**Spoilers**
If you have not yet seen this film, please go and do so before proceeding.
It's Marty McFly and Doc Brown! What is not to like about this combination? I have long been planning to watch the Back to the Future trilogy and yet had just never gotten around to it, despite the fact that my father fondly remembers seeing this film in theatres and has been talking about it for years. Well the time of waiting is no more. I've now seen the first Back to the Future film and so I am here now to review it.
And I'll just say this right off the bat: THIS MOVIE IS AWESOME!!!!! No I'm not just saying this because it's a classic. Everything about it just works so well. From the strange friendship between Mary and the Doc to the humor (both visual and verbal) to the time travel elements which all went off flawlessly. It dealt with paradoxes and time slips and every possible other idea by giving just enough information to get people invested and yet not so much that it bores us into picking at plot-holes (because, let's face it, every story involving timey-wimey elements has a hole somewhere).
Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:
- The beginning of this film is classic, with the ticking clocks and the Wallace & Gromit breakfast machine going horribly wrong.
- And Marty blasting himself into a bookshelf with his guitar.
- I love the duo of Marty and Doc. Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox are a joy to watch on screen together. Their friendship is perfect and they both simply embody the characters and emotions.
- For some reason, despite recent events, the sight of Libyan terrorists driving around in a VW bus just cracks me up. Even if they did, in a shocking turn of events, gun down good ol' Doc Brown.
- One thing I really love about this is the humor. Back to the Future is by no means something that needs to be classed as a comedy, but neither is it particularly heavy on the angst. I spent most of my time laughing and scarcely a scene goes by that doesn't involve some kind of pun or joke or awkward moment to make you laugh. Most of the humor is fairly obvious, given that it stems from Marty being displaced in time, but just because you can see a joke being set up doesn't mean that it isn't still funny. It's all in how you deliver it.
- For all my Supernaturalist friends out there, the scene from In The Beginning where Dean meets John in the diner is directly lifted from this film. Just a little tidbit for y'all.
- Michael J. Fox does a perfect job as Marty. Sure a lot of his time is spent gaping and looking horrified (especially whenever his young mother comments on his underwear), but he manages to put a lot of subtlety into the performance as well. Especially in the scenes with the younger Doc Brown who Marty has (as far as he knows) just seen shot dead back in 1985.
- It's hilarious the parallels that are drawn between the people Marty knows and their younger counterparts. Granted it may be a bit unrealistic in places that Biff would be pulling the same tricks in high school that he did in his forties (though you should never underestimate a bully) but it isn't so out-of-place that it pulls you out of the experience. And that's what Back to the Future is; an experience. It's a funny, crazy, sci-fi adventure that isn't particularly deep or layered but that's okay because it doesn't have to be. Not every film has to be 20 Years A Slave. Sometimes it's okay to have something like this where it's just good, clean, adventurous fun.
- Marty and Biff don't get along even in this time. The scene where he flees from Biff and his goons on a skateboard is one of the highlights of the film. Even if it is highly improbable.
- The special effects in this film have aged very well. I don't claim to be an expert in SFX or anything like that, but even I am fairly good at spotting outdated examples when I see them on film. Not here. The effects still look as good as the day that it was first released...even managing to still appear well-meshed on the remastered and 'clearer' versions where other films had hid their wires and sub-par pixels behind the graininess of the films.
- Poor Marty...his mother is hitting on him. (And Doc. Brown is just leaning against the car and laughing.)
- I found it interesting the way this film dealt with The Butterfly Effect, what with Marty accidentally saving his father's life (and catching his mother's eye) and the way he spends a lot of the film pretending to be Doc Brown's nephew and trying to push his parents back together before he's erased from history.
- What exactly was Biff going to do to Marty's mother?!
- "I don't understand. Whenever I kiss you it's like kissing a brother!" "Yeah. I guess it would kinda be." Poor Marty!
- And the guitar scene. Hahahaha...
- One thing I really love about this is the humor. Back to the Future is by no means something that needs to be classed as a comedy, but neither is it particularly heavy on the angst. I spent most of my time laughing and scarcely a scene goes by that doesn't involve some kind of pun or joke or awkward moment to make you laugh. Most of the humor is fairly obvious, given that it stems from Marty being displaced in time, but just because you can see a joke being set up doesn't mean that it isn't still funny. It's all in how you deliver it.
- For all my Supernaturalist friends out there, the scene from In The Beginning where Dean meets John in the diner is directly lifted from this film. Just a little tidbit for y'all.- Michael J. Fox does a perfect job as Marty. Sure a lot of his time is spent gaping and looking horrified (especially whenever his young mother comments on his underwear), but he manages to put a lot of subtlety into the performance as well. Especially in the scenes with the younger Doc Brown who Marty has (as far as he knows) just seen shot dead back in 1985.
- It's hilarious the parallels that are drawn between the people Marty knows and their younger counterparts. Granted it may be a bit unrealistic in places that Biff would be pulling the same tricks in high school that he did in his forties (though you should never underestimate a bully) but it isn't so out-of-place that it pulls you out of the experience. And that's what Back to the Future is; an experience. It's a funny, crazy, sci-fi adventure that isn't particularly deep or layered but that's okay because it doesn't have to be. Not every film has to be 20 Years A Slave. Sometimes it's okay to have something like this where it's just good, clean, adventurous fun.
- The special effects in this film have aged very well. I don't claim to be an expert in SFX or anything like that, but even I am fairly good at spotting outdated examples when I see them on film. Not here. The effects still look as good as the day that it was first released...even managing to still appear well-meshed on the remastered and 'clearer' versions where other films had hid their wires and sub-par pixels behind the graininess of the films.
- Poor Marty...his mother is hitting on him. (And Doc. Brown is just leaning against the car and laughing.)
- What exactly was Biff going to do to Marty's mother?!
- "I don't understand. Whenever I kiss you it's like kissing a brother!" "Yeah. I guess it would kinda be." Poor Marty!
- And the guitar scene. Hahahaha...
- Fun fact: Chuck Berry (the fellow that the guy calls on the telephone) was the man who first recorded Johnny B Goode and made it famous.
- What makes it funny is the fact that Marty just gets so into the piece and starts flinging himself around the stage like a rock star. I think the other players were wondering if he was having a seizure or something. The way the guy looks at the guitar after Marty gives it back is just the icing on the cake. "He got THAT out of THIS?!"
- The climax of the film is very interesting, what with the ever-building tension, the electrical difficulties, and Marty's inability to make the car start. I almost felt like it dragged on a little long, but then something exciting would happen and shake everything up again.
- A bit of classic timey-wimey stuff happened as Marty got back early and actually saw the events of the evening himself.
- And I would say it was a cop-out that they had the Doc survive after all, but it was just handled so well that I found myself cheering at the soppy choice in spite of myself. Now whenever a film can sweep me up and convince me to do that, I know I've found something special.
- Marty's reaction to his changed life is hilarious...as is the sight of Biff waxing a VW Bug.
- The climax of the film is very interesting, what with the ever-building tension, the electrical difficulties, and Marty's inability to make the car start. I almost felt like it dragged on a little long, but then something exciting would happen and shake everything up again.
- A bit of classic timey-wimey stuff happened as Marty got back early and actually saw the events of the evening himself.
- And I would say it was a cop-out that they had the Doc survive after all, but it was just handled so well that I found myself cheering at the soppy choice in spite of myself. Now whenever a film can sweep me up and convince me to do that, I know I've found something special.
- Marty's reaction to his changed life is hilarious...as is the sight of Biff waxing a VW Bug.
Back to the Future is an AWESOME film that everyone should see at least once during the course of their lives. It has comedy, adventure, sci-fi elements, and some surprisingly touching moments. The acting was great, the music was wonderful, the story fun and inventive, and the special effects have held up extraordinarily well. It's definitely one of my favorite films now. I know there are sequels, but they're going to have a hard time living up to this beginning. Back to the Future is a 5/5.
What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?
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