Today is Back to the Future Day. Why? Because that’s the day Michael J. Fox’s character Marty McFly goes to the future in 1985 in the Back to the Future sequel.
This is a trilogy review because I never saw any of these movies by themselves, and even when I did, the sequel was aired the following day. I’m sure you can watch each of these movies by themselves, but I think each of these movies is a perfect movie (10/10) so why not make a night out of it and have some fun?
Back to the Future is a movie made famous for its DeLorean time machine modified by Christopher Lloyd’s character Doc Brown who is actually quirky play on Albert Einstein which is actually name of Doc Brown’s dog.
The first movie was made in 1985 and is set in 1985. I saw it in 90s for the first time as a kid and it absolutely made wonder about what it would be like to have a DeLorean that could take me to any point in time. However, before we ever get to the DeLorean, we get to see the town of Hill Valley, meet the characters, and see the sights. And everything you see will be a clue to something that would happen later on in the movie or early on in the timeline, depending on how you look at it.
This is a perfect date movie, and time travel is great. There are rules and boundaries that need to be kept in order to not break the space-time continuum. Another great thing about Back to the Future is that it was shot back-to-back, so the first movie ends where the next one starts. The music is great. Michael J. Fox seared Johnny Be Good inside my mind for all times, and the score by Adam Silvestri will never leave your head. It’s both adventurous and mysterious, and fits the movie perfectly. The score stays throughout the trilogy, but gets a new score for third movie (for a very specific reason).
So, what makes Back to the Future 2 so special? Well, once an adventure ends in first movie, we find out there’s trouble brewing 30 years later that could seriously affect current events. The future we go to has flying cars, 3D movie posters, fingerprint door locks, Skype (though not by that name), and last but certainly not least self-lacing Nike shoes, hoverboards, and self-drying jackets. As I kid I thought that was what 2015 should look like. Well, even though it doesn’t, that doesn’t make this movie any less of an amazing adventure it is, even when I watch it today. Things happen in this movie that seriously affect the past, and it’s up to Marty to put the timeline back in order, and once he does, things happen that make us wonder what will happen next to him. This movie ends right where the next movie starts.
So, with that being said, I won’t go much into the third movie except to say that it takes us back to the old west, and the reason we end up there is because – well, that’s a spoiler I don’t want to reveal. However, Back to the Future 3 is a bookend to this amazing trilogy and once this adventure ends, you will want to own a DeLorean and do something that will seriously change the times we live in.
This trilogy, I believe, influenced a lot of people in different ways, and even though we still don’t have self-lacing shoes, flying cars, self-drying jackets and hoverboards, we do live in a world where we can make those things possible; and that’s the reason these movies are timeless.
So, if you haven’t seen any of these movies or think they are over-hyped and over-rated, I suggest watching them today. If it’s your first time, I hope you aren’t watching them alone because these movies are supposed to be watched with a family or group of friends. However, if you are watching them by yourself, be prepared to go back in time and then forward, and back again.
You’re in for a ride for which you need no road.
One guy's take on movies. 