It is odd that I have not talked about this movie yet. Writers Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, who was also the director of this movie and the following sequels, were drafting the script 4 years prior to its release date and was given to multiple studios. All of the studios rejected its first draft. During the 1980s, teen comedies were surging ahead because of risqué and raunchy sex humor and even though some audiences appealed to it, most were getting tired of the routine sex teen comedies like Porky's and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. But, what was ironic is that the script was rejected for the material being too light.
You got to thank John Hughes for a new teenage movie resurgence with realistic characters with Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club as they are intellectual in its emotional perspective of the young human condition transitioning into young adulthood with some pressure. As this new wave of smart teen comedies were in play, Zemeckis' success with his previous movie, Romancing the Stone, was timed well as he approached Steven Spielberg with the concept again and allied with him at Amblin Entertainment. It is also impeccably timed to align with that current date of 1985 when the movie was released to immerse the audience into that world and connect with the characters. The movie could have been dated with its setting and premise, however, when thinking about the setting and premise, having seen the movie multiple times, I can assure you that I can say the Zemeckis' movie is one of the few movies that is simply a perfect movie because of its perfect screenplay.
The movie takes place in Hill Valley, California in 1985 where Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) goes to a utility shed, presumably a laboratory of some sort, as he messes with the amplifier system. He gets a phone call from Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) telling him to report to Twin Pines Mall at 1:15 am to show him something incredible. However, because of an experiment with his clocks, Marty tells Doc that he is late for school, and both he and his girlfriend, Jennifer (Claudia Wells), are confronted by Mr. Strickland (James Tolkan) for being tardy. Because of his failed attempt at a band audition, Marty is worried that he will be rejected in the future at life. Marty goes home where he encounters his father, George (Crispin Glover) being bullied by his supervisor, Biff (Thomas F. Wilson) and his mom, Lorraine (Lea Thompson), being depressed once again because of his Uncle Joey being rejected for parole.
Later that night or the following early morning, Marty meets Doc at the mall parking lot as the latter unveils the time machine out of the DeLorean. It is powered by stolen plutonium from the Libyan terrorists, who pressured Doc to build a bomb. Doc demonstrates the time navigation system that one will be sent to 1955. Unfortunately, the Libyans have found Doc and shoot him. Marty escapes in the time machine, inadvertently sending him to 1955, where he crashes into a barn without enough plutonium to get back to 1985.
After founding being stuck in 1955, Marty explores Hill Valley in such pristine and old-fashioned condition as he encounters George as a high schooler in the diner as George, yet again, gets bullied by young Biff and his gang for doing Biff's homework. Marty follows George as he is on the tree peeping on Lorraine as a high schooler and as George falls onto the street, Marty saves him but he gets hit by Lorraine's father's car. Marty wakes up in Lorraine's room as she is infatuated with him. She seduces Marty during the family dinner making him uncomfortable, knowing that Lorraine is his mother in the future. Marty leaves and goes to young Doc's house and tells him he is from the future and shows him the DeLorean, making Doc ecstatic thinking that it works because he drew a picture of the flux capacitor that makes time travel possible. They both figure out how to get Marty home and also to get his parents together because of a sticky situation with Marty being now the potential husband to Lorraine.
SPOILER ALERT!
There are a lot of themes and details surrounding time travel in this movie that makes the whole experience much more fascinating and fun. Half of Marty's mission is to get his Mom and Dad together to have a fruitful life. It makes you question of who Lorraine and George really are in their youth as they were quite different in the beginning as they were shown as slobs in different ways. They both have memories but do not have voices. With the combining themes of family and ambition, both George and Lorraine were shy people in their youth. Well, more George than Lorraine as the latter shows her sensual side to Marty as she is turned on to him. However, Marty mostly helps George get Lorraine by being ambitious to both Lorraine and also to Biff who is assaulting Lorraine in the car during the dance. You root for not just Marty getting home but George for getting the girl and being ambitious to stand up to Biff.
I admired that this movie about time travel was more personal than cliched because one teenager's fantasy would be on a clear path to another point of time in which maybe he will see what the dinosaurs are like or some historical settings. But, no, the elevator pitch is basically, a boy trying to save his life by getting his parents together so they can a fruitful life together to have Marty in the future. It is refreshing and entertaining. If you want to have more cheesy and wild fun surrounding time travel, another good movie would be Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.
Now, obviously, we have to go to the central theme of most science fiction movies and that is: time. Yes, you can say that it is a teen comedy of some sort but it is a science-fiction adventure with Marty stuck in the past. One can obviously raise certain questions as those questions mixes one's certain feelings toward the situation and toward other people like the parents. Can the present be affected by alternating the past or certain events? What will one's impressions be when you see people that you know in the present from the past? Will it change because of their looks? Here's a detail that will have your minds blown if you did not watch the movie carefully. So, Marty accidentally travels into 1955 but escapes from the barn obviously destroying a bit of the barn and a pine tree. Earlier, the movie had the sign "Twin Pines Mall" as Marty skateboarded into the parking lot, later on in the movie, the nice touch is that detail of the sign being "Lone Pine Mall" which is proof that changing the past can alter the future. To be honest, I did not notice that in my first viewing and that is quite subtle and astute.
Let's go very deep surrounding Free Will. You cannot control people's destiny but you can guide and steer them to make their own decisions. However, Doc wanted to solely travel to other places in the future and in the following sequels, we learn that time travel is dangerous as it make matters worse. It raises the question after he invented time travel in the DeLorean, is Doc "playing God"? Well, not in this movie, because he is not the central character of this movie. (Watch the third movie.)
However, what if Marty pushed George out of the way and George and Lorraine were to fall for each other just in theory? I would not think so because of their similar but odd personalities. It does make sense as Marty is holding the photo of himself and his siblings that in the order of both that they would disappear due to the likeliness of them not getting together is increasing. It does reverse back to the theme of time as free will is both a good and bad thing for Marty as he can go back to 1985 because of his plans but it is tested in both Lorraine and George getting together. Because of Marty's guidance and George's ambition, George's free will to save Lorraine and also kiss Lorraine during the dance is what saved Marty and his siblings before Marty himself vanished forever. In addition to the main stakes of getting back, the little stake underneath is whether Marty will survive.
Now, going back into minor details like as that sign change, subtle details like Marty writing a note to Doc before going back saying that he will get shot and Marty helping Lorraine and George ignite a new spark make a difference in 1985. It is wonderful that Doc wore a bullet-proof vest because of Marty's note and George and Lorraine have a happy marriage and George's book is being published because of his self-confidence and creativity. It is an enlightening change of life. Plus, Marty gets his new, cool truck. However, it is funny that Doc comes back from the future to tell Marty and Jennifer that their kids are trouble and it is left with a cliff-hanger. It is before the wave of sequels but it was the start as studios want to continue building on that success.
This is a timeless movie that cannot be remade or it is impossible to remake because we are accustomed to the likable characters, the excellent and clever storyline, the time travel scenarios, the dialogue, Alan Silvestri's fantastic score. I can also it is rare that I notice all the collaboration involved as the whole entire concept is melded beautifully in both an intellectual and emotional sense as it is paid off in the finale. You can study this movie as to how many themes and questions the movie and its sequels tackle but all in all, you can have great fun with this movie as it is also quite re-watchable.
Romancing the Stone was a success for Robert Zemeckis but it is Back to the Future that got him on the map that combines wit, humor and special effects to create an original movie. However, it all relied in execution and it succeeds quite strongly as nothing is added to make the movie become flawed. Because of its concept, it is a simple plot with complex questions. However, with the addition of a great chemistry between Fox and Lloyd and the humor with a Frank Capra vibe, the movie is a treasure in cinema. This is an excellent movie that again transcends not just intellectual science fiction, which Star Wars already did that, but transcends a fresh and fun angle of science fiction.
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