (Again-WHAT?) Let me know if I am not making any logical sense...

*This does lead me to one question, though: If the 1955 Doc simply lives his life according to this knowledge and refrains completely from inventing the time machine, would that render the Doc of 1885 non-existent? Let's say that 1985 is the start point for the chain of events that lands Doc in 1885, if The Doc has no time machine on the date in 1985 (Was it September 15th?) in the original movie, then does The Doc from 1885 cease to exist in 1885? It seems that not that much would have changed with The Doc existing in 1885 compared to him not existing.

4.) Could the Doc have written a longer note? (If you absolutely insist on coming back to 1985, bring gas and parts)

-Sure, he could have.

***You can check out the rest if you want.

What bothered me about BTTF was it was 1985 and he
went back to 1955. His mom and dad were HS seniors,
which means in 1985 they would be almost 50. If Marty
was 17, it means his parents waited until their early 30's
to have kids. Not realistic in the late 50's and early 60's.

Quote: EvenBob

What bothered me about BTTF was it was 1985 and he
went back to 1955. His mom and dad were HS seniors,
which means in 1985 they would be almost 50. If Marty
was 17, it means his parents waited until their early 30's
to have kids. Not realistic in the late 50's and early 60's.

My mom had me at 30 in the early 60's, and two more kids after me. But my parents didn't meet in high school.

It should be mentioned that Marty had two older siblings, though I can't recall how old they were. I'd put Dave in his mid-twenties at a minimum, though.