Back to the Future (1985) / Comedy-Sci Fi
MPAA Rated: PG for language and violence (I'd rate it PG-13)
Running Time: 111 min.
Cast: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Crispin Glover, Lea Thompson, Thomas F. Wilson, Claudia Wells, Marc McClure, Wendie Jo Sperber, Casey Siemaszko, Billy Zane, Huey Lewis
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Screenplay: Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale
Review published March 3, 2005
Back to the Future is pure entertainment, and very successful at that. Wholly inspired and brilliantly executed, this brainchild of co-screenwriter Bob Gale (Interstate 60, Used Cars) and director Robert Zemeckis (Romancing the Stone, What Lies Beneath) is chock-full of in-jokes and sight gags that makes it an easy and film to revisit time and time again -- very appropriate for a movie dealing with time travel. Their screenplay would go on to be nominated at the Oscars for Best Original Screenplay.
It’s a Steven Spielberg (The Goonies, Gremlins) production, which at that time was virtually synonymous with visual effects-laden, family-friendly, imaginative comedic fare. It's not the first time Spielberg worked with Zemeckis and Gale, as he served as executive producer on their first film, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, and they wrote the screenplay to his 1979 film, 1941. While it doesn’t always make logical sense (time travel movies always seem to be a bit of a headache to resolve), it covers over most of its holes by being perpetually energetic and ingeniously hilarious. It's a fulfillment of fantasy, not only in what it says about family, but also tapping into that dream all high school nerds and geeks share, which is in standing up to bullies, getting the girl, and making a difference in the lives of everyone around them.
Michael J. Fox (Bright Lights Big City, Atlantis: The Lost Empire) plays 17-year-old Marty McFly, a spirited teenager who doesn’t seem to quite fit in with his current family, so much so that he spends a great deal of his time helping out an eccentric local scientist, Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd, Convergence), in his kooky experiments. One night, Doc calls Marty out to an empty mall parking lot to witness his latest triumph, a souped- up DeLorean that he has modified as a time machine. Upset that Doc has used the plutonium given to make a proposed nuclear bomb for his own machine, some angry terrorists gun him down in cold blood, leaving Marty with no other choice than to escape in the DeLorean, which sends him back in time to the date Doc first came up with the idea for time travel, November 5th, 1955, which also happens to be the date that Marty’s parents met and fell for each other. Problems ensue when Marty’s mother (Lea Thompson, Howard the Duck) begins to fall for him instead, which would completely negate the existence of Marty and his siblings. Marty must find a way for his parents to fall in love, and get back to the future without the nuclear component necessary, with only the younger Doc Brown to help him.
Gale says he conceived of the film while thumbing through his dad's senior yearbook and seeing his father's picture and his involvement in school activities, wondering if he had somehow been able to go to high school at that time, if he would have been someone who would be friends with his own father, and what he might have been like at the age of 17 or 18. While it may seem hard to conceive for most kids in high school to think they might have had anything in common with their own parents at the same age, Back to the Future is an exploration of whether that notion might have been true, as many of the hopes, dreams, trials, tribulations, and disillusionments might be universal to the times, even if the music, fashion, and customs have have been different in separate eras. His parents seem so entrenched in their ways now, and so passionless for each other, but was there ever a time when that wasn't true?
Back to the Future is, at the same time, an embracing of the cultures of the 1950s and the 1980s, while also a satire poking fun at all of the differences. Perhaps no other actor exudes that Reagan-era young preppy as Alex P. Keaton himself, Michael J. Fox. He embodies many things that the 1950s just aren’t ready for, some of which he exploits for his own purposes (such as the rampant fear of alien invasions). While his parents like to look back on their childhoods as an idyllic time of innocence, as presented here, the 1950s seems like an even more bizarre world to live in, with its naïve points of view, repressive relationships, and denial about its own flaws. Back to the Future actually does manage to touch on key differences, such as racism and the imbalance of sex roles, but does so without ever losing the light-hearted energy that imbues the rest of the story.In addition to these comparisons of era, there's also a more universal theme of not allowing fear of change to run one's life. In order for George to fulfill his destiny and find happiness, he has to overcome his fear that he might be rejected by Lorraine if he were to ask her to the big dance. He has to be able to stand up to the school bully, Biff, or he will let him run his life, what little there is of it in terms of living it the way he would like. Our life is guided by taking advantage of opportunities; if we decline to act, or to do the right thing at the right time, our lives, our futures, our ability to feel satisfaction, will be forever hampered by our actions, or our inactions, during those critical crossroads in our formative years.
The difficulty here for Marty is that his presence does have an immediate affect on his own future, as he may never come to exist if his parents never fall in love. He doesn't want things to change, which creates the crux of the film's dilemma -- he must foster the impetus to change in his mother and father, but in such a way that the results are fundamentally the same in setting up for their, and Marty's, future. In the end, though, it's really George who must make the decision to change, regardless of all of the implorations of Marty. This introduces another conundrum, in that, once one's fate has been altered, even if it can be repaired, it won't be the same. Each action causes ripple effects that alter perspectives and feelings throughout one's life, to the point where one's life might be quite different than what might have been if failing to act. It's as if one's past is not set in stone, as commonly believed, but our future is, based on what actions we take in that past.
The casting here is fantastic all around. It's how to believe that Michael J. Fox was a last-minute substitute to play Marty McFly, filling in for an intense Eric Stoltz, who departed shortly after several weeks of filming had begun due to Zemeckis and Spielberg feeling he didn't perform well to the zanier comedic intricacies of the role. Reportedly, Fox was Zemeckis' top choice, but was unavailable at the time due to filming "Family Ties", but in the interim, Fox became available, and the rest is, like the 1950s, history. Though they originally had wanted John Lithgow in the role, Christopher Lloyd is equally suitable as a spirited but brilliant crackpot, having to span a Doctor Emmett Brown at two times in his life 30 years apart, and does so convincingly. The old-age makeup for Marty's parents, whose kids look nothing like them, and nothing like each other, is not quite convincing, but the performances from Crispin Glover and Lea Thompson are energetic and fun. Thomas F. Wilson does not get enough credit, as he makes for a fantastic heavy, imposing but comical in all of the best ways, playing the meat-headed bully, Biff.
Not only is the film a treat for the eyes and mind, it also has great use of sound, garnering Oscar nods for Best Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. The score is one of the film's highlights. The soundtrack is also very memorable utilizing two now-classic Huey Lewis & the News tracks made for the film, "The Power of Love", and "Back in Time" (Huey Lewis also gets a cameo appearance in the film as a judge in Marty's high school talent competition).
At the time of its release, it was a film that critics had a few mixed feelings about, but audiences loved it, making it one of the biggest hits of the decade. Over the years, Back to the Future has become a family classic (although it has its share of adult language and themes, including an oedipal subplot), and a quintessential 80s film which exudes a wide-eyed charm, heaps of American nostalgia, and a celebration of the geek as part of popular culture. It has also become a critical classic as well, ranking #10 on AFI's best science fiction films, and accepted into the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. It’s a fun and breezy viewing that offers some smart escapism for a while, provided you are willing to go with the flow of the illogical plot in exchange for some laughs and a good time. Like most things Spielberg at the time, it’s a populist feel-good movie that should appeal to just about everyone. No conundrum in deciding whether it's worth seeing Back to the Future in the future, if you haven't, or in going back, time and again, if you have.
-- Followed by two sequels: Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Back to the Future Part III (1990). Also followed by a weekly television cartoon series from 1991-1993.
Qwipster's rating:
©2005 Vince Leo
