Back to the Future 3 - the third and, presumably, last film in the Back to the Future series (though there has been some talk of doing a fourth film) is a very enjoyable finale to the trilogy, and stands up much better as a film in its own right than the second instalment. After the first film – where Marty McFly travels back in time 30 years – and the second, where he travels both forwards and back in time – this one takes us right back to the wild West.
[Potential spoilers for second film in the plot synopsis below]
At the end of the second movie the inventor of the time machine and Marty’s travelling companion, Doctor Emmett Brown, got zapped right back to the 1880’s. Marty, still stuck in 1955, learns that the Doc’s life is in danger, so he has to find a way to go back too… then, of course, there is the slight problem of getting back to the present (1985) again once the threat to the Doc’s life has been overcome… which might prove tricky considering the vital components may not be around near the end of the 19th century…
[End of potential spoilers]
While many of the characters and situations will be familiar to anyone who’s seen the first two films, the wild West setting gives it a different atmosphere and I think the characters in this film have more… well, character as a result. The whole “caught out of time” type movie has been done before of course, but Marty trying to understand life a century before his own is done very well and with lots of humour. More of the peripheral characters get a chance to shine here, including Mary Steenburgen as Clara Clayton, the Doc’s love interest. There also seems to be more interaction between the characters other than the main two, though of course the majority of the action still revolves around Marty (Michael J Fox) and Doc (Christopher Lloyd). If anything I would say the acting goes up a notch in this movie – certainly none of the cast disappoint. Elisabeth Shue comes back as Jennifer Parker (Marty’s love interest) – she played her in the second film but not the first.
Made in 1990, the special effects still look great and ironically the fact that the machinery involved in some of the scenes is older (for instance, steam trains) makes the stunts and effects look even more impressive. The things that made the first film so enjoyable – action, adventure, and comedy – are very evident in Back to the Future 3. Even the ending doesn’t disappoint (which it so easily could have).
As a conclusion to the series Back to the Future 3 is great, and even if you haven’t seen the earlier films you’ll probably enjoy this (though you’ll want to watch the other films afterwards, which will make things seem even more weird as you’ll be watching them out of order). The description of this being “science fiction” becomes even more tenuous in this film than the others, but it is a lot of fun – and really that’s what matter more in movies, isn’t it? (If you don’t agree… you may well not like this film.) I’d recommend it anyway, but particularly if you’ve watch and liked the earlier films.
Then again… on comments of my review of the second instalment, one person said they loved this third film most of all, while the other said they couldn’t stand it… so it’s hard to tell how even fans of the series will take it!
Other Information
Runtime: 118 minutes
Rating: PG
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis
Music by Alan Silvestri
Stephen Spielberg was an Executive Producer of the trilogy.
Trailers:
http://www.imdb.com/rg/TITLETRA_CLICK_SCRPLY/wmp-300k/title/tt0099088/trailers-screenplay-E16129-10-2 (Windows Media Player)
http://www.imdb.com/rg/TITLETRA_CLICK_SCRPLY/rp-300k/title/tt0099088/trailers-screenplay-E16129-6-3 (Realplayer)
Quotes
(Anything in italics is my own comment on the quote.)
Marty McFly: Listen, you got a back door to this place?
Bartender: Yeah, it's in the back.
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Doc: Reach!
Engineer: Is this a holdup?
Doc: It's a science experiment!
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Doc: Clara was one in a million. One in a billion. One in a googolplex!
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Don’t call him “chicken”…
Doc: Marty, you can't go losing your judgment every time someone calls you a name. It's exactly what causes you to get into that accident in the future.
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Some people just aren’t ready to know the future…
Doc: And in the future, we don't need horses. We have motorized carriages called automobiles.
Saloon Old Timer #3: If everybody's got one of these auto-whatsits, does anybody walk or run anymore?
Doc: Of course we run. But for recreation. For fun.
Saloon Old Timer #3: Run for fun? What the hell kind of fun is that?
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Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen: What's your name, dude?
Marty McFly: Uh, Mar-, uh... Eastwood. Clint Eastwood.
Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen: What kind of stupid name is that?
A young man takes a DeLorean time machine to the Old West, where his inventor friend is courting a schoolmarm. Directed by Robert Zemeckis.More at HotMovieSale.com
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