Comedys don't get much better than this!

Rating: 9/10 (4 March 2008)

Back To The Future is a great movie that has everything.
A terrific story, memorable characters, great acting, dead-on satire, beautiful FX and great music. Every scene in this movie is a winner. Probably this movie works because it never takes itself seriously. From start to finish the movie contains an amazing wealth of visual gags (the giant guitar speaker, the DeLorean time machine), classic lines ("You can't have a Pepsi Free. You gotta pay for it.") and in-jokes (rocker Huey Lewis complaining that the music is too loud). The time travel logic, so hard to pull off, is done with great flair, suitable for any science fiction movie. Except this isn't a sci-fi film. It's a comedy with a heavy dose of social satire mixed in and it works on both levels.
Michael J. Fox plays Marty McFly a teenager who would rather play guitar than do anything else. He's friendly with the town's off-the-wall inventor Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd.) Doc creates a time machine and Marty is accidentally transported back to the year 1955. There he meets a younger version of his parents (Crispin Glover and Leah Thompson) and has to arrange for them to meet so they will get married and have him.
The role of Marty McFly was ideal for Michael J. Fox. His ability to play a teenager transferred perfectly from TV (Family Ties) to the big screen. Crispin Glover is terrific as Marty's father, George McFly. He has a dual role, as a teenager and an adult. Christopher Lloyd is almost over-the-top as the nutty inventor. Thomas Wilson is Biff, the bully who constantly torments George McFly.
Other than Forrest Gump this is Robert Zemeckis's best movie. Kids and adults will appreciate it.