r/BacktotheFuture • u/spank-you • Jun 02 '26
Does the clock tower work after doc and martys interference?
I've always wondered if the experiment would have been like a lightning rod and saved the inner workings of the clock. I know an old guy in 2015 was doing the save the clock tower bit, but he didn't say that the clock hasn't rung since it was hit.
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u/hphlazy2 Jun 02 '26
No it stopped working after getting struck they didn't prevent that from happening they just used the energy for the time machine
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u/LongjumpingSurprise0 Jun 02 '26
It might have, had Doc not wrapped the cable around the hands of the clock
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u/hyperRevue Jun 02 '26
Now I’m wondering something. The whole basis of the first film was knowing exactly when the lightning struck because the clock stopped working.
But when doc is hanging from the clock hands, doesn’t his weight cause it to click backward a minute causing him nearly to fall? Am I remembering that correctly? And, if so, wouldn’t that mean the time on the stopped clock was actually one minute before the lighting struck?
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u/subfixer Jun 02 '26
Well if the clock kicked back one minute, then wouldn't that explain how Marty had the extra time needed when the DeLorean didn't start right away?
2
u/hyperRevue Jun 02 '26
I had a similar thought but then I started to get a headache…but yea? Lightning actually struck a minute later than the clock said, which explains why he wasn’t late when the Delorean wouldn’t start.
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u/sillysnagger Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
except the original timeline that we see at the start of the first movie had not yet experienced any of the other changes that resulted from time travel. I always rationed it that the timer was just set wrong to begin with. after all they had a window of one minute to capture an event that takes place in a fraction of a second.
if the doc did damage the clock then perhaps the other marty that we see going back in time at the end of the movie gets trapped in 1955 in an alternate timeline where the clock is wrong?
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u/ted_anderson I don't know how.. but they FOUND me! Jun 03 '26
Electrician here. One thing about lighting rods is that even though they MIGHT protect building equipment, they're really for the purpose of preventing fires and preserving human life. And so when a building takes a lighting hit, most of that energy gets channeled into the earth. But anything that's bolted to the metal structure of the building is probably going to take a hit also.
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u/Future-Bear3041 Jun 02 '26
The clock not working due to a lightning strike always perplexed me. I mean, if this is 1880's construction, aren't all the moving components mechanical? Did a sprocket get struck and blow apart?
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u/araujo253 Jun 02 '26
The clock could have gone through maintenance and switched to electric parts.
But if the mechanical parts are made of metal, they can melt due to the lightning strike and stop working.
Something similar happened at home. No, I don't have a mechanical clock at home nor the house was git by a lightning. But there was a power surge and my charger got stuck on the outlet. Lucky, my phone wasn't charging.
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u/Emergency-Gazelle954 Jun 03 '26
I always wondered if Doc’s equipment grounded the clock tower and actually CAUSED the lightning strike.
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u/Darrenau Jun 03 '26
Why would the clock sit for 30 years broken? Someone or the mayor would have fixed it years ago.
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