Back to the Future

With the exception of films from the Star Wars saga, "Back to the Future" is my favorite science-fiction film and it is my favorite film from 1985 hands down. The cool thing is that the movie is not just a sci-fi but it is also a comedy and a romance. The movie doesn’t rely completely on the special effects or the idea of time travel. Rather the whole reason why the movie is sci-fi is to make Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis’ story idea plausible on film, which is the idea of being the same age as your parents. Did your Dad really walk 20 miles to school in blinding snowstorms? Did your Mom date other guys? The possibilities are many. Before "Back to the Future", other time travel movies were mostly apocalyptic in nature, dramatic stories or focused on the fantasy possibilities such as "Planet of the Apes", H. G. Wells’ “The Time Machine” or "A Christmas Carol". Then came the blockbuster era and fittingly the man responsible for the first blockbuster (Steven Spielberg with "Jaws") helps make time travel fun and adventurous. We have a homemade time machine in the form of a sporty car. "Back to the Future" owes its magic to its creative story and music among other elements. The movie’s impact can be seen in any time-travel TV show or movie since 1985.

Gale and Zemeckis must have been passionate about their screenplay because you can feel it. The film has the ability to inspire. Marty has aspirations for fame and fortune like all kids have, particularly in the prosperous 80's. Marty inadvertently improves his family's situation by giving inspriation and advice to his future father. We imagine what we could do with a time machine and then hopefully comes the revelation that we don't need a time machine to better our lives. As we learn at the end of the third film: our future is whatever we make it to be. Until the DeLorean starts up in Doc’s truck, the film feels like other 1980 high school movies. Originally, the time machine was going to be built using an old refrigerator but I love the gag of using a sweet car like the DeLorean. It also makes the movie exciting and funny with how the car looks when compared to vehicles in the 50’s. The car helps this movie feel like an 80’s film throughout its entirety. I like how in the whole film, Marty is quite reactive and naïve to what happens to him (this becomes his major flaw in the next movies). We are able to experience the movie through his eyes in that we sometimes have no idea what is happening in the story. This story can be complicated for younger viewers and so Marty asks the questions we need to ask Doc. Marty is way out of his league and thus comedy is created. The mother/son romance stuff is a little risque but it's not like Lorrane knows who Marty is. Also, when Marty comes up with a plan for the dance, he doesn't think it will take much to get his Mom angry at him. He expects her to be the goodie-two-shoes he always took his mother for. Marty is shocked when Lorraine has no problem with sitting in a parked car with a new boy. I am also appreciative when Lorraine can tell her love for Marty isn't real and it scares her. These scenes prove that the filmmakers had no weird agendas. Leia Thompson also played the scenes out realistically as if Marty was a cute, facinating stranger who comes out of nowhere. I think any girl would fall for Michael J. Fox in that scenario. Marty’s story is entertaining because his goal is not to take advantage of his knowledge of the future. He only wants to go home before it is too late and the only way to do that is by getting his parents to fall in love before catching the “10:04 lightning” back to his own time. Thus story-wise, we get comedy from Marty as a time traveler, we focus on his mission to get his parents together and we are pulled into the adventure by Zemeckis’ ability to portray intensity in the midst of a countdown. As a child, the film scared me because of the portrayal of one’s existence being endangered. Also, the climax was very intense for me at a young age but now I am entertained by the multiple setbacks that happen in executing Doc’s plan. The editing and cinematography contribute to the action of the scene. The clock tower scene is so exciting for me and I love how Doc’s plan comes together at the very last second. I also like the scene where Marty arrives too late to stop Doc from getting shot but just in time to see himself go back in time. As a kid, I was just as confused as Marty as was until the DeLorean begins to race away with the Libyans in hot pursuit. The scene concludes with a great laugh in that Doc is saved because he taped the letter back together for the heck of it. We get more laughs and a happy ending when Marty reacts to the change in his family’s life. The story is pretty much free of time-travel flaws and the exposition scenes are written in such an entertaining way, as well as energetically acted by Christopher Lloyd. One lasting effect that the screenplay has on western culture is the line “Make like a tree and get outta here.” You are cooler if you say that these days instead of the original way. The phrase "back to the future" is also heard often whenever you are watching a time-travel story on TV or on the movie screen. I like the little time travel reference with Old Man Peabody. I didn't get that for the longest time. Finally, in the first shot of the film, we see an illustrated man hanging off a clock in Doc's house. This is not only foreshaddow but a reference to the silent film "Safety Last!" staring Harold Lloyd.

Alan Silvestri’s best work is on this film and it is unbelievable that he wasn’t nominated for an Oscar. "Back to the Future" could have had a score that reflected popular music but instead a classical score was written. The main theme is now easily recognizable, maybe more so than any of the Oscar nominees of that year. The first time you hear the score is during the reveal of the DeLorean and as mentioned, the film starts to feel like a science fiction adventure. Even though the movie doesn’t contain as much original score as other blockbusters, its adventurous and wondrous feeling is no less powerful. Silvestri and Zemeckis did a similar thing on "Cast Away" with the same result. My favorite moments in the score are when Marty is about to travel to 1955, when he is being chased by Biff and his gang and, of course, the clock tower climax. The later example is without a doubt the best part of the trilogy’s score except for the main theme. It portrays perfectly the adventure, intensity and action of the climax. The "Back to the Future" musical score is my third favorite film score after "Star Wars" and "The Lord of the Rings". Just as Silvestri creates adventure, the choice of Huey Lewis is perfect as he creates a feel for the start and end of the picture. Huey Lewis’ Oscar nominated “The Power of Love” for me is the theme music of 1985. When the movie was released, the song established a mood to contrast the songs heard later from the 50’s and it also set a tone for how Marty lives his life. In recent years, “The Power of Love” serves another purpose as we are transported back to the 80’s when we hear it and the song establishes 1985 as the “present” year. As a result, the character of Marty transcends the decade he lives in, representing a kid from any decade that travels 30 years into the past. "Back to the Future" will be entertaining for years yet to come.

There are also some miscellaneous reasons as to why "Back to the Future" is so well made. First, Zemeckis’ trademark of using long shots serves as another way to tell a story. In the first shot of the film, we learn a lot such as Doc & his dog Einstein have been away from home for a while and that Doc is an inventor. The chemistry between Marty and Doc is another key to the movie’s success. Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd perform the teacher/student relationship well because Doc is so passionate about everything he says and that contrasts Marty who is just a teenager lost in time. Another great story element is that by the end of this film and especially by the end of the trilogy, Marty and Doc have become best friends through their adventures. Fox was at first too busy with his TV show "Family Ties" to star in "Back to the Future" but the filmmakers weren't making progress without him. Fox filmed his TV show during the day and the movie during the night. You can kind of tell that the actor is tired in the film. The point I wish to make is that the hard work you put into something reaps bennifits.

I finally got to see this movie on the big screen fittingly on October 21, 2015 ("Back to the Future day"). This film was nominated at the Oscars for Best Original Screenplay, Best Song ("The Power of Love"), Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Effects Editing. It won the latter. The American Film Institute has recognized "Back to the Future" as one of top sci-fi films ever made and the movie itself is preserved in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. President Ronald Regan not only referenced this movie in a State of the Union address but had the White House projectionist rewind the film when he first saw it because he liked the joke about him in the film. These days, we are experiencing something ironic with time travel stories that we see in movies and on TV. Characters like from "Hot Tub Time Machine" and "Family Guy" travel back to the 1980’s and Marty’s decade is now 30 years in the past. Almost all time travel stories since "Back to the Future" reference it in some way in my opinion, at least in spirit. Gale and Zemeckis did a great job in making their story idea the center of the movie while using the time travel aspect to create adventure. The music will always be a great theme from 80’s media. One could argue that any blockbuster since the mid-70’s has been influenced by Steven Spielberg. Either he directed it, produced it, executive produced it or they look to his movies for guidance. The "Back to the Future" trilogy even has his name at the start of each movie and the music you hear when that happens in Parts II and III may even remind us of the power and wondrous nature of his work. The trilogy showed to the world that Spielberg’s influence alone can create magic and fun.

5 Stars