Back to the Future (1985)

Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent thirty years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.

Director:

Robert Zemeckis

Writers:

Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale

Stars:

Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson

Top Rated Movies #42 | Won 1 Oscar. Another 19 wins & 25 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael J. Fox	...	Marty McFly
Christopher Lloyd	...	Dr. Emmett Brown
Lea Thompson	...	Lorraine Baines
Crispin Glover	...	George McFly
Thomas F. Wilson	...	Biff Tannen
Claudia Wells	...	Jennifer Parker
Marc McClure	...	Dave McFly
Wendie Jo Sperber	...	Linda McFly
George DiCenzo	...	Sam Baines
Frances Lee McCain	...	Stella Baines
James Tolkan	...	Mr. Strickland
J.J. Cohen	...	Skinhead (as Jeffrey Jay Cohen)
Casey Siemaszko	...	3-D
Billy Zane	...	Match
Harry Waters Jr.	...	Marvin Berry

Storyline

Marty McFly, a typical American teenager of the Eighties, is accidentally sent back to 1955 in a plutonium-powered DeLorean "time machine" invented by a slightly mad scientist. During his often hysterical, always amazing trip back in time, Marty must make certain his teenage parents-to-be meet and fall in love - so he can get back to the future.

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Plot Keywords:

time travel | delorean | time machine | time travel comedy | altering history | 

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Taglines:

Meet Marty McFly. He's broken the time barrier. Busted his parents' first date. And, maybe, botched his chances of ever being born.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 July 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Back to the Future

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$19,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,332,134, 7 July 1985, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$210,609,762

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$381,109,762

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, U-Drive Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints) (as Dolby Stereo) Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lea Thompson (Lorraine Baines McFly) turned down the role of Kristine Evelyn-DeLuca in A Chorus Line (1985) to appear in this film.

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Goofs

In the "save the clock tower" sequence, the same man rounds the corner in the background twice in the same direction.

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Quotes

[first lines]
1985 Radio Announcer: October is inventory time, so right now, Statler Toyota is making the best deals of the year on all 1985-model Toyotas. You won't find a better car at a better price with better service anywhere in Hill Valley. That's Statler Toyota in downtown Hill Valley.

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Crazy Credits

For the video release, "To Be Continued" was added before the closing credits. This title has disappeared from the DVD release.

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Alternate Versions

In 1955, Marty's mother calls him "Calvin Klein" because of the name found on on his underwear. The Italian version changes the name to "Levi" (as in Levi's jeans) because at the time of the film's release, the Calvin Klein brand was still not very well known outside the United States. In the French version, the name was changed to "Pierre Cardin" for the same reason.

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Connections

Referenced in The Cinema Snob: Spaced Invaders (2016)

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Soundtracks

JOHNNY B. GOODE
(1955)
Written by Chuck Berry (uncredited)
Performed by Mark Campbell (as Marty McFly) with (Tommy Thomas,
Granville 'Danny' Young, David Harold Brown, and Lloyd L. Tolbert) (as The Starlighters)
Produced by Bones Howe

User Reviews

A Time -Travelling Classic

Zemeckis's 'Back To The Future' trilogy has been a childhood favourite for a long time. Having revisited it today, brought me to a nostalgic state. The 80's saw a lot of excellent original fun 'young' films like 'Back To The Future' (of course), 'Better Off Dead', 'Heathers', 'The Breakfast Club' etc. What really made these films immensely enjoyable then, and classics today, is that they really reflected what it was like being a young person in the 80s. The movies themselves were well written, well executed, well acted and they cut straight to the point.

Back to 'Back To The Future'. This one is sheer fun, even today. There's an incredible energy about it but it still manages to stay an 'innocent' film. The music is very effective. It's slick and follows a steady pace. The special effects are decent. Though people might pick on the plausibility of the time travelling, I think this is really a very minor flaw because it is overall a well written movie and the point was to entertain. Yet, this is not to say that it's brainless entertainment. I think it cleverly brings forth some interesting themes and I liked how they funnily used some ideas of Oedipus Rex's story.

The acting is superb overall. Christopher Lloyd as the over-the-top mad scientist is a laugh riot. Michael J. Fox totally owns Marty McFly with his natural charisma, raw energy and brilliant dialogue delivery. Lea Thompson is cute and vivacious and Crispin Glover is good.

'Back To The Future' is one of the most enjoyable time-travelling classics. It's over 23 years old and it still hasn't gotten old. Sadly, they don't make it like this these days but then again we always can revisit them. That's why they're classics.