Our Film Classics Special kicks off with a movie that celebrated its 35th anniversary this year and still seems as contemporary, inspiring, and charming as when it premiered. So, let’s take a ride in probably the most famous movie car, the DeLorean, to travel to the past and BACK TO THE FUTURE.
THIS IS HEAVY
If you haven’t seen Back to the Future, you have an education gap. The film belongs with the kind of movies that have written real film history. Marty McFly, aka Michael J. Fox, left his mark on the style of an entire era. Because in the release year 1985, but also for a long time afterwards, Nike Shoes with Velcro fastener became a trend, and many proudly showed off their Casio Calculator Watches, which they had seen in the film.
BACK TO THE FUTURE I (116 Min)
The story is as funny as simple. It’s the summer of 1985 in the small town of Hill Valley. The rather eccentric student and guitarist Marty McFly is freshly in love. But he accidentally travels back to 1955 in the time machine invented earlier by his much older friend Dr. Emmett Brown.
Only one person can help him out here, Dr. Brown himself, who is already a whimsical tinkerer at this time, but has no idea what kind of machine he will one day invent. While searching for his friend, Marty meets his parents. Both are incredibly young teenagers, the same age as Marty. And they have never met before.
When Marty’s young mother falls in love with him and the future begins to change as a result, chaos is inevitable. To get everything back on track, Marty absolutely must go back to the future.
BACK TO THE FUTURE II (108 min)
After Marty’s journey to the past in the first part, the second part takes him to the future, more precisely to the year 2015. Here he meets the already beloved figures from the first part again. They have aged 30 and 60 years.
However, the time machine is stolen from the two travelers by the all-time villain Tannen. And so, the past changes. But this time, Marty and Dr. Brown are not stuck in time. Instead, they travel back and forth in time. They go from the present to the future, from there back to 1955, and even further.
It is very entertaining to see how Steven Spielberg (Executive Production) and Robert Zemeckis (Director) imagined 2015 in 1989, the production year of BACK TO THE FUTURE II. Even if we haven’t made all the great achievements that we can see in BACK TO THE FUTURE II yet, this part is also fascinating for its ideas, humor, and charm.
BACK TO THE FUTURE III (118 min)
The last part completes the trilogy with a trip to the Wild West. Here Dr. Emmett Brown lands after being struck by lightning in the flying DeLorean in the 2nd part. And it is here that Marty, who rushes to the Doc’s aid and now calls himself Clint Eastwood, has to deal with Buford Mad Doc Tennen.
The mean outlaw wants to duel with Marty after a small argument. However, this means a fight to life and death. No problem at all, because Marty has tracked down his smart friend, Dr. Brown. Too bad Marty was careless when he arrived in the past. Because the time machine is now out of fuel, but this fuel will only be available many decades later.
The circle is closed in BACK TO THE FUTURE III. Now, we also meet some Irish immigrants, Marty’s ancestors. Among them, there is the first McFly to be born in America. We also learn more about the invention of the Frisbee. Finally, we discover how important it is to wear a hat.
Comedy plays the main role in BACK TO THE FUTURE III. This part of the trilogy deals with many old and modern clichés par excellence. It’s simply cute to see the old professor falling in love. All in all, the film finished one of the best film trilogies ever with a timeless message.
MICHAEL J. FOX’S FIGHT AGAINST THE PARKINSON DISEASE
Michael J. Fox has had Parkinson’s disease for many years. He rarely appears on stage like he did when he appeared as Marty McFly on Jimmy Kimmel. In return, Michael J. Fox works tirelessly for the treatment and cure of this terrible disease, the causes of which are still unknown.
With the Michael J. Fox Parkinson Foundation, he has also made an enormous contribution to research into this disease. Many people therefore honor him for his great commitment. Among those people are even many celebrities like Coldplay. Together with Fox, they performed one of the songs with which Fox once demonstrated his musical talent in Back to the Future.
THE REMASTERED 4K VERSION
Even if the story of time travel wasn’t new, BACK TO THE FUTURE still holds absolute cult status today. The film is one of the “most influential films” of all time and is certainly a must-see.
The idea of being able to travel through time fascinated people long before BACK TO THE FUTURE. For example, “The Time Machine” by H.G. Wells was published as early as 1895 and became then a bestseller. The 1960 film adaptation of the same name was also highly successful and is still worth seeing today.
However, with its fresh, incredibly amusing, and cheeky story, which also quotes other film classics here and there, with its special effects and through the brilliant actors, above all Michael J. Fox, BACK TO THE FUTURE continues to set standards today. And so, the re-release of BACK TO THE FUTURE in 4K should not be missing in any decent film collection.
BONUS MATERIAL (excerpts):
- Q&A commentary by director Robert Zemeckis and producer Bob Gale
- Unreleased Scenes
- Stories from the future
- Q&A with Michael J. Fox
- Behind the Scenes
- Huey Lewis and the News – Power of Love music video
- Theatrical Teaser Trailer
- ZZ Top Doublepack music video
- FAQs about the trilogy
- Back to the Future: The Rollercoaster
WITH A RUNTIME OF APPROXIMATELY 118 MIN, THE BONUS BLU-RAY INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING FEATURES:
- The Hollywood Museum on the Trail of BACK TO THE FUTURE – Co-writer and producer Bob Gale embarks on a personal journey BACK TO THE FUTURE.
- BACK TO THE FUTURE: Behind the Scenes of the Musical – Sneak peek of the new musical, featuring Q&A with cast &crew and two new songs.
- A Different Future: Rediscovered audition tapes with now-famous stars.
- Would you survive in the BACK TO THE FUTURE movies?
- Magic and Science in BACK TO THE FUTURE – Find out what laws of physics were violated.
- A Message from Doc Brown (2015) – Doc Brown Saves the World.
- Outatime: The Restoration of the DeLorean
- A look at Back to the Future
- BACK TO THE FUTURE – The Animated Series
Time flies, but BACK TO THE FUTURE remains timeless.
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