*****DELOREAN-SIZED SPOILERS!*****

This past Saturday, my friend Kathy (whom I’d known 35 years) and her 12-year old son Joshua came over for a marathon of the “Back to the Future” trilogy—all three films in one day.  Joshua is a huge fan of 1980s movies, and after becoming enamored with “Ghostbusters” as a little boy, he really wanted to see the “Back to the Future” trilogy next.  Being the good uncle, I invited them over for a day where we would—once again—convert my garage into an ad hoc movie theater; firing up both the digital projector and the popcorn.  Having not seen a double, let alone triple feature for decades, it was a trip ‘back in time’ for me, as well.  Unfortunately, Joshua’s dad had to work, and my wife Jules couldn’t make it (she was out of town), but she gave our day of movie madness her full blessing.

My wife and I had invited Joshua and his parents over for other such garage theater nights before; introducing him to the original “Star Wars” trilogy on our ‘biggish’ screen (nearly 7 ft, or 2 meters) back when he was all of 9 years old, along with a handful of other movies, including “The Princess Bride,” and two of the “Harry Potter” films.  He loved Star Wars so much that he once cosplayed as Luke Skywalker both for Halloween and for Star Wars Celebration 2022 in Anaheim. He’s also cosplayed as Harry Potter on multiple occasions (it’s become his go-to Halloween costume, in fact). The kid’s a natural.

We’d also taken Joshua to a local convention called Comic Con Revolution a few times, where he’d seen replicas of the Back to the Future (BTTF) DeLorean, as well as the Batmobile, and other famous cars.  After recently learning of his wish to see the “Back to the Future” movies, his mother and I immediately hatched the idea of doing a few movie nights for the BTTF trilogy. I then had the even crazier notion of doing all three movies in a single day (“Great Scott!”). This was something I was curious to try myself, having originally seen the movies in release order, with the last two films four and one years apart, respectively (1985, 1989 & 1990). I wondered how they would flow together as one story?

For hunger and atrophy’s sake, Kathy and I planned the day so we’d go out for lunch around noon (a fast food place nearby did the trick), then watch the first two BTTF movies back-to-back before taking a walk to the park up the street to stretch our limbs and get some fresh air. Afterward, we’d return for a perfunctory dinner of leftovers (and popcorn) before seeing the final movie.  As a 57-year old riddled with arthritis (courtesy of a motorcycle accident 30 years ago), the idea of sitting through a triple-feature sounded as daunting as swimming the English Channel. If I don’t take regular breaks to stretch my limbs, I’ll pay a price in mobility later on. Fortunately, Joshua (a Boy Scout) is a very physical kid who loves hikes, swimming, and of course, visiting our local park whenever he comes over, so this was a no-brainer.  

With our comfy patio chairs dragged into the darkened garage (with a $5 black twin sheet draped across the garage’s only window), I had our Epson EF-12 digital projector set up and ready to go; it’s exceptional brightness more than did the trick for midday movie-watching.  I also had our strong little Bose Bluetooth speaker resting on the garage’s cement floor—to give the movies a bit more acoustical oomph.

With everyone comfortably seated, fed, and ready to go, it was time to go “Back to the Future” with the first movie, from that bygone era of 1985 (the year I graduated high school, incidentally…).

The first movie really kicks it into high gear early in the morning on Saturday, October 26th 1985, when high-school student Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) agrees to help his mildly deranged friend and local scientist Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown (Christopher Lloyd) perform an experiment using a retro-fitted DeLorean in the Twin Pines Mall in their hometown of Hill Valley, California.  With Marty’s assistance, Doc first performs a one-minute time jump into the future with his dog and test subject, Einstein.  He then adds a fresh plutonium pellet and prepares himself to ‘embark on an historic journey’ to the future himself.  At that critical moment, the Doc is then found by terrorists who are enraged with him for using their stolen plutonium for his own experiments instead of their weapon. The terrorists shoot Doc dead, and Marty takes off in the DeLorean, accidentally activating its ‘time circuits.’ Doc’s last input destination date was November 5th, 1955; the day he first conceived of time travel.  Unaware the time circuits are engaged, Marty then accelerates past 88 MPH in order to outrun the terrorists, which propels him backward in time…

Note: Ever since I first saw the original movie at age 19, I’d always wondered exactly how Doc and Marty met (tutoring on science homework, would be my guess…?), but I also wondered how disturbed Marty’s family would be if they knew the tremendous danger Doc routinely placed the 17-year old in, including having him come out to a mall parking lot at 1 am in the morning and facing armed terrorists…

Arriving in 1955, Marty accidentally interferes with his parents’ first meeting and becomes the object of affection for his boy-crazy teenage mother, Lorraine (Lea Thompson). Marty then enlists the aid of a younger Doc Brown after presenting proof of his wild story. With no extra plutonium for a return trip, Doc gets the idea of harnessing a bolt of lightning predestined to strike the town’s clock tower at exactly 10:04 pm the following Saturday (thanks to a lucky  leaflet Marty had in his jacket pocket).  The longer Marty stays in the past, the likelihood of getting his nerdy father George (Crispin Glover) to romance his randy mother grows increasingly remote.  To further complicate things, the school bully (and George’s future boss) Biff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson) has lewd designs on Lorraine, as well. 

Note: In addition to the Swiss-watch comedic timing of Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, the performances of Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson are simply amazing; it’s hard to believe that nearly half of this movie was originally shot without Michael J. Fox. Director Robert Zemeckis made the expensive-but-correct choice to let original star Eric Stoltz go, once Michael J. Fox became available. No offense to the talented Eric Stoltz (“Mask,” “Caprica”) but the charismatic Fox was simply born to play the role of Marty McFly.

At the school dance the following Saturday, a conflux of circumstances leads to timid George stopping Biff’s sexual assault on Lorraine by knocking Biff unconscious—something George had never done in the past or future.  George’s chivalry turns Lorraine’s affections towards him, and away from her future-son, Marty (yeah, the potential incest angle is still pretty gross).  Before playing “Earth Angel” and “Johnnie B. Goode” with Marvin Berry (yes, cousin of Chuck) and the Starlighters at the school dance to solidify his parents’ romantic bond, budding guitarist Marty then meets Doc at the clock tower, where he tries to warn Doc with a note about the deadly terrorists.  Not wanting to spoil his own future, Doc rips up the note. He then sends Marty forward in time just as the lightning bolt strikes the clock, sending “1.21 gigawatts” through cables to a contact pole fixed atop the passing DeLorean…

Note: Biff’s near-rape of Lorraine plays a lot differently today than it did in 1985; it is much more disturbing in the post MeToo era than it was in the 1980s, where sexual humiliation was often played disturbingly for laughs (see: “Revenge of the Nerds,” “Porky’s,” “Sixteen Candles,” “Zapped” etc).

Arriving back in 1985, Marty finds the gunned-down Doc still alive!  He wore a bulletproof vest after piecing Marty’s warning note back together.  After saying their goodbyes, Doc takes the DeLorean forward 30 years, after taking Marty home…which Marty finds greatly changed, thanks to George McFly’s new confidence, which he only got after punching Biff out in 1955.  This new timeline sees George as a successful sci-fi author, while his former boss Biff is now outside detailing the family BMW.  Newly arrived Marty is about to take his girlfriend Jennifer Parker (Claudia Wells) for a ride in his new truck when they’re interrupted by Doc Brown, who’s arrived from 2015 to recruit Marty and Jennifer to help their future kids!  The modified DeLorean now features an easy-use ‘home fusion reactor’ and a hovering mode which allows it to fly (naturally…). 

Next came the words for the home video version that were NOT in the film’s original theatrical release: “To Be Continued…”

Note: It is a bit disturbing that the family Marty is with at the end of the film is technically a McFly family from another timeline and not his own, but this is a sci-fi comedy, not to be take too seriously; that is, until Part 2.

Well, Joshua absolutely loved the first movie.  I was concerned that scenes of Biff bullying George or assaulting Lorraine might be too intense, but Joshua took it all in stride. He also laughed at all the right moments, including a few I didn’t expect. His mother Kathy had seen BTTF many years before, but had forgotten much of it, so it was pretty much a new experience for her as well.  Add to that, we watched the movie in a darkened space on a large screen with a crisp, Blu-Ray picture and Bose sound, so it was probably as close to a theatrical presentation of BTTF as we could have today, save for going back in time to the 1980s ourselves.  Even better, because we could pause the movie at any point to use the bathroom! A little luxury not afforded in theaters, then or now…

We then immediately popped in the sequel, 1989’s “Back to the Future Part 2” (BTTF2)…

BTTF2 begins with Doc, in his now-flying DeLorean, taking Marty and a recast Jennifer (now played by future Oscar-winner Elisabeth Shue) to October 15th, 2015, in order to prevent their son, Marty Jr. (Fox again, in the second of multiple roles) from joining bionic gang member, Griff Tannen (Thomas Wilson again) in a dangerous robbery.  With Marty taking his bullied son’s place, that future is avoided after a fantastic hoverboard chase through the town square, but not before Griff’s bitter grandpa Biff manages to temporarily steal the time-traveling DeLorean with a copy of “Gray’s Sports Almanac”; a book containing sports statistics from 1950-2000. Marty originally bought the book to ‘innocently’ cheat at gambling earlier in the film, but Doc threw it away… just before an eavesdropping Biff stole the accursed almanac for himself. 

Note: Bit of trivia; as of October 16th, 2015, all BTTF movies are now set in the past (!). Anyway, the movie’s 2015 is far different from the one we experienced 9 years ago. Beyond a distinct lack of flying car-filled skyways, it’s more an extension of the 1980s, with lots of spandex and neon hues, as well as fax machines everywhere (which also went out of style some years ago). BTTF2 did get flat screen TVs and video-conferencing right, but not much else. Nevertheless, the movie’s what-if 2015 is comically stylish, and a lot of fun. In fact, it makes me nostalgic for a 2015 that never happened.  Sadly, actress Claudia Wells wasn’t able to reprise the role of Jennifer Parker, as her mother was seriously ill at the time. Today, Wells is a successful businesswoman, running a boutique in Beverly Hills. Having met Wells in 2015, I learned that her son has my name, and that she’s a delightful person.

We then see Doc, Marty and an unconscious Jennifer arriving back in 1985, where they find their present has been greatly altered. The entire town has gone to hell, with toxic smokestacks dominating the skyline of this alternate Hill Valley.  At the center of town, Marty finds a giant casino and hotel resort called “Biff Tannen’s Pleasure Palace,” which now stands in place of the old courthouse.  In this version of 1985, dubbed 1985-A, older Biff has used to stolen almanac to make his younger self wealthy through gambling—allowing him to become the richest and most powerful man in town (taking a cue from Mr. Potter in 1946’s “It’s a Wonderful Life”).  Learning that his father George was murdered by Biff 12 years earlier in order to marry Lorraine, Doc and Marty realize they need to travel back to 1955; the year in which older Biff arrived from the future to give the almanac to his younger self—the singular event which created the 1985-A timeline.

Note: Following the classic ‘dark middle act’ structure, BTTF2 sees Marty at his lowest, when he realizes that this version of Biff killed his father.  It’s interesting that Doc refers to this timeline as “1985-A,” since the original ending of BTTF1 was already an alternate timeline, with a successful George usurping the henpecked, nerdier George remembered from Marty’s original childhood.  BTTF2 is certainly the most science fiction-heavy of the trilogy.  In one eerie future prediction, writers Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis have said that 1985-A’s Biff was loosely based on then-real estate conman and now former US president Donald Trump (may he remain an ex-president) in an uncanny forecasting of our current real-life political landscape. 

They arrive on November 12th, 1955, which is coincidentally, the night of the school dance where Doc also helped Marty return to 1985.  Spying on Biff, Marty hides in the back of Biff’s car as older Biff meets his younger self to give him the book.  Older Biff then leaves for the dance with the Almanac, locking Marty in his garage.  Marty is freed, and heads for the dance to grab the book and prevent Biff’s gang from beating up his other-self—the one currently onstage playing guitar with Marvin Berry and the Starlighters.  Marty nearly succeeds in grabbing the book and escaping, before being goaded by Biff, who calls him ‘chicken.’  This delay leads to Marty getting accidentally knocked unconscious with a gymnasium door swung open by his other self, who’s also in a hurry to get ‘back to the future.’   Marty reports his failure to Doc, who lands the DeLorean on the school roof.  Together, they go off in pursuit of Biff and the almanac…

Note: Actor Crispin Glover was not invited back for the sequel after a serious falling out with the production team over his salary. Glover was replaced in the film by reusing footage from the original film, as well as an actor in prosthetics (Jeffrey Weisman) for new scenes involving George McFly. Glover later sued Zemeckis and Universal for using his likeness without permission. The suit was reportedly settled for $760,000.

The DeLorean follows Biff’s car, and Marty uses a floating hoverboard (a souvenir from 2015) to steal the Almanac back and burn it, after Biff’s car runs into a manure truck (again), taking him out of the action. Just as Doc prepares to pull Marty back up to the hovering DeLorean, it’s struck by a random lightning bolt, which sends it back in time.  Marty thinks Doc might be dead, until a mysterious man from Western Union arrives with a letter left in their care from 1885. Marty reads the letter and learns the Doc is living happily in the Old West.  Marty then hurries back into the town square, where he meets 1955-Doc just after he sent the original Marty back to 1985.  Doc sees Marty and promptly faints. The movie ends with a trailer for Part 3, which includes a montage of Old West scenes. 

Then came the onscreen text, with the promise “To Be Concluded.” 

Note: At this point, Joshua was riveted, and couldn’t wait to see what happened next.  And even though I’d seen the entire trilogy several times at least, I have to admit, they flow together more effectively than I realized.  It left me just as eager to see the the final movie as well.  They really do feel like one continuous film.  In that regard, BTTF may be the most successfully-realized trilogy I’ve yet seen.

After a break and a refreshing 45-min trip to the park, followed by a quick meal of leftovers and freshly made popcorn, we then popped in the Blu-Ray of 1990’s “Back to the Future Part 3” (BTTF3):

The movie opens with Marty and Doc back in the Doc’s 1955 family estate mansion (before he squanders it on time-travel research).  At first, 1955-Doc thinks this second Marty is an apparition, until he’s convinced otherwise.  Marty tells him about the lightning strike, and shows Doc his own letter from 1885.  A trip to the library and the local cemetery reveals that 1885-Doc will be murdered by Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen (Thomas Wilson again) not long after writing his letter to Marty.  After they repair the long-hidden DeLorean using attached schematics in Doc’s letter, Marty now plans to use it for returning to 1885 in order to save the Doc’s life.  With 1955-Doc’s assistance, Marty returns to the Old West, where he’s immediately attacked by Native Americans (called Indians throughout the film), who are fleeing the US cavalry. With its fuel line ruptured, Marty hides the car in a cave, where he’s nearly attacked by a bear.  Fleeing the animal, Marty then trips and hits his head on the fence of the McFly farm, where he’s rescued by his Irish-born ancestor Seamus McFly (Fox) and his wife, Maggie (Lea Thompson).

Note: The cinematography for BTTF3 is arguably the most gorgeous of the three movies, with director of photography Dean Cundey (“Halloween,” “Jurassic Park”) pulling out all the stops to evoke the grand westerns of director John Ford (“The Searchers”).  Cundey also cameos as a still photographer during the Clock dedication party scene. Despite being a sci-fi/comedy, BTTF3 is a handsome western as well, looking every bit as polished as Clint Eastwood’s “Unforgiven” (1992) or George P. Cosmotos’ “Tombstone” (1993).  It’s arguable that BTTF3 may have been responsible for the brief resurgence of westerns in the early-to-mid 1990s (westerns were once a once hugely popular genre in American cinema). 

Marty awakens in the McFly farm of 1885, where he meets his ancestors, including his great grandfather William McFly, who is only a baby.  Seamus befriends this mysterious ‘stranger,’ who adopts the name “Clint Eastwood” (hehe).  “Clint” then makes his way to town, where he’s nearly hung by Buford Tannen and his gang before being rescued by Doc and his rifle, fitted with a high-power scope (“able to shoot the fleas off a dog’s back”).  Reunited, Marty learns that Doc has set up shop as the town blacksmith (and scientist). 

Marty then tells Doc about the DeLorean’s damaged fuel line.  Without gasoline, the car won’t be able to accelerate to 88 mph—which engages the flux capacitor and makes time travel work. Doc realizes they might be able to push the De Lorean up to 88 mph using a hijacked locomotive and with specially-treated logs for the boilers.  Meanwhile, things grow even more complicated as Doc meets the new schoolteacher Clara Clayton (Mary Steenburgen), and the two of them instantly fall in love. Realizing their wonderful whirlwind courtship can’t last, Doc finally tells Clara the truth about himself, and the heartbroken schoolteacher thinks he’s lying in order to break up with her.  Meanwhile, Marty is told a story by Seamus about his late cousin, also named Martin, who was killed in a knife fight caused by his own hot temper.  Something for the headstrong highschooler to ponder…

Note: An interesting role reversal with Marty becoming the adult of the movie, as he struggles to keep the lovesick Doc Brown on mission. Costar Mary Steenburgen fell in love with another time traveler in the charming 1979 fantasy “Time After Time,” which costarred her future (now ex) husband, actor Malcolm McDowell (“A Clockwork Orange,” “Star Trek: Generations,” “Blue Thunder”).  Steenburgen had worked with Christopher Lloyd in the 1978 comedy-western “Goin’ South,” which also costarred Jack Nicholson and the late John Belushi.

When Buford Tannen threatening to kill blacksmith Doc after one of his horses throws a shoe, Marty steps in and challenges Mad Dog to a gunfight on Monday morning before they’re due to take the DeLorean back to 1985. However, a depressed Doc is still hopelessly in love with Clara, and wants to stay in the Old West.  On Monday morning, Marty tries to get out of the gunfight, but is forced into confronting Tannen.  Outwitting the none-too-bright gunslinger with an improvised bulletproof vest, Marty defeats Buford and joins Doc in hijacking the train to push the DeLorean up to speed.  As the DeLorean is readied, Clara realizes her beloved “Emmett” (aka Doc) was telling the truth about himself, and rushes to meet his train. Clara barely gets aboard the fast-moving train to reconcile with her beloved Emmett, who announces to Marty he’s staying behind.  Marty tosses them the hoverboard, which Doc uses to get he and Clara off the train just as it accelerates the DeLorean into the future at 88 mph, and right before it runs off its incomplete track and spectacularly crashes at the bottom of a ravine…

Note: I met actor Christopher Lloyd (“Star Trek III: The Search For Spock”) once, at NostalgiaCon80s in Anaheim nearly five years ago. Lloyd was a lot more taciturn than one might expect, based on his typically over-the-top comedy roles. It only proved to me what a truly gifted actor he is, playing parts so very different from himself. The miniature crash of the train engine is an absolutely first-rate piece of model work that even modern CGI would be hard-pressed to duplicate. On that note, the ravine it crashes down was originally named “Shonash Ravine” in the film. Kids of Marty’s generation knew it as “Clayton Ravine” (as Clara met her fate there in the original timeline), and by the end of BTTF3, we see that it’s been renamed once again as “Eastwood Ravine,” in honor of the late ‘Clint Eastwood’ (Marty’s assumed identity in 1885). 

Marty arrives on the now-completed railway track in 1985, and barely manages to escape before an oncoming train destroys the DeLorean in another spectacular wreck.  A melancholy Marty now realizes the Doc is forever stranded in the past.  After reuniting with Jennifer and his family, Marty avoids a car accident that was supposed to unravel his own future.  Returning to the DeLorean wreckage, Marty is surprised to hear the familiar blasts of sound and light that accompany time travel.  A large steampunk-styled train suddenly appears on the track, and we see the Doc is now time-traveling in a steam locomotive of his own design.  Doc introduces Marty to his family; wife Clara, along with their two sons, Jules and Verne (the French sci-fi author Doc and Clara both enjoy).  Doc tells Marty and Jennifer that the future will be whatever they choose to make of it.  The Doc’s train then lifts off the track, before rocketing into the sky, once again traveling through time…

The onscreen text now reads “The End.”  The BTTF trilogy is officially over. 

Note: I have to admit, when I first saw BTTF3 at the ‘tender age’ of 23, I thought the time-traveling train was a bit much, but as a fifty-something old man, I saw Joshua’s face grinning broadly at the sight of it, and I realized that was who this ending was made for; to give younger fans a grand, ridiculous finale.  On that basis, I recant my younger-self’s more cynical take, and have since grown to appreciate that ending.  In a movie with time-traveling DeLoreans and floating Mattel hoverboards, what’s over-the-top, right?  To paraphrase the lyrics to the “Mystery Science Theater 3000” theme song, “It’s just a (movie), I should really just relax…”

Summing It All Up

After the marathon finished, around 8:15 pm or so, the three of us sat and talked for awhile.  Joshua couldn’t pick a single favorite movie of the three, and after watching them in sequence like this, I couldn’t either; they’re really one long story.  My go-to answer used to be Part 2, because I love its multiverse/dark chapter premise.  However, after this marathon, all three BTTF movies really do feel like a perfectly tripedal story; with each leg carefully yet firmly balancing out the other two. 

While I’m saddened that the über-talented Michael J. Fox is in the grip of a 30+ year struggle with Parkinson’s Disease, I’m also grateful that no greedy movie executives have decided to remake or reboot this perfect time capsule of 1980s cinema (at least not yet).  As I told my friend Kathy after the trilogy was over, these films are to the 1980s what the first movie was to the 1950s; an authentic period piece of a bygone era.  Most attempts at recreating the 1980s today almost always get it wrong; we didn’t all wear neon colors and spandex back in 1985. Most of us simply wore jeans, sneakers, t-shirts, and yes, even those dorky life-preserver jackets.  The first “Back to the Future” nails the 1980s so well because it’s a product of that era, just as 1969’s “Easy Rider” so authentically captures the free-wheeling hippie-bikers who went off looking for America in the late 1960s. “Back to the Future” already got the 1980s just right; you can’t achieve such authenticity ever again, unless you have access to a time machine, of course…  

Screenwriters Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis (“Contact”) also pack so many gags and Easter eggs that are paid off throughout the trilogy, such as Part 1’s “Twin Pines Mall” changing into “Lone Pine Mall” after Marty accidentally destroys one of Old Man Peabody’s two prized pine trees in 1955.  In the 1985-A sequence of Part 2, we see Biff in a hot tub watching Clint Eastwood’s “A Fistful of Dollars” (1964) whose centerpiece gunfight telegraphs the showdown we later see between Biff’s ancestor Buford and Marty in Part 3.  There’s also a scene in Part 2 where Doc admits he plans to dismantle the time machine and devote himself to that other great mystery of the universe… women (this is right before he falls in love with Clara in Part 3).  In the 2015 sequence of Part 2, 77 year old-Lorraine mentions a car accident which derails Marty’s future; the payoff for which is withheld until nearly the very end of Part 3.  The entire trilogy is scripted like—forgive the temporal pun—clockwork.  So many pieces fall into place with a breezy precision that belies the discipline that went into setting them up. 

In a way, I envy young Joshua, getting to see the trilogy as one continuous movie, rather than watching it in multiyear intervals, as we did back in my day.  Nevertheless, it was a genuine treat for me to vicariously relive this trilogy once more through the eyes of two ‘newbie’ audience members. If anything, it reaffirmed my own enjoyment of these films, which comprise one of the few damn-near perfect cinematic trilogies in existence. 

May they never sequelize or reboot it.

Where To Watch

The entire “Back to the Future” trilogy is currently available with a subscription to the Peacock streaming platform.  The trilogy is also available for streaming rental & purchase (prices vary) from YouTube, Prime Video, and AppleTV.  For physical media fans like myself, the trilogy is also available for purchase on DVD and Blu-Ray from Amazon and Barnes & Noble booksellers (once again, prices vary).