30 years ago today, Back to the Future graced its way onto US screens following what could be described as a troubled production slate, consisting of late casting changes and having to work around Michael J. Fox's busy schedule (at the time he was still starring in the television series Family Ties). But hop into a DeLorean to today and the film is now the epitome of time travel movies. And with its legacy being helped by its later sequels in 1989 and 1990 to round off a trilogy, now seems like no better a time to revisit this classic. But alas, the route we have to travel does include roads.
The year is 1985, and Marty McFly (Fox) is the typical slacking teenager who aspires to become a rockstar who lives in a small town called Hill Valley. He has a healthy relationship with his girlfriend (Claudia Wells), but family life isn't so swell; his father George (Crispin Glover) is still trapped under the thumb of former high school bully-turned-supervisor Biff Tannen (Thomas J. Wilson), while mother Lorraine (Lea Thompson) is an overweight alcoholic who constantly reminisces to the time where she and George first got together. One night, he gets the call from scientist friend Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) about his latest invention - a time machine ("You made a time machine...out of a DeLorean?!"). However, following a successful test run, tragedy strikes as those whom Doc got the fuel from turn up to exact revenge. Unknowingly, Marty uses the DeLorean to get away, only to end up crashing into a barn in 1955. And after averting the events which lead to his parents getting together, Marty and the 1950s version of Doc must work together to ensure that Marty and his family continue to exist before they can send him back...to the future!
From the plot summary, it's evident that the writers have a strong idea in mind. Certainly, time travel wasn't a foreign concept, least of all during the 1980s, but the interactions that it leads to is something which feels new even thirty years on. The concept, like The Terminator, has been parodied to death in the decades since, but unlike its counterpart it doesn't become bogged down because of It. If anything, it makes it look better because of the specific spin on the storyline. Add the way it's executed and how well-paced it is, and you have an automatic winner on your hands. It should also be commented on the approach they decide to make with Marty's parents - especially with the difference between 80s and 50s Lorraine. Most would have kept them being like they are in each time period and kept the romanticised approach, but the inclusion of things like them meeting because George is a "peeping tom" or Lorraine being rather forward in her attraction to her future son (god, that is a weird sentence) makes those interactions and the overarching plotline about those characters all the engaging.
Robert Zemeckis is these days known for his failed forays into motion capture and some Oscar-worthy greats, so by contrast by some of his more adventurous features Back to the Future comes across almost as something tame. And in a way, it is tame - there's rarely a shot that oozes greatness - but in its own weird way, its simpler approach improves it, especially for a film from the 1980s; they weren't blessed with the effects of today. But if it was, it may lose the lovable nature of it all. That being said then, Zemeckis' does do a fine job in the director's chair, and his dual role as writer too does help with certain scenes.
It's known by many that Michael J. Fox was the actor imagined for the role at an early stage, with the difference in initial casting being due to his importance on US television. But seeing him as Marty here highlights just why they saw him in the role - he aces it here. Yes, the 80s lingo is a tad cringey in the modern age, but as a very minor setback to an already charming character, it makes very little damage for Marty and Fox just work. In the same way that Christopher Lloyd just makes the character of Doc. You can't imagine anyone else in that role, and he just sells it so well with both iterations of the character. He's the only character in the film who can use his catchphrase without it inevitably getting on your nerves, and he has such great chemistry with Fox. As for the earlier mentioned parents, they do a great job too. Glover is a little lacklustre by comparison of his counterparts, but his nerdy persona and occasionally hilarious interactions makes up for that; whilst Thompson is utterly hilarious as a supposedly sweet but urged future mother, thanks mostly to her subplot revolving around Marty. Meanwhile, Thomas F. Wilson plays a typical nasty jock-like baddie with ease and makes for a memorable villain of sorts. Dated, yes - but that is kind of the point, seeing as he's in the 1950s. His band of cronies are more of the same in that way.
Back to the Future is a film which is fondly remembered thirty years on for a reason. It's a tale that can never age, and its concept is so tongue-in-cheek with its approach of time travel and interacting with the past that it created an entirely new way to view the genre. The cast are strong, the direction nicely done, and the special effects duly fitting. There are a small number of flaws, and the ending is perhaps a little too happy-go-lucky than imagined, but it's a small price to pay for greatness. And for a great closing line for the later sequels. 9/10.
Robert Zemeckis is these days known for his failed forays into motion capture and some Oscar-worthy greats, so by contrast by some of his more adventurous features Back to the Future comes across almost as something tame. And in a way, it is tame - there's rarely a shot that oozes greatness - but in its own weird way, its simpler approach improves it, especially for a film from the 1980s; they weren't blessed with the effects of today. But if it was, it may lose the lovable nature of it all. That being said then, Zemeckis' does do a fine job in the director's chair, and his dual role as writer too does help with certain scenes.
It's known by many that Michael J. Fox was the actor imagined for the role at an early stage, with the difference in initial casting being due to his importance on US television. But seeing him as Marty here highlights just why they saw him in the role - he aces it here. Yes, the 80s lingo is a tad cringey in the modern age, but as a very minor setback to an already charming character, it makes very little damage for Marty and Fox just work. In the same way that Christopher Lloyd just makes the character of Doc. You can't imagine anyone else in that role, and he just sells it so well with both iterations of the character. He's the only character in the film who can use his catchphrase without it inevitably getting on your nerves, and he has such great chemistry with Fox. As for the earlier mentioned parents, they do a great job too. Glover is a little lacklustre by comparison of his counterparts, but his nerdy persona and occasionally hilarious interactions makes up for that; whilst Thompson is utterly hilarious as a supposedly sweet but urged future mother, thanks mostly to her subplot revolving around Marty. Meanwhile, Thomas F. Wilson plays a typical nasty jock-like baddie with ease and makes for a memorable villain of sorts. Dated, yes - but that is kind of the point, seeing as he's in the 1950s. His band of cronies are more of the same in that way.
Back to the Future is a film which is fondly remembered thirty years on for a reason. It's a tale that can never age, and its concept is so tongue-in-cheek with its approach of time travel and interacting with the past that it created an entirely new way to view the genre. The cast are strong, the direction nicely done, and the special effects duly fitting. There are a small number of flaws, and the ending is perhaps a little too happy-go-lucky than imagined, but it's a small price to pay for greatness. And for a great closing line for the later sequels. 9/10.
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