Back to the Future Vs. The Terminator
 By Lee Hannahs
April 12, 1999

  • Back to the Future takes place in 1985.

  • Terminator takes place in 1984.

  • Biff sends a book back in time to change the future for his own ends.

  • Skynet sends the Terminators back through time to change the future for its own ends.

  • Biff kills Marty McFly¹s father, George McFly.

  • The Terminator kills John Connor¹s father, Kyle Reese.

  • The sports almanac is destroyed to save the future.

  • The pieces of the first Terminator are destroyed to save the future.

  • Doc Brown invents a time machine, a revolutionary piece of technology, which causes some problems for Marty and Doc.

  • Miles Dyson invents Skynet, a revolutionary piece of technology, which causes some problems for Sarah and John.

  • Doc Brown, in the alternate 1985, is committed to a mental institution.

  • Sarah Connor is committed to a mental institution.

  • Doc Brown travels back in time from the future and falls in love with Clara Clayton, a contemporary woman whose life he saves.

  • Kyle Reese travels back in time from the future and falls in love with Sarah Connor, a contemporary woman whose life he saves.

  • Marty McFly is chased on his hoverboard through a tunnel by Biff, who intends to run him over with his car.

  • John Connor is chased on his motorcycle through a drainage canal (which is like a tunnel) by the T-1000, who intends to run him over with a truck.

  • After helping to create a nightmarish future (i. e. the alternate 1985), the DeLorean is destroyed.

  • After creating a nightmarish future (i. e. the world of 2029), Skynet is destroyed.

  • Doc reminds Marty that his future is not written‹it is whatever he makes of it.

  • Kyle reminds Sarah that her future is not set, and that she has no fate, no future, but what she makes of that future.

  • Time travelers Marty McFly and Doc Brown change the future for the better.

  • Time travelers Kyle Reese and the T-800 Terminator change the future for the better.