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Back to the Future
USA 1985
produced by Neil Canton, Bob Gale, Kathleen Kennedy (executive), Frank Marshall (executive), Steven Spielberg (executive) for Amblin Entertainment, Universal
directed by Robert Zemeckis
starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, Thomas F. Wilson, Claudia Wells, Marc McClure, Wendie Jo Sperber, George DiCenzo, Frances Lee McCain, James Tolkan, J.J. Cohen, Casey Siemaszko, Billy Zane, Harry Waters jr, Donald Fullilove, Lisa Freeman, Cristen Kauffman, Elsa Raven, Will Hare, Ivy Bethune, Jason Marin, Katherine Britton, Jason Hervey, Maia Brewton, Courtney Gains, Richard L. Duran, Jeff O'Haco, Johnny Green, Jamie Abbott, Norman Alden, Read Morgan, George 'Buck' Flower
written by Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale, music by Alan Silvestri, visual effects by ILM
Back to the Future
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) is a carefree high school student who
doesn't think any further than his next date with his girlfriend Jennifer
(Claudia Wells), when his best friend, mad scientist Doc Brown
(Christopher Lloyd) gives him a private demonstration of his latest
invention, a time machine (built into a DeLorean sports car) - but
unfortunately, to power the time machine, he had to trick a bunch of
Libyan terrorists out of their plutonium, and they just happen to pop by
to have their revenge on Doc ... and they shoot him dead. When they also
come after Marty, he does the first thing his instinct dictates him, hops
into the DeLorean sports car and speeds away - accelerating all the way to
time travel speed, and eventually he lands in the year 1955, when his car
runs out of plutonium. Back then, he does the only thing he can think of
doing, he hooks up with a younger version of Doc (who looks exactly the
same) and somehow gets him to use his scientific genius to come up with a
way to power his DeLorean enough to send Marty back - and fortunately,
Marty knows when exactly lightning will strike the local clocktower, which
is a mere week away. But in the week Marty has to spend in 1955, he
saves his father's (Crispin Glover) life but somehow makes his mother (Lea
Thompson) fall in love with him instead of his father, and since he won't
be born if his parents don't get together, he has to help out a bit - but
problem is, dad's a total wimp, and the prime target of local bully Biff
(Thomas F. Wilson). Marty devises a plan to, at the night of a school
dance, pretend to ravage his mom (who isn't aware that she is his mom of
course) in the car, for dad to step in and be the hero of the day, but
first his mom is a bit too eager to be ravaged, and then Biff steps in,
has his boys take care of Marty, tries to rape mom ... and suddenly dad
shows up to save the day. And of course, Marty makes it just in time for
the lightning to strike and power his time machine - and back in time he
learns that Doc hasn't died after all but worn a bullet proof vest thanks
to a warning he at first ignored. And back in the here and now, everything
is much better, and Marty can look forward to a much better life - until
Doc hitches him and Jennifer away into the future ... Back
to the Future is one of the few mainstream Hollywood genre comedies and
time travel movies that gets it right: It's told in an entirely
light-footed way, features a likeable lead, and even if many of the other
characters are just caricatures, one can at least care for them. And while
the film's entirely family friendly, it never feels forced to be so. Also,
without relying on too much (unfounded) explanations, the film gets the
time travel concept right enough to not stand in the way of the plot and
also stand the test of a superficial examination. Good entertainment,
really, and while everything looks decidedly 1980s, the film still seems
somehow fresh today.
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