October 21, 2015, was the future date that Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett Brown traveled to in “Back to the Future Part II.” Released in 1989, the movie portrayed what many thought the future would be like.
Now, 26 years later, fans of the movie are comparing the 2015 from the movie to reality. “It is so cool to see and compare what they thought the future would be like and how it really is,” said Trevor McCord, senior from California studying psychology. “The movie is a classic and it is awesome to see it receive a lot of attention once again.”
The movie made a lot of predictions of what the year 2015 would be like, from sports and fashion, to technology and entertainment. Here is a list of how well the movie did in predicting the future.
What the movie got right:
Flat Screens: Televisions have changed enormously since the 80’s and currently we have seen even more innovative versions of flat screen.
Today we have LED, hi-definition, and even 3-D televisions.
Video Conference technology: The films’ producers hit the bull’s eye on this one. Much like Marty in the movie, today we can have video calls with people from all over the world using Skype, Face Time, and other apps.
“It is weird to think how something so normal for us today was something futuristic and extraordinary back then,” said Tarryn Russon, a psychology major from Temecula, California.
Biometric identification: Granted, the technology we have today does not exactly mirror what is depicted in the movie, but biometric technology has made huge advances over the last few years. Now we can use biometric technology to unlock our phones and computers. Only time will tell what further advances we make.
Drones: The drones seen today might not be as advanced as the ones seen in the movies, but they have become a major feature in the world. Drones are used for military, recreational purposes, and business purposes. Drones continue to increase in popularity and who knows, maybe one day soon drones will be able to walk our dogs like in the movie.
Sports: Not only did the movie accurately predict that Miami would get a Major League Baseball team, it also could have predicted the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series. A long shot to even make the playoffs going into the season.
The Cubs currently find themselves in the National League Championship series for the first time since 2003. The team is now four wins away from making the World Series. Once a long-standing joke could now become a surprising reality.
“This is probably one of the craziest predictions if it comes true, looks like I will be cheering for the Cubs to win the World Series,” said Dallin Olander, a sophomore business major from Washington.
Hands Free Gaming: In the movie, hands free gaming is depicted as the norm for 2015. While hands free gaming is not exactly the norm today, the Xbox Kinect has definitely brought a new dimension to gaming. Playstation and Wii have joined in suit, developing their own versions of hands free gaming.
There were, however, some notable parts of the depiction of the future that aren’t in reality. For example, we still do not have flying cars, self-tying shoes, and two necktie fasion.
When asked what he will be doing October 21st, McCord said, “I am going to get together with my friends, have a Back to the Future party and of course, watch part two.”