Weird flaw in Back to the Future trilogy

[Stray Cat]

Doc Brown's Delorean could only travel through time from the specific place the Delorean happened to be at the time. In the first movie, he claimed that one could actually witness the signing of the "Declaration of Independence" but this would only be possible if the machine were actually in Philadelphia once it jumped through time.

Because the Delorean was always happened to be in Hill Valley it would only jump through time to Hill Valley. If I were buying a time machine, that would sound like a raw a** deal.

[Adam Strange]

The more motion through time, the less motion through space.

s^2=−(cΔt)^2+Δx^2+Δy^2+Δz^2


When you're standing still, your speed through time is at a maximum. As you start moving faster through space, your speed through time slows down.

Maybe that's it, although how they got the negative time travel is a puzzle. Maybe with negative velocities?

[FreelancePoliceman]

Doc Brown's Delorean could only travel through time from the specific place the Delorean happened to be at the time. In the first movie, he claimed that one could actually witness the signing of the "Declaration of Independence" but this would only be possible if the machine were actually in Philadelphia once it jumped through time.

Because the Delorean was always happened to be in Hill Valley it would only jump through time to Hill Valley. If I were buying a time machine, that would sound like a raw a** deal.

It's also strange that the location on earth is always the same since the earth and solar system are themselves constantly moving. I don't know why the earth itself couldn't be the reference point for however time travel works, but I don't know why it would be, either.

[Stray Cat]

It's also strange that the location on earth is always the same since the earth and solar system are themselves constantly moving. I don't know why the earth itself couldn't be the reference point for however time travel works, but I don't know why it would be, either.

Interestingly, having watched the movie today when the Delorean jumps time the exact geographical point where the Delorean initially departs differs from the point in which it arrives again.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wH4omE0QGug

If you watch VERY carefully, Einstein's exact departure point differs from the arrival point by a few feet.

[jason_m]

Doc Brown's Delorean could only travel through time from the specific place the Delorean happened to be at the time. In the first movie, he claimed that one could actually witness the signing of the "Declaration of Independence" but this would only be possible if the machine were actually in Philadelphia once it jumped through time.

Because the Delorean was always happened to be in Hill Valley it would only jump through time to Hill Valley. If I were buying a time machine, that would sound like a raw a** deal.

Why couldn't he have driven to Philadelphia, gone back in time from that spot and then (later) drive back to Hill Valley?

[Stray Cat]

Why couldn't he have driven to Philadelphia, gone back in time from that spot and then (later) drive back to Hill Valley?

Yeah, that particular point didn't escape me. He absolutely could have

Unfortunately he couldn't actually drive that DeLorean in 1985 all the way to Philadelphia... at least not until the machine became commercialized. So what Doc Brown ultimately created was localized time travel & to witness the birth of Christ, a time machine would have to be shipped or already waiting at the appropriate location.

Also, in the first flick, Doc said the Delorean didn't run on gasoline but electricity. Not sure if he was talking purely about the time travel aspect or whether the car literally did not use gasoline at all.