Back To The Future Documentary — How Close Are We To “2015” Tech?
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With us inching ever closer to the year Marty McFly was kicking around a future of hoverboards and self-lacing sneakers and flying DeLoreans, it’s a regular occurrence for people to bemoan the lack of those things here only seven months away from good old 2015. Okay, so Nike really is working on the self-lacing sneakers, so that’s kind of awesome. But even Google couldn’t crack the hoverboard problem, and while flying cars are technically a real thing, they’re nowhere near as prevalent or as cool as Doc Brown’s sweet-ass hover-converted ride. Hell, I can’t even hydrate a pizza! The iconic 2015 presented by the Back to the Future movies is the subject of a new documentary project seeking funding via Kickstarter.
Back to the Future Again will take a look at the technology predicted by director Robert Zemeckis and screenwriter Bob Gale imagined would fill the world of the then-far-off future of 2015. Everybody loves to bitch about the “future” we have not matching the future we were promised, but once you get past the easy punchlines, how close are we really to achieving all that Back to the Future tech our younger selves were salivating over? “Featuring interviews from the original crew, and from modern day experts, Back to the Future Again will transport the viewer on a quest to see if the world of the film is anywhere close to our world now.” But only if it actually gets its funding, naturally.
The documentary’s creators have already approached several people from the Back to the Future films, including Gale, designer John Bell, costume designer Joanna Johnston, mechanical fx supervisor Michael Lantieri, and art director Marjorie McShirley. That’s definitely a great line-up for a documentary like this, and the Kickstarter page says the film will also include interviews with “Cybernetic Specialists, Futurologists and Fashion Designers.” Maybe they should get that dude who wants to make 15 Jaws sequels before 2015 on the blower as well.
In addition to assorted production fees, a big chunk of the Kickstarter funding would go toward paying licensing fees to use clips from the films — a pretty important aspect when you’re making a documentary about a specific movie series. Maybe clips from the Back to the Future cartoon would be cheaper?
Unfortunately, Back to the Future Again has a steep climb ahead of it. With 15 days to go, the project has locked in only £947 of its £403,160 goal (around $677,000 U.S. dollars). That’s not a good sign when you’re already halfway through your Kickstarter funding period, so hopefully any interested Back to the Future fans out there will chip if in they’re intrigued. Assuming they haven’t already donated all their spare cash toward saving the clock tower.
If you decide to put your future-money where your future-mouth is, the Kickstarter rewards range from an appreciative postcard from the director, to a snazzy t-shirt, all the way up to a (presumably nonfunctional) hoverboard signed by some of the Back to the Future crew.
I remember how surreal it was to reach the year 2000, this once-distant benchmark that had always felt like it was far down the road in some unknowable future. It’s equally surreal to find ourselves on the precipice of the year that seemed so far away back in the ’80s. It’d be interesting to see a documentary delve into that fictional future in depth, so here’s hoping Back to the Future Again finds enough backers to do its thing. Just remember, if you don’t pledge, Darth Vader might come down from the planet Vulcan and melt your brain.
