Review of Back to the Future (1985) by Kai82 — 09 Apr 2021

It is a timeless classic and one of the movies everyone has seen or at least heard of. Also for many this is one of the quintessential time travel movies and science fiction comedy. The strengths are the great cast, the good immersive story and that it has nearly a perfect pacing / build up.

At the time of writing it is over 35 years old and still works for new and old viewers. It is the story of the teenager Marty McFly who comes from a struggling family with many problems. One night he meets Dr.

Emmet Brown on a parking lot who claims to be his friend. There he shows him his newest invention which is a time machine he build into / with a modified DeLorean car. Sidenote: The DeLorean motor company was an American car manufacturer which got bankrupt in 1982.

They are remembered for the gull wing doors and for this movie. In short their name entered pop culture history while they had no commercial success. Back to the movie. After some events I wont spoil Marty is stuck in the past on 05.

11.1955 and has no way to return back to his time without help (To be precise he is technically home ). However this is not his biggest problem as time travel has consequences too or will have if you don't act carefully.

I am vague here to not spoil the story. It has a great pacing, good twist and the actors enhance this with their performance. I rewatched this movie countless times and it has still nostalgic value. The movie has something everybody can relate to.

Lets start with the great cast. This is Michael J. Fox signature role as Marty McFly and he is universally liked if not loved. It is such a natural performance that wins you over immediately. I cant picture anyone else in this role.

Same goes for Christoper Loyd as Doc Brown. He nails the role of eccentric scientist. These 2 are perfectly for this movie and became pop culture legends in these roles. It stops not here as we get Thomas F.

Wilson as Biff Tannen. He is one of the favorite bad guys in cinema and his performance is just great. I will praise Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover for their performance but wont spoil much. For all of these the movies became one of their most well know performances.

I say we got a great cast and no missteps. Then I want to point out the special effect. It is amazing how good it looked back then. ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) are just the masters of special effects and also the gold standard.

Even today it would be acceptable and I have seen worse from much newer movies. They got the look of 1955 right or the expectations. Everything looks and feels right. I must of cause talk about the soundtrack by Alan Silvestri.

The “Back to the Future” theme is universally know but “The Power of Love” became a timeless classic too. It is even played today in the radio and often reaches top positions in best movie songs.

The rest is also excellent and worth buying. Before I forget it I must also praise director Robert Zemeckis who is in general not recognized enough for his works. Lastly I want to address the well done humor.

They get the mixture of humor and seriousness right. Nothing harms the other and you will be entertained greatly. Overall this became rightfully a classic and started a successful franchise (It has no weak movies.

Naming part 3 weak is nitpicking at best). It is the kind of movie that you will rewatch from time to time and have fond memories off. Fully recommend it as it is pop culture history.