AMAZON: CLICK
HERE
STUDIO: Universal
MSRP: $79.98
RATED: PG-13
RUNNING
TIME: 81 Minutes
SPECIAL
FEATURES:
- Blu-ray Exclusives
- U-Control Setups & Payoffs: Note key scenes and see how they play out as you watch the movies
- Storyboard Comparison: Compare key scenes in the movie with the original storyboards.
- Trivia Track: Get inside trivia and facts while you watch the movies.
- Pocket BLU: Experience Blu-ray in an exciting new way with the app for iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry, Android and more
- BD-Live: Access the BD-Live Center through your Internet-connected player and download even more bonus content, the latest trailers and more
- My Scenes: Bookmark your favorite scenes from the movies
- Bonus Features
- “Tales from the Future:” 6-part retrospective documentary featuring all-new interviews with Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Director Robert Zemeckis, Producers Bob Gale and Neil Canton plus Executive Producer Steven Spielberg
- “In the Beginning…” Time to Go Keeping Time Time Flies Third Times the Charm The Test of Time The Physics of Back to the Future
- 16 Deleted Scenes
- Michael J. Fox Q&A
- Archival Featurettes
- The Making of Back to the Future Parts I, II & III
- Making The Trilogy: Chapters One, Two & Three
- Back to the Future Night
- The Secrets of the Back to the Future Trilogy
- Behind-the-Scenes Outtakes
- Original Makeup Tests
- Nuclear Test Side Ending Storyboard Sequence
- Outtakes
- Production Design
- Storyboarding
- Designing the DeLeorean
- Designing Time Travel
- Hoverboard Test
- Designing Hill Valley
- Designing the Campaign
- Photo Galleries Including Production Art, Additional Storyboards, Behind-the-Scenes Photographs, Marketing Materials and Character Portraits \
- Music Videos “The Power of Love” by Huey Lewis and the News
- “Doubleback” by ZZ Top
- Back to the Future: The Ride Q&A
- Commentaries with Director Robert Zemeckis and Producer Bob Gale
- Feature Commentaries with Producers Bob Gale and Neil Canton
- Digital Copies of Each Film
The Pitch
Young Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time to when his parents were his age, and in addition to making sure he doesn’t change history he has to find a way to get back to the present day.
The Humans
Director: Robert Zemeckis.
Writers: Robert Zemeckis. Bob Gale.
Cinematographer: Dean Cundy.
Cast: Michael J. Fox. Christopher Lloyd. Thomas F. Wilson. Lea Thompson. Crispin Glover. James Tolkan.
The Intro…
It’s fitting that while we’re in the midst of a CHUD List about the Sacred Cows of Hollywood that the Back to the Future trilogy would find its way to my desk. As many were, I was a huge fan of the first movie when it arrived on the scene in 1985. It’s a delightful film, sweet and charming and funny but also smart enough to take the time travel aspect seriously and invest some new ideas along the way. Watching it now, it’s kind of a patchwork at times but in way it’s a perfect little movie. For what it is.
With that said I will now also say that I strongly believe this should have been a one and done series. Though there are great moments to be had in both sequels, Back to the Future is a nice little tight self contained story that loses so much of its charm when the idea is steamrolled into three films. The story of Marty McFly and Doc Brown is simply not strong enough to support three films and the gimmicky and too-clever-for-its-own-good approach wears very thin over the course of the two sequels. As a result I was very surprised to discover just how not sacred these cows are.
But there’s still plenty to love in a Blu-ray set that will overwhelm all but the most devoted and meticulous of BTTF fans.
Back to the Future: Does it Work?
Yes. This film works and it works very well, but not for the reasons I thought.
What makes this film work isn’t Michael J. Fox, a fact which surprised me as this was a massive springboard for the actor. In actuality, Fox delivers a sometimes effective and sometimes showy performance as Marty McFly that is far from consistent and certainly not as crisp as I remembered. Everyone knows he replaced Eric Stoltz during production so it’s certainly understandable and forgivable that there are moments where he’s having to do a lot with very little. Luckily he’s a very charismatic actor and able to keep it together.
What makes this film work also isn’t Christopher Lloyd, a fact which surprised me as it was Doc Brown who was my favorite character as a child. In actuality, Lloyd does a lot of acting with his big, buggy eyes and screams almost every line of dialogue. Over the course of three films it gets to be too much at times and luckily Christopher Lloyd’s personality is so lovable and strong that it usually isn’t a concern. But, there are times when it seems like he’s in The Goonies he’s so manic.
But it really does work…
Back to the Future: Why it Works.
What makes this film work is the way a whole bunch of odd factors combined to make something that shouldn’t have worked feel warm and inviting. It’s similar to Jaws in that regard, actually. Though the filmmakers went though incredible effort in the subsequent films to make the world seem tightly knit, a lot of happy accidents seemed to happen ranging from Robert Zemeckis allowing Lloyd to choose the look of his mad scientist character to the decision to change the time travel machine from a fridge to a Delorean. On top of all that there’s the last minute actor swap, a factor that had to massively change the fate of the film in history. A lot of pieces fell into place on a project that was kicked around a long time and for a long time seemed to have no shot at getting made. Tons of old age makeup on then-unknown actors, shoehorning a lot of current pop culture aspects into a chassis where they could be played for laughs in the past. A lovable leading character who steals plutonium from terrorists after being commissioned to make a bomb? Borderline incest?
This really shouldn’t have worked.
“PLEASE BECOME ELIZABETH SHUE…“
“SOLVED!“
Back to the Future: All These Years Later.
The 80’s have a weird hue to them when revisited. More so than any decade in my lifetime. Movies have this ebb and flow that if you revisit them at the right time they maintain the magic and have that electricity. How much is legit and how much is the numbing glow that youth adds to the mix? It’s all the difference in the world. It’s why The Lost Boys was the coolest horror movie I’d ever seen in the late 80’s and now it’s a sort of ridiculous guilty pleasure in the oughts. Back to the Future is not a movie hampered by golden memories.
But the same can’t be said about its sequels.
Back to the Future: What is its Legacy?
This is a mini-classic. Emotions be damned, this is a very cute movie with some very strong moments and some really memorable characters but it’s really kind of a small and delightful little movie. There are so many things that threaten to cheapen it (things which I think were handled poorly in subsequent installments) but never do and it’s a testament to the amount of love that’s plainly evident in every frame of this movie. It’ll forever be remembered as one of the best mainstream movies of a very tumultuous and transcendent decade in film.