One point twenty one jigawatts of fun!

Well, I can officially say that I scored major points on the nerd scale this past week when I fulfilled one of the things I have wanted to do for some time.....which was to visit several filming locations of 'Back to the Future' (one of my (John) favorite movies). Although there are many spots that are local to S. California, I chose only the ones that I really wanted to see. I got inspired to do this because I found a website (http://www.bigwaste.com/) that helps fans locate some of these famous places that appear in movies or TV programs. Believe it or not, I actually took a VACATION DAY from work to do this - adding to my nerdness. Anyhow, I wanted to share the spots that I hit.... and hopefully you can remember some of these scenes from the movie. Hey, maybe this will inspire you to rewatch the movie if you own it!

Ok, so our first stop of the day was the great Twin Pines Mall. Remember this sequence from the movie? This is the part where Doc first shows Marty the time-traveling DeLorean that hits 88 MPH in the parking lot and ultimately sends Marty back in time? Check out a shot from the movie:

Well, it turns out that the mall parking lot where this was shot still exists (Puente Hills Mall off the 60 freeway), and pretty much looks like it did back when filming took place, although JC Penney's is no longer there. I'll bet you that people shop there all the time not even knowing that one of the best movies of all time was shot there! :)
You can tell from this picture that I parked in the exact spot that Doc parked his truck.
Here's a little different angle:


In this shot, you can see the railing that Marty comes up upon at the beginning of the movie (and at the end of the movie).

You may also remember that Marty skateboards his way to the railing (at the beginning of the scene I described above). Well, here's a shot of that part where he skateboards, looking back towards the retail buildings in the background. Just watch the movie (first 20 minutes) and you'll see what I'm talking about!

Next stop... the Burger King right next to Doc's place. Remember at the beginning of the movie when Marty goes over to Doc's place and then is running late to school so he skateboards (and uses cars to pull him) to school? You see Marty exit Doc's place skate through the Burger King parking lot and then grab on the blue pickup in this picture...

Well, the Burger King is a real place and is still there today. When we were doing our little sightseeing adventure, I wanted to eat there but Amy wanted something more healthy.

Anyway, it hasn't changed much (see current picture, below). The planter is still there, the sidewalk with criss-crossed bricks is still there, and there are still cars going through the drive thru.
What has changed, however (or should I say, never really existed in the first place), is Doc's place. Here's a picture of Marty as he exits Doc's place and then skates past the Burger King shown above.
Well, there was a bit of "move magic" done. You see, Doc's place never really existed.. it was just a facade that was built to look like a house. In reality, that "house" sat on Burger King's parking lot. Look, you can even see the drainage ditch in both pictures.

The next stop on my adventure was probably my favorite. It is the sight of Marty's house. Here's how the house looked in the movie. Look at those transmission towers in the background!

...and here's how it looks now! Isn't that crazy? That's me in the foreground, by the way. I'm kind of in the shadows.

Here's a better angle. Other than the basketball hoop, this place looks identical to how it was in the movie. I could't help but wonder if the owner knowns what a special place they own!? The craziest thing about this house was that it was in a perfectly normal residential neighborhood. I have no idea why the movie folks chose this place... it was way out in the valley (Arleta/Pacoima).

For those of you that remember the ending of the movie, remember the DeLorean backs up out of Marty's driveway, Marty questions whether or not Doc can get up to 88 MPH on the residential street, to which Doc replies "Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads", and then DeLorean lifts up and flies/drives off. Here's a picture to jog your memory...

Well, that sequence was also filmed on the same street, so while I was there I snapped a few shots from the end of the block. Although the vehicles parked on the street are different, the trees haven't changed very much! Check it out....

Last stop on my great 'Back to the Future' sightseeing tour was a very beautiful street in South Pasadena. Apparently this street is used frequently in films. In addition to having 3 houses on the block that were in the Back to the Future movies, some of the scenes from "Teen Wolf" were also done here. Here's a shot from the end of the street. You can see my vehicle parked in front of Lorraine's house (which I'll discuss next)...

If you can remember from the film, George (Marty's eventual dad) is caught spying on Lorraine (Marty's eventual mom) from a nearby tree. Here's a picture from the movie of her house. Notice the columns on the front of the house anchored in the rock.

And here's the house as it looks today... pretty much the same, although the trees are bigger, it appears to have gotten a new exterior paint color, and Lorraine's room has an awful bright colored window covering!

I took some pictures of George's house too. Here's how it looks in the movie:

And here's how it looks today....

Ahh, what a great day of revisiting some of the historic sites of great cinema! For someone who has seen Back to the Future countless times, it was great to finally see some of these places in person. It's hard to believe that I was standing in the same spots that the actors and actresses were. When I'm rewatching 'Back to the Future' (in the future), it's going to be hard NOT to say "I've been there", "I've seen that", etc. Oh, by the way, did I mention that I'm a total nerd?? :)