Review - Back to the Future (1985-1990)

       Hey guys, Chuck here. And, while the Universal Pictures classic Jaws is celebrating its fifty-year anniversary this year, another staple of Universal Pictures is celebrating its forty-year anniversary: Back to the Future. So, to commemorate this, I thought it would be pretty cool to discuss the entire trilogy of Back to the Future movies, directed by Robert Zemeckis, and starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Thomas F. Wilson, Lea Thompson, and James Tolkan, with additional cast members including Claudia Wells, Crispin Glover, Billy Zane, Marc McClure, Elisabeth Shue, Flea, and Mary Steenburgen. 

      So, the original Back to the Future, released in 1985, introduces is to teenager Marty McFly, who lives with his family, parents George and Lorraine and siblings Dave and Linda, in the town of Hill Valley, California, and enjoys three things: playing guitar, skateboarding, and spending time with his girlfriend, Jennifer Parker. Marty also spends time working with local crackpot scientist Dr. Emmett Brown, also known as Doc Brown. 

    One evening, after a rough day at school, and  seeing the car wrecked because of his dad's supervisor Biff Tannen, which ruins his weekend plans, Marty is called up by Doc Brown to meet him at the parking lot of the nearby Twin Pines Mall. And, it's here where we see what Doc Brown has been working on: taking a DMC DeLorean and turning it into a time-travel machine. The way it works is quite fascinating, as the car includes a device that shows current time, previous time, and destination time, and also has a device that makes time travel possible: the Flux Capacitor. Also, because the car requires 1.21 gigawatts of electricity to successfully travel through time, it requires plutonium to trigger a powerful reaction. But, the car itself is electrical. 

     Question: where did Doc Brown get the plutonium he needed? Well, he was hired by a group of Libyans to build a bomb, but he kept the plutonium and gave them a shoddy bomb casing filled with pinball machine parts. Whoops. And, as luck would have it, the Libyans show up and kill Doc, forcing Marty to take off in the DeLorean. But, forgetting that the time equipment is active, Marty hits 88 MPH, and winds up traveling to the past. Specifically, November 5, 1955. After hiding the car and traveling around a bit, Marty runs into younger versions of his parents, Biff, and Principal Strickland. 

     And, after saving his father, George, from getting hit by a car, Marty is taken in by the family of his mother, Lorraine, who give him directions as to where Doc Brown is located at this time. And, it's when he meets the younger version of Doc Brown that things get complicated, as Marty can't travel back to 1985 due to lacking plutonium, and there's only one other thing in 1955 that can produce 1.21 gigawatts of electricity: a bolt of lightning. And, as luck would have it, Marty has a flyer from 1985 regarding the courthouse clock tower, and how lightning is set to strike the clock in a few days time. So, they have a plan: rig the DeLorean to take in the lightning strike from the clock tower, which will power up the Flux Capacitor and send Marty back to the future of 1985. 

      Only one problem: Marty's interactions with the teenage versions of his parents has altered the timeline. You see, because Lorraine's father almost ran over Marty instead of George, Lorraine never truly got to meet George, and is falling for Marty instead. Oops. So, now, Marty has to play matchmaker for his own parents, while also having to deal with Biff and his goons. And, Marty is fairly successful, but a chase involving Marty and Biff ends with Lorraine's attraction to Marty growing, to the point that she asks him to take her to the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance, which is the same night of the lightning storm. 

       So, Marty goes with Lorraine, and it gets weird. Biff and his gang lock Marty in the trunk of the car belonging to the performing band of the evening: Marvin Barry and the Starlighters. But, when George comes to Lorraine's rescue from Marty, he finds Biff instead, and when Biff hurts Lorraine, George gets the strength to knock Biff out with one punch, and Lorraine goes with George to the dance. The band gets Marty out of the trunk, but Marvin hurts his hands and can't play guitar. Marty takes his place, and when another guy moves in on Lorraine, George steps away, but eventually shoves the kid aside and kisses Lorraine. And, thus, Marty and his siblings' existence is secured. 

      Hurrying along, Marty gets to the courthouse square, and he and Doc Brown prepare for the experiment. Unfortunately, Doc discovers a letter Marty wrote with a warning of his fate, but Doc rips the letter up and a tree branch breaks off and unplugs the wire made to channel the lightning. Marty gets in the car, and Doc climbs to the clock tower to reconnect the wire. The lightning strikes, is channeled into the car, and Marty makes it back to 1985. Marty makes it back to the mall, renamed Lone Pine Mall, and sees Doc gunned down by the Libyans, and his past self heading to 1955. Marty goes to check on Doc, who strapped on a bulletproof vest, having taped the letter up and read it. Doc then takes Marty home and heads off to the future. 

      That morning, Marty sees how much his time in 1955 changed things. First, the interior of his house is much nicer, his father is a successful sci-fi novelist, and the family is much wealthier as a result. And, Biff is much more humble and working in auto detailing. And, Marty has his own car in the form of a 4x4 truck. And, as Marty reunites with Jennifer, Doc arrives in the DeLorean, asking Marty to return with him to the future, and has Jennifer come along, as this deals with their future children. And, when Marty mentions that there's not enough road to get the car up to 88 MPH, Doc remarks "Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads." The car begins to fly, and takes off to head back to the future. 

      So, the original Back to the Future is hailed as a classic. The aesthetic of the year 1955, and just how it clashes visually from 1985, is really neat. The performances of Michael J. Fox as Marty, Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown, Lea Thompson as Lorraine, Crispin Glover as George, and Thomas F. Wilson as Biff are just as iconic today as they were back when this movie was new. It is well known that, due to scheduling issues, Eric Stoltz was initially cast as Marty, but after a handful of weeks, Zemeckis and Spielberg let Stoltz go, and brought in Michael J. Fox. Now, keep in mind that I was born in 1991, so this movie was before my time. But, I still love it for how fun it is. And, of course, there's the car. A DeLorean that's a time machine? Awesome. Director Robert Zemeckis, co-writer Bob Gale, and the producers, which includes Executive Producer Steven Spielberg, made a truly timeless classic. And, the score by Alan Silvestri is one of his best, and is among my favorite scores of his along with that of The Avengers and Ready Player One.

      But, because of the success of Back to the Future, Universal Pictures turned to Robert Zemeckis to produce sequels to the film. And, thus, we got Back to the Future: Part II in 1989, followed by Back to the Future: Part III in 1990. 

       With Part II, Marty and Jennifer are picked up by Doc Brown, and as they take off to the future, Biff witnesses the DeLorean taking off, and asks "What the hell is going on?". The DeLorean arrives in the future, on Wednesday October 21st, 2015. And, it's here where Doc reveals to Marty as to what's happening. Apparently, Marty and Jennifer's son, Marty Jr., gets arrested for trying to pull a job with Biff's grandson Griff, and then Marty and Jennifer's daughter, Marlene, tries to spring Marty Jr. from the joint, and gets in trouble herself. So, all Marty needs to do is pose as Marty Jr. and say "no" to working with Griff. 

      As for Jennifer, she's simply knocked out, as Doc doesn't have anything for her to do. This is due to the fact that director Robert Zemeckis had no actual plans for Jennifer's character when they went to make the sequel, and really had no payoff for the ending seeing Doc take both Marty and Jennifer to the future. Also, this movie saw Claudia Wells being replaced by Elisabeth Shue, most famous for her role in The Karate Kid, in the role of Jennifer. 

      Anyway, Marty does pose as his son, and leads Griff and his gang in a chase involving the now-famous Hoverboard, which ends in Griff and his gang crashing into the courthouse, and they are all hauled off to jail, this changing the future. However, Marty finds himself buying a book: Gray's Sports Almanac. His plan? Use the book to predict the future of sports, place bets, and make a fortune. But, Doc forces Marty to throw the book away, and they witness Jennifer being picked up by police and taken to her and Marty's future home. 

        It's here where we learn that Marty's music career was shot when an auto accident ruined his hands, and we see future Marty gets tricked into a shady deal with a co-worker, Needles, and is subsequently fired by his boss. Also, Marty Jr. and Marlene are twins, to the point where both are LITERALLY portrayed by Michael J. Fox. Anyway, Marty rescues Jennifer, and they return to 1985. 

      Only one problem: the McFly home belongs to a different family, the local High School is closed, and Biff is completely in charge, having made a fortune in sports betting. And, much to Marty's horror, his mother Lorraine is married to Biff, and Marty's father George is dead. Also, apparently, Doc Brown is supposed to be in a loony bin, but has reunited with Marty at the cemetery where George is buried. It turns out that 2015 Biff stole the DeLorean, went to the past, and gave his younger self Gray's Sports Almanac. Going to question Biff, Marty finds out that 2015 Biff went back to the year 1955 and gave 1955 Biff the copy of Gray's Sports Almanac, and warned that someone may come asking about it. And, Biff reveals that HE murdered George, and threatens to do the same to Marty with the line "Kinda poetic. TWO McFly's with the SAME gun!" 

       But, luckily, Marty is saved by Doc, and the two return to 1955, and we see 2015 Biff meet his past self, and give him the almanac. It's then a race to recover the book, which results in a chase between Marty and Biff, all while Marty has to avoid crossing paths with, well, himself. Marty manages to recover the Almanac and burn it, restoring the timeline, as Marty and Doc looks at two newspapers and see their headlines change. For instance, one newspaper changed from "George McFly Murdered" to "George McFly Honored," But, a lightning strike hits the DeLorean, sending it and Doc somewhere in the past. A Western Union employee has a letter from Doc for Marty, revealing that the DeLorean was sent back to 1885. Knowing who he needs to seek help from, Marty goes to meet with 1955 Doc Brown, who just sent Marty back to 1985. 

      So, Back to the Future Part II is mainly remembered for its portrayal of 2015. Shoes with power laces, the Pepsi bottle, the flying cars, the Hoverboard, and so forth. Obviously, we all know that we saw NONE of those things in the actual year of 2015, but it was a fun way to perceive a possible future that was far off at the time the movie was made. But, the insane amount of time hopping this movie goes through, going from 1985 to 2015, from 2015 to an alternate 1985, from said alternate 1985 to 1955, and setting up that Doc Brown wound up in the year 1885. Yeah, that's a lot of back and forth on the timeline. But, it was fun, and a favorite among many. Also, as a fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, I thought it was great to see rock musician Flea in this movie as Needles. 

      But, now we get to Back to the Future Part III, where Marty and 1955 Doc Brown recover the DeLorean, patch it up, and get it fueled up for a trip to 1885, where it's revealed that Doc set himself up as a blacksmith, but would be killed by outlaw Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen,  an ancestor of Biff. Marty, going by the name Clint Eastwood, meets his own ancestors in the form of Irish immigrant Seamus McFly and his wife Maggie. 

       So, Doc and Marty make a plan to use a train engine to get the DeLorean to a speed of 88 MPH and return to the year 1985. And, Doc develops three logs to throw into the furnace, which will give the engine the necessary boost. But, while inspecting the spur line, Doc rescues and falls in love with a woman named Clara Clayton. That night, at a town festival that includes a performance by ZZ Top for some reason, Marty gets into a dispute with Buford, resulting in a duel on Monday morning. 

      Things get complicated when Marty sees the tombstone in the picture he brought with him changes from Doc's name to the name Clint Eastwood, and Doc winds up breaking things off with Clara. But, Marty, after Buford and his gang hold Doc as a hostage, goes to duel Buford, beating him into a wagon of manure, and Buford and his men are arrested. 

      Doc and Marty take the train engine, and set up to return to 1985. However, Clara goes after the train, and almost falls. Doc, using the Hoverboard, saves Clara, and the DeLorean is sent back to the future, with the engine crashing in a fiery explosion in the ravine. Back in 1985, Marty climbs out of the powerless DeLorean, which is destroyed by a freight train. Marty sees everything is as he left it, with his family intact, Biff being the humble auto detailer, and Jennifer is okay as well, believing the trip to the future was a dream. 

     Driving the truck, Marty is nearly coaxed into a street race with Needles, but drives backwards instead, remarking "You think I'm stupid enough to race that asshole?" Also, Marty sees that if he had raced, he would have wrecked into a fancy Rolls Royce. And, Jennifer sees the fax from 2015 goes from saying "You're Fired" to being blank. And, at the train tracks, a time machine made from a train engine arrives, and Doc and Clara reunite with Marty, and reveals their two sons: Jules and Verne. Doc returned to give Marty a present: a photo from 1885. Jennifer points to the now-blank fax, which leads Doc to remark "Of course it's erased. You're future hasn't been written yet. No one's has. You're future is whatever you make it. So, make it a good one." And, with that, Doc bids farewell to Marty and Jennifer, and takes off somewhere in time with his family. 

      Back to the Future Part III was better received upon release, but it's been reevaluated in recent years with far less favorability than Part II. But, I will say that setting the movie in the Old West was a neat idea. And, once again, the brilliant performances of Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, and Thomas F. Wilson were the highlights. Mary Steenburgen was an interesting new addition as Clara, and her scenes which Christopher Lloyd were pretty nice. And, I will say that this movie does a great job in wrapping things up for the series. 

      Overall, when it comes to the Back to the Future trilogy, the original is the best. But, collectively, the entire trilogy is a ton of fun. Great concept, with the idea of a car that travels through time. Also, in addition to the great Alan Silvestri score, the many songs featured in the trilogy, such as "Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News, "Doubleback" by ZZ Top, and of course songs like "Earth Angel" and "Johnny B. Goode" are all iconic parts of Back to the Future. 

        Now, of course, there have been many other pieces of media tied to Back to the Future, including board games, video games, comics, and so forth. While I haven't played it, I heard very good things about the Telltale video game of Back to the Future, which featured the returns of Christopher Lloyd and Claudia Wells as Doc Brown and Jennifer, with A.J. LoCascio taking on the role of Marty McFly. In 2023, a Broadway musical adaptation of the first Back to the Future was opened in New York, and got rave reviews from fans. Unfortunately, there is no longer a Back to the Future theme park ride at any of the Universal Studios locations, as the versions of the ride at Universal Studios parks in Hollywood, Florida, and Japan have all been closed. But, the ride film, and all the pre-ride videos, are included as a bonus feature on the Back to the Future Part III Blu-ray disc. 

        I love the Back to the Future movies, and I'm glad that I got to get up close to the DeLorean during my first visit to Universal Studios Hollywood, as well as getting to see the Courthouse Square on the Universal backlot as part of the Studio Tram Tour. And, I have at least two Hot Wheels cars of the DeLorean from the original movie and Part II. While I don't have much other merchandise from these movies, I do love them, and consider them a big reason for my overall love for Universal as a film studio. 

      Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you in the next review.