MovieChat Forums > Back to the Future (1985) Discussion > Marty smacking his head after getting hi...

Marty smacking his head after getting hit by car

posted 8 years ago by mcl77
8 replies | jump to latest

This looked real. Anyone know how they filmed this? Every time I watch this I cringe at the visual and sound of his head smacking the pavement

[–] mikeyg24 8 years ago

I'm not sure about this movie but I know that in other movies they use heavy duty rubber blended into the surrounding terrain and edit in the bump. I don't like it either, one of my best friends had an aneurysm from the exact same thing.

We have to show the world that not all of us are like him: Henning von Tresckow.

[–] Mr-Fusion 8 years ago

It's gotta be rubber. I know they used some sort of padding that was painted to look like blacktop for the alley fight scene in They Live. It's just an issue of making it look like actual road.

I agree, it's painful to watch.

---
Can you believe it? My Harvard tie. Like oh, sure, he went to Harvard.

[–] avortac4 (3742) 3 years ago

It's one of the most painful things I have ever seen in a movie, and I have seen Fight Club and Mr. Bean's Holiday.

I know the sound is dubbed in after, but darn it's an effective scene, especially since he hits his head twice.

The only annoying part about it is that Lorraine pointing out the big bruise is wrong, considering where the bump should factually be.

[–] Magicdave (837) 3 years ago

This idea, that I have heard around the internet, is that Fox, in order to achieve realism for that scene, ACTUALLY hit his head on the pavement. Not real hard, mind you, as it was filmed probably with Fox sitting on the ground and then rolling backwards.
But, what I have heard from some other sources on the internet (and we know how accurate they are!) is that the scene was an early contributor to his getting Parkinson's disease.

[–] TheLonelyOne86 (240) 3 years ago

I actually think I saw him doing an interview looooooooooong ago where he mentioned he was getting "twinges" in his hands every now and then even when filming Family Ties and BTTF, not realizing at the time that they were early symptoms of Parkinson's.

[–] Magicdave (837) 3 years ago

Hmmm. That could very well be.

[–] avortac4 (3742) 2 years ago

BTW, that's not SMACKING. That's BUMPING.

[–] johnral (138) a year ago

Agreed - the sound was a bit too real.