Back to the Future Trilogy (1985-1989-1990)

Director: Robert Zemeckis                             Writers: Robert Zemeckis & Bob Gale
Film Score: Alan Silvestri                              Cinematography: Dean Cundey
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Thomas F. Wilson

There may be debate about the artistic merit of Zemeckis films like Forrest Gump or Roger Rabbit, but his Back to the Future Trilogy is one of cinema’s all time great franchises. The primary draw in the first film is the script itself. Zemeckis did a tremendous job in working out all of the ramifications. There are so many opportunities for it to go wrong and it just doesn’t. Everything works seamlessly to bring about a fully believable and realistic time travel experience. And it didn’t hurt that the whole thing was produced by Steven Spielberg. Add to that the comedic talents of Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, the music of Huey Lewis and Alan Silvestri, and the direction of Zemeckis and the result is cinematic genius.

The first Back to the Future needs little in the way of summary. What stands out is Michael J. Fox’s performance. His big break in films came right in the middle of his hit television series Family Ties, but he showed so much more potential. As Marty McFly, he is more knowing, more prescient that those around him. The only rival to his knowledge is Christopher Lloyd as Doc, who invents the time-traveling Delorian. It’s a great gimmick, especially the accidental trip to 1955, where Fox has to track down the much younger Lloyd and get his help in sending him “back to the future.” Unfortunately his presence there has caused his mother, Lea Thompson, to fall in love with him. He needs to get her to fall in love with his father instead. Everything works perfectly in the film, primarily because there was no thought about a sequel at the time. This, unfortunately, is not the case with the second installment.

Back to the Future II and III were filmed back-to-back, a practice that seemed radical at the time but has been used in numerous franchises since, like The Matrix Trilogy or The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, with great success. It can have it’s benefits, but in this case the second installment functioned primarily as a bridge to the much more successful third part and therefore has a difficult time standing on its own. Of the two sequels it’s the one that relies most heavily on copying scenes from the first film. There’s also the addition of a third generation of families, both McFly and Tannen, as well as a third time period and it tends to make the whole story very convoluted. Of course it still makes sense, but it takes a lot of mental gymnastics to see it. The emphasis in this picture is the sports almanac that Marty buys in the future to help him become rich, but actually falls into the hands of Biff Tannen, changing the entire course of Marty’s family for the worse.

Back to the Future III, however, is the crowning jewel, and in certain respects it is more entertaining that the first film. In this case both Marty and Doc are transported back to 1885, and with delightful consequences. The primary focus of the film is figuring out how to get the Delorian up to 88 miles per hour in order to initiate the time travel before “Mad Dog” Tannen comes into town to kill Doc. Of course Marty meets his great grandparents and Doc falls in love. The references to the first film are far more endearing than the second. In some ways this series follows more closely the dramatic arc of the Star Wars Trilogy, with the darkest film coming in the middle. Even with the second film being a low point, the trilogy is well worth picking up if you don’t already have it. The Back to the Future Trilogy has become a classic set of films that deserve a place in everyone’s collection.