A wonderfully crafted masterpiece

Rating: 7/10 (18 December 2019)

The 1980s is considered to be the weakest decade in film history. As it was constantly being populated with mediocrity after mediocrity there was a special day, a rare gem burst in the middle of the decades life span that went on to blow away millions, Back To The Future. Audiences loved it, critics loved it, the studio loved it, everyone loved what was essentially an obscure wacky time travel film. You wanna know why? Because it's incredible in every sense of the word.
Back To The Future is filled to the brim with brilliance to the point where it can get overwhelming covering in depth what makes the film work; still, I will do my goddamn best to share my love of this film. Almost everyone talks about the pacing and how expertly crafted it is when reviewing the film but I find this point needing to be discussed more in depth for it is that good and meticulous. With all of it's perfect attempts at filmmaking, the pacing holds it all together, it can end up flowing very well or have the film feel unnatural. The most risky pick for a pacing is fast, you usually end up with a film feeling rushed or frustrating for glossing over important storytelling that needs more developing, Back To The Future is undoubtedly the best attempt at this pacing. The film is to the point, never feeling like it's pandering or rushing, and even juggles with two completely different genres perfectly, thriller and humor. The two genres are both at their peak in this film and deserve their praises.
It's hard to find good humor now days, but you know what's even harder to find than that? Good lasting humor that can work whether it's seen once or eight times, but do you wanna know what's even harder to find? Back To The Future's humor that can work thousands of times. The use of humor never has and never will be quite like Back To The Future's, the film is endlessly charming though Marty's interactions in the 1950s and no other film will ever do such time traveling humor as great. Marty not knowing how to open a glass soda bottle, the distinction of his clothes compared to the general clothing at the time, the teenagers being displeased with him playing rock and roll music at prom (just like the adults they grow up to be in 1985 which is a nice touch), and so much more is just comedy at it's finest. To add on top of that, it's refreshing that the time travel comedy never outstays it's welcome nor becomes reused, every joke is trying something new and the film feels more fresh for that. It's also not the only use comedy in the film, every other joke is just good use of humor. The dad laughing at the stupid sitcom, the bullies running into a pile of dung Doc admiting that his truth knowing machine didn't work, and so much more good use of comedy. This film will still be funny for decades to come.
On the flip side we have the films use of intensity, this is put to play in one of the most thrilling scenes I've ever seen; however, there is also some build up to it beforehand. The film up to the climax scene has been really fun and entertaining story telling. There is a great plot developing and building towards this one scene, this one unforgettable scene. It feels like there are no other second chances at this point, it's either successfully getting to the present or ending up being stuck in the past and Marty never has the things he loves in the present anymore. Our characters are desperate to succeed, it seems like it's game over but they keep fighting to win. Through the doubts and slip ups in this attempt, Marty makes it back home, the relief of our characters succeeding is immense. The accomplishment feels earned, most of the film is all about Marty trying to make the future right again so that he won't die. He escaped the terrorist, planned how he was going to get back to the future with Doc, and he encouraged his parents to get together. All of this is now put to the brilliant climax, if he fails then all of his previous works were all for nothing, this is truly one of the best climaxes of all time.
Never do these two strengths interfere but in way support each other. The humor and charm of the film builds the heart and likability of the characters (and also the film as a whole but still makes the characters better). After all of the build up and connection we have with the characters, it's now all put in jeopardy for the final scene.
One last thing to add is that the pacing is not just impressive for juggling two genres but also amazing for flowing so well. Never does the film talk down to its audience or is running ahead of them, every second is perfect and precise storytelling. Let's take a look at the opening, which is considered to be one of the greatest of all time, for an example.
The film opens with it's iconic logo and then fades into a shot coming out of a clock. This simplistic moment makes us expecting time traveling in the film to happen, we get pumped and ready for it to happen, creating more of an ambition to keep watching. Scene continues with the camera moving around the room which not only sets the tone of the film but also the story of the film. Seeing all of the somewhat goofy gizmos and gadgets convey to us that the film isn't taking it self that seriously. If this scene was more slick and cool then the rest of the movie will feel out of place and stupid. The story is set up in the quickest way possible but still sets the ground perfectly. Us seeing the huge amounts of technical gadgets conveys that some sort of scientist lives here. The news on the TV covering that plutonium has been stolen not only makes the audience knows it's been stolen but it also interests them. The shot of the overfilled dog boll doesn't just tell us that the scientist owns a dog but also that the scientist isn't home. Then Marty calling out for Doc in a friendly way tells us the scientists name and also that the stranger is a friend of his. Last thing conveyed is Marty's skateboard rolling and bumping into a box of plutonium, conveying that Doc was the one that stole the Plutonium. So much is conveyed in just one scene, and it's not just the first scene, it's pretty much every scene in the film. Most filmmakers would tell this information through exposition or narration, but a talented one would attempt something like this.
This is only three minutes of brilliance out of the one hundred and sixteen that never stops delivering. Just every bit of love and attention to this film just flows so well that it seems like there was no sweat in making it. Is it one of the best films from the eighties? Absolutely.