Summary

  • In the iconic "Darth Vader" scene in Back to the Future, Marty's hairdryer disappears due to editing, but it doesn't affect the overall scene or George's belief in Marty's story.
  • The original script of Back to the Future underwent many changes, and the "Darth Vader" scene was shortened to fit the final cut of the movie.
  • The extended cut of the "Darth Vader" sequence provides more context and information, but it was deemed unnecessary to include in the film's final version. Fans can watch it separately.

In Back to the Future, a humorous moment involving Marty McFly's hairdryer seems like a mistake, but there's actually a good explanation behind it. The first film in the Back to the Future series finds Marty (Michael J. Fox) traveling back in time to 1955 where he's forced to come up with a way to convince his father George (a teenager at the time) to take Lorraine Baines to the dance. Marty dresses up in a yellow suit while using a hairdryer as a space weapon to intimidate George into believing the far-fetched story that he's an extra-terrestrial named "Darth Vader" from the planet 'Vulcan."

One minute Marty is blowing out his father's eardrums with Van Halen and pointing a hairdryer at his face, and in then its no longer in the scene. Fans have been wondering what happened to the Star Wars-inspired prop for decades. Fortunately, its disappearance doesn't stop George from believing Marty, and regardless of the mistake, the scene is one of many classic moments in the beloved '80s movie that captures its comedic spirit as well as ties together several popular sci-fi franchises.

Back To The Future's Hairdryer Goof Happened During Editing

Marty impersonates Darth Vader in Back to the Future

There were many Back to the Future script, and the scene involving Marty appearing as "Darth Vader" was put into the third version after Marty was initially going to appear to his father in a different alien costume. It was shortened extensively to make the final cut of the movie, and after Marty points the hairdryer at George and explains that the "Supreme Klingon" has commanded he take Loraine to the dance to repair a tear in the space-time continuum, it suddenly disappears.

Due to the sequence being shortened, the part where he removes the hairdryer was cut, so it looks like it simply disappears from one frame to the next. While the scene in its entirety is certainly hilarious and makes many more sci-fi references, it also goes on a bit too long. The appropriate information is conveyed better in a scene that takes place the next day when George tells Marty all about his bizarre nocturnal visitor from outer space.

What We Know About Back To The Future's Full-Length "Darth Vader" Sequence

Back to the Future Marty George Lorraine McFly

Fortunately, the extended cut of the Darth Vader sequence is available for Back to the Future fans to watch and compare. Not only was the whole sequence a lot longer, it also included more context for George and Marty's interactions later in the movie. Since a lot of the information Marty covers as Darth Vader is mentioned by George in the very next scene, it didn't make sense to force audiences to sit through any more unnecessary exposition.

Other deleted scenes, such as the one featuring Doc Brown rummaging through his personal belongings from the future, show how Marty gets the hairdryer in the first place. Most of the edits were necessary to condense the film and keep the pace moving, but some of them ended up making certain scenes, like the visit from Darth Vader, a little confusing. Considering how many changes the first draft of the movie went through, and the unused Back to the Future ending that almost ruined George McFly, fans should certainly be happy that the scene made it into the film at all.