Back to the Future (franchise)

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"Doc" Brown (Christopher Lloyd) and Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) watching the first test of the time machine.

Back to the Future is a movie trilogy written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, produced by Gale, and directed by Zemeckis during the 1980s. The three films in the trilogy are:

The films depict the adventures of time-traveling high-school student Marty McFly and inventor Doc Brown throughout several time periods in the past (1885, 1955), present (1985), and future (2015). The first film was the highest-grossing film of 1985 and became an international phenomenon, leading to two sequels which were filmed back-to-back and released in 1989 and 1990 respectively. The trilogy is widely noted for its irreverent comedy, eccentric characters, and ability to incorporate complex theories of time-travel into its world without confusing the audience. Though the two sequels did not perform as well at the box office as the first film did, the trilogy remains immensely popular after 20 years, and has yielded such spin-offs as an animated television series and a motion-simulation ride at the Universal Studios theme parks in Orlando, Florida and North Hollywood, California.

Main cast

Themes

A hallmark of the Back to the Future trilogy and a contributor to its popularity is its use of running gags, similar events and situations that recur in the different time frames. For example:

  • In Part I, in "Lou's Cafe" of 1955, Biff says to George McFly: "Hey, McFly, I thought I told you never to come in here." In Part II, that same space is occupied by "Cafe 80's" of 2015, where Biff's grandson Griff says to Marty (mistaking him for his son Marty Jr.): "Hey, McFly, I thought I told you to stay in here!". And in Part III, that same space is occupied by the Palace Saloon, where Biff's ancestor Buford says to Marty (mistaking him for Marty's great-great grandfather Seamus): "Hey, McFly, I thought I done told you never to come in here."
  • In Parts I and II Marty buys a soft drink in downtown Hill Valley and has difficulty opening it. The first time (at the Texaco station in 1955) because it is old fashioned, the second time (at the Cafe '80s in 2015) because it's futuristic.
  • In 1985 and 1955, Mr. Strickland is the high school's disciplinarian. In 1885, the same actor plays Sheriff Marshall Strickland.
  • In Part I there is a car dealership in 1985 Hill Valley named Statler Toyota, which is shown to be Statler Studebaker in 1955 Hill Valley. In Part III, there is a horse and buggy business in Hill Valley that goes by the name "Statler". In 2015, it becomes a Pontiac dealership that also sells hover conversions.
  • In 1985, Biff tells George, "Hello? Hello? Anybody home? Huh? Think, McFly. Think! I gotta have time to get 'em retyped. Do you realize what would happen if I hand in my reports in your handwriting? I'll get fired. You wouldn't want that to happen, would ya?" In 1955, Biff tells George, "Hello? Hello? Anybody home? Hey, think, McFly. Think. I gotta have time to recopy it. Do you realize what would happen if I hand in my homework in your handwriting? I'll get kicked out of school. You wouldn't want that to happen, would ya?".
  • In 1985, Biff tells George, on Friday evening at the McFly house, "Not too early, I sleep in on Saturdays", and in 1955, Biff tells George, on Saturday morning at Lou's Diner, "Not too early, I sleep in on Sundays".
  • In Part I, when Marty returns home to see that Biff crashed the family car, Biff says "Say 'Hi' to your mom for me." In Part II when Marty meets the elderly Biff in the 80's Cafe, Biff says "Say 'Hi' to your grandma for me", thinking that Marty is actually Marty Jr.
  • In Parts I and II Biff crashes his car into a manure truck. In Part III Buford collapses into a manure cart.
  • Titles in the movie tend to be oxymoronic, most notably the title of the movie itself, and the name of the town: "Hill Valley".
  • All three movies involve a chase scene early on in the movie through downtown Hill Valley. In Parts I (1955) and II (2015) these scenes involve variations of a skateboard, while in Part III (1885), Marty has no such transportation aid and loses the chase.
  • All three movies have a scene where a slightly bewildered Marty walks through Hill Valley observing the inhabitants and variations of that current time.
  • The time machine always leaves fire trails when it jumps through time, even in the sky, and three sonic booms are always heard when it appears in the destination time. After each trip, the delay between the three sonic booms becomes larger.
  • In each movie, Marty is knocked out and wakes up at the house of a relative. In Part I, it is his teenage mother in 1955, in Part II it's his mother in a drastically different present, and in Part III it's his great-great grandmother (who looks a lot like his mother) in the 19th century. In Part II, Jennifer is knocked out and awakens in her own future home to encounter her future family and self. In Parts I and III, he uses the name of someone famous (in his time, but not yet in the time he's visiting) instead of his own. In Part I, his mother mistakes the name "Calvin Klein" on his underwear for his, and in Part III, he claims to be named "Clint Eastwood".
  • Most of the characters have catch phrases that they use repeatedly throughout the movies. For instance, Doc Brown frequently exclaims, "Great Scott!", and Marty frequently says, "This is heavy!" In Part III, an amusing reversal occurs when, after a predicament manifests itself, Marty exclaims, "Great Scott!", to which Doc Brown replies, "I know, this is heavy!"
  • Marty's catch phrase is a constant source of dramatic irony as the inhabitants of the various time periods try to figure out how the situation is "heavy" in a literal sense.
  • In Parts II and III Marty shows off his video game shooting skills. In Part II it's in the 80's cafe on an old arcade game and in Part III it's at a demonstration booth for the Colt Peacemaker.
  • The big clock usually has some kind of role. In Part I, it is a key component in sending Marty "back to the future"; in Part III, it has just been set, and Marty and Emmett take a picture in front of it, which Emmett later gives to Marty as a "souvenir".
  • Parts II and III have Marty throwing something with a Frisbee technique at a Tannen. In part II it was a tray at Biff when he was Marty's step father. In part III it occurred at the party when Mad Dog was going to shoot Doc and Marty uses an empty pie pan.
  • In Parts I and III, Doc builds a model, "sorry, it's not to scale or painted", to demonstrate to Marty how the time travel will be done. In Part I, in 1955, Doc shows how the speeding DeLorean DMC-12 will intersect to capture the lightning bolt. In Part III, in 1885, Doc shows how the speeding locomotive will push the unfuelled DeLorean up to 88 mph as it reaches the incomplete bridge.
  • In Part I, Marty is about to kiss Jennifer when her father honks the horn of his car. At the end of that movie and the beginning of Part II, Marty is about to kiss Jennifer again, but is interrupted by the sonic booms that precede entry of the time machine. Towards the end of Part III, Marty and Jennifer finally kiss on the veranda of her family's house, he in old western garb.
  • At some point in each of the various time periods, Marty angers the Tannen of the age and usually tries to get out of it with the old gambit of pretending there's something behind him. ("Whoa, Biff, what's that?" while pointing beyond his shoulder.) What's worth noting is that, ultimately, this only works on Biff Tannen specifically: although Biff falls for it in both 1955 and in the alternate 1985 (and his goons also do, on one occasion), Biff's bioandroid grandson Griff doesn't and Buford Tannen never gives him a chance (thanks to his trigger finger).

DVD Release

In July 1997, Universal Studios announced that Back to the Future would be one of their first 10 releases to the new format. The footage that was shot with Eric Stoltz in the role of Marty McFly (before he was replaced with Michael J. Fox a few weeks into shooting) has never been officially released. This footage was not included in Universal's original DVD release in 2002 or in 2005, despite many fans hoping that Universal would include it.

Region 1

The Back to the Future trilogy was first released on DVD at the end of 2002 in both widescreen and fullscreen versions (in a blue box with Marty and Doc on the cover). Devoted fans of the films quickly noticed that the video of the widescreen version of Parts II and III contained numerous shots that had been framed incorrectly, either because the shots were too high or low to center the image correctly, or because they "zoomed in" on the image, eliminating portions of the image on all sides. (Because the movies were originally shot in open matte, the fullscreen version was unaffected by this.) Outraged fans quickly organized petitions demanding that Universal Studios correct the problem and re-release the DVD set.

In May 2003, Universal corrected the problem and issued "V2" (Version 2) DVDs, that could only be distinguished from the original, flawed DVDs by the mark of a small "V2" near the edge of the discs themselves (and, of course, by comparing the corrected video). However, they did not initially begin packaging the V2 discs with the trilogy box set that was being sent to retailers. Instead, Universal set up a toll-free phone number ((888) 703-0010 in the US) which owners of the original DVDs could call, and ask for a postage-paid envelope to be sent to them. The owner would send their flawed discs to Universal in the envelope, and would soon thereafter receive the corrected "V2" discs by mail. Because Universal did little to publicize this offer outside of the Internet and devoted fan circles, many have criticized Universal's refusal to issue a straight recall of the flawed discs and instead force concerned customers to jump through hoops just to get the correct video of the film.

In January 2005, Universal began a nationwide promotional campaign, announcing that they would re-issue the DVDs of the trilogy at a special low price (about half the set's original retail price) on January 25, 2005, and then put the entire trilogy on moratorium merely a week later, on February 1, 2005. (New stickers on the box declared "Lowest Price Ever: Own It Before Time Runs Out!") The discs in this release contained no new content or bonus features from the original release (indeed, even the packaging was completely identical, except for the promotional sticker), but did finally contain the corrected V2 discs. Curiously, only the disc for Part II displays the "V2" marking on its edge; the Part III disc does not, but fans have analyzed its video carefully and concluded that, despite the lack of the "V2" marking, the Part III disc is the corrected one. (This is also supported by the date of creation of the disc, which matches that of the "V2" release.)

Release Format Feature Comparison

Box Audio Scene Specific Commentary Framing Eric Stoltz Footage Enhanced MJ Fox interview
198? CED ? ? No ? No No
1993 Japanese Laserdisc Charcoal with logo Stereo No Generous No No
2002 R1 DVD Blue with Marty and Doc Dolby 5.1 Yes Incorrect Widescreen No ?
2002 R2 UK DVD Black with DeLorean Dolby 5.1 and DTS No Incorrect Widescreen No No
2002 R2 German DVD Black with DeLorean Dolby 5.1 and DTS No Incorrect Widescreen No ?
2003 "V2" DVD No box Dolby 5.1 Yes Corrected Widescreen No ?
2005 R1 DVD Blue with DeLorean Dolby 5.1 Yes Corrected Widescreen No Yes
2005 R2 UK DVD Blue with DeLorean Dolby 5.1 Yes Corrected Widescreen No ?
2005 R2 German DVD Blue with DeLorean Dolby 5.1 and DTS No Corrected Widescreen No ?
2005 R2 Japanese DVD Blue with DeLorean ? ? Corrected Widescreen No ?

Trivia

  • Back to the Future Part II is Elijah Wood's first movie. He is the boy trying to play the videogame ("Wild Gunman") at Cafe '80s (in 2015).
  • Doc Brown circa 1955 always refers to the vehicle as a "time machine". Doc Brown circa 1985 always refers to it as a "DeLorean".

Promotional posters

All three posters were done by noted poster artist Drew Struzan. Each poster features a variation on the same pose, and has the same number of characters present as each movie is numbered (one character for Part I, two for Part II, and three for Part III).

A modified version of the Part I artwork, which added Doc Brown to the original image, was used on the cover of the trilogy's DVD release.

Games

  • Various video games based on the Back to the Future movies have been released over the years for home video game systems, including the Commodore 64 computer, the Sega Genesis/Megadrive, NES, and Super Nintendo system. Most notably, LJN's Back to the Future game (1989) for the NES featured a top down view of Marty McFly racing through the streets of Hill Valley while collecting clocks to prevent the "erasure" of his family.
  • LJN also released Back to the Future II & III for the NES in 1990, which unlike the previous game, was a side scrolling platform game that allowed travelling back and forth between the different time periods from the trilogy as Marty attempts to correct the timeline and get back to the real 1985.

See also

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