End of the Trilogy

Rating: 7/10 (8 September 2009)

Back to the Future Parts II and III were shot back-to-back, and the second film ended with a cliff-hanger. Part III starts with how Part II ended.
After Doctor 'Doc' Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) is trapped in 1885, and Marty (Michael J. Fox) seems trapped in 1955. He goes to the younger version of Doc to help him and discover that the time machine was hidden in an old mine. But whilst in a graveyard, Marty finds Doc's tombstone and that he is about to be murdered in a week in his timeline, and he decides to go back and save him. But in 1885 the time machine loses fuel and both have to find a way at getting back to the future via another method. They have to do this in a few days before Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson) murders the Doc. As well as finding a way back to 1985, the Doc also finally finds love in the shape of school-teacher Carla Clayton (Mary Steenburgen) and the man is thorn between going back home or staying with his new love.
The Old West world set in Back to the Future Part III is a fantasy version, not a gritty view, despite reference to Clint Eastwood westerns (which is also a good thing when done right). But this is a family film so what do you exact. The plot is pretty weak compared to the first two films, and was too similar to the first film which was better. Some of the jokes, like Marty's dancing fall flat and there is a bit to much self referencing and repeated jokes. But they are still some good jokes, and Christopher Lloyd and Thomas F. Wilson were good in the film. Michael J. Fox is good as Marty, letting the character grow a bit more, but as Seamus his character wasn't that interesting and his Irish accent was terrible.
Robert Zemeckis is known for his skill with special effects, but in this film he takes a more traditional approach, using stunt work and little graphics. He was trying to make a 50 style western with a modern twist. He again does a very good job with the series.
Trilogies have often been a problem for Hollywood, with the third film being the weakest. It's not hard to think of examples, the Godfather Part III, X-Men: the Last Stand, Alien 3, Terminator: Rise of the Machines, Blade Trinity, The Matrix Revolutions, all good examples of films ruining their predecessors. However Back to the Future Part III is more fitting to the first two films and is meant to be an end to the series.