MovieChat Forums > Back to the Future (1985) Discussion > Does the whole Libyan bomb thing seem pr...

Does the whole Libyan bomb thing seem pretty awkward now?

posted 9 years ago by Monk_Drunk
20 replies | jump to latest

I'm sure audiences didn't really blink at the time (I was very young when the movie came out and didn't see it in the cinema, and probably wouldn't have understood if there had been a controversy anyway), but the idea behind Libyan terrorists trying to get Doc to build a dirty bomb for them is pretty eyebrow-rising when you watch the film in this day and age, with the shadow of the War against Terror and memories of 9/11 looming over us like a pall, and especially when you consider that this is a family adventure-comedy film. I mean, it's basically a joke in the movie: "They wanted me to build them a bomb, so I took their plutonium and, in turn, gave them a shoddy bomb casing full of used pinball machine parts!"

This was just a few years before Lockerbie too, which was thought to be the work of Libyans. Yikes.

[–] CoriSCapnSkip (2754) 7 months ago

I wondered if maybe not mentioning the nationality and just saying terrorists might have worked but maybe it seemed good at the time. The terrorists could still have looked the same (that is, vaguely middle eastern) and had it work, even to the present day.

[–] liscarkat (19406) 7 months ago

Even in 1985, Muslim terrorists were a thing. And back then, all things could be joked about. It's not awkward at all.

[–] Kowalski (79056) 7 months ago

NOPE...1985 WAS 1985.

[–] [deleted] 7 months ago

What happened to the Libyans at the end is just weird and anti-climatic.

They killed Doc and tried to kill Marty, and what happens to them? They slowly crash into some glass? WTF?

Either that was supposed to have killed them or seriously injured them, which is highly improbable or they survived and just thought "Let's go home now". Always seemed strange. But I never thought using Libyans or mentioning them by name was awkward.

The most awkward thing about BTTF will always be George and Lorraine having Biff around at the end, even allowing him to just walk into the house, after he tried to rape Lorraine. Just bizarre.

[–] Zarkoff (2394) 7 months ago

That is pretty weird. Biff is pretty pathetic at this point, but is that someone you would want around in any circumstances?

[–] Tam87 (1598) 7 months ago

It is quite jarring for a family film, but in the 80s, Islamic terrorism on US soil was something not known. Since then with 9/11 and San Bernadino, Fort Hood etc, it has a different impact.

In 1985, that scene was probably quite humorous. I mean, where the fuck did they come from all of a sudden? It's like they just teleported there haha.