Back to the Future

The ’80s spirit moved me once again, rousing from its slumber with an impromptu viewing of Back to the Future. Hopefully this reboots the site into a more frequent rotation of posts and other features. As a gift to my reader(s) and myself, I’m starting up the time machine with an entire week dedicated to the Back to the Future series, including features on all three movies, the music and the Ride! We start at the beginning…

I consider myself a fairly cultured cinema buff. I took enough creative writing and screenwriting classes in college to understand quality movie plotting and dialogue. Some friends and I have set out to watch every Oscar-nominated movie in history (going backwards) and are currently up to 1968. That is 40 years of what the movie industry has deemed to be the best pictures. And I’ve frequently gone beyond those films into all sorts of critically-acclaimed genres. I’m by no means an artsy or indie film buff but my cinematic sensibilities have matured significantly over the years. And yes…there’s still a very big part of me that digs a popcorn movie, many of which have ended up being my personal favorites. 

That all said…I think this makes me qualified to offer this objective declaration and not just your typical hyperbolic blog banter:

Back to the Future is a perfect movie. 

Movies are frequently judged by their relevance in a time period. I’m not talking about period piece movies…I’m talking about their connection to the time of the movie’s release. Much in the same way music’s popularity is so intrinsically connected to an era’s culture. However, a great movie doesn’t get “trapped” in its era only to become irrelevant not long into the next decade or generation. It epitomizes the time and becomes a classic for the generation of that era. And not only informs movies into the next era, but becomes a constant reference point deeper into the future. 

 

Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox controlling the coolest remote control car ever.

 

Back to the Future isn’t throwaway ’80s fare. I will readily admit that some of my favorites from the decade don’t stack up well these days. A lot of those movies revel in ’80s traits that people eventually shunned. And in many cases, those traits disappeared so quickly that the children of that decade never grew into adults (young or old) that ever acted the way many did in ’80s movies. As much as I loved St. Elmo’s Fire, by the time I was old enough to act like Rob Lowe’s character, I was so far detached from his character’s way of thinking. 

Back to the Future is a natural epitomization of the decade and yet itches to move out of the decade in both directions. It uses another famously positive Hollywood era in the ’50s to offer a startling contrast to 1985 and never stops to hit you over the head with the subtext that so much is exactly the same for the characters living in those eras. Sure the fashions, music and some of the culture sit squarely in 1985, but its most endearing connection to the ’80s is its exuberant optimism and boundless whimsy. Like a good ’80s movie, it never takes itself too seriously and not only entertains the audience but sends them home feeling inspired. Perhaps it goes hand in hand with the unbridled hope of adolescence in a fairly innocent time. There just aren’t a whole lot of movies like that anymore.

As for the movie itself, I don’t see a need to offer a critical review here because I can’t imagine you’d be here without having seen it. As for backing up my bold claims about the movie’s “perfection.” I recently watched it again on DVD, with a sharpened critical eye, and simply could not find any flaws in the movie. I’m sure a cynical nitpicker will drag out plot holes or even dare to suggest issues with the movie’s science. To those I say, “make like a tree and get outta here.” Back to the Future seeks to entertain you in a specific fashion and expertly succeeds. 

 

Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) gives his father (Crispin Glover) tips on how to pick up his Mom.

 

Marty McFly, expertly played by ’80s icon Michael J. Fox, embodies the spirit of the ’80s teen embarrassed by the perceived hokiness of the era of their parents’ youth. And yet now we all kinda look back at the ’80s in the same ironic or embarassed way. (We’re only six years away from the “far flung” future that Marty and Doc visited in Back to the Future Part II!) It’s almost as if the film knew exactly how we children of the ’80s be viewing it in our adulthood many years later. 

Fox and Christopher Lloyd (as the truly genius Doc Brown) topline the film and created such an indelible cinematic pairing that it’s not a stretch to call their roles cinematic icons. (Ironic that the two had literally just come from iconic television roles as Alex P. Keaton and Reverend Jim respectively.) Not to be outdone, the duo are joined by three key co-stars. Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson all established their adult roles early in the film only to turn it those roles on their heads as we see them in their high school incarnations. All five characters offered up so many memorable lines that even had President Reagan quoting the movie! 

And then there’s the DeLorean time machine. What boy didn’t salivate at the prospect of one day owning a car just like that? Hell, even in this day of uber-effects and CGI, the DeLorean ranks as an ultimate geek machine. A major credit to director Robert Zemeckis and writer Bob Gale for conceptualizing a time machine in a sports car. As one documentary noted, the problem with time machines is that you can’t take them with you. And as Doc Brown says “if you’re going to time machine into a car, why not do it with some style.” 

And if you’re going to make a movie about time travel, why not do it with some style! It’s not a formulaic movie…it’s the movie that perfected the formula. Nobody handed it an Oscar and nobody’s here to say that the movie breaks major ground in film. It’s just an absolutely remarkable piece of entertainment that almost immaculately captures the spirit and excitement of its time.