In order to commemorate Rhode Island Movie Corner’s 350th
official blog post, I decided to finally tackle a series that I’ve been longing
to cover for a long time. That series in question is quite frankly my favorite
film trilogy of all-time, which as you might have guessed spawned my #1 favorite
film of all-time period. I’m of course talking about Robert Zemeckis’ ‘Back to
the Future’ trilogy. I remember the first time I ever watched these films back
in 2004. My parents had bought the trilogy on DVD and we watched the first two
films one night and then the third and final film the following evening.
Despite having never heard about the films before that moment, I was
immediately hooked to them and around the time I started my senior year of high
school, I realized that the first film truly was my favorite film of all-time.
It’s hard to identify a single film as your all-time favorite but for me there
was clearly no other choice. So today, I’m finally honoring these three
classics of the sci-fi genre; the original masterpiece from 1985, its more
effects-heavy and somewhat darker 1989 sequel, and the sometimes ignored 1990
finale. For the record, I won’t be covering the ‘Back to the Future’ animated
series that ran from 1991 to 1992 due to time constraints but I may do another
post specifically for that show in the future (no pun intended). But for now,
it’s time to start up your DeLorean and go back in time with me as I delve into
the ‘Back to the Future’ trilogy.
BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985)
So yeah… ‘Back to the Future’ is my favorite film of all
time, no doubt about it. While I’ll admit that it wasn’t until a few years ago
that I finally came to this conclusion, ultimately that’s beside the point
because I absolutely adore this film. Why is it my favorite, you ask? Well having
re-watched this film numerous times over the past decade, as I’m sure many of
you have done as well, I think the main reason why this film is so great is
because it’s more than just a ‘sci-fi’ film. Sure its premise of a teenager in
1985 accidentally going back in time to 1955 via a DeLorean time machine, where
he ends up interfering with his parents falling in love which results in him
nearly being erased from existence, is definitely rooted in the sci-fi genre. But
this film goes beyond the standards of the genre by basically combining multiple
genres into one. It’s got action, it’s got drama, it’s got romance, and it’s
got humor. It’s one of those rare films that is legitimately a complete package,
meaning that you don’t have to be a big sci-fi fan to enjoy this film. And of
course, this is easily one of the most quotable films of all-time thanks to how
well-written Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s script is and how well the cast work off
each other. All of this I feel makes this film so timeless. Sure it was made
over 30 years ago but it’s aged in just the right ways.
Robert Zemeckis’ direction is superb, effectively finding
the right balance of serious drama and light-hearted humor. The film has one of
the best soundtracks of all-time, highlighted by Alan Silvestri’s grand score
and the two classic songs by Huey Lewis and the News, ‘The Power of Love’ and
‘Back in Time’. Casting is pitch-perfect all around, highlighted by the
brilliant duo of Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd as Marty McFly and Doc
Brown. Fox’s charisma and Lloyd’s straight-faced turn as the admittedly very
eccentric Doc results in a great camaraderie between the two. But of course we
can’t forget about the other members of this great cast; Lea Thompson as
Marty’s mother Lorraine, who ends up getting ‘the hots for him’ when they cross
paths in 1955 (which of course on paper sounds incredibly awkward but is
handled perfectly here), Crispin Glover as Marty’s father George, who ‘becomes
a man’ over the course of the film, and Tom Wilson as one of cinema’s greatest
‘bullies’, Biff Tannen. Seriously, I can go on and on about how this film is a
cinematic masterpiece but let’s be honest, you all know that already. I’ve seen
this film so many times that it’s practically engrained in my mind; I pretty
much know it inside and out. And quite simply that is why this film is, and
always will be, my favorite film of all-time.
Rating: 5/5! (Obviously)
“Roads? Where we’re
going, we don’t need roads.”
 |
BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II (1989)
‘Back to the Future Part II’ does exactly what any good
sequel does; it continues the story and takes the series in a new direction
while still managing to maintain just enough similarities to the first film
without being a ‘carbon copy’ of it. And like another famous sequel, ‘The
Empire Strikes Back’, this film even takes the series in a few darker
directions. Like how about a plot in which Biff Tannen, in the year 2015,
acquires a sports almanac, steals the DeLorean, goes back to 1955, and gives
the almanac to his younger self so that he could become rich, resulting in a messed-up
alternate reality 1985. As a result, Doc and Marty now find themselves having to
go back to 1955 in order to steal the almanac from young Biff. I really liked
how this film decided to go back to 1955 and revisit sequences from the first
film but from different angles. This whole part of the film, and a sequence in
the future in which Michael J. Fox portrays three separate characters at once;
older Marty, young Marty Jr., and yes even his daughter Marlene, required the
use of digital compositing and a new camera operating system, Vistaglide, which
allowed actors to seamlessly play more than one part at once onscreen while the
camera was able to move around. In fact, this film has quite a lot more visual
effects in it compared to both the first and third films, which is
understandable given that a good chunk of it takes place in the future.
I actually have to admit that ‘Back to the Future Part II’
is my least favorite installment of the series. Though at the end of the day,
this is mostly due to personal preferences and the fact that this is arguably
the one entry in the series that I’ve seen the least amount of times, due to my
original DVD copy of the film getting a bit scratched up. Thankfully in recent
years I’ve definitely warmed up to the film a lot more, though it’s still my
least favorite of the trilogy. That’s not to hold anything against it, though,
as it’s still just as enjoyable as the first film. The characters are still as
great as they’ve ever been, the cast is once again terrific, and the production
design is excellent through all of the different time periods visited in the
film; 1955, the alternate screwed-up 1985, and the futuristic 2015. But wait a
minute, some of you might say, aren’t we now in 2015? Yeah it’s become a bit of
a running joke on the internet to discuss how accurate this film was in
predicting what 2015 would be like and obviously not every piece of technology
featured in this film is real (yet), like flying cars or self-drying jackets.
Though with that said, there actually were some things that the film sort of
got right, like hands-free gaming (Kinect) and video chat (Skype), which is
quite impressive considering that this film was made around 25 years ago.
Though with that said, I must ask… where are our damn hoverboards? Well,
anyway, ‘Back to the Future Part II’ is a solid follow-up to one of the greatest
films ever made. Is it as good as the original? No, but obviously that’s one
hell of a tough act to follow. But ultimately it’s still a damn entertaining
continuation of this great franchise.
Rating: 4.5/5
“Doc… what if we
don’t succeed?” “We must succeed.”
BACK TO THE FUTURE PART III (1990)
While nowadays the practice of shooting films back-to-back
is fairly common (e.g. ‘Lord of the Rings’, ‘Harry Potter’), it was a rarity at
the time that the ‘Back to the Future’ franchise filmed Parts II and III back
to back. Originally, the plot of Part III was meant to be combined with Part II
for just one sequel, but this idea was scrapped due to the fact that it
would’ve just been too much for one film. Heck, even after this decision was
made, many still considered Part II to be overstuffed. But anyway, ‘Back to the
Future Part III’ was released in May of 1990, just half a year after Part II
was released in November 1989. From what I’ve seen online, Part III is
apparently considered to be the ‘black sheep’ of the franchise. It seems like
the biggest reason for this is due to the fact that the film takes place in the
year 1885 in the Old West, which apparently some thought was a bit out of place
for a ‘Back to the Future’ film. But as for me, this was actually my personal
favorite of the series for quite a few years up until I came to the
aforementioned ‘the first BTTF film is my favorite film of all-time’ conclusion.
But while this may no longer be my favorite entry in the series, it’s
definitely one of the prime examples of a film that isn’t as bad as everyone
says it is. Contrary to popular opinion, I absolutely love that this film was
set in the Old West, which results in some highly entertaining set pieces. This
includes what may just be my favorite climax of the entire series in which Doc
and Marty push the DeLorean up to 88 MPH, due to the fact that Marty
accidentally end up tearing the fuel line when he first arrived in 1885, with a
train.
Another major addition that may have had something to do with
this film’s weaker reception is the character of Clara Clayton, who Doc falls
in love with after saving her from falling into a ravine. But like how I’m
totally fine with the film’s Western setting, I also didn’t mind Clara at all. I
thought that it was actually rather cool to see, of all people, Doc fall in
love and the romance between the two is really sweet. It’s also cool to see Doc
and Marty basically switch roles as a result, with Doc becoming the young soul
in love and Marty having to be the ‘straight man’ in the situation. There’s
even one moment in which the two say each other’s lines, ‘Great Scott!’ and
‘This is heavy!’ Like the previous two films, the sequences involving Doc and
Marty are the heart of the film. Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd’s camaraderie
is as great as it’s ever been. And for the final film in this trilogy, it ends
on such a terrific note. I cannot even begin to tell you how much satisfaction
I got from seeing Doc return to 1985 in his new time-travelling train and
flying away to travel through time in a shot reminiscent of the classic final
shot from the first film. All in all, I guess you can say that ‘Back to the
Future Part III’ is one of the most underrated films of all-time. I mean part
of me legitimately doesn’t get what people don’t like about this film, aside
from the aforementioned Wild West setting and the addition of Doc’s new love
interest Clara. I think this film is just as great as the first two and a
highly satisfying finale to one of the best film trilogies of all-time.
Rating: 4.5/5
“Your future is
whatever you make it. So make it a good one, both of you.”
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