"Are you telling me you built a time machine.....out of a DeLorean?"

Rating: 10/10 (24 February 2004)

PLOT SPOILERS:
Marty McFly is your average teenager, living in Hill Valley, CA, in October 1985. He likes rock music, has nerdy parents, has a beautiful girlfriend Jennifer - oh, and his best friend is eccentric scientist Dr Emmett L Brown. One night, Doc Brown calls Marty to the mall to record his latest experiment - a time machine built into a DeLorean sports car! Unfortunately, an encounter with some Lybian terrorists means Marty is accidentally sent back to November 5th 1955, where he interferes with his parents' first meeting. Marty finds the 1955 version of Doc Brown and they discover Marty's future mother Lorraine has a crush on him rather than on his future father, the wimpy George McFly! Local bully Biff Tannen is also causing trouble for Marty. Marty has just one week to get George and Lorraine together, defeat Biff and get himself back to the future using the bolt of lightning that will strike the clocktower at 10.04pm on November 12th 1955.
OK, now the plot is out of the way, I shall review the film. This is one of the best films I have ever seen, if not the best. The actors play their characters well, the storyline is gripping and engaging, and the filmmakers have managed to create the 1950's successfully.
The cast are perfect for their parts. Apart from Michael J Fox, the other main cast members all play their characters at 2 different ages, 30 years apart, and they all convincingly play the older versions of their characters. Special mention must go to Tom Wilson who is excellent as bully Biff Tannen, and of course Christopher Lloyd - no-one could play Doc Brown as well as Lloyd, with the waving of arms and the scientific speech - it is the part Lloyd was born to play. Although not technically a "character", the DeLorean time machine looks very scientific, yet also looks like it could fall apart any minute since it was built in Doc Brown's garage! I personally think it looks futuristic (and so do the Peabody family in 1955, when they see it they think it is a UFO!) and yet very stylish.
The story is engaging and the filmmakers have a lot of "set it up, play it off" moments, which make you remember to earlier in the film. Example: Marty fails a guitar audition with his band in 1985, but manages to wow the crowds whilst playing "Johnny B Goode" in 1955. Although the idea of time paradox is not really examined at until the sequels, there are hints of it here for all the scientific people out there. :-) Various one-liners, in-jokes and jokes about the differences between 1955 and 1985 are scattered throughout the film.
Alan Silvestri's score is one of the best he's done, and he manages to capture what the audience should be feeling at that time. The race to the clocktower near the end of the film has suspenseful, action music; whilst the scene where George and Lorraine get together has romantic, feel good music. The main theme is very catchy and you'll be humming it for quite a while! Various songs from the 1950's and 1980's are used, including "The Power Of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News.
Overall, a very good film that launched the movie career of Michael J Fox, and was one of the smash hits of 1985. It'll be a classic for all time. :-) 10/10.