Back to the Future

Back to the Future is one of those movies that I can watch maybe nine or ten times, but still every time I see it feels like the first time. Generally, this quality is a good one for a movie to have (conversely, I have seen films that felt like four sit-throughs just to see once- cough cough Grown Ups).

Its 1985 in Hill Valley CA. Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) is a 17 year old slacker who shows his disdain for authority by skateboarding, playing guitar, and wearing suspenders without putting them over his shoulders. Take that, establishment!

He is friends with Doc Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd), a wacko scientist who has just solved man's age-old question- how can we sell more DeLoreans?

Just kidding, but he does turn a DeLorean into a time machine somehow, and Marty winds up in 1955, face to face with the 17 year old versions of his meek father George and amorous mother Lorraine.

I really do love the Back to the Future series, and the first one remains my favorite of the three. As Scott mentioned in his survey, the way that the writers played with the concept of going back in time and meeting your parents is just so clever that the premise keeps the entire movie entertaining by itself.

The film takes a microscope to the 50's decade with pop culture references, era appropriate costuming, and a great soundtrack. It is especially interesting to consider the amount of change that happened to Hill Valley in the 30 years separating Marty from his own time of 1985. Farms where there should be malls, empty fields where Marty's street should be, a bank where now a porno theater stands. Funny to think that now, 25 years later, Marty's house is probably also a mall (eminent domain sucks don't it Marty?)

The film chugs along at an impressive clip, and before we know it we are hit with not one, but THREE climaxes (George laying out Biff, the first kiss, the clock tower/lightning scene) not to mention a massive cliff hanger that was not even intended to spawn two more films in the first place. The filmmakers obviously did something very right.

They best part of the film, in my opinion at least, is seeing all the changes Marty caused when he does make it back to 1985. I won't give anything away but suffice it to say that the ending is classic.

They playfulness of Back to the Future is enough to get it a solid rating in my book. It deals with a preposterous subject matter in a manner that is not overly serious but still dramatic. I will ignore the fact that the whole thing is one big plot hole, because I grew up with it and these great characters, and because it is so timeless (ha).


Production Value: 4/5
Action: 4/5
Humor: 4/5
Plot Holes: 1.21 Gigawatts worth of them but who cares??

Overall: 8/10