East meets The West.

Rating: 7/10 (12 May 2008)

My Take: Not the strongest in the hit series, but strong enough to keep the series moving.
When it finally reached Part III, the BACK TO THE FUTURE series has certainly showed its age. The film's lack of the ingenious ideas that the first films had isolates this from the first two. The film is more of a Western comedy for most part of the film, but not a bad one. Still at the hands of the highly creative crew of Robert Zemeckis (director,co-writer), Bob Gale (writer) and Steven Spielberg (executive producer), BACK TO THE FUTURE III (which was shot back-to-back with Part II) doesn't succumbs to sequel dreadfulness, something that other sequels usually fall upon.
The film is not as special effects laden as the second, nor as the first. Although it would probably have been for the best, it lacks the pure high-concept fun. The film rests itself as a Western comedy for most of the time, including a quirky love story between the series' best character Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) and fluent schoolteacher Clara Clayton (Mary Steenburgen). McFly also challenges the toughest gunman in the West named the "Mad Dog" Tennen (Thomas F. Wilson), presumably Biff Tennen's ancestor. For most parts, its a less effects-driven comedy, with more emphasis on comedy.
The path taken by this sequel makes it less crowded and confusing as the second in the series, but it also lacks the manic charms. The original was more lively for most of the time, and it had more ideas while the second film moved at a fast pace with fun at every corner. This film settles to heavily on a Western comedy mode, which makes it rather lacking.
But the overall effect is still a good movie. Not as good as I hoped, and this one is the least that holds up among the three films, but I liked it and why wouldn't I. The script, although not filled with the clever time-travel hokum that I loved in the first two, is still cleverly filled with deft comedy bits and appealing characters. It's often tired and repetitive, but there's still so much to recommend.
Rating: ***1/2 out of 5.