Back to the Future trilogy

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 films depict the adventures of time-traveling high-school student Marty McFly and crackpot 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 TV series and a motion-simulation ride at the Universal Studios theme parks in Orlando, Florida and Hollywood.

Synopsis

See Back to the Future, Back to the Future II and Back to the Future III

Main cast

• Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, Marty McFly Jr., Marlene McFly and Seamus McFly
• Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Emmett L. Brown
• Thomas F. Wilson as Biff Tannen, Griff Tannen and Bufford Maddog Tannen
• Lea Thompson as Lorraine Baines (McFly/ Tannen) and Maggie McFly
• James Tolkan as Mr. Strickland and Chief Marshal James Strickland
• Claudia Wells and Elisabeth Shue as Jennifer Parker (McFly)

Themes

A hallmark of the Back to the Future trilogy and a contributer to its popularity is its use of running gags, that is, similar events and situations that recur in the different parts of the trilogy. 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 descendant Griff says to 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 ancestor Seamus), "Hey, McFly, I thought I done told you never to come in here."

• In Parts I and II Marty buys a Pepsi from the cafe in down town Hill Valley, and has difficulty opening it. The first time because it is old fashioned, second time because it's futuristic.

• In 1985 and 1955, Mr. Strickland is the high school's disciplinarian. In 1885, the same actor play 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 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 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.

• Both parts I II and III involve a chase scene early on in the movie through downtown Hill Valley. In Parts I and II these scenes involve variations of a skateboard.

• 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 in jumps through time, even in the sky.

• 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, amusing reversal occurs when, after a predicament manifests itself, Marty exclaims, "Great Scott!", to which Doc Brown replies, "Yeah, this is heavy!"

• Marty's catch phrase is a constant source of dramatic irony as the inhabitants of the the various time periods try to figure out how the situation is "heavy".

• Every year that is traveled to in the trilogy ends in 5. (1985, 1955, 2015, 1885)

DVD Release and Framing Issues

The Back to the Future trilogy was first released on DVD at the end of 2002 in both widescreen and fullscreen versions. 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 which owners of the original DVDs could call, and ask for a postage-paid envelope to to be sent to them. The owner would send his 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 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.)

There are several rumors that Universal is preparing a special DVD release of the first film to commemorate its 20th anniversary in 2005 (hence the sudden push to sell as much of the remaining stock of the trilogy box set as possible), but Universal has so far made no official announcement regarding this. Some fans wonder what plans Universal could have regarding a better DVD release, because the existing release is already thought by some to have most of the special features that the DVD could possibly include without containing redundant information. One possible piece of material that could be added is 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. This footage was not included in Universal's original DVD release, despite many fans hoping that Universal would include it.

Trivia

• Back to the Future II and III were the first movies shot back to back, which means they were filmed together. Other recent examples are The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Kill Bill, Vols. 1 and 2.
• Elijah Wood's first movie was Back to the Future II. He is the boy that is trying to play a game at Cafe 80´s (2015).

External links

• BTTF Online Excelling And Growing Back to the Future fansite
• BTTF.com Fan site.
• BTTFmovie.com Official site.
• The Back to the Future Tour. Visit the BTTF filming locations.
• Back to the Future at the Internet Movie Database
• Back to the Future Part II at the Internet Movie Database
• Back to the Future Part III at the Internet Movie Database
• Welcome "Back to the Future" Fan site.