BACK TO THE FUTURE

Now try this one on for size - only a year before Marty McFly, the world was captivated by another kid by the name of Daniel LaRusso. Portrayed by Ralph Macchio who since his Karate Kid days has gone on to do... um... well... he was in that one episode of ‘How I met Your Mother’, he turned down the role of Marty thinking the movie was lame and only about a kid, a car and some plutonium pills. Whaaa!? Geez, luckily the Karate Kid thing worked out for him because he don’t seem too bright.

What about Doc Brown - no one, and I mean no one could have played Doc Brown other than Christopher Lloyd, or could they? He's younger, more handsome and hindsight tells us he can play a convincing mad scientist - ladies and gentleman, the role of Doctor Emmett Brown will now be played by Jeff Goldblum. The chaos! Lucky for us and Lloyd, Goldblum came, he saw, but he did not conquer his audition. After playing Doc Brown maybe Jeff would have turned down future eccentric scientist rolls such as Seth Brundle, Ian Malcolm or, dare I say, David Levinson. But as a wise man once said, “Life finds a way.”

And finally, to the last member of this holy trinity - the DeLorean. An expensive embarrassment to the automotive world, only 9,000 were ever made before the motor company went belly up. Chosen for its spaceship-like appearance, the first two drafts of the 'BTTF' screenplay saw the time-travel machine as a laser device and a - wait for it - refrigerator. Imagine spending the last 30 years of your life lusting after a Fisher & Paykel 320L instead of what is now known as the coolest car ever (next to the Batmobile). Ultimately the fridge idea was scrapped because the filmmakers decided they needed the machine to be mobile. Luckily for us, Steven Spielberg made refrigerators cool again back in 2008 thanks to Indiana Jones. *pause for thought*... *pause for forehead slapping*.

If ‘Back the the Future’ taught us anything, it’s that changing the past changes the future. Goldblum, Macchio, a fridge... chances are 'BTTF' wouldn’t have even seen a ‘Top 100 Greatest Films of all time’ list, let alone two more sequels. Alas, the perfect cast eventually found its way into history, two more sequels did eventuate completing one of the greatest trilogies of all time, and the car that never should have existed been became the car everyone wanted. As for the rest of it - the clothes, the hoverboards, 19 Jaws sequels and 3D holographic billboards - well, perhaps even more time will tell if they ever see the light of day or whether they will remain, as they always have been, in our fantasies, where we don’t need roads.