Back To The Future Part II - Depiction of The Future

Depiction of The Future

According to director Robert Zemeckis, the 2015 depicted in Back to the Future Part II was not meant to be an accurate depiction of the future; "For me, filming the future scenes of the movie were the least enjoyable of making the whole trilogy because I don't really like films that try and predict the future. The only one I've actually enjoyed were the ones done by Stanley Kubrick, and not even he predicted the PC when he made A Clockwork Orange. So rather than trying to make a scientifically sound prediction that were probably going to get wrong anyway, we figured, let's just make it funny." Despite this, the filmmakers did do some research into what scientists thought may occur in the year 2015. Bob Gale also commented; "We knew we weren't going have flying cars by the year 2015, but God we had to have those in our movie."

However the film did accurately predicted a number of technological and sociological changes, such as the rise of ubiquitous cameras, influence of Asian nations over the United States (though this was certainly already on the rise at the time of the film's release), flat panel television sets mounted on walls, the ability to watch six channels at once, and increased use of plastic surgery. The movie also correctly predicted a future where video games do not need hands (Microsoft Kinect) or at the very least do not need traditional controllers (Wii Remote).

There was high demand for the Nike tennis shoes Marty wears with automatic shoe-laces, which some fans thought to be real. Nike eventually released a real version of their Hyperdunk Supreme shoes, which appear similar to Marty's shoes, in July 2008; fans dubbed them the Air McFly. An inspired fan named Blake Bevin also created shoes that tie themselves in 2010. In late August 2010, Nike filed the patent for self-lacing shoes, and their design bears a resemblance to those worn by Marty McFly in the second film. In September 2011, Nike revealed that their MAG line of shoes would not feature the self-lacing feature shown in the film.

After the Florida Marlins beat the Cleveland Indians in the 1997 World Series, and again in 2003, when the Marlins defeated the Cubs in the NLCS (and subsequently defeated the New York Yankees in the 2003 World Series), rumors circulated that the movie predicted (or nearly predicted) the Series' results; however, this was not the case. In the film's future news broadcast, it is announced that the National League Chicago Cubs beat an American League team based in Miami, which was not named but has an alligator logo, in the 2015 World Series. Aside from the incorrect year, the mascot of the team mentioned does not match that of either current Florida-based team, the Miami Marlins or Tampa Bay Rays. At the time the movie was filmed, Florida did not have a Major League Baseball team of their own, but the Miami-based Marlins played their first season in 1993. Beginning with the 2012 season, the Marlins rebranded themselves as the Miami Marlins. At the time of the rebranding, Major League Baseball was planning to move one of the existing National League teams to the AL (American League) so that each league had an even number of teams; some Back to the Future fans as well as baseball fans wanted the Marlins to be the team that made the move to the AL in order the fulfill the "prophecy" in Back to the Future Part II. Although the Marlins were considered as a team that could switch leagues, MLB ultimately decided to move the Houston Astros to the AL for the 2013 MLB season.