Back to the Future (1985) – Encore Review 3

“[holding Marty’s video camera] No wonder your president has to be an actor. He’s gotta look good on television. ” – Doc Brown

Number of Times Seen – Too many to count (Theater in ’85, cable, video, DVD, 7 May 2013, 13 Nov 2014, 8 Oct 2015 and 8 Mar 2017)

Link to original review – Here, Here and Here

Brief Synopsis – A teenager travels back in time and after inadvertently stopping his parents from meeting, he must race against time to get them together before he no longer exists, all the while trying to find a way back home.

My Take on it – This is one of my all-time favorite films from my youth.

I saw this when it came out and I was 11 and loved every minute of it.

32 years later, this film still makes me gitty every time I even entertain the thought of watching it again or when I hear someone talking about it.

Ironically, Audrey and her cousin Erin over at 1001 Movies and Beyond did a podcast about this film just a few days before I recently rewatched it and had the pleasure to listen to their podcast earlier today where they discussed everything Back to the Future!

Check out their podcast

here

Thanks ladies for quite an entertaining 75 minutes!

I think that the reason this film is so amazing is because of their constant attention to details.

When writing this script, they were able to do such a wonderful job keeping things tight because they were able to foreshadow events, leave clues here and there about what will or even has happened and ultimately keeps us on our toes the whole time no matter how many times we’ve seen the movie.

Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd are both superb and have helped make their characters along with the film so iconic over the last 3 decades.

Fox is easily able to set a tone for the character of Marty McFly and we get both a serious and campy look at both time periods depicted from his perspective.

Lloyd is amazing as the zany Doc Brown and we easily accept his quirks.

Both of these characters have helped define time travel stories for at least one generation (if not more) and it’s hard to think of another film that has depicted this genre even better than Bob Gale and Robert Zemekis were able to do here because they set the bar so high.

This is a film that I can watch over and over and seriously never get bored of because it’s really so entertaining no matter how often one sees it.

Every time I see it, I always manage to notice new and interesting things that I never even thought of beforehand.

It constantly engages the viewer because so much happens on so many planes of existence and things more so smoothly.

Really can’t wait to see this again!

Bottom Line – Amazing story that works so well even after more than thirty years. Fox is perfect as McFly and he sets the tone so well for both a serious and campy look at the two time periods depicted.  Lloyd was a great choice to play the brilliant but zany Doc Brown.  Both of them have now become so iconic characters that have helped define a generation of time travel lovers.  This film set the bar for so many other films in the genre and none of them come even close to being as ingenious, clever and entertaining as this one.  This is a film I can watch over and over and never get tired of because it constantly finds new and inventive ways to thrill and engage us along the way.  The main reason I believe this film works so well is because they took so much care preparing the details of the story that it constantly surprises when it shows how tight a script they wrote.  Can’t wait to see this again soon!  Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia –  Writers Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis actually received a fan letter from John DeLorean after the film’s release, thanking them for immortalizing his car. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy (no change from original review)

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