An Old Favourite

Rating: 9/10 (23 September 2008)

I love this movie. Although aimed primarily at a younger audience on account of its high-school-aged hero, there's really something for everyone.
It's got adventure. It's got excitement. It's got danger. It's got great comedy. And it's got so much more.
Released in 1985, its special-effects are minimal, and thankfully predate the now-obligatory CGI, requiring some practical imagination to make the thing seem plausible. Basically; everything's in the DeLorean sports car. After that, what is needed is an authentic representation of the 1950's. I'm no expert, but the period seems believable to me.
Camera-work, lighting, and sound-effects are top-drawer. There are some wonderfully realised ambiences. Music - both incidental and theme are well chosen. Huey Lewis And The News supply the anthem 'Power Of Love' in fine, thumping riff, whilst additional pieces give a tremendous sense of urgency. It really is spot-on.
This movie brought the unfortunate Micheal J Fox into deserved prominence. His acting skills and comic timing are excellent, here. It's so sad that incurable illness has blighted such a promising career. He and Christopher Lloyd make excellent foils. They are naturals as a comic duo.
Young McFly goes back in time to find his young father as a bullied wimp, a failed writer, and a peeping-tom. He also accidentally upstages his father in his mother's eyes and risks a dose of temporal incest. Somehow he has to put things right before going back to the future. He does - but some details get overlooked, with funny and happy consequences. Relationships are handled with a light and deft touch. It never plods. It never becomes maudlin or lachrymose or excessively sentimental.
There are several plot-holes in the story. And if you get hung-up on the stuff about time-travel and paradox crap, you're missing the point. You're not supposed to take it seriously. It's a fun movie! And it delivers in spades.
Some have described this as the best time-travel movie and I'm inclined to agree. If you can't find something to laugh at then you're a lost cause.
Being so successful, two sequels followed. But the surprise was gone and the humour grew progressively stale. they paled by comparison.
Check-out the original. It's a collectors item and a truly great feel-good experience. I ought to give it 10 stars.