Filmmaker Robert Zemeckis topped his breakaway hit Romancing the Stone with Back to the Future, a joyous comedy with a dazzling hook: what would it be like to meet your parents in their youth? Billed as a special-effects comedy, the imaginative film (the top box-office smash of 1985) has staying power because of the heart behind Zemeckis and Bob Gale's script. High schooler Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox, during the height of his TV success) is catapulted back to the '50s where he sees his parents in their teens, and accidentally changes the history of how Mom and Dad met. Filled with the humorous ideology of the '50s, filtered through the knowledge of the '80s (actor Ronald Reagan is president, ha!), the film comes off as a Twilight Zone episode written by Preston Sturges. Filled with memorable effects and two wonderfully off-key, perfectly cast performances: Christopher Lloyd as the crazy scientist who builds the time machine (a DeLorean luxury car) and Crispin Glover as Marty's geeky dad. --Doug Thomas

Critics and audiences didn't seem too happy with Back to the Future, Part II, the inventive, perhaps too clever sequel. Director Zemeckis and cast bent over backwards to add layers of time-travel complication, and while it surely exercises the brain it isn't necessarily funny in the same way that its predecessor was. It's well worth a visit, though, just to appreciate the imagination that went into it, particularly in a finale that has Marty watching his own actions from the first film. --Tom Keogh

One of the best trilogies

Back to the Future: This has to be one of the most cleaver and fun films about time travel. Michael J. Fox plays Marty Mcfly who's a slacker who just wants hang with his g/f and play the guitar. His camping trip plans with his g/f get crushed when his wimpy father lets his high school bully Biff get away with his crashing up the car. This ruins Marty's plans since he was going to use that car on his camping trip. His parents met pathetically. His dad got hit by his grandfather's car and she went to the prom with him because she felt bad for him.

He meets his scientist friend Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) at a mall parking lot in the middle of the night to discover that he made a time machine out of a car. Doc pissed off some terrorists though by stealing some key parts for it from them. Doc gets shot and while Marty trys to get away in the car it sends him to 1955. There he's very out of place of course since he's from 1985. In a smart and funny scene, while at a restuarant he doesn't realize he's sitting next to his father. There Marty sees a young Biff pick on his father while Biff makes fun of how Marty is dressed. Then Marty follows his dad and sees him peeping on his mom "who of course is young and not his mom yet" from a tree. George "his dad" falls from the tree and almost gets hit by a car unti...Marty pushes him out of the way and gets hit instead.

Although he doesn't have the perfect family, it's up to him to bring his parents together since he ruined how they were supposed to meet. On top of things his mom has a crush on....him now. So now he has to try and get his coward dad to be a man and ask her out, although Biff is always in the way when he trys to do that. He has to meet Doc from 1985 too and convince him that he's from the future from a time machine that he invented. Since Doc is his only chance to get back to 1985. Marty also needs to try some how to stop Doc from dieing in 1985. The result is clever, funny and well made film that is sure to entertain you.

****

Back to the Future 2: This sequel takes place where the first left off. Doc, Marty and his g/f take off to 2015 where they have to save the future of Marty's kids. Sure that sounds weak and it sorta is but this is a fun movie with clever ideas about the future. The 2015 scenes are best scenes of the movie. You have flying cars, flying skate boards called hover boards, dehydrated pizza and jackets that dry themselves. So that makes the 2015 scenes all fun. In the most entertaining scene Marty has to disguise himself as his kid who looks just like him except he wears a colorfil hat. He needs to stop his son from getting in deep trouble with Biff's nephew...Griff. Marty stands up to Griff which leads to a fun chase on hoverbaords.

After saving the future of his kids, Marty causes a whole lot of trouble by buying a sports book about everything that has happened in the last 20 years in sports. Figuring he can make money off it. Doc sees it and gets rid of it. Old Biff though figures out that they came from a time machine and takes the book and time machine without them knowing. He gives the book to Biff from the 50's which causes Biff in 1985 to be rich and powerful which ruins the life Marty knows. His dad was murdered and his mom is now married to Biff. So to get 1985 back to the way he knows it he needs to go to 1955 and get the book from Biff before he can use it.

In the end the time machine gets hit by lightning which sends Doc "without Marty" to the 1800s". So it ends with Marty once again looking for help from the Doc of 1955. The result is a fun movie with clever ideas but you have to turn your brain on high when watching it too. It's not as good as the first but the futuristic scene is one of the best ideas of the future. I mean when I saw this movie I waited patiently for flying cars to come out when I was little lol. In a side note, look for Elijah Wood as a little kid in the 2015 scene in the diner. He plays one of the kid that remakrk to Marty about the cowboy arcade being a babie's toy.
*** 1/2

Back to the Future 3: In much more mild story with less happenings than part 2 Marty has to go to the 1885 to save Doc. Turns out that Doc will get shot by....you guessed it...a distant relative of Biff lol. Doc buried the time machine in 1885 so Marty could use it in 1955 to get back to 1985. Since Doc knew the time machine only had enough energy left for one trip. Instead though Marty goes to 1885 to save Doc. Marty gets in trouble though with cowboy Biff and turns out that Doc is the one that has to save Marty from getting hung.

Doc tells Marty that they aren't getting back home without gas but figures out a plan to have a train push the time machine until it reaches the right speed to get them back home. They complicate things more though when Doc saves a woman Clara Clayton (Mary Steenburgen) from heading off a cliff with her wagon. Marty realizes that she was supposed to die because her dieing there is a part of history. Doc of course doesn't take that well since he thinks that changing things in history is very dangerous. Still though he finds himself falling for her and has to choose between going back to the future or staying with her. Marty gets himself in more trouble with cowboy Biff when he stops him from shooting Doc. He agrees to a drawer figuring he'd be back in the future by the time that day comes.

This is a good movie but a little too laidback compared to Back to the Future 2 or even part 1 for that matter. I mean I wish they just weren't in the west the whole movie if it was going to be the last one. It doesn't go out with that much of a bang. I also don't think Michael J. Fox playing a distant relative works since Lea Thompson plays...the his wife lol. I guess that's supposed to be funny since she also plays his mom. Since the mom had a crush on Marty in 1955. I would've preferred a cowboy George Mcfly instead, now that could've been funny. But this is still a good movie since the west scenes do work and Robert Zemeckis still of course makes sure we're entertained.

***

I heard that Michael J. Fox might being willing to do a part 4 where Marty is like Doc now and a scientist as well. Not sure of how much that one is true since he doesn't act much due to his health. I think that could only work if Zemeckis directs but I hear he would only produce it. I'd also like to see Tobey Maguire or Topher Grace in a Marty type role if it happens. Some times good things are better off just left alone though.

"Are you saying my mom has the hots for me?!"

Wow the complete trilogy! i love all three of the back to the future movies. Michael J. Fox was probably the first actor i remember watching as a little kid. Eric Stolz was originally cast as Marty McFly but the director had a change of heart and cast Fox instead. I think the second is my personal fave, but all are great and still hold up. Hey even Elisabeth Shue is in it (love her to pieces!). The 1980s was the coolest decade well since i was born in it. if you love these movies you have to get it, trust me it's worth it.

Not Closed Captioned as Stated

For those of you that care if a DVD is truly closed captioned or not, beware this DVD set is not closed captioned. Amazon has listed this in error. Universal does not encode their DVD's with closed caption but in English they use "captions" which are actually subtitles. This is important information if you use a TV Guardian to filter out foul language.