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Everything you need to prepare for Back to the Future Day

Want to get all caught up before "official" day of the filmic future, October 21? Start here: time travel not required.

Caitlin Petrakovitz Director of audience
Caitlin Petrakovitz studies the Marvel Cinematic Universe like it's a course in school, with an emphasis on the Infinity Saga years. As an audience expert, she rarely writes but when she does it's most certainly about Star Trek, Marvel, DC, Westworld, San Diego Comic-Con and great streaming properties. Or soccer, that's a thing she loves, too.
Caitlin Petrakovitz
4 min read

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Universal Pictures

It's here! We made it! Soon we can expect the DeLorean to appear! That's right, Back to the Future Day is very nearly upon us.

Although, wait. If Miami is out of contention in play-off baseball, can we really still expect the Cubs to win the World Series? And if we still don't have food hydrators and telephonic glasses, should we truly expect Doc Brown to appear on October 21?

You should probably go back and watch the trilogy to double-check the math. To make it easy, if you're an Amazon Prime subscriber, you can stream all three films now, no waiting required.

But if you don't mind waiting, some theaters are playing the trilogy (or parts of it) on the iconic day Marty McFly and Doc Brown arrived in the future in the 1989 film "Back to the Future Part II." Here in San Francisco, one theater is playing the first film, and another is going with Part II. Check out your local theater listings to see what's going on in your area.

Best tech predictions of 'Back to the Future Part II' and its biggest misses (pictures)

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If you must watch the fillm right now, and you're an iTunes user, you can purchase the entire B2TF trilogy in high-definition for $29.99, £14.99, AU$21.99. But that version doesn't appear to have any special additions. You can of course buy or rent each film separately on iTunes as well, but even then, no bonus features.

On Google Play, you can buy or rent each movie separately only, there's no package deal like iTunes. But these versions lack special features too.

For that, unless you already own a collector's edition you'll probably want to wait until Tuesday, when the 30th Anniversary special release includes not only all three movies, but almost all of the extras and bonus features ever released.

Earlier we got a super quick teaser of Doc Brown Saves the World, a short that will be included in the new release, where it seems as though the Doc is controlling...a drone?! Great Scott, it seems like maybe he's finally made it to 2015 the long way!

In addition there's an "all new" bonus disc that will contain:

  • "Doc Brown Saves the World." A new short featuring the main man himself, Christopher Lloyd.
  • "OUTATIME: Restoring the DeLorean." Short about restoring the iconic time-traveling vehicle.
  • "Looking Back to the Future." 2009 documentary about the trilogy and its impact on pop culture and film.
  • Two episodes of "Back to the Future: The Animated Series."

Watch this: The tech 'Back to the Future' predicted for 2015 -- and what it missed

The Blu-ray version will also include digital HD with UltraViolet on all three films and a collectible "digibook," which sounds heavy. Also set to be released Tuesday is the entire 1991 animated series, "Back to the Future: The Animated Series."

Must have everything? You're in luck! Tuesday will see the release of "Back to the Future": The Complete Adventures. Packaged in a flux capacitor box, it will include everything from the anniversary release, the animated series and the visual history book being released the same day.

Oh, you didn't know about that one? Well there's also a huge companion book coming: Back to the Future: The Ultimate Visual History is a look back at the making of the films, complete with never-before-seen photos and interviews with the cast and crew. It also contains a whole lot of removable items, like Marty's note to Doc from the first film with the envelope, Doc's flux capacitor sketch and a "="" movie="" poster"="" shortcode="link" asset-type="article" uuid="ec4e112d-e7a4-4a08-a21f-f642bd82c31c" slug="jaws-19-trailer-makes-back-to-the-future-more-real" link-text="" section="news" title="'Jaws 19' trailer makes 'Back to the Future' more real" edition="us" data-key="link_bulk_key"> .

'Back to the Future' gear for right now (pictures)

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Your very own Pepsi Perfect is not included with any of these purchases, but from what I hear, it's worth finding and trying out. In fact, there's a whole slew of nostalgic futuristic items available already, from inside-out jeans to a real faux hoverboard and more.

If you still need to prove your "Future" love, the flux capacitor has made its way onto your mobile devices now (and into a time-traveling Ford Fiesta). Available for 99 cents, £0.79 or AU$1.49, on iOS and Google Play, the app has some great effects, including ones triggered by your location, and it can be a very cool alarm clock complete with sounds from the films.

Another great B2TF-fied app is Jetpack Joyride -- free on iOS, Google Play and now for Windows devices, the app is seriously addictive (they also made Fruit Ninja!). For the anniversary year, it's now completely Marty McFly-d out and even includes a flying DeLorean. Check it out; it is free, after all. A flying DeLorean has also made its way into the popular vehicle soccer game Rocket League. And some Irish students built a real-life all-electric version.

So, uh, how 'bout them Cubbies, huh?

Watch this: The CraveCast preps for the 'Back to the Future' present, Ep. 18