Back to the Future

                 It’s strange to think that Back to the Future has been out for almost thirty years.  I didn’t even realize it until the Chicago Tribune had an article about Back to the Future II.  In that film the characters travel to 2015 and the Chicago Tribune compared the “predictions” of the film’s 2015 to what it will actually be.  After reading the article I decided it was time for me to watch the trilogy again.  I have only watched Back to the Future so far, but I will be watching the other ones soon.

                Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) is your average teenage guy.  He goes to school (often arriving late), has a girlfriend, and plays in a band.  What is different is that Marty is also friends with a controversial scientist, Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd).  Doc, as Marty calls him, creates experiments and invents all sorts of contraptions.  His life-long project is the time machine.  On a night in 1985, Doc finally reveals his life’s work.  The time machine is in action and Marty is there to record it.

                Unfortunately, the only way to make the time machine run is with plutonium.  Doc makes a deal with terrorists to steal some, but Doc reneges on his side of the deal.  In retaliation the terrorists kill Doc.  When they spot Marty, the terrorists try to kill him as well.  The only way Marty can save himself is to drive the time machine as fast as he can.  While this does get him away from the terrorists, Marty finds he hasn’t just gotten away.  He has also sent himself back to the year 1955.

                Most people in this situation would probably just get back in the time machine and go home.  This would make sense, except there’s one little problem.  The time machine is no longer functioning.  No matter what he does, Marty cannot get it to work.  He has to track down the Doc from 1955 and hope they can figure out how to fix the machine and get Marty back home.

                Being in 1955 is quite a culture shock for Marty.  He is in his same hometown, but everything is different.  From the prices of a movie to the services at a gas station, nothing is what Marty experiences in his own time.  He is thrown for even more of a loop when he meets his parents, George (Crispin Glover) and Lorraine (Lea Thompson), as teenagers.  They are not quite what he expected, especially his mother.

                If Marty simply met his parents, it might not be that big of a deal.  Except that is not what happened.  Instead of letting events unfold as intended, Marty prevents George from getting hit by a car.  This alters the history Marty has always known and as a result alters the future. 

                The driver of the car is Lorraine’s father.  As the story goes, Lorraine fell in love with George when George was hit by the car.  In this version, Marty is the one who is hit by the car, so now Lorraine falls in love with him.  Yes, past mother falls in love with future son.  Can you see why Marty starts to flip out a little?  Not only does Marty have to get back to the future, but he also has to figure out how to make his parents a couple.  If he doesn’t, Marty will no longer exist.  But then he might not anyways if Biff (Thomas F. Wilson), the high school bully, has anything to say about it.    

                It is really funny watching Marty try to fit into this different time.  No one understands his clothes, and often people don’t understand what he’s talking about.  Marty mentioned John F. Kennedy and Lorraine’s father asked who that was because he had never heard of him.  Then there was the discussion over sodas.  Marty asked for different kinds that did not exist in 1955 so the man behind the diner’s counter took everything Marty said literally.  When he asked for a Tab the man thought Marty wanted to start a tab.  A Pepsi Free to the man meant Marty wanted the drink without paying.  These types of situations lead Marty to have to double think what he was saying.  Clearly it was a struggle for him, but for the viewer it created some humorous moments.

                Back to the Future is one of those classic comedies that I hope never goes away. Or gets remade, rebooted, or whatever. Some things should be left alone and Back to the Future is one of them. My only exception would be if a Director’s Cut were to become available. That would be interesting to see. Other than that, keep everything just the way it is. It may be almost thirty years old, but that is part of what makes it great.