One of the ten best films of the 20th century

Rating: 10/10 (4 April 2006)

You could rank Back To The Future on an all-time list of best movies for its special effects, and its in-depth exploration of time-travel in what almost seems plausible. I'm sure the physics professors could find fault with a few things, but the "pop physics" lesson we get to justify the plot is sufficient. This, however, would only make Back To The Future a great film. What makes it a REALLY GREAT film, however, is the "buddy film" aspect, or the amazingly close friendship that Marty and Doc have. Their level of trust and reliance upon each other is phenomenal. We are lucky if we ever have a friend like that, and this is what makes the movie memorable.
For those who just got here in a time machine, the plot has typical high-schooler Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), whose father George (Crispin Glover) is bullied by Biff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson), rejected high-school suitor of Marty's mother, Lorraine (Lea Thompson). George is a Walter Mitty type who never stands up for himself, and this sickens Marty, who seeks refuge with his girlfriend, Jennifer (Claudia Wells and later Elizabeth Shue), and the crazy, independently wealthy scientist Doc (Christopher Lloyd). School is no refuge for Marty, however, as the "evil" principal Mr. Strickland thinks he is a "no good slacker." Marty tries out for the battle of the bands, and Huey Lewis passes amusing judgment on him.
Doc invites Marty to film his time-travel experiment, by sending his dog, Einstein, a minute into the future. The time machine itself could have gotten a Best Supporting Actor Oscar itself, as it was a souped-up DeLorean (the brainchild of John DeLorean, who had recently been acquitted of cocaine trafficking that was ruled government entrapment of a vulnerable man about to lose his business). Doc had figured out that if he got the DeLorean to 88 mph while creating 1.21 gigawatts of electricity, the car would travel through time. He never made clear how he pinpointed the destinations, but there was a console in the car that needed only to be set.
The time-travel experiment is a success, but Marty soon learns (as gunmen approach) that Doc had gotten the plutonium necessary to generate the time travel had been stolen from Libyan terrorists who were out for revenge. They "kill" the Doc (who returns for II and III of this series, so draw your own conclusions), and Marty must escape their wrath in the DeLorean. To elude the Libyans, he floors the car, it hits 88 mph, and the next thing you know, Marty is back in 1955 and the movie "begins." Marty gets to see the "romance" between his parents develop, and he gets to compare their actual behavior with how they say things were, with predictable consequences. Marty looks up the Doc, who quickly realizes he is genuine, and blends into Hill Valley society. Marty then alters the future inadvertently, and he must repair his wrinkle before the key moment in his parents' hooking up, and then he has to find his way "back to the future," something which will not be easy and which he will only have one chance to do.
Marty needs Doc to accomplish his mission, but Doc also needs Marty, because otherwise he would be the proverbial "tree falling in the forest" with no one there to hear him. The film develops the buddy plot to perfection, and handles the time travel humorously and in the true tradition of fantasy films, doing the best they can to be technically accurate, but staying focused on the human side of the story in a way that will leave audiences of all ages satisfied.
No DVD collection is complete without this film.