Of course, then again, why use gas when you have a nuclear reactor onboard, but you know...?
I could be wrong, but didn't that Mr. Fusion device get fried when lightening struck the Delorean at the end of part 2?
Hm, I might have messed the quotes a bit. But that doesn't matter.
The whole Mr. Fusion-thing is quite interesting. The thing is, there has always been a nuclear reactor in the car, since 1985. I mean, it uses a
"nuclear reaction to get the 1.21 Gigawatts", as the doc explains. But the car needs to run at 88 miles per hour for that reaction to be able to
transport the car through time.
So there is a
a) Nuclear reactor for travelling through time
b) Gas-powered engine to get the DeLorean to 88 Mph
Things only change when doc returns from the future. What an odd choice the doc makes by replacing the old-fashioned nuclear reactor (a) with Mr.
Fusion, that can feed on any garbage, but still having the car use polluting gas to move about. Although at this point, it's pretty unclear whether
the engine to actually power the car (b) also runs on garbage, or whether it's still gas-powered. One thing is for sure - the car engine is
-radically- changed, because now the car can fly.
Why would they have such an advanced technology as to use Mr. Fusion (what is that thing anyway, and why would there be such thing in cars, if it's
not meant to power the WHOLE car - not all cars are time machines in 2015, after all, and that seems like a factory-manufactured, trademarked reactor
- of course it could be some kind of "all-purpose reactor", but it still begs the question - - - if such is easily available in the future, why
would ANYTHING ever run on gas?), and not use it for everything?
I mean, what did the doc do to the DeLorean in the future?
1) He changed the engine so that the car can fly, but it still uses GAS.
2) He changed the engine so that the car can fly, and take all the needed energy directly from Mr. Fusion.
3) He only added a flight-capability without changing the engine at all, whatsoever, and Mr. Fusion only gives energy to time travelling, but nothing
else - the car still uses GAS.
Before Marty's time traveling, things were simple and clear. There were TWO power sources in the car. The first one moved the car about, normally (a
normal car engine), and the second one was a nuclear reactor to move the car through time (a visionary invention).
But after Doc returns from the future, everything is messed up. The car HAS a gas tank, gas, normal car engine and all that, after the lightning
struck the DeLorean, and destroyed it's flight circuits. So the car will "never fly again".
It just seems a bit silly, that if you can create a nuclear reactor into a car, and then improve it so that it only needs garbage to create 1.21
Gigawatts of energy, AND in addition add an ability to fly, you are completely stumped when it comes to changing the original car engine into
something more environment-friendly and free. It kind of attacks the viewer's suspension of disbelief. Why would such an ingenious doctor, who can do
all these things, be completely incapable of creating an electric engine or something?
This is of course not completely clear in "Back to the Future", but those "so-called sequels" kind of raise these questions on the table and make
them into problems, that they never needed to be. I never really liked the last bit anyway - the whole flying car-thing is too silly to begin with,
and everything is so materialistic and "perfect" in such a sugary-syrapy way, that it's pretty obvious that the last bit was written by a woman. It
just doesn't really fit the rest of the movie's atmosphere.
But in any case, I haven't yet seen a movie that couldn't be picked apart in this way, so it doesn't matter - Back to the Future is still a great
classic, and indeed THE movie that I would show anyone who has been in coma for 100 years or just came to this planet and doesn't know what a
The other thing though is, where the heck (other than salt flats) are you going to find terrain that would even allow a car to get up to 88mph anyhow?
At some point, you just have to make allowances for the story.