# Why is back to the future II more popular than back to the future III **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 11, 2010, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445 "2010-09-11T22:17:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445/21 "2010-09-12T16:04:50Z")
Sci Fi is more popular than westerns. At the time people felt BttF II was considered complicated and unfollowable but I think audiences became more sophisticated and the movie actually got more popular with age. I also think BttF III suffers a bit from being mostly all in one setting. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445/22 "2010-09-12T16:07:19Z")
yeah but we’d seen enough of 1955 1885 is cool for it is a new setting ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445/23 "2010-09-12T16:30:57Z")
Remember that BTTF II and III were filmed at the same time. A lot of II is set up for gags we don’t see until III. Remember the arcade game in Cafe 80s in 2015 or the Clint Eastwood movie in alternate 1985? How about the extended hoverboard sequence. One reviewer I read didn’t like BTTF II when it came out, but said it held up a lot better when you watch it as part of the trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445/24 "2010-09-12T16:45:31Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I remember a big train, Marty calling himself Clint Eastwood, and a few other details. It just felt like a conventional narrative, though. There wasn’t anything clever or funny about it like with the second one playing with the scenes in the first one. And on its own, it was just a mediocre movie. Not like the first one which, even if it hadn’t been part of a trilogy, was a great movie with a good script. The last one was just so forgettable. III also had ZZ Top! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445/25 "2010-09-12T20:45:54Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > III also had ZZ Top! And [Frisbies!](http://www.ketzer.com/backtothefuture/frameset.html?http://www.ketzer.com/backtothefuture/bttf3_pieplate.html) ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445/26 "2010-09-12T21:44:40Z")
Been a while since I’ve seen all three films, but my personal order of preference has always been I, III, II. As best as I can recall the justification is that while undeniably clever, II seemed too hectic and convoluted by half, while III had much better character interactions, more Chris Lloyd, and then there’s my thing for Mary Steenburgen, especially in a bustle…whooo…er, but I digress. Yeah, like III better of the sequels, but they’re just a couple of decent movies, while I is one of the greatest films of all time. IMO. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445/27 "2010-09-12T22:44:35Z")
II is better than III because it makes more sense that Marty’s daughter is him in drag than his dad’s great grandma is his ma in period garb. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445/28 "2010-09-12T22:50:07Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Marty’s daughter is him in drag Damn, I missed that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![PeskiPiksi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@PeskiPiksi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeskiPiksi)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445/29 "2010-09-12T22:53:01Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > II is better than III because it makes more sense that Marty’s daughter is him in drag than his dad’s great grandma is his ma in period garb. _Thank you!_ That’s always bugged me. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445/30 "2010-09-12T23:28:43Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > > [@hogarth](#): > > > > I remember nothing about Part III other than a souped-up train. That’s it. > > Marty: “Does this place have a back door?” > Barkeep: “Yeah, it’s around back.” > > Clint Eastwood. > > That help? 🙂 The first gag, I don’t remember. “Clint Eastwood” I sort of remember, but if you had said “John Wayne”, I might have remembered that instead. Actually, there’s another thing I remember: Mary Elizabuarsteen Mastersontoniobergen was in it, as I recall. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445/31 "2010-09-12T23:32:20Z")
Because it’s not as tiresome, and it’s more inventive by far. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445/32 "2010-09-13T00:27:29Z")
Part II, for all its weaknesses, has a couple of great moments. In particular, I absolutely love this bit of dialogue: _Doc: Great Scott! Jennifer could conceivably encounter her future self! The consequences of that could be disastrous! Marty: Doc, what do you mean? Doc: I foresee two possibilities. One: coming face to face with herself thirty years older would put her into shock and she’d simply pass out. Or two: the encounter could create a time paradox, the result of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the space-time continuum and destroy the entire universe!.. **Granted, that’s a worst-case scenario.** _ That last line always cracked me up. It’s not “a” worst case scenario, it’s THE worst case scenario, period! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445/33 "2010-09-13T00:38:53Z")
My favourite part of III is there’s more Doc Brown than in the first two. More importantly, it’s 1985 Doc, rather than the less appealing 1955 Doc. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445/34 "2010-09-13T02:12:15Z")
Confused Matthew is very [confused](http://confusedmatthew.com/Back-to-the-Future-Part-II.php) on why people think BttF2 is a good movie. (That is his shtick, after all.) I know you guys are probably getting tired of me pimping Confused Matthew, but I thought the BttF2 haters might like it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445/35 "2010-09-13T02:14:24Z")
One of my favorite movie scenes is Biff aiming to shoot Marty, who with his arms crossed steps off the roof of the casino onto the Delorean flown by Doc. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445/36 "2010-09-13T02:22:39Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > III also had ZZ Top! II had Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445/37 "2010-09-13T02:35:43Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > I couldn’t believe Darth Vader was Marty’s father. He was his own father, like Fry in Futurama? 😕 Another vote for III-Christopher Lloyd being the main reason (Mary S. the 2nd). ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445/38 "2010-09-13T02:40:41Z")
I recall at the time that a lot of people were pissed off that II only had a brief period actually set in the future. I think I prefer II to III though. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445/39 "2010-09-13T02:41:17Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > And [Frisbies!](http://www.ketzer.com/backtothefuture/frameset.html?http://www.ketzer.com/backtothefuture/bttf3_pieplate.html) Far out! ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445/40 "2010-09-13T02:45:15Z")
IMO, II was better than III. I think people liked II more because it was set in a period the audience would live to see, while III was ovwer and done. Plus, to borrow from another thread, western have fallen out of favor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-back-to-the-future-ii-more-popular-than-back-to-the-future-iii/553445.md?page=3)