IT’S the sci-fi movie that enthralled a generation of kids.
Back to the Future celebrates 40 years this week – sober news for those who remember the film when it was first released on December 4 1985.
At the time, Mikhail Gorbachev had just become Soviet leader, Queen fans were still talking about the band’s electrifying performance at Live Aid and the long miner’s strike had finally come to an end.
The sight of Marty McFly – played by legend Michael J. Fox – in a futuristic flying car when the world still relied on noisy dial-ups to use the internet filled cinema-goers with awe.
It was so popular that people queued around the block to get into the cinema.
While we are still a long way from time-travel, the movie accurately predicted some of today’s technology.
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Mobile payments
We’re all used to tapping our phones to make quick payments in shops – but that was a pipe dream back in 1985.
Yet in the film Marty donates towards the preservation of the Hill Valley clock tower on a device which looks a lot like a modern iPad.
In a later scene, Marty’s arch enemy, Biff Tannen also uses a mobile payment system to fund a taxi trip.
In reality, the first contactless payment cards weren’t issued in the UK until 2007, with the launch of the Barclaycard OnePulse.
PayPal, one of the world’s biggest online payment systems, wasn’t founded until 1998 – nine years after the release of Back to the Future Part II.
And Apple Pay, the first mobile phone payment system, didn’t arrive on our handsets until 2014.
VR headsets and VR glasses
Kids of the ’80s could only imagine the advances in gaming tech.
VR headsets are now common-place among gamers but back then youngsters were more likely to play hopscotch or marbles than Pac-Man, which was mainly found in arcades.
Yet headsets are worn by several characters in the movie. At the home of the ‘old’ Marty McFly, the family are seen wearing chunky pairs of JVC-branded eyewear which they use to access the internet and take phone calls.
McFly’s headsets bear much more resemblance in both form and function to the Apple Vision Pro, which was launched in February this year.
Like the glasses in the movie, the Apple Vision Pro is wireless and can be used without any hand-held controllers.
We even have wearable devices like Ray-Ban Meta Sunglasses.
Biometric systems
Back to the Future predicted the use of PayPal and Touch-ID by 2015 – and was bang on.
The movie sees several characters use biometric identification like fingerprint scanners.
Nowadays almost every phone is equipped with some form of face or fingerprint scanner which we use to unlock our devices, access our information, and even authorise payments.
The Pantech GI100 was launched 20 years ago in 2005 as the first commercial phone with a fingerprint scanner.
Even then, it was not until the release of the iPhone 5S in 2013 that this technology entered the mainstream.
Holograms
When Marty arrives in the future in the franchise’s second movie, he stumbles across a cinema showing ‘Jaws 19’.
He’s stunned when a giant holographic shark is projected out into the street.
In a scarily accurate prediction, Elvis and rapper Tupac have ‘appeared’ posthumously through holograms. Using an optical illusion called ‘Pepper’s Ghost’ 3D images are shown on a hidden screen.
Abba Voyage, which first launched in 2022, combines a holographic show with a live band and has become wildly popular.
Video Communication
Forty years ago, shows like Galactica and Star Wars were the closest kids got to technology.
Yet the film correctly envisioned widespread use of video conferencing platforms.
Scenes show Marty McFly making a video call to his boss on a large flat-screen TV.
Today, services like Zoom, FaceTime, and Skype are part of everyday life.
Drones
In Back to the Future, a scene shows a USA Today news drone flying overhead to capture footage of the courthouse.
Although the first modern day drone was invented in the 1970s it would be decades before their use became commonplace.
Drones are now common for aerial photography, news reporting, and even in warfare.
They are a blight on the prison service in the UK as criminals fly in contraband like phones and drugs.
Hands-Free Gaming
In Back to the Future 2, crazy inventor Doc Brown rushes to the future to help Marty save his kids.
It features a scene when Marty is left gob-smacked by children playing a video game without using their hands in an imagined 2015.
The film contrasts Marty’s use of a manual light gun in the ‘Wild Gunman’ arcade game with modern tech.
This became a reality with technology like the Wii Fit and the now defunct Xbox Kinect which allowed gamers to use their bodies instead of controllers.
Flat-Screen TVs
Just about every British home now has a flatscreen TV but back in 1985 TV sets were chunkier than a tree trunk.
Few could have imagined that TVs, which weren’t commonplace in family homes until the 1950s, could ever be as those featured in Back to the Future.
By the late ’90s companies like Fujitsu, Pioneer and Philips were already making plasma versions but they were expensive and only the richest households could afford them.
It wasn’t until the mid-2000s that prices started to drop and LCD technology became popular.
And the predictions that flopped
While the franchise made lots of accurate forecasts, there are some still be be realised – or are just too crazy to contemplate
Food Hydrators
The machine that could turn a tiny, dehydrated pizza into a full-sized, fresh meal is not a reality.
Self-Lacing Shoes & Auto-Drying Clothes
While Nike released limited-edition self-lacing sneakers as a tie-in, the technology has not become mainstream. Unfortunately, clothes that dry by themselves are still eons away.
Flying Cars and Hoverboards
These would have been the coolest inventions made reality but alas… although some prototypes and niche technologies like maglev hoverboards, which uses magnetic levitation, do exist.
Maybe one day….
Voice-Activated Technology
When Marty travels to his future home of 2015 the lights are voice-activated.
These days, swankier smart homes allow householders to do everything from turning on lights to closing blinds and controlling tech with their voices alone.
Even Doc would have shouted out ‘Great Scott’ in amazement if he’d clapped eyes on the likes of our modern smart home devices like Amazon, Alexa or Google Assistant.
