This Time Travel Movie Features the Best Quote in Sci-Fi History

There’s a joke in an episode of Family Guy where Peter Griffin mentions how exciting it is when they say the name of a movie in the movie — a.k.a. the “title drop.” One of the best examples of it is in Back to the Future: When Doc figures out that he can use a lightning strike to generate enough electricity to power the DeLorean time machine, he shouts that they’ll finally be able to send Marty back to the future. It’s a great moment, but Back to the Future Part II has a twist on it that is both one of the best lines in sci-fi movie history and a setup for one of the greatest sequel cliffhangers in any movie.

Back to the Future Part II involves a much twistier and complex plot than either the first or third movies, with Marty (Michael J. Fox) and Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) hopping to different eras in an attempt to undo a change that series villain Biff Tannen (Tom Wilson) made to the timeline. By the third act, Marty and the 1985 version of Doc are back in 1955, trying to avoid undoing the events of the first movie, and an accident eventually sends Doc and the DeLorean further into the past. Stranded, Marty goes to the 1955 version of Doc, immediately after the events of the first movie, and when a confused Doc says that he just sent Marty back to the future, Marty explains: “I’m back. I’m back from the future.”

Why Is This Quote From ‘Back to the Future Part II’ So Brilliant?

Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) is less than impressed with Marty McFly's (Michael J. Fox) purchase of Grays Sports Almanac in Back to the Future Part II. — Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) is less than impressed with Marty McFly’s (Michael J. Fox) purchase of Grays Sports Almanac in Back to the Future Part II.

Part of the magic of the Back to the Future trilogy is Alan Silvestri’s iconic score and director Robert Zemeckis’ eye for crowd-pleasing moments. The end of Back to the Future Part II transitions from 1985 Doc disappearing to revisiting the final moments of the first Back to the Future, with the score twinkling away and 1955 Doc looking around in awe at the fact that he and Part I Marty pulled off their plan, but then it shifts to Silvestri’s more dramatic music as Part II Marty comes running down the street. It’s cashing in on your fondness for the first movie and its triumphant ending, and then escalating the time travel shenanigans by twisting back on itself and doing the one thing Marty spent the whole movie avoiding (directly interacting with the events of the first movie).

“I’m back from the future” is a wonderful joke, a perfect setup and punchline based on the name of the movie and the established relationship between these characters, and then the camera just starts pulling back as the triumphant music returns and “To Be Concluded…” flies onto the screen. The middle movie of a trilogy is often the downer entry, the one where things get serious or dark and real stakes start to come into play for the characters who were introduced in the first movie and will see things resolved in the third — just look at Spider-Man 2, The Dark Knight, and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back — and, even though it’s a comedy, Back to the Future Part II is no different. You have to see what happens next.

Part II and Back to the Future Part III were famously filmed back-to-back, allowing the producers to insert a teaser for Part III into the credits of Part II, and it’s surprising that more movies don’t pull the same trick. Then again, most trilogies aren’t as good as Back to the Future, so they don’t have enough juice to end on a line that is simultaneously a great joke, a cheesy wink at the title of the movie for the Peter Griffins in the audience, and a hook for the sequel. That’s why “I’m back from the future” is one of the best lines in sci-fi movie history.

The Back to the Future movies are all on Netflix, but they’ll be leaving at the end of the month.