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Back to the Future Part III - Full Plot Summary
Marty McFly and the Dr. Emmett Brown of 1955 find out that Doc is killed shortly after he is transported to 1885. His premature death is at the hands of Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen, Biff’s great-grandfather. Marty decides to go back in time and save Doc, even though the 1885 Doc explicitly instructed him not to do so in the letter. Unfortunately, the DeLorean is attacked by Native Americans, who shoot an arrow into the gas tank, causing all the fuel to leak and drain away. Marty is injured as he is trying to run away, and is cared for by Seamus McFly, his great-great-grandfather. Marty also meets his great-great-grandmother, Maggie McFly. The McFlys are kind to their future descendant, and advise him not to engage in conflict with “Mad Dog” Tannen. Marty nonetheless gets into trouble with “Mad Dog,” but is saved by Doc.
Doc finds a way to solve the problem of getting back to the future: they can hijack a train, push the DeLorean with it, accelerate it above 88 miles per hour using special materials, and return to 1985. Doc insists on destroying the DeLorean once they return. However, there is a complication: Clara Clayton. Seeing on the picture that Marty took of his gravestone that Doc is buried by his “beloved” Clara, Doc refuses to meet her. However, he inadvertently saves Clara, who is the new teacher of the town, from plunging to her death. Doc and Clara fall in love at first sight and bond over science, especially their shared love for Jules Verne. However, Doc is now faced with a dilemma: should he stay with Clara in 1885, or take her back to the future, or will he just have to leave her alone entirely? Although he firsts insists, against reason, that he will remain with Clara, Marty convinces him to return to the future, and Doc resignedly agrees. He tries to tell Clara the truth, but she thinks he is lying and is furious with him. A heart-broken Doc goes to a bar and passes out after one shot of whiskey.
Earlier, Marty and “Mad Dog” Tannen have arranged for a show-down. Marty only agrees to it because he can’t stand being called a coward. However, recalling the advice of Seamus McFly, Marty backs down in a pivotal moment. Marty and Doc escape and now have to rush to hijack the train. Overhearing some conversation by people who had been in the bar and realizing that Doc was telling the truth, Clara immediately rushes after them. Doc ends up deciding to stay behind with Clara; Marty returns to 1985 and the DeLorean is destroyed by a train.
Marty returns to awaken Jennifer, whom he and Doc had left behind in the second film. Jennifer thinks that everything is a dream, but then realizes it all happened when she takes out a fax from 2015 that says “You’re fired,” which is sent to Marty in the second film after he is fired for unethical conduct. Marty’s fate seems to be sealed. Earlier, Doc has mentioned something about Marty getting in an accident and changing for the worse. When Needles, a local punk, challenges Marty to a race, Marty, with his newly changed character, decides not to engage in competition, even though Needles calls him “chicken.” Needles almost crashes into a car, and Marty realizes that if he had not backed down, he would have crashed into that car himself.
Suddenly, Marty and Jennifer are startled as a steam train comes hurtling through and lands on the train tracks. Doc has built a new time machine during the 19th century. He has married Clara and they have two sons, named Jules and Verne. Jennifer realizes that the words “You’re fired” are slowly disappearing, and Marty and Jennifer ask Doc what it means. Doc candidly replies that Marty and Jennifer are in control of their futures, and he departs with his family on a time-traveling vacation.