The Back to the Future Trilogy

Photo of trilogy box cover taken by Kate Dorsey

    I have been having a really hard time finding anything to watch on TV.  Shows are on, but very little of it interests me.  Last week’s Memorial Day weekend was especially bad.  Usually there is some good marathon on.  I found nothing.  At least that was the case until I remembered one of the channels was going to be airing the Back to the Future trilogy.  It was exactly what I was looking for.  

                The Back to the Future trilogy starts with the movie Back to the Future.  In it, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) accidentally goes back in time to the year 1955.  He runs into his parents as teenagers and messes up their whole life story.  The story was supposed to go that Marty’s mother, Lorraine (Lea Thompson), fell in love with his father, George (Crispin Glover), when her father hit George with a car.  With Marty in 1955 that is no longer what happens.  Instead of George getting hit by the car, Marty is, and his mother falls in love with him, not George.  This puts Marty’s entire existence in jeopardy.  If he is not able to figure out how to fix this altered history, and his parents never fall in love, Marty and his siblings will disappear forever.   

                In order to put everything back in order, Marty needs to find some help.  The only person who could possibly do this is Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd).  He is the inventor of the time machine, as well as Marty’s friend back in 1985.  Marty is sure that if he finds Doc everything will turn out all right.  Unfortunately Marty forgets Doc does not know who Marty is yet.  Nor does he know anything about the time machine, because in 1955, the time machine was yet to be invented.  Now, on top of everything else, Marty has to convince Doc of the truth before he can even begin to set everything right.                 

                Backto the Future II has Marty traveling thirty years into the future instead of the past.  Instead of time traveling alone as he did in the first movie, Marty goes to the future with his girlfriend, Jennifer (Elisabeth Shue) and Doc.  During his own trip to the future, Doc found out that Marty’s and Jennifer’s son is going to get into serious trouble.  By bringing them to the future, Doc hopes they can alter what is scheduled to happen before it does.  Jennifer, however, starts to ask too many questions about her future, forcing Doc to put her to sleep.  He and Marty leave her in an alley while Marty goes on his mission to save his son.  While they are away, Jennifer is accidentally found by police officers who mistake Jennifer for her future self.  The police take Jennifer to her future home, where she gets trapped inside.  All the new technology is a mystery to Jennifer, and she cannot figure out how to get out of the house.  It is while she is trying to come up with an escape that Jennifer learns upsetting things about Marty’s future.  She never gets the chance to tell Marty though, because Jennifer passes out when she comes face to face with her future self, and remains that way all the way back to 1985.  In fact, Jennifer is so asleep, she never wakes to discover that 1985 has changed from what she once knew it to be.  Marty notices the changes, though.  It’s almost immediately upon his return that Marty feels things aren’t right.  When Marty uncovers the fact that something he did in the future drastically changed the present for the worst, he knows he has to fix it.  With the present in its current condition, it will not be easy to get things back the way they’re supposed to be.  Marty, however, will do whatever it takes to put things right, even if it means going back in time again.
                The last, and possibly my favorite, movie of the trilogy is Back to the Future III.  This movie takes the characters back even further in time.  All the way to the 1800s, where Doc is stuck in the year 1885.  In this time Doc writes Marty a letter set to be delivered at a certain date, time, and place in the future.  Marty receives the letter letting him know where Doc is and that he is well.  It also lets Marty know where the time machine is so he can go home, while leaving Doc in 1885.  Marty is not happy about Doc staying where he is, but he’s willing to follow the man’s wishes.  At least he is until he discovers that Doc was killed one week after writing the letter.  With this information, Marty decides he has to go to the past to save Doc before anything happens to him.  He does not expect the time machine to break, keeping him trapped in 1885 as well.  Without the supplies they need to get the time machine running again available for many decades, Doc and Marty come up with a plan to get themselves back to the future.  It’s a dangerous plan, one that may cost them their lives, but so is staying where they are.  They have to give their plan a try, or else they will be stuck in 1885 forever.

                Through all three movies Marty and Doc continuously get tripped up by things.  A lot of times it’s the time machine itself, but bullies also play a big factor in things not going right.  That bully, always played by Thomas F. Wilson, does whatever he can to exert his dominance.  Whether it’s Biff, young Biff, old Biff, Griff, or “Mad Dog” Tannen, that character is always out to create some trouble.  They get into some too, thanks to Marty, which is how so many of them meet up with some sort of manure. 

                This trilogy is an enjoyable and funny set of movies. There is some swearing, but nothing terrible. Romance plays a part, but there aren’t any huge sex scenes. As many times as I’ve seen these movies you would think I’d be sick of them by now, but I’m not. I love it when they’re on because I know with these movies I can have a nice, easy, relaxing day.

Image added 11/16/21.