Great Scott!!

It won't have failed to escape even the most casual of film geeks, pop cultural observers and 80s nostalgia fans that today, Wednesday 21 October 2015, the world catches up with the future as predicted by the classic 1989 sci-fi sequel, Back to the Future Part 2.

Like many of my generation, I've held a deep-seated affection for the trilogy since childhood, when I announced to my babysitter at age 6 that Michael J Fox was the handsomest man I'd ever seen. The first film is my favourite (as well as one of my all-time favourites), and I celebrated my most recent birthday with a screening of it. To this day, just a few notes of Alvin Silvestri's joyous score give me a genuine thrill. And then there's the sheer 80s awesomeness of this:

I hardly need to out myself as a BTTF fan girl.

The second film, in which Marty & Doc travel forward to today, is slightly harder to love. In grand trilogy tradition, it's the darkest in the series, featuring domestic violence, dystopian visions & murder (while all the first film really has in that department is a fairly light-hearted take on incest, and the small matter of obliterating your own existence). Part 2 does very well however in cross-referencing the first film and juggling time lines. Characters are played quite successfully at different ages or from different generations (despite slightly shonky age makeup). 

On a recent rewatch, I was interested to see just how much of the future the film got "right" - and it's not as crazily wide-off the mark as you might think. In the first 20 minutes alone there are references to biofuels, facial rejuvenation, wearable tech, sketchy legal processes, excessive

film sequels, invasive advertising, 80s nostalgia, inflated prices and being surrounded by screens. Elsewhere, there are nods to emerging technology: payment by thumb, news drones and hover boards. That might be a pretty generous view - much of the above can be considered obvious targets and of course the film's not alone in it's hit-and-miss predictions. Most obviously, Doc's reassurance to Marty that "where we're going, we don't need roads" has proved wildly over-exhuberent even by his standards. The film also failed to predict the rise of the ebook - books have dust-repellant paper - and seemed to believe that Japan would be the world's dominant economic power, and perhaps even more egregiously, faxing would still be "a thing".

We're now as far from 1985 as that year was from 1955, and the best proof that the films have stood the test of time is the level of fandom and devotion they continue to attract - last year, Secret Cinema staged a BTTF immersion event in London, and this week, fans will converge in Los Angeles for the We're Going Back fan extravaganza, with tickets costing up to $880 (perhaps they're hoping you'll be smiling too much at the inside joke to wince too hard at the price). The event will also feature the premiere of the Back in Time documentary - a more achieveable treat once it gets a broader release.

However you choose to wallow in some classic 80s nostalgia, you can rest assured that, as long as Robert Zemeckis lives, we'll be spared any "reimagining". Bonus cause for celebration!