Retrospective: Back to the Future (1985)

BACK TO THE FUTURE
Rating: 5/5 stars.

"Back to the Future" is part of John Ulmer's Favorite Movies List, available 
to see at http://www.wiredonmovies.com/favorites

REVIEW BY JOHN ULMER

"Have you no concept of time?"
- "Doc" Emmet Brown, "Back to the Future."

A favorite of Hollywood has always been the tales of time travel. H.G. Wells 
can be credited for starting the craze with his novel of an adventurous 
Englishman who traveled back in time with a fantastic creation, and when 
George Pal's adaptation of Wells' "The Time Machine" (1960) hit the streets 
paradoxes and possibilities of time travel became a more omnipresent 
thought.

The best time travel film of all, and one of the most dazzling of all films, 
is "Back to the Future" (1985), a film so smart, witty, genuine, and 
hilarious it must simply be seen to be believed. Yes, the craze and hype 
built up around the film since its release is more than worthy--I rate it 
one of my more favorite films. Some movies are undoubtedly great, but you 
don't always feel like sitting down to watch "The Godfather," or 
"Casablanca." Longer, more (somewhat) depressing films that, though 
terrific, just do not delight in the same way as a good comedy.

I always feel like sitting down to watch "Back to the Future." It's one of 
those uplifting films that are so delightful to watch it puts a smile on 
your face from the start and never lets up for a moment. And it's not just 
funny--it's incredibly smart, also, boasting one of the strongest and most 
thoughtful, insightful scripts in the history of film. And I'm being less 
than generous when I say that.

The script, written by Bob Gale and co-written by director Robert Zemeckis, 
was originally a disaster. (Trust me, I read it, and it was painfully bad.) 
Marty was a rebellious teenager who pirated VCR tapes, Doc Brown was just 
annoying and distant, there were no great plot twists and "possibilities," 
the dialogue was weak and superficial, and Marty originally got "back to the 
future" by means of a nuclear bomb, a fridge and the back of a car trunk 
(don't ask).

But the script had gone through some major alterations by the time filming 
started. Michael J. Fox is perfectly cast as young Marty McFly--a bit 
rebellious in a typical teenager type of way, though also a bit insecure 
about his future. He wants to be a rock artist but he is afraid to let 
people listen to his work. ("What if they don't like it--I just don't think 
I could handle that type of rejection.")

Marty lives with his parents and two siblings in a middle-class suburban 
America community named Hilldale. His father, George (Crispin Glover), is an 
awkward creature whose insecurities work to a major disadvantage for him. 
Marty's mother, Lorraine (Lea Thompson), is a drunk who sits around the 
house all day reflecting upon the past.

Marty's only true friend is the eccentric Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), an 
inventor who can't seem to invent anything worthwhile. But one day Marty 
gets a call--Doc wants him to come down to the Twin Pines Mall at one 
o'clock in the morning with a camcorder. When Marty arrives later that 
morning, he finds Doc with something extraordinary--a time machine.

The time machine is built out of a DeLorean and runs on plutonium. Here lies 
the problem--since it needs plutonium, Doc has to steal it. ("You don't just 
walk into a store and ask for plutonium!" Marty says.) However, the Libyans 
Doc stole the plutonium from come after him, shoot him, and then come after 
Marty--who immediately flees using the DeLorean and accidentally time 
travels back to 1985.

Upon arriving in 1955, Marty soon realizes he is out of plutonium and has 
been left stranded back in time. So he visits Doc Brown in 1955, who claims 
the only thing powerful enough to deliver the 1.21 jiggawatts of electricity 
needed to send the time machine back to 1985 is a bolt of 
lightning--something that can be harnessed, but, as Doc puts it, you never 
know when lightning is going to strike. Wrong. Marty has a pamphlet which 
tells the exact time in 1955 when a lightning bolt hit the town's clock 
tower. So as Doc cooks up a plan to harness the lightning beam when it 
strikes the clock, Marty goes exploring around 1955--and accidentally bumps 
into his parents and stops them from meeting, which could result in 
catastrophic events.

I've seen "Back to the Future" over 150 times and counting, and it never 
gets old. I taped it off of TV a few years back and watched it almost every 
day, until I could quote every single line from the movie. I was younger 
then and had not experiences a movie as wildly original and creative and 
truly imaginative as "Back to the Future." It astounded me with its pure 
magic of filmmaking--it was the type of movie I dreamed that I could make 
when I was older. This is the type of movie you watch and see something new 
in every time. The director, Bob Zemeckis, places the subtlest differences 
in time in the film. For example, Marty goes back in time in the parking lot 
of the Twin Pines Mall. In 1955, the mall doesn't exist--just two pine 
trees. Marty runs one over. Later, when he gets back to the future, we see 
that the mall is now called "Lone Pine Mall." It's not easy to spot--it's 
something I only noticed a few viewings ago. And that's just the type of 
movie this is.

The characters are some of the most memorable and lovable of all time. Marty 
McFly isn't an annoying teenage brat--Michael J. Fox brings a sense of 
trueness and realism to the character that makes, and does not break, the 
film. Christopher Lloyd as the over-the-top Doc Brown gives his best 
performance of all time, running around in a worried motion and that 
frizzled, gray hair standing up on his head like he's been struck by 
electricity (and I can't doubt that he has been in the past with one of his 
experiments). Just thinking of him brings a smile to my face--he's just that 
type of joyful character who is funny no matter what he's doing.

Every story has a villain--at least every good story. "Back to the Future" 
has one, too: Biff Tannen, who is played by the wonderful Thomas F. Wilson. 
Wilson can change his very demeanor on screen--in interviews his actual 
personality is wholly different. And yet he makes Biff into the kind of 
stupid, moronic tough guy that you love to hate. Biff is not quite as 
non-violent as some bullies in films, however--many family films tend to 
tone down the nastiness, but Biff is one nasty villain who may not be a 
gigantic space alien but carries the same spine-tingling meanness about him.

"Back to the Future" is a subtle comedy, one that is laugh-out-loud funny on 
many occasions but also very, very smart--so smart, indeed, that its wit 
exceeds just about any film I have ever seen. At first you may not think 
so--but after you watch it a few times and pick up on the different changes 
between the past and present (and trust me, you will), you will no doubt 
realize just how much thought was put into this film. There is so much wit 
and imagination and humor in "Back to the Future" that it could be spread 
out into ten different movies and they'd still be winners. That's not a very 
easy film to create.

There are many things are subtle in "Back to the Future." It doesn't tell us 
what it is or what is in it--it lets those things up to the viewer. A more 
average film would no doubt push the facts of Marty's parents upon us--but 
Lorraine's drunkenness and George's insecurities are only hinted at for the 
most part. So many things are left open for discussion and thought dwelling 
in this movie that has helped make it become the re-watchable film it is 
today. I can imagine what a film like this would have been like given a 
lesser director, lesser writer, and lesser actors. But there's been a lot of 
thought put into this truly wonderful and imaginative comedy that separates 
it from the rest.

I guess I'd better close this review with a quote from the movie. Marty is 
sitting with his mother in 1955 (and she doesn't know that she is his 
mother). Marty sees an episode of "The Honeymooners" on their brand-new TV 
and comments on how the episode is a classic. Lorraine's little brother 
can't understand how he saw it. The episode is brand new. "Yeah, I saw it on 
a rerun," Marty says. "What's a rerun?" the boy asks. "You'll find out," is 
his reply. A more typical comedy about time travel would completely skip 
these ironies and comparisons between the different years. And part of the 
many, many joys of "Back to the Future" is that it is not a typical comedy 
by any means. It's the type of movie you can watch over and over and never 
get tired of. I've watched it for years and I still laugh and find hidden 
things when I watch it. It's just that type of extraordinary 
adventure/comedy. Films like these don't come around very often. Cherish it 
while you can.

- John Ulmer
Webmaster of The Movie Portal
http://www.wiredonmovies.com/

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X-RT-RatingText: 5/5