MovieChat Forums > Back to the Future (1985) Discussion > Doc not fixing the starter makes no sens...

Doc not fixing the starter makes no sense

posted 2 years ago by avortac4 (3770)
7 replies | jump to latest

We all know Doctor Emmett Brown to be a meticulous man. He recreates Hill Valley from scratch, and then apologizes for not being perfectionist enough to paint it or to build it to scale (I assume he means the proportions are not accurate in relation to everything).

Doc knows the reason why Marty hid the time machine; it was because there was a problem with the starter. How sloppily did Doc fix it, when the starter STILL doesn't function at all as it's supposed to? It malfunctions just as MArty is supposed to hit the pedal, it malfunctions again when Marty is trying to drive to save Doc.

How can this be? Doc KNOWS there's a problem with the starter, and he KNOWS how crucial it is to start the car at the 'calculated moment'! How can he forget or not bother fixing the starter?!

Sure, he might not know how to fix a 1984 or 1985 DeLorean starter, but surely those things can't be rocket science - which someone that invents a time machine should basically be able to do as well..?!

In any case, it makes NO sense, except from a Ryan George-sort of perspective, 'so that the movie can happen'..

I hate when movies inject nonsense, stupidity, implausibility, uncharacteristic behaviour or other things that make no sense just so that the movie can happen.

[–] LadyBug (133) 2 years ago

I thought the car wouldn't start because it was out of plutonium.

[–] strntz (12773) 2 years ago

No, the DeLorean wouldn't *time travel* because it was out of plutonium. It used the stock gasoline engine to drive to 88mph. The plutonium only powered the flux capacitor.

The DeLorean had some sort of intermittent electrical gremlin that not only prevented the starter from engaging, but also caused complete loss of electrical power in the car which is why it *stalled out* right before Marty was going to make his run with it. You'll also notice the time circuit display also went out when the car stalled. Intermittent electrical gremlins aren't easy to diagnose.

Don't listen to the loon avortac. He posts things that don't make sense - the irony appearing to escape him.

[–] strntz (12773) 2 years ago

So on your planet a defective car starter also causes the car to stall when it's *already running* and to cause the time circuits display to black out? That's some starter.

The problem was an intermittent loss of power in the whole car. Maybe Doc replaced a part he thought would fix it, the car started because the problem was intermittent, and he assumed he changed the correct part. Doc was meticulous but made many screw ups through his whole life. He screwed up Mad Dog's horse shoe job. Doc wasn't perfect.

Give it up. You posts make no sense.

[–] DancingintheDark (1805) 2 years ago

Don’t forget the amplifier “overload” problem.

[–] strntz (12773) 2 years ago

And the mind reader...

[–] PaladinNJ (21771) 2 years ago

There was nothing wrong with the starter. It stalled when Marty tried to hit the wire.

[–] moviechatterer (16309) 2 years ago

nd he KNOWS how crucial it is to start the car at the 'calculated moment'!

no its critical to start moving at the 'calculated moment'
you can start the car any time before that
"Ten minutes should do it"