Subject: RETROSPECTIVE: BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985)

From: [email-masked] (Chad Polenz)
Date: 29 May 1997 21:27:07 GMT

BACK TO THE FUTURE
                       A film review by Chad Polenz
                        Copyright 1997 Chad Polenz

**** (out of 4  = excellent)
1985, PG, 116 minutes [1 hour, 56 minutes]
[adventure/sci-fi]
starring: Michael J. Fox (Marty McFly), Christopher Lloyd (Dr. Emmett Brown),
Lea Thompson (Lorraine Baines/McFly age 17, 47), Crispin Glover (George McFly
age 17, 47), Thomas F. Wilson (Biff Tannen age 17, 47), produced by  Bob
Gale, Neil Canton, written by Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale, directed by Robert
Zemeckis.

What makes "Back To The Future" such a gem is its ability to take elements
of adventure, comedy, and sci-fi, mix them all together,and make for a
wonderfully entertaining movie.

Michael J. Fox is perfect as Marty McFly, the typical teenager who
skateboards, plays in a rock band, and has a girlfriend - your basic "cool
guy." His home life is rather pathetic though; he has a nerd for a father
(Glover), a drunk for a mother (Thompson), and two losers for siblings. His
best friend is a strange scientist named Doc Brown, played brilliantly by
Christopher Lloyd. We don't know how Marty and Doc hooked up, but it doesn't
matter, we quickly become too caught up in the excitement to care.

Doc has invented a time machine out of a DeLorean, but to power it he must
use plutonium which he ripped off from Lybian terrorists. But when the
terrorists catch up with Doc and shoot him, Marty escapes by driving the car
in a high speed chase and in the process ends up traveling back to the year
1955. And so the real adventure begins, as it is obvious Marty is stuck in
the past and must somehow get back home. 

The atmosphere of the film is very satirical of the 1950s with kids obsessed
with sci-fi, 3-D movies, "The Honeymooners," all those big cars, crew cuts,
and poodle skirts. When Marty finally finds younger Doc, not only must they
figure out how to get him back to the future, but they also have to fix the
error in history Marty accidentally caused by his travel. 

Almost every single action and event here has a purpose and reason, that is,
to solve the conflict. There is no excess dialogue or gratuitous comedy, you
have to admire it for being so succinct. Another great thing is the use of
suspense. We know there is a definite "deadline" of sorts, and whenever a
plan goes awry we panic and wonder "how are they going to get out of this!?"
Even in the climatic scene problems suddenly pop up and we're on the edge of
our seat, biting our nails, but totally excited throughout. 

"Back To The Future" is one of the greatest modern films. The adventure, the
excitement, and the total creativity are all so original and so well
assembled there is not one point in the movie where you would remotely lose
interest or become skeptical. Movies that are this much fun with such
innocence are really a unique phenomenon. 

visit Chad'z Movie Page @ http://members.aol.com/ChadPolenz/index.html