Felt like I was seeing it for the first time...again

Rating: Null/10 (11 May 2008)

The other day I watched this film for what has to be AT LEAST the fourth time,but probably for the first time in eight years. Even though I knew how it went,had a pretty good idea of the sequence of events and even some of the jokes,watching it again(this time on premium cable)still gave me a flood of emotions that one usually gets from watching a movie the first time,only this time with the sentimental melancholy of the knowledge of real time passing. Strangely,that might have actually ENHANCED my experience with this.
Originally meant as the end part of "Back to the Future,Part II",but broken off because when director Robert Zemekis,producers Steven Spielberg and Bob Gale realized that they had too much movie in the can to put out as one release,they split this series off into its own film(a fact that I've become a little skeptical of over the years since). Number Three's actually a little bit better than the over-stuffed,over-ambitious 2nd part of the McFly Time travel saga,since the use of anachronistic time-displacement of both Marty(Michael J.Fox) and Doc Brown(Christopher Lloyd)--in this case the Old West of 1885 rural California,seems to be closer to the true spirit of the 1985 blockbuster original. All the usual elements are in place from the previous movies(particularly the bullying element,supplied by the always capable Thopmas F.Wilson,this time as Bad Biff's ancestor,Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen),and an added love interest for the normally reclusive Doc in the form of a delicate librarian named Clara(Mary Steenburgen),all moves seamlessly enough. One may question the specifics of this film,as per any of the series(or any time travel movie in general),but one who gives in to the charm,humor and kinetics of this Zemekis-Spielberg creation will not be disappointed. Aided by the always huge,welling music score of John Williams,this movie closes the story of time travel fixing(and un-fixing)the lives of the two principles of this story.
I watch any of these three movies with some sense of sentimentality and bittersweet. This one in particular,makes me feel both entertained and yet sad. This really WAS a concluding sequel,and with the star players getting older(particularly Fox,who himself was already twenty-eight when filming this movie and was done with playing the kind of clean teen roles he'd been famous to up to that point)and such a memory attached to the players involved,there was no right way to either continue the series with OR without them.I seem to recall a short-lived animated series was created that was easily forgotten. Maybe someday in the future,someone will want to remake this again and be able to do it without stepping on the toes of those(like myself)who enjoyed the originals as greatly as we did. I have my doubts anyone can,but who knows.
But as for seeing Marty,Doc Brown and a certain DeLorean fight off both Tannen and his thugs and righting some serious time travel blunders,this is still a glorious viewing experience that can make you feel young again. Being someone who recalls movie viewing in theatres(occasionally on video)from his youth with nearly photographic clarity,I can honestly say that watching this again I couldn't recall much about the experience around this movie,but I do recall how good this film made me feel specifically. How many films can you say that about?