Back to the Future Trilogy (1985-1990) review (350th Post!!)

In order to commemorate Rhode Island Movie Corner’s 350^th 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.”

Video Game Review: Back to the Future: The Game (2010-2011)

‘Back to the Future’ is my favorite movie of all time for a few reasons. Not only is the film (as well as its two sequels) highly quotable and incredibly entertaining, but in execution it’s more than just a ‘science fiction’ film; it’s a comedy film, an action film, a high school film, a romance film, and of course, a science fiction film all rolled into one. Because of this, I believe that it will stand the test of time for years to come. But this franchise hasn’t really fared well in terms of video games. There was the god-awful NES game made by LJN that barely followed the plot of the game in which protagonist Marty McFly, who for some reason was wearing an all-black shirt and not his usual red vest, went around the town of Hill Valley collecting clocks… don’t ask, and for the record if you haven’t played this game before, don’t even considering trying it out. It’s that bad. There have been a few other video games, but from what I understand, a lot of them aren’t that good as well. But in 2010, Telltale Games, the creators of the episodic ‘The Walking Dead’ video games, produced a ‘Back to the Future’ game which, while not exactly perfect, is the best representation of the ‘BTTF’ franchise in video game form to date.

Following a ‘re-creation’ of the scene in the original film where Marty McFly helps his friend Dr. Emmett Brown AKA Doc test out his new invention, a time machine made out of a DeLorean, we flash forward to a few months after the events of ‘Back to the Future Part III’ in 1986. In the time since, Marty hasn’t seen Doc at all. One day, when the bank starts to sell Doc’s house and his possessions, Marty comes across his ‘time-travel’ notebook before the DeLorean suddenly appears out of nowhere. Soon after, Marty learns that Doc is stuck in 1931 Hill Valley. Not only that, but he is also in jail for apparently burning down a local speakeasy, and is to be killed by local mob boss ‘Kid’ Tannen, the owner of the speakeasy. This leads Marty to travel back to 1931, where he gains the help of Doc’s 1931 self, in order to save the ‘present’ Doc before he is to be killed. However, in the process, Marty’s actions begin to set up a series of events that begin to drastically alter the timeline for both him and Doc.

The entire game itself is split into five separate episodes, each taking about two to three hours to complete. The story itself is very compelling, if mainly because of how this game feels so much like ‘Back to the Future’. Telltale had the help of Bob Gale, co-creator/co-writer/co-producer on the films, in developing the story and in doing so, it really helps this game feel like it’s part of the ‘Back to the Future’ universe, more so than previous games in the franchise (do I need to bring up that LJN game again?). Christopher Lloyd reprises his role as Doc and is once again excellent even after at least two decades since ‘Back to the Future Part III’ came out back in 1990. Michael J. Fox doesn’t reprise his role of Marty (well, to a certain extent but I’m not going to spoil anything about that) but his successor, A.J. Locascio, does a fantastic and very spot-on impression of him to the point where you can hardly tell any difference. All in all, the voice acting in the game is rock solid all-around. The overall presentation is this game’s greatest asset.

Now, the game itself isn’t particularly that ‘difficult’. It’s a point-and-click adventure game and in execution a rather ‘simple’ one at that. You control Marty as he travels around different ‘versions’ of Hill Valley and interacts with the various people and objects he comes across. Moving around from place to place is a little stiff because the game has a ‘fixed’ camera perspective meaning that it changes when you travel to a different part of the area you’re currently in. So, if you have Marty walking forward and the camera then switches to a different angle that’s facing him, he’ll continue to move forward if you keep the move button down, meaning that the controls become a bit inverted. You have to stop holding the move button so that the controls can revert back to their normal state. This does kind of get frustrating at times, but it’s not too big of a problem. I mean, I haven’t played a lot of games with a ‘fixed camera’ perspective so maybe it’s just me. Also, keep in mind I’m referring to the PC controls because that’s the version of the game that I played; not the PS3, Wii, or iOS versions. The game offers you hints if you get stuck on the various puzzles that you come across but even then the puzzles themselves aren’t too difficult to figure out. Some of them do require a little bit of trial and error but for the most part, they usually just consist of Marty selecting an item from his inventory and using it on either a person or an object.

‘Back to the Future: The Game’ isn’t necessarily a masterpiece, but as a video game, it is the best representation of the film trilogy in that format, even when it’s actually a follow-up to the last film (in other words, this is pretty much ‘Back to the Future Part IV’). Because Telltale was assisted by one of the film series’ writers, the game really feels like you’re in the ‘Back to the Future’ universe, thanks in part to the return of Christopher Lloyd to the role of Doc and A.J. Locascio’s dead-on impression of Michael J. Fox in the role of Marty among other things. The game itself isn’t particularly hard but at the same time, the main story is compelling enough to keep you entertained even if it only takes about two to three hours to complete each of the five episodes. If you’re a fan of the franchise, then this is an obvious must-buy and I guarantee that you will enjoy this game very much. Even if you’re not a fan, I’d still recommend it. Movie-licensed games usually tend to suck, but in the end, this is one of the best games of that genre.

Final Rating: 4.5/5