Paradox: A Back to the Future Part II and III Fanmix (WIP)

Now that I’m moving on from the Red Apple Crew, I decided to tackle my longest edit yet. This is one that’s been on my mind for quite a while.

When it comes to feel-good movies, Back to the Future reigns supreme as my favorite and the best in that category. I have probably watched Back to the Future more times than any other film in existence, and it’s my go-to comfort food when I’ve had a bad day.

The sequels, however, are another story. I found Part II to be only half as good as the first film, and Part III even less than that. I decided to rummage around the special features of my DVDs and blu-rays of the trilogy (even going so far as to watch the surviving footage of the defunct “Back to the Future: The Ride” at Universal Studios). One thing that stood out from watching the special features was in how Parts II and III came into existence. Originally, the sequels were one entire film. A lot of the cast and crew loved the script, but there was a major problem. The script was roughly 3 hours in length, and as a continuation of the just-under-2-hour Back to the Future, it was less than ideal to release such a long sequel. So in order to fix this issue, a decision was made to divide the story into two parts, resulting in the trilogy we’ve had since 1990.

But that story behind how the sequels got made left me curious. What would the Back to the Future franchise have been like if Spielberg, Gale, and Zemeckis had decided to shoot the 3-hour long script and took the risk of making a really long comedy sequel? Would it have worked? I decided to look around online for scripts of the original 3-hour long version. I did not find a 180-page script, but I did find a condensed 114-page script, titled “Paradox.” This is the only script on the internet that combines both sequels together (at least, as far as I know). I have provided a link to the script in this post for those who wish to read it in full.

https://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/bttf2_3.pdf

Unfortunately, no fanedit can fully replicate everything that is in the Paradox script. Several changes and alterations have been made that are virtually impossible to fix. Clara is arguably the biggest casualty. But what I can do is make a version that is as close to the Paradox script as one can get and/or be faithful to it in spirit. That is what I am attempting for this edit. A roughly 3-hour or so edit of the Back to the Future sequels that attempts to give viewers a taste of what could’ve been, and perhaps a peek at the script that the cast and crew loved so much before it was split in half.

I have added asterisks to the legend to give everyone an idea of which changes stem from the Paradox script and which ones do not.

Changes list

–= deleted
++= added
/= altered
1 Based off the Paradox script
2 Partially based off the Paradox script

++ Quotation from the Paradox script: “The only thing more uncertain than the future is the past. – Soviet proverb”1

Part II changes

– Marty seeing the abandoned crime scene1
++ Deleted scene: Marty finds the burned-out high school1
++ Deleted scene: Marty meets Dave1
/ Extended Sammy Hagar’s “I Can’t Drive 55” during Marty meets Dave deleted scene
– Doc explaining the 1985-A timeline change1
– Doc and Marty’s discussion on the big deal with 1955 and the issues about Jennifer and Einstein’s fates1
– Doc’s conversation with Marty on how to deal with the Biff’s, the other Marty and Doc, and getting some clothes for the time period1
– Biff waking up after being knocked out by Marty
– Biff encountering Marty and stealing the almanac back2
– Marty and Biff’s climactic Part II tunnel confrontation1
– To Be Continued, Part III trailer, and Part II end credits (Obviously)

Part III changes

– 1955 Doc waking up after the events of Part II2
– The mine blast scene
– The library scene introducing the audience to Buford Tannen1
– The McFly farm scene1
– Marty stepping in the horse manure
– ”You did.”
– 1985 Doc’s discovery of being killed by Buford, discussion on who Clara is, falling in love at first sight, and the ice cube joke
– Marshall Strickland and son’s confrontation with Buford at the festival1
– Buford explaining that he hid a gun with one bullet to his gang1
– Marty waking up and Taxi Driver/Dirty Harry references1
– Trimmed the beginning of the breakup scene1
– Deleted Doc walking into the bar after the breakup scene and talk with the romance expert2
– Deleted the “run for fun” joke1
/ Moved Marty hiding from Buford after Doc’s capture just a scene earlier
– Deleted all of Clara getting on the train and discussion with the relationship expert (except for two shots of the train leaving the station to increase the tension of the showdown)
– “That was good.”
– Marty giving Seamus the gun and belt1
– “Stop the train just before you hit the switch track up ahead!”

Credits

/ Custom-made end credits
/ Extended ZZ Top’s “Doubleback” during end credits
/ “Marty’s Letter” is song 2 during end credits
/ “Doc Returns” is song 3 during end credits
/ “Back to the Future Theme” is song 4 during end credits

Special thanks

Bobson Dugnutt
The Red Apple Crew
Everyone at fanedit.org
And everyone at originaltrilogy.com

calisto said:

Looking forward to seeing this edit.

Glad to hear. I hope you enjoy it once it comes out.

Currently working on a Paradox changes track showcasing where the edit follows the script and where it doesn’t. Should be exciting.

In an unexpected first, I have decided to use AI to fix a technical issue in the Part II section of the edit.

One of the peskier things about fanediting is what to do when you plan to add a new scene to an area with a transition. I added in the burned down high school deleted scene (restored by Bobson Dugnutt, and I owe him my thanks for the work he put into it) right between the 1985-A Strickland scene and the introduction to Biff’s pleasure paradise. But if you have a strong ear, you might have noticed that Sammy Hagar’s “I Can’t Drive 55” begins right on Strickland’s line, “Eat lead, slackers!”

This made the transition extremely hard.

Not surprisingly, I had to get rid of the music from that scene in order to transition to the next scene. So, I decided to jump on board and use voice isolation AI to fix the issue via Elevenlabs. I was introduced to that program while working with the Red Apple Crew. I don’t remember who assisted me with voice isolation on the ending to my Death Squad edit, so instead, I’m just gonna leave a special thanks credit to the entire crew unless the person who introduced me to Elevenlabs would like to have all the credit himself. If it wasn’t for the crew, I probably would’ve had a rather odd sound issue going on in the final edit.

Hopefully, that tiny little transition is the only time where I will need AI for this edit.

Just sharing a quick update. The changes subtitle track is about two-thirds done. Currently on 1885.

Just made a late change and trimmed the beginning of the breakup scene. The Paradox script did in fact go for a shortened version of the scene where Clara breaks up with Doc (It originally began with Clara saying “Goodbye? But Emmett, I don’t understand…”), but I felt like I shouldn’t do it for fear that the pacing might be affected. And besides, I felt like the change wasn’t that big of a deal in comparison to a lot of the other cuts I’ve made. However, looking back at the edit as a whole, I feel that the shortened version of the breakup is far more impactful than keeping it in full, so I decided to, well, follow the script again. My apologies for those who prefer pacing, but hey, I said I would try to get this edit as close to the Paradox script as best as I could, so I might well keep my promise.

Paradox script comparison subtitle track is mostly done. Gonna look it over and check for any grammatical errors in the future, but it should be pretty close to done now.