"I'm going back to 1885 and I'm bringing you home!"

Rating: Null/10 (24 February 2004)

PLOT SPOILERS:
Picking up directly where Part II finished off, the DeLorean has been struck by lightning in 1955 and - with the 1985 Doc Brown inside - has been sent back to 1885! Marty McFly is now stranded in 1955, but gets a letter from Western Union from Doc in 1885 saying that he's buried the DeLorean in a mine shaft as he was unable to repair it. Marty finds 1955 Doc once again and they find and repair the DeLorean. Marty is set to go home until he discovers Doc's tombstone. Doc was murdered on September 7th 1885 by Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen! Marty goes back to 1885 to find Doc and rescue him, but first manages to meet and offend Buford Tannen. Buford nearly kills Marty but Doc saves him in time. Mary and Doc have to get back to the future, but the DeLorean has run out of gas and can't get up to 88mph. The only way to do this is to push it with a steam train, but Doc has fallen in love with teacher Clara Clayton and Buford Tannen is out for revenge on Marty. Will the pair get back to where - and when - they belong?
The third and final film in the Back to the Future trilogy is not as good as the first 2, but is by no means a bad film. It is still a very good film, only just beaten by the first two. The Old West is a natural choice as the last time period visited, and Part III also manages to resolves most of the unanswered questions left by Part II.
Once again, Michael J Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Tom Wilson return, and in Part III they are joined by Mary Steenburgen as Clara Clayton. Steenburgen is a good addition to the series and she fits in very well. Most of the characters are brand new for this film, although Fox, Wilson and James Tolkan all play ancestors of their characters from the first 2 films, and Lea Thompson plays Maggie McFly, Marty's great-great-grandmother. Familiar characters such as Lorraine McFly, Biff Tannen and Jennifer Parker do not reappear until the end of the film, back in 1985, and after seeing so much of them in the first 2 films this one does suffer a bit without them. But obviously, since this is before any of them are born, they cannot appear, and the new characters are almost as good and the "regulars" manage to play their 1885 characters (Fox for instance plays Seamus McFly, Maggie's husband, in 1885 as well as Marty) convincingly.
The plot is quite similar to the first - Marty goes back to the past (1885/1955), manages to upset a Tannen (Buford/Biff), has problems getting back to 1985 (no gas/no power), and there is a love story (Doc and Clara/George and Lorraine). Despite the similarities, this film is different in other places. For example, Marty and Doc switch roles - now it is Marty who is the more responsible one and Doc who acts like a lovestruck teenager with Clara. Marty must also deal with parts of his personality that get him into trouble (ie reacting when someone calls him chicken), and his life is in danger at times as well. The plot is not as technological as Part II, and there are less risks of paradoxes, as it relies more on the human sides of the story like Part I did.
The train sequence near the end as they try to push the DeLorean up to 88mph is one of the most exciting scenes in the trilogy, and just like the lightning bolt in 1955 in Part I, things don't go to plan! The filmmakers also took a very bold move when the DeLorean gets destroyed once Marty is home safely in 1985. This was their way of saying "No more BTTF movies!", and I must agree with them here despite being a huge fan of the trilogy, because Part III manages to conclude the story so well that a Part IV would ruin it. All the same, it is very sad when it does get destroyed.
Marty, in 1885, calls himself "Clint Eastwood" which is an amusing little joke, although hearing everyone calling him "Mr Eastwood" might get a bit weary after a while. There are plenty of in-jokes and references to other Western films in this film for the audience to spot.
Alan Silvestri once again does a good job with the music, putting a Western twist on the familiar BTTF theme and also, as before, managing to get the right emotions at the right times. There are only 2 songs in this movie, "The Power Of Love" from Part I, and "Doubleback" by ZZTop, as well as some contemporary music in 1885, and I feel they could have put a song in the 1955 part of the film, since there are few references we are in 1955 at this point of the film, but that is just a minor quibble.
Overall, a good conclusion to the trilogy that although not as good as the first 2 films is still a very good film with something for everyone. 9.5/10.