Today, July 3rd, 2010 marks the 25th anniversary for the theatrical release of “Back To The Future” which happens to be my favorite movie of all time. Now, there are so many films that I truly love, but there is not a single film that I have watched more than BTTF. When it was released, I remember going to see it in the theater more than 20 times. It’s a film that to this very day, I never get tired of watching.
On June 13th, 2010 . I attended the “Back To The Future 25th Anniversary Event, which was hosted by Doc Brown Himself (Christopher Lloyd) and took place at the Alamo Draft House Ritz in downtown Austin, Texas. At this event I was able to watch all 3 BTTF films back-to-back in 35mm. This was the first time since the original release of the films that I got to watch them with an audience in a theater. I have seen them many times on VHS & DVD (Probably Betamax as well), but some films are just meant for the big screen. What I would like to do now is talk about my feelings on these films after 2 decades.
Let me start with the first (and best) film in the trilogy. BTTF was the film that took television actor Michael J Fox and catapulted him to full fledged movie star (Even though he filmed Teen Wolf prior to Back To The Future, BTTF was released first) . Why did BTTF work so well? There are so many reasons, but one of the main reasons in my opinion was the chemistry between Michael J Fox & Christopher Lloyd. There was so much energy and fun between Marty McFly & Doc Brown, that you really wanted to see them together as much as possible. Plus, the script was great. It took a very simple premise (time travel) and did not overcomplicate things with too much scientific explanation. I noticed that more of the recent movies involving time travel tend to make all the rules so complicated that the story starts to make less and less sense. A perfect example would be the remake of “Star Trek”. A remake that I actually loved, but the time travel bits got really confusing for me. “Back To The Future” was not really about the science of time travel but it was more about the hazards of it.
Because the movie is from the mid-80’s it had no CGI. But something I noticed while watching it in a theater again, is that because there are really not a whole lot of special effects, the film never really looks cheesy . (I can’t say the same about many of the sci-fi films of the 80’s) Plus, the Delorean time machine is still one of the coolest movie cars ever!!!! . You also have fun performances from Crispin Glover as George McFly & Thomas F Wilson as Biff Tannen. Another thing I love, is the score by Alan Silvestri. The BTTF score is right up there with the scores from such films as Star Wars, Jaws, Superman: The Motion Picture, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, & Rocky, hearing that score blasting in a movie theater when the Delorean is about to hit 88 mph, it’s just such a wonderful feeling.
The first BTTF film will always remain my favorite in the trilogy, but I feel all 3 films bring quite a bit to the table. I will also say that all 3 films hold up very well after all of these years. If I could think of just one single complaint about anything in the 3 films, it would not be the overstuffed storyline of Part 2, but my pick would the completely horrible performance by Elisabeth Shue (who replaced actress Claudia Wells) I am not saying Ms. Wells gave a great performance either but Shue was just downright awful . And I really never realized how bad she was until I watched her in Part 2 & 3 again at this theatrical event. Granted, it was a very small part, but her performance was sooo bad that it distracted me from the story. Even though many of the special effects in Part 2 are dated, they still work well. Parts 1 & 3 did not rely on big effects the way part 2 did.
Another thing I started to notice was how much I miss actual sets in big summer movies. I loved how they recreated Hill Valley Square for the Future in Part 2, and the old west in Part 3. Also, keep in mind that they had 2 different versions of that same square in the 80’s and also the clean version from the 50’s. I really loved that. If the same movies were made today, they would be mostly digitally created buildings. My favorite would be the future set, with the lake in the middle and the hover board chase. I still want a hover board. One other thing that I miss is the lack of Crispin Glover in the sequels. But he demanded more money and they refused to pay him.
Now that I am older, I actually enjoy Part 3 much more than I originally did. It is the slower movie in the franchise but it really has the heart that the second movie was lacking. Visually, Part 2 takes the cake because it gives you so much to look at in the past, present , and future (present being 1985) Plus multiple versions of the same characters. The film is stuffed to the edges. But at the same time, it never felt like a complete movie. It is an old school cliff-hanger. You do not see much of those anymore. The most memorable ones in recent years were for the Matrix & P.O.T.C. sequels. (both were shot back to back like the BTTF sequels) Also, the upcoming Harry Potter films and final Twilight films will be done in the same way.
In the end, BTTF to me is one of the 2 best trilogy’s, right along side the original Star Wars Trilogy. And I am glad I had the opportunity to come to the Alamo Draft House in Austin Texas to relive one of my favorite childhood memories.
By Marc Ferman
