To those alive at the time, what was the anticipation like for BTTF2, and BTTF3?

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After part 2 ended in the movie theater, there was a preview trailer of part 3. Your heart ached, knowing you had to wait a long time to see part 3, especially since they already had the preview trailer or entire movie already made

I was a kid and obsessed with Back to the Future. I kept tabs on the status of Part 2 through magazines etc. But I had no idea what the story’s would be. A few months before it came out, I was 11 and in a store I saw the novel version of BTTF 2. I was beyond excited. I bought the book and read it all in one day. I had a huge headache by nighttime but I couldn’t fathom the idea of going to sleep not knowing what would happen. Then at the end it said to be concluded with Part 3 and I just about exploded with excitement. The movie came out about 2 months later and I saw it twice in the theater. So yeah it was quite excitedly anticipated.

It came out with Last Crusade, Ghostbusters II, and, I cannot stress this enough, Batman. I feel like it was overshadowed.

Same as it was for terminator 2, I couldn't contain my excitement to see them in the cinema.

I actually still have a cinema magazine from the 90s advertising the movie with details.

Idk if this is all accurate, as I was in elementary school at the time.

But when BTTF 1 came out, it was the greatest thing ever, still is. That was 1985.

I don’t think I saw the commercial VHS tape as a kid, so I had to wait till it came to pay per view (PPV.)

But even that wasn’t till sometime in early to mid 1986. That was the first time I saw the “to be continued” graphic. (It apparently wasn’t on the original theater release.)

I recorded that PPV showing and watched the tape over and over again as a kid since it was my favorite movie. Still is. The tape had BTTF 1 and Ferris Beuller on it. It was a worn out tape to say the least.

I took that to be continued graphic pretty seriously as a kid. Waiting and hoping for the sequel. It never came……

I kinda put it in the back of my mind, but always came back up when BTTF was on hbo or tv or something.

Until about the summer of 89, some 3-4 years later. Then previews started appearing on TV. (No internet then, kids.) And the hype began.

And if you look at the entire 1989 year, there were some major films releasing in 1989. One of the greatest movie years ever.

That wait in 89, was longer than 85-88 put together, the anticipation grew.

Finally the date dropped. They were releasing the movie on the Wednesday (a school day) before Thanksgiving (a holiday) 1989. And if you were a WWF fan, you know that was Survivor Series time.

So the entire month or whatever, I’m telling my moms, BTTF2 is coming! It’s coming! “Good.” (She couldn’t give any less of a damn. lol.) I asked, every day, can we go and see it?!?!

That Wednesday finally came, no notification from my mom that any movie was happening that day.

But then after school, one of the teachers told me that my mom was there to pick me up. The teacher also said, and she said something about a movie…….

I was elated. I got my bags and ran to see her. She said, ok let’s go see this thing!

At the theaters, sitting down and waiting. I couldn’t keep myself contained…..then the previews start…..Fred Savage? Super Mario 3?!?!? The Wizard!!! Whoa. Needless to say, the NES was pretty huge in 89, that preview had all the kids yelling in the theater. That was hyped.

Finally, it gets dark…… Saturday October 26 1985

I’ll never forget that day/weekend!

I will never forget. I was beyond excited to see BTTF 2 when it opened in theaters.

I know I was super excited about the sequels! But this was in an era before social media, so it’s hard to gauge what public opinion was back then.

When the first film was made, there wasn’t meant to be a sequel. It was left open ended as a joke, really. There was no anticipation as no one knew, for sure, that a sequel was coming.

Everyone was spoiled for good movies back then. Look at what came out between 1985 and 1990.

Well I was just a little kid, and I had seen Back to the Future in the theater and thought it was amazing, and then the VHS release had “To Be Continued…” on the end (bummed that version is not available anymore), so all my friends and I would speculate about what would happen next.

I remember seeing the teaser poster for Part II at the movie theater and being hyped, and there was a lot in the media about it (how II & III were filming back-to-back etc.), including a “Making of” TV special leading up to the release (in which Robert Zemeckis joked that the hoverboards were given to the production by Mattel and they’d be sold in stores later that year- but all of us elementary kids thought he was serious and were sorely disappointed later on) so it was hotly anticipated.

I remember I got the novelization from the Scholastic Club and the “future” sunglasses from Pizza Hut. When BTTF II finally came out I loved it, but I remember my parents not liking it and hearing a lot of bad reviews which I thought was crazy.

It wasn’t as much of a cultural event when Part III came out, but all my friends and I were still just as hyped, and it was everyone’s favorite of the three back then.

So, I was a really little kid at the time but I at least know MY family was excited.

I remember us getting pairs of BTTF2's "future" sunglasses from Pizza Hut.

I was a kid living in a small town (with no movie theater).

I saw Back to the Future on VHS and absolutely loved it. I had no idea there even was a Back to the Future 2 until I saw it in the “New Release” section at a video store (when I went on holidays to “the city”).

I begged my mum to ask the store if she could buy it and vividly remember the guy saying “we don’t own the videos, the company sends them to us. They’re over $100 each lady!”.

It was about three years later I finally got to watch it when my parents found a monstrous double BTTF2 and BTT3 VHS pack.

I was so excited, I went to see 2 right after school. I was a tad disappointed because it just wasn't as good or funny as the original. Crispen Glover was missed! I saw it a 2nd time with my Dad and I enjoyed it more, since I knew what to expect.

The trailer they showed for Part 3 was different than the one available on Blu-Ray, in that Doc and Marty were hardly in it and there were mostly shots of the DeLorean in the Old West. It made it seem like Part 3 was going to be a very different movie.

I actually prefer Part 3 to Part 2. But, I enjoy all of the films, especially the original

Part 1 on VHS: I wore that tape out. My friends and I were hype for part 2. Actually I wasn’t even sure we were going to get a sequel. I took “to be continued” as “you’ll get to live it in the future”. 80s movies were weird like that.

I remember reading that they were making a sequel but it was to be called "Paradox".

I saw BTTF2 in the cinema on release with a friend. I would have been 9 or 10. I remember loving how they went back to the original movie at the end of BTTF2. Back then unless you were keeping up with film news through magazines or newspapers, there was usually no way to know what was coming out. As a kid I wouldn’t have known it was coming. Usually the first you knew of it was the trailer on TV.

BTTF was my favorite movie since seeing it in the theater at age 5. We rented it over and over until I finally got the VHS when it was being sold at McDonald’s for $5! Then I watched my VHS over and over. There was the To Be Continued title at the end (which my parents claimed—correctly—was not there in the theater but I didn’t believe them) and I wasn’t sure whether to believe there would be a sequel or not. At the time, quick cash-in sequels to hit movies usually turned around in one or two years (see Bill & Ted), and the wait for BTTF2 seemed like an eternity. It felt like a promise that would never happen. As a kid, the four year wait was nearly my entire lifetime over again. By the time it arrived it was half my life, and an even bigger chunk of the amount of lifetime I remembered (i.e. excluding the baby/toddler years we all forget).

Finally one day I saw the “Getting back was only the beginning” teaser poster at the theater and the sequel finally existed, and the wait began in earnest.

The hype was huge for the second movie. As others have said it was a big year for sequels and movie hype and it was all exciting for a kid. Unlike the first movie this one had huge presold merchandising deals. BTTF tie ins and toys were everywhere. The holiday toy catalogs from Sears, etc. all had BTTF toy sections. There was a Delorean power wheels ride-on, BTTF2 knockoff Micro Machines (I still remember getting these at toys R us). I got the novelization from the school book order. Some editions came with a white cover and some with blue.

I think the movie came out around thanksgiving and I went opening weekend with my dad and cousin. The ending was a complete surprise. No one knew there would be a third movie or that they were making it already. Ending on a cliffhanger was an unwelcome surprise to a lot of people and made them feel cheated, like the movie ended with an ad and a grab for more money. My dad was unhappy with it and that colored my experience even though I enjoyed the movie and was excited there would be another one.

The wait for the third was not that bad compared to the wait for 2. Another novelization came with it along with the Kirk Cameron TV special which I taped and watched over and over. The consensus was that 3 was better because it had more heart and I agreed with what I was told, but as a kid I secretly felt 2 was more fun and I still do.

I personally remember a lot of hype for the sequels back then, especially amongst me and my friends at school. And considering this was all pre-internet that’s probably saying a lot.

Although I never actually got to see Part II at the cinema, but when it came out on VHS I remember going with my dad to the local video rental place every Friday night to see if it was available, but for weeks and weeks it was out of stock.

I did finally get to see Part III in the cinema though in 1990.

I remember they had a behind the scenes TV special that showed them filming the second movie because it was so long between the first and second one.

I remember seeing Part 3 before I ever saw Part 2. For some reason, we skipped 2 when it came out, but watched it when it came out on video.

I was 5 and 6 when 2 and 3 were released. Back to the Future was already my favorite movie I watched it almost everyday. My parents took me to the theater to see BTTF2 and it was one of the best experiences of my childhood.

I was 10 when BTTF2 was released and I couldn't get in to see it because when I got to the cinema with my friends there was a huge queue going down the street stretching hundreds of metres in length. I bought the novelisation instead to tide me over until summer 1990 when I finally saw it.

Four year wait?

Don't think BTTF2 was even announced until late 87 or 88...

I thought that there might be a sequel while watching BTTF1. Was I waiting the entire 4 years on pins and needles? Probably not. BTTF2 was really fun to watch -- great marketing/hype lead-up.

Portuguese here. I was born in 1980. Saw the movie late 1986 when it went to the video rentals. So, i saw the version where the "to be continued" was presented.

As I was used to sequels that never came to be, I thought: great. A sequel!

Afterwards I didn't think a lot about it(no internet at the time), because, as I've said, I was used to see that and never having a sequel, or having to wait a lot for it to come.

One day (late 1989) I saw in the news that they were filming it (they showed a images of the '80s café scene). I was really excited. But, again, still had to wait a lot, as I wasn't old enough to watch in the theatre.

I watched it (again, video rentals, late 1990), and I loved it. Yes, it had a preview of the 3rd. I saw the conclusion in 1991 (summer, I think).

Huge excitement for BTTF2. The trailer showing glimpses of the near future were so exciting as up until that point most “future” films were either dystopian or extreme sci-fi.

It was known part 3 was being made at the same time as they didn’t hide this fact and that it would release very quickly was weird. However once the trailers dropped, for the UK at least, a Western setting was a bit of a let down, especially after the high concept of the futuristic BTTF2.

Can't really remember, other than I really wanted to see part 2, our school went to the movies for the only time in my school life I remember. We all wanted to see Part 2, but ended up in some crappy cartoon because the teacher was a tightarse and said we where too young to see it after she asked if there was any swearing in it.

So I went that weekend after and showed that stuck up Strickland.

I was hugely hyped for BTTF2, I was obsessed with the first one. Really didn’t get on with the sequel, though I recall liking the third one more.

Weirdly I don’t think I’ve seen 2 and 3 more than once or twice ever whereas I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen the original.

I found the tone of the second one a bit goofy with MJF playing multiple parts. And also it undid the happy ending of the first one and that always rankles with me (see Alien 3 also)

I was too young to see BTTF in the cinema but got to go see BTTF Part 2. I had no idea they had filmed the sequels at the same time. That “To be continued…” blew my brain. Never experienced anything like it before and is still the biggest ‘TBC’ memory for me. Even modern movies like the latest animated Spidey with the ‘TBC’ ending made me think of BTTF Part 2.

I was almost 12 when I saw the first one. I loved it, but I don't remember being aware of a sequel until it dropped. But then, parts 2 and 3 came out with only half a year in-between, so that wait was bearable. And like many already said, the trailer for 3 was part of 2, so everybody knew it was coming and was hyped for it. :)

I missed BTTF2 in the cinema. So there was a lot of plot holes I wasn’t aware of when I watched BTTF3. But I still enjoyed watching the movie.

I was only a toddler back then, but I imagine it would have been like hearing the news that we were going to be getting two Marvel Avengers movies in two consecutive years. I was hype as fuck for those movies and I was there for the first showings on day one with my best friend who I brought along for their birthday.

I don't remember exactly when I saw the first one. Probably around 88 or 89. While as a kid, I knew there was more story to tell, I didn't know anything about sequels. That is, until we went and saw BttF2 in the theater. I remember asking why we can't go see now?, and how long do we have to wait?, and more than a year is sooooo long to wait. My parents gently reminded me that it sometimes takes that long for the film to come to home video, to say nothing of sequels.

One kid in our grade 5 class saw it in theatres and we were all really jealous. I remember him telling me there were two Marty’s and two docs and I was like wtf are you jabbering on about

Even as a kid, I think I sgomehow understood the first ending as a joke.

The hype only started a year before the movies came out.

I was pissed when part 2 ended in a cliff hanger...3 was out for awhile before I went to see it because of that.

This will date me, but I was at my grandmas house in 1988. She was reading the newspaper and suddenly jumped up and said look! They are making a Back to the Future Part 2 and 3!

She LOVED the first movie and took me to see parts 2 and 3 (she especially liked 3). I was only 8 years old at the time but I remember anticipation being very high.

I don’t remember anticipation necessarily… but I vividly remember going to see part 3. I was pulling an all nighter for an exam (mistake #1) and was talked into a break for a midnight showing of part 3 (mistake #2). Got back to studying prob 2:30, and should have just gone to bed (mistake #3). I did not do very well on the exam (as per usual when all nighters are in the cards).

I remember enjoying the hell out of the movie, and the study break though.

I remember walking out of the AMC theater at our mall and we were hysterical wondering if we would get BTTF2!?! The end was epic.

Doc Brown”Roads! Where we are going we don’t need roads!” Back in time by Huey Lewis begins!

Growing up, we rarely went to the theater. Because we had HBO, my Dad always said "We have movies at home we are paying for, we aren't paying to go out to a movie," so it had to be super special. I was hellbent on watching BTTF2 in the theater because I was obsessed. I'm sure Mom had something to say about that lol.

Anyway, I remember going to eat at Pizza Hut right before, and picking up the BTTF2 sunglasses they were selling. I still have those sunglasses. What a night.

Edit: I think Dad was the one wanting to watch BTTF 3 since he loved westerns, so in one of the only times just Dad and I went to the movies was to see BTTF 3. I miss him.

I believe those were the first movies, or maybe one of the first movies, that were filmed back to back.. so well bttf2 was in theaters, bttf3 was in final edit. The time frame between the two releases I remember being 6 months, if that's possible. I had never seen that before.

I can't really speak for anyone but myself. I was 15 when the first one came out and I loved it. Instant classic. When they announced 2 and 3 were coming, I was excited because it was the same creative team, so I figured that meant it would be just as great. Unlike, say, "Airplane 2," which was made by none of the same people who made the first one. So I went into BTTF2 (at 19 years old) really hyped. But then I felt it was kinda lousy. The last half hour, back in the 50s again, picked up, but all that stuff in the future was lame. Then the movie ended with a little trailer for 3. I left the theater knowing I would go see it, just to find out how the story ends, but I was not at all excited about it.

3 wound up being pretty good. Much better than 2. But hardly a classic like 1.

I was about 5 or 6 when I saw BTTF1. It was the very first movie I saw in the movie theater. I don’t remember anticipating or having any knowledge about a sequel. I saw BTTF2 in the theater too and had forgotten most of the plot to the first one so it was like seeing a complete different movie. And then in the 3rd act when Marty returns to 1955 and they recreate scenes from the first film, I started getting flashbacks to BTTF1 and my young mind blew up 🤯

They didn’t plan a part 2 when they made the 1st. And 2 and 3 were filmed together.

Wasn't really too heart breaking to wait.

I was 11 when BTTF came out, then 15 and 16 when the sequels came out, so it was a long time to wait. We figured there would probably a sequel, but the “to be continued” they added to the VHS was where we officially heard it was happening and I remember being totally surprised when it popped up on the screen. 

This was before internet/social media, so I had no idea they were doing TWO sequels. I think it was maybe an article I was reading around the time Family Ties ended that mentioned Michael J. Fox was doing the double-schedule with BTTF again that just causally mentioned that he was working on two sequels back-to-back. I had absolutely no idea until then and was so psyched to learn that. I remember being surprised again a few months later finding out somewhere that the 3rd movie was going to be a western. I had no idea how on earth they were going to end up in the old west and the whole thing sounded hilarious, so I couldn’t wait to see it. 

Part 2 opened on Thanksgiving weekend, so we were supposed to have a half-day at school, but there was some emergency construction needed in the building so they wound up giving us the day off so I got to go to the very first showing. I saw it again over the weekend too. I liked it a lot, but I remember people not liking it as much as the first one - they were disappointed the whole thing didn’t take place in the future, didn’t like how dark the middle section was, and were pretty annoyed it ended with a cliffhanger/trailer. 

I was the opposite - I’ve always thought the 2015 stuff was pretty goofy and the movie really picked up and got interesting with the alternate 1985. And I never minded the ending (Marty running up and scaring Doc at the end is one of the funniest parts of the movie) or the trailer because the next movie just wasn’t that far away to be bothered by it, especially after we just waited 4 years for this one. 

Unfortunately I think that lead to Part 3 getting a less enthusiastic reception. I remember it was even in the smaller auditorium than the 2nd one was because it didn’t get the same crowds as Part 2 did. Which was a bummer because Part 3 was the sweetest movie and I think most of the people who didn’t like Part 2 would have enjoyed it if they’d stuck through to the end.

But the good thing was thanks to home video and countless TV marathons, I think the sequels are much more appreciated now. The first one is still my favorite (and you can really tell they never planned on sequels in the first place), but the sequels are a blast.

I remember being excited. HBO used to do a behind the scenes feature on upcoming movies and I remember they ran it a lot.

I was pretty young and remember being confused because they said both movies were being made at once. They mentioned new tech to allow an actor to be in multiple roles at once so I thought somehow they were filming the actors and using the same footage for both films with the tech somehow like they cloned them.

Huge. Event level.

I waited in line to see 3 in pouring rain. The entire audience was soaked by the time we got to our seats. When the movie opened, it was surreal to see Marty on screen in the pouring rain, just as wet as we were. Somehow, this induced a kind of movie/audience connection that resulted in the whole theater cheering every set piece and a ruckus of applause at the end. It was one of the best theater experiences I’ve had to date.

I was really into Back to the Future even back then so I was really psyched for Part II when it hit theaters and went to go see it with my Dad and Brother. Naturally, we were very excited for Part III after seeing the preview at the end of the second movie.

Everyone at school talked about those movies, and couldn't wait for the next ones. We would watch the previous ones on VHS (rented from a local rental place) any chance we could, and especially when friends were over, like sleep overs or birthday parties. They were major parts of pop culture, with huge impacts, and everyone in the world loved Michael J Fox to such a huge degree that we even went to the theatres and watched Doc Hollywood. I'm so glad that my childhood was in the 80's/90's.

Originally “Back to the Futuee” ended with “to be continued “ across the screen. But then when it first aired on TV, TBC wasn’t there. I think the sequel(s) were cancelled at one point, and then resurrected. About four years passed between 1and 2, so no one was expecting them really. A lot of movies teased sequels that never happened. (Doctor Detroit, and 1942 come to mind off the top of my head). The gap between 2 and 3 was a year or less. The anticipation between Empire Strokes back and Regurn of the Jedi was much more of a thing.