This series is dedicated to matching memorable movies with the signature day each year upon which I could watch them forever. Precisely one month after our last entry we come to October 21. A day always reserved for…
Back to the Future (1985, Universal/Amblin Entertainment, Robert Zemeckis)
For it was on that day in 1985, as the story goes, that Martin Seamus "Marty" McFly traveled back in time to save his and his parents' and siblings' present selves from permanent temporal erasure. And it was that same day in 1985 that Dr. "Doc" Emmett Lathrop Brown discovered the secret to time travel when he fell off a toilet and saw an image of the flux capacitor in his mind's eye.
There are great movies that have been remade and held firm, regardless of the remake's merit, and then there are greater movies that should forever remain as they were and never be remade for any reason whatsoever. Back to the Future is one such movie.
The most succinct way to describe how Back to the Future is so good is simply to say that it checks all the boxes. It's funny. It's sad. It's heartwarming. It's irreverent. It's cool. It's zany. It's effects driven. And it's character centered. From the opening scene, the music is iconic and indelible. I can hardly think of Huey Lewis and the News without picturing moments and feels from the film. And Alan Silvertri's soundtrack deserves to be honored among those (John Williams, Hans Zimmer, or Howard Shore) whose trilogy soundtracks often make more headlines. The casting is (ironically) unmistakable. There is no other actor on earth that can truly ever replace those that firmly live in the memory where this movie is concerned. It IS the vehicle by which the defining roles for both Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd will always be most remembered—actors both who before and since have gone on to have many other successes. The DeLorean time machine is easily one of the most iconic and cool on-screen vehicles ever committed to celluloid (right up there with the Batmobile, KITT, Ecto-1, and the "Turtle Van"). The script and dialogue are instantly recognizable:
"Great Scott!"
"Whoa! This is heavy!"
"What are you lookin' at, butthead!"
"1.21 gigawatts!" (said [JI-ga-watts]; slight mispronunciation intact)
"The Enchantment Under The Sea Dance."
"Silence, Earthling! My name is Darth Vader. I am an extra-terrestrial from the planet Vulcan!"
And the list goes on. Each one of those lines has a callback or serves some greater purpose in the overall plot and arc of the film (and, in fact, the whole trilogy!), and thus stand as more than just great one-liners. There are SOOO many little details and moments that carry importance and payoff across the film and its sequels. The original script, by Bob Gale and Zemeckis, is often exampled in film studies classes at the university level on how to write "a perfect screenplay." Is it perfect? Well, nothing is. But this movie and the '80s-rific trilogy it spawned will always stand tall on my Mt. Rushmore of greatest film series.
It's incredible when you watch the scene at Twin Pines Mall that occurs at 1:21 AM. Doc and Marty stand in the line of the car as it races toward them, building up to 88 mph. Based on Doc's reaction after the car flashes into the future, it's fairly simple to see that Doc is quite surprised and elated at the result. It's not clear whether Doc had practically tested the time machine prior to this event—though he probably had done at least some conceptualizing and miniature testing like he is shown to do later on—so I have to conclude that he wasn't 100% sure of the outcome. I mean, what if the time machine hadn't jumped through time and harmlessly disappeared in front of them? Instead, they both would have died from the collision! Given this, I think I have to agree somewhat with Principal Strictland's earlier estimation of Doc Brown's relative sanity. (S'ok though, Doc. There's a little crazy in every genius out there.)
My dad (a former Ag teacher) and I (an American FFA Degree recipient) have always admired the fact that the 1955 Hill Valley town square has a billboard that features the Future Farmers of America on it. A very minor but very real detail for anyone who ever grew up in rural America.
The cafe scenes with Biff are always entertaining. Comedian/actor Tom Wilson is pitch perfect in one of the all-time great villain turns that gets better and deeper with each movie in the series.
I love Doc's interpretation of the future stuff Marty brings/shows to him at his house. The radiation suit Doc is wearing in the video explains the nuclear wars, of course! In 1955, the specter of nuclear war would have been a very real danger. And his take on Marty's camcorder as being the reason why America elected an actor as president in the 1980s is such a rich slice of social commentary and dry humor. It all works so well without being hammy or forced. Like it was meant to be. (Maybe latter 20th century history happened the way it did so that Back to the Future could be made when it was! Right?!)
Doc's exchange with Marty about his parents when they're discussing their plan for how to ensure his parents' relationship turns out the way it should is easy to miss but great:
Doc asks, "What are their common interests? What do they do together?"
To which Marty replies, "Nothing."
It's funny, yes, but at it's core it's a scathing picture of the American marriage. People who were high school sweethearts and sort of did what everyone expected of them, got married, found a home in suburban "heaven," had 2.5 kids, and really don't love each other (anymore, at least). The earlier scenes at the McFly house fully illustrate this. That's real life comedy.
For a movie that can be seen as a "family film" by today's standards, it definitely has more than a few "damns," "shits," and "son of a bitches" exclaimed by various characters throughout. The movie's target audience is probably pre-teens up through any and all of those who have a sense memory of 1950s America. That's a pretty broad level of appeal, and it's not a movie that necessarily appeals more to males than to females.
The interplay between Marty and his dad, George, really makes the heart of the film. It's because of Marty's advice and persistence with George that his family is ultimately not only saved but made better by the end. This is Marty's growth from the tardy, guitar-playing-band-contest-reject "slacker" to the more mature and altruistic version of himself. George goes from a weak-spined, doormat doodler of a father to a confident, respected, and accomplished public figure and novelist. All because of a punch. Well, maybe not all because of a punch, but it's George's KO left cross to Biff that embodies his emergence from a peeping-tom "proto-incel" nerd to the more macho lover that he again becomes when he shoves the guy who cuts in on him and Lorraine during the dance. Through a modern lens, it may be a bit reductive to suggest that every red-blooded male must exhibit these same "high school football player-type" violent behaviors to realize their full potential. Maybe I'm getting a little too much into the weeds here as I don't think that's what the movie is trying to say. Needless, from a filmic storytelling standpoint, it's never not satisfying to watch George deck Biff like that.
Back to the Future is one of those rare movies that climaxes twice! The first is during and leading up to when Marty plays "Johnny B. Goode." The second is during the lightning storm/clock tower scene. They both feel deserved, not a bit redundant, and help to redeem all the doomed characters in the present (1985). The little setbacks and obstacles Doc and Marty have to hurdle to "catch that lightning in a bottle" are all paced and staged perfectly. You can be on your 20th viewing of this scene and still find it delightfully unsure whether Doc and Marty are going to make it! It's like watching a Rube Goldberg-esque ticking time bomb as it plays out. That's a classic.
You gotta love the confidence of the filmmakers to hang the story on the prospect of a sequel before the movie had even performed at the box office. "To be continued…"! Sequels like this one would go on to spawn, even in the day it was made, were not a foregone conclusion. It's almost as if Spielberg, Zemeckis, and Gale knew they had something special on their hands. It's almost as if they knew the road they were heading down.…
"Roads?! Where we're going, we don't need roads!"
October 21 — 3 of 365 logged
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