50+ Best Back to the Future Trivia Questions & Answers

Question: What kind of car needs 1.21 gigawatts to zoom through time?

Answer: DeLorean

Question: Which director had the heavy job of bringing time travel to the big screen?

Answer: Robert Zemeckis

Question: What iconic year did we first meet a kid with a skateboard and a flux capacitor?

Answer: 1985

Question: Who’s the actor that made skateboards and puffer vests cool forever?

Answer: Michael J. Fox

Question: Which fictional town is always stuck somewhere between the 50s and the future?

Answer: Hill Valley

Question: Who’s the wild-haired genius with a love for science and very little chill?

Answer: Doc Brown

Question: How many movies did it take for Marty to almost ruin time… again and again?

Answer: 3

Question: Which composer made time-travel sound epic with his sweeping scores?

Answer: Alan Silvestri

Question: How many Oscar nods did this time-traveling trilogy rack up? (Hint: Great Scott!)

Answer: 4

Question: What wild west hint was hiding on Doc’s shirt in Part 2?

Answer: Cowboys on horseback and a train

Question: Which song electrifies Marty's Battle of the Bands audition? Bonus points if you sing it.

Answer: The Power of Love

Question: Which thrilling tune plays when Marty walks into Cafe 80s like he owns the timeline?

Answer: Beat It

Question: Marty’s band wasn’t quite rock legends, but they had a pretty pointy name.

Answer: The Pinheads

Question: In his first time-travel detour, Marty crash-lands in which sock-hop era year?

Answer: 1955

Question: Guess which military group people thought Marty belonged to in 1955? (He did have the attitude.)

Answer: Coast Guard

Question: Why does Doc have that signature hunched-over look, like he’s permanently whispering secrets to the timeline?

Answer: To compensate for the height difference between Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox

Question: Which dynamic duo from the 1980 comedy Used Cars later brought us time-traveling glory?

Answer: Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale

Question: How many times did the Back to the Future screenplay get the cold shoulder before making history?

Answer: 40 times

Question: What made studios hesitant about Zemeckis directing a sci-fi teen flick?

Answer: Not a superstar director

Question: Who told Zemeckis, “Buddy, go prove them wrong with a box office hit”?

Answer: Steven Spielberg

Question: Which swashbuckling rom-com did Zemeckis direct to show he had the chops?

Answer: Romancing the Stone

Question: Why did Claudia Wells get the nod as Jennifer over Melora Hardin? (Hint: it’s not about acting chops.)

Answer: Hardin was replaced due to height concerns.

Question: Who was Zemeckis’ Hollywood mentor, BFF, and go-to consigliere?

Answer: Steven Spielberg

Question: Which group of villains gave Doc Brown a very bad day at the mall parking lot?

Answer: Algerians

Question: What everyday bathroom mishap sparked the most important invention in cinematic science?

Answer: Sink in his toilet

Question: Which animal sidekick was kicked out of the script before Einstein barked his way in?

Answer: The script originally had a chimp named Shemp

Question: Why was replacing Shemp the chimp actually a genius move, according to Hollywood logic?

Answer: According to the script, films with chimps never do well.

Question: How many mind-bending scenes show the same actor chatting it up with... themselves?

Answer: 3

Question: How many boards does Marty shred through the whole trilogy, like a 1980s Tony Hawk?

Answer: 3

Question: Exactly how long was Marty stuck in sock-hop town before he could say “Back to the future!”?

Answer: 7 days, 16 hours & 4 minutes

Question: What’s the pop culture status of Back to the Future today? Think hoverboards, memes, and legends.

Answer: Iconic movie and one of the most-popular films ever

Question: What totally tubular time period does Marty blast back to in the first film?

Answer: 1950s

Question: How many times did the Back to the Future script get ghosted before it found its groove?

Answer: 45 times

Question: Why did Disney executives clutch their pearls when they read the original script?

Answer: The script was too raunchy

Question: Before being replaced, who was this close to playing Jennifer?

Answer: Melora Hardin

Question: What role made Melora Hardin forever iconic in the land of awkward bosses and office romances?

Answer: Jan from "The Office"

Question: Who was the very first time traveler in the film? (Hint: he’s got four legs and serious bark power.)

Answer: Einstein, Doc Brown's dog

Question: Who made sure Marty’s first flux-filled trip looked absolutely legendary on screen?

Answer: Dean Cundey

Question: Which VFX legends brought the DeLorean’s time-travel magic to life?

Answer: Industrial Light & Magic (ILM)

Question: What kind of movie magic combo helped launch that DeLorean through space and time?

Answer: Mix of practical and digital effects

Question: Was it old-school tricks or new-school tech that made the DeLorean’s big moment pop?

Answer: Mix of practical and digital effects

Question: What clever camera sorcery let a stunt driver and flaming tire tracks exist in the same frame?

Answer: Footage superimposition

Question: How were those fiery tire trails made? (No flux capacitor needed!)

Answer: Flames from burning gasoline tracks

Question: How did they make it look like the car just poofed into thin air?

Answer: By using compressed air

Question: What final touch made the DeLorean's vanishing act extra electrifying?

Answer: Lightning bolts and puffs of smoke

Question: How did the crew capture the scene that made every kid want a time machine on wheels?

Answer: Rigged to a dolly

Question: What was ILM’s secret sauce for creating Back to the Future’s most iconic moment?

Answer: Mix of practical and digital effects