Tag: time machine

“Are you telling me you built a time machine out of a Delorean?”

From: Back to the Future

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Marty McFly

The story behind the quote: The Back to the Future series of movies was pretty awesome, however, it wouldn’t have been possible if the first film wasn’t so awesome to begin with. It established great characters (Michael J. Fox’s Marty McFly and Chrisopher Llyod’s Doc Brown) and even terms from the movie, such as “flux capacitor, ” “1.21 gigawatts” and “88 miles per hour” have been ingrained in geek culture.

The time machine is another reason why the film is so popular. Doc Brown built his time machine from a DeLorean DMC-12, which is pretty odd if you think about it since most time machines before were, well, stationary objects. In fact, after their first test run, Marty also exclaims that he can’t believe that the car was actually a time machine.

Geek wisdom: Sometimes, we gotta go with style over substance. Sure it may seem shallow, but as Doc Brown said, its good to add some flair as well. While it does pay to be practical most of the time, it can be boring. We all want to get things and do stuff that, in the long run, are not really useful. Buying an expensive shirt or eating at a very fancy place may seem useless. However, if you do enjoy it, then there is some use to it.

Life isn’t just about surviving. Life is also enjoying living. We all have to balance our “fun” and “survival” in the right amounts.

“Be excellent to each other.”

From: Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Bill S. Preston, Esq.

The story behind the quote: This quote comes from the excellent movie Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (see what I did there?). In the future, Earth enjoys living in a utopian society based on the ideas of The Two Great Ones named William “Bill” S. Preston, Esq. (played by Alex Winter) and “Ted” Theodore Logan (Keanu Reeves, before he knew “kung-fu”) who, together, form Wild Stallyns. However, this future is endangered as the duo, in the present (well, 1989 in the film), are failing history class. If Ted fails, he will be sent to a military academy, breaking them up. In a mission to prevent this, Rufus (played by the late George Carlin) goes back in time to help them.

In order to pass the class, Bill and Ted convince historical figures throughout time to come with them to the present (still 1989 in the movie). However, at one point, they get sidetracked and visit the future. When they arrive, the residents gather around for a chance to see The Two Great Ones in person. Unsure of what to say, Bill manages to give the line before Ted closes it out by saying “Party on, dudes!”

Geek wisdom: No truer words could have been spoken. The idea to be good to everyone is something that we should all do. If we did, there would probably be no wars or hate, no famine or no pain. The world would actually be a utopian society. Sometimes, even the most simple of minds can produce the most thoughtful of wisdom.

“Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”

From: Back to the Future

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Doc Brown

The story behind the quote: After repairing the timeline (somewhat) and coming back from 1955, Marty McFly (played by Michael J. Fox) is about to go to the lake with his girlfriend, Jennifer Parker (played by Claudia Wells in the first film, then portrayed by Elizabeth Shue in the succeeding films… long story). Before they can leave, however, Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) comes racing back in the Delorean time machine.

The Doc tells Marty that he has to come with him to the future since there’s going to be a problem with his and Jennifer’s children. After they all board the Delorean, Marty comments that they won’t have enough road to reach the required 88 mph to travel through time. Doc smiles and states “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads” before converting the vehicle into a flying car and speeding off into the year 2015.

Geek wisdom: It’s difficult to take risks or be different from the pack. There’s always the chance of failure and ridicule from others for doing your own thing. However, a lot of the things we take for granted were due to these risk-takers and different individuals. If it weren’t for creative people like the Wright brothers, Steve Jobs, and other like them, a lot of our modern conveniences wouldn’t be invented. These people did not have any clear trail to follow. They blazed their own.

When we are children, we are taught to be creative and not to be afraid of making mistakes. Even as adults, we’re told to “think outside the box.” Easy in theory, but extremely hard to do in real life. We all have our comfort zones we like to be in and that’s fine. But it is nice to take a step off the safe path once in a while. Its when we get off the road we usually see something different.