HOVERBOARDS, self-tying shoes and time-travelling cars, great Scott, it’s Back to the Future Day!

In the second installment of the hit film trilogy, Marty McFly flew into the future and found himself in October 21, 2015 and to celebrate, Basildon took a step back in time to celebrate all things great about the 1980s.

Showing the popular 1980s trilogy at 1985 prices Basildon’s Festival Leisure Park was transformed with a time-travelling DeLorean, roller rink and film memorabilia.

Visitors backcombed their hair, grabbed their leg warmers and wore their best 1980s fancy dress to celebrate Back To The Future Day and 30 years since the release of the first film starring Michael J Fox.

Centre manager, Matt Chambers, 44, said: “It’s hard to believe it was 30 years ago. It’s madness as back in the day it was a kid’s film and we thought it was such a long way away when Marty travelled to 2015.

“I was 14 when they came out and I remember watching all three of them at the Barking Odeon.

“I had no idea then that on October 21, 2015 I would be dressing up as George Michael with quite a bad wig and celebrating the 80s.”

Visitors enjoyed playing a life-sized version of Operation, Scalextric and table football surrounded by the famous DeLorean, clock tower and Welcome to Hill Valley sign.

Mr Chambers said: “I remember watching the films and it was exciting, a look at what could come.

“We may not have hover boards but we’ve come close with segways and we can actually video call now.

“It’s amazing when you look at the way technology has moved on we were all wondering what it would be like in 2015 and now we have the technology that we were all thinking about.”

 

Echo: 1980s CLASSIC: Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd in the original Back to the Future

THE hit 1980s film trilogy predicted a world of hoverboards, self-tying shoes and flying cars, so just what did come true?

SELF-TYING SHOELACES- No. Marty McFly’s unusual Nike trainers in the second film caught filmgoers imagination but with Nike only just working on the invention it looks like we will all have to carry on tying our shoelaces normally.

TIME TRAVELLING CARS-No- Doc’s time travelling DeLorean still remains a figment of our imaginations, but we can dream of it when stuck on the A127 on the way to work.

HOVERBOARDS- Not quite. Despite major technological advances, the hover boards seen in Back To The Future II are yet to be seen whizzing around Lakeside but car company Lexus has revealed a prototype for the invention. With it largely relying on magnets, it’s doubtful we will all be flying around on one in the next thirty years.

TABLET COMPUTERS- Yes- Doc’s tablet computer was years ahead of its time with Apple’s iPad and other tablets now a regular part of modern life.