all the time you need...
 Jul 12th, 2006
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extra material not available elsewhere
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not enough time to watch them all . . .
Recommendable:
Yes
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Love anything to do with technology, IT Tech and cars. Always on the lookout for new opportunites an...
Member since:17.03.2006
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Review rated by 23 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
Time travel has always fascinated the science fiction community and this trilogy basically introduced the idea of time travel to the film industry. So, if you want to blame someone for time travel movies which you sometimes do not understand, blame Steven Spielberg.
Back to the Future This is the movie which started it all.
Starring in this movie were Michael J. Fox (as Marty McFly), Christopher Lloyd (as Dr. Emmett Brown), Lea Thompson (as Loraine McFly - Marty's mother), Crispin Glover (as George McFly - Marty's father). Dr Brown and Marty McFly were very close friends, and Dr Brown invented a time machine out of a car (a De Lorean, no less) and during their test drive, Dr Brown was murdered by terrorists and Marty escaped in the car, accidently sending him back into time into 1955 - thirty years prior to 1985.
During his time in 1955, Marty meets his parents and interupts their first meeting, therefore interfering with Marty's future - if his parents do not meet and fall in love, then he will never be born. The rest of the movie is about Marty and Dr Brown trying to get Marty's parents back together and about Dr Brown trying to figure out a way to get the DeLorean powered up to make the trip back to 1985 (the car was nuclear powered and in his hurry, Marty forgot to pack extra plutonium).
Back to the Future: Part 2 At the end of the first movie, Dr Brown shows up in his DeLorean and tells Marty and his girlfriend Jennifer that something has to be done about their kids - so they go to the year 2015.
There, Biff (someone who used to bully Marty's father since high school days) saw the DeLorean and used it to his
own gain, delivering a book (which contained important information about the future) to himself, back in 1955, throwing time off course. From there, Marty and Doc Brown have to return to 1955 to retrieve and destroy the book before Biff can get to use it. As a result of going back to 1955, we get quite a lot of flashbacks from the first movie, which were done so that you could appreciate them from another view / angle.
However, at the end of the movie, the DeLorean was struck by lightning and it accidently went further back into time, landing Doc Brown in 1885. Back to the Future: Part 3
Here, we meet a new character - Mary Steenburgen as Clara Clayton. Marty goes back to 1885 with the help of the Doc Brown from 1955. In 1885, Doc Brown and Marty meet "Mad Dog Tannen" - Biff's grandfather in the old west, who was a bully just like Biff and Griff (Biff's grandson in Part 2). Doc Brown saves Clara from plunging off a cliff and soon falls in love with her, because of their similar interests in science, particularly astronomy.
Also, Marty (because he was unknown in that time period) went by the name Clint Eastwood and even falls prey to Tannen's taunting and takes his challenge to a shootout at eight o'clock Monday morning - when they have to hijack the train they plan to use to get the time machine functioning properly again. Using a technique he saw in one of Cline Eastwood's movies, Marty defeats Tannen in 1885 and they manage to return to 1985, where Doc Brown asked Marty to destroy the time machine, because its use only caused pain and could cause irreparable damage to time itself.
My thoughts: Each movie was a classic unto itself - although I would call the first movie my favourite. The first movie of the trilogy is the icon by which most time travel movies are judged, whether most people realise it or not. However, while essentially a science fiction movie (this is about time travel, after all) the movies are very light hearted and serve up some pretty good comedy and drama.
Acting was superb by each person involved, the story line was simple and yet was very entertaining, special effects were very good, considering that this movie was made in 1985, or somewhere thereabouts. But, in spite of being made in 1985, the movie does not feel very dated, because in spite of the original 1985 backdrop, followed by the 1955 setting, it feels as though time itself is not much of an obstacle. Characters were very well put-together - maybe a bit better than other movies - because one had to be able to relate to them and be able to tell that they were the same persons, but in different time periods.
Music and soundtrack - I would say that this trilogy had its moments and the only real moments that I can easily remember are the first few moments in the old west in Part 3: your typical music found in most western movies. However, even though the time and place was that of a western movie, the movie itself was not a western - it was the west seen through the eyes of two guys from 1985. History and time travel mechanics were dealt with very well - in the extras, Speilberg and Zemeckis each said that they did not want to have to burden the audience with a series of historical facts which they would have to remember to bring some sort of realism to the movie, but instead just crammed everything they needed to know into the first 5 minutes.
Time travel - according to scientists - is an impossiblity, and therefore, without making things too complicated, the directors and those in charge of the storyline made it in such a way that it wasn't confusing, but there was some logic to it, which the audience could understand without having to be rocket scientists (I wish most other directors would follow this rule). Extras:
The extras are spread across 3 DVDs. Each movie has separate soundtracks, on which are director / actor commentaries, where they share valuable information on how they did certain scenes, what they needed to do to get into shape to do a certain part and so on. Also, there was the classic Making of the Movie on each disk, where they show what was required in making each movie; there were also movie trailers; there was also one advertising show with Kirk Cameron (80's sitcom: Growing Pains) where he answered fan mail (but may feel a bit dated, since it was originally produced in the 1990's after Part 3); and for those absolutely confused, there was one section which explains time travel concepts, limits and possibilities and the whole idea of traveling through time. There are also tons of still photos of actual production shots (you should see Spielberg's hairstyle back then), concept drawings of the time machine (the DeLorean car), poster designs leading to the official layout with Michael J Fox looking at his watch under the door of the DeLorean. Long story short: these three movies are classics and are highly recommended, especially if you like science fiction. Do not give this as a gift, because you will want to keep it after you realise how good these movies are.
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![Back To The Future/Back To The Future - Part 2/Back To The Future - Part 3 [DVD] [1985]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/81278034.jpg)
by (13%):
12.07.2006 14:13
These used to be my favourtie films as a kid. I had such a crush on Michael J Fox! x x
12.07.2006 12:13
I love these films - must have seen them half a million times!! Very good review. Sam.
12.07.2006 11:26
Nothing beets the 1st and original part!