Time Travel Films

Back to the Future (A-)

STARS...
Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Thomas F. Wilson, and Crispin Glover.

PLOT SUMMARY...
A mad scientist sends a contemporary teen back to the 50's, where he meets his own parents.

QUICK SCAN...
This film could be compared to "Peggy Sue Got Married". Christopher Lloyd is fun to watch, as Doc Brown, the inventor of a time traveling car. The FX depicting time travel are excellent. A subplot involving Lea Thompson, as Fox's future mom, having the hots for him is rather squirmy. A highlight of the film involves Fox inventing rock & roll.

DIRECTOR: Robert Zemeckis
YEAR & RATING: 1985 (PG)

BEST BETS:

Back to the Future 3
Buckaroo Banzai

SYNOPSIS...
A teenager, Marty, travels from 1985 to 1955, courtesy of Doc Brown and a Delorean with the time-travel custom options package. Back in '55, Marty passes himself off as the new kid in town. He has a vital mission: to get his parents to meet and bond significantly, in order that HE would be born in the future.

Marty tries to get his future folks together, with limited results. Instead, future mom puts the romantic moves on him. Ick! The time traveling teenager invents Rock n' Roll, (with a little help from Chuck Berry). He also manages to get his future parents together.

With time running out, and the aid of Doc Brown, and a bolt of lightning, Marty goes back to the FUTURE. Back in '85, his parents lives have improved drastically.

Review:

BACK TO THE FUTURE is a fast moving, "What if," story; in this case, the what if being, "What if you could travel back in time and meet your parents when they were teens".

Director Robert Zemeckis ("Romancing the Stone", "Roger Rabbit", "Forest Gump"), working from a Screenplay he Co-Wrote with old U.S.C. film school pal. Bob Gale, sets things in motion by having Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), meet Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd, of "Taxi" fame), the local eccentric scientist, outside the mall late at night. Soon, Marty will be traveling back in time, to 1955, where he meets his parents before they became girl friend/boyfriend,.

The time machine is built into a Delorean, which is a creative stroke, and makes for an eye pleasing prop. At one point, Lloyd points to a gizmo inside the car, stating, "The flux capacitor makes time travel possible". Lloyd's dialogue is filled with this kind of pulp, Sci-Fi pseudo-science lines, which he delivers with great enthusiasm.

Michael J. Fox ("Family Ties"), sort of the Mickey Rooney of his generation, is constantly on the go; whether on foot, skateboard, or whatever. He's kind of a human perpetual motion machine, and may be one of the few actors who could have pulled off this character. His natural high energy streak is in sync with the character, Marty.

The fact that Fox only has so much time to turn his future mom and dad into, "An item", or he will cease to exist, adds a lot of forward momentum to the film. The sub-plot of having his future mom (Lea Thompson, who was also in "Howard the Duck" and "Article 99"), have the hots for him is a bit squirmy, but it doesn't interfere with the action or the fun.

My favorite scene is where Michael J. Fox plays Rock 'n Roll legend Chuck Berry's immortal, "Johnny B. Goode" at the 50's high school dance. Rock 'n Roll purists may object, but for the rest of us, it's a rousing, entertainment bonanza.

Al Silvestri's Musical Score is polished and fluid. Huey Lewis and the News,' "Power of Love," was introduced in this film, and the tune, (and it's message), fits the film like hand in glove.

BACK TO THE FUTURE should be highly watchable for most Sci-Fi fans. If you're fond of Fox or Lloyd, you're in for a particular treat, as these actors play well off each other.

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