I've decided to start my blog with a review of what is probably my favorite movie of all time: Back to the Future
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Back to the Future, directed by Bob Zemeckis and co-written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, was released on July 3 of 1985. Even though I was only 3 at the time, I can't ever remember BTTF not being a part of my life. From the betamax copy my parents owned that we would watch as a family on a TV the size of a Smart Car, to the collector's DVD set that now sits on my shelf, this movie feels like it's as much a part of me as any of the houses in which I've lived or the friends I've made. Through thick and thin, Marty, Doc Brown, and that souped-up DeLorean have always been there to wow me with special effects (when I was younger) or cheer me up with a few laughs (once I was old enough to get all the jokes). Watching the movie again recently, I found that it wasn't just nostalgia that kept bringing me back, Back to the Future is actually a damn fine movie.
For those of you who have been living in a cave for the last 24 years, Back to the Future is about a boy named Marty (Michael J. Fox) and his car. The car happens to be a time machine invented by a scientist friend of Marty's named Doctor Emmett L. Brown (Christopher Lloyd, in a role deserving a best supporting actor nomination). Through a series of bizarre circumstances, Marty ends up in 1955, on the path to erasing his existence by causing his mother (Lea Thompson) to fall in love with him, instead of his father (Crispin Glover).
But that's just the surface. What it's "really about," as they say in the movie business, is how who our parents were when they were our age dictates what kind of person we will grow up to be. See, Marty finds out his father was insecure and nerdy, causing Marty later in life to exhibit those same characteristics no matter how hard he tries to be different. "What if I'm no good? What if they say 'get outta here, kid, you've got no talent.' I don't know if I can take that kind of rejection," Marty tells his girlfriend Jennifer after he and his band suffer a particularly disasterous audition. Through his travels, Marty finds his father uttering the exact same sentiments in 1955 in regards to his previously secret science fiction writings. What Marty doesn't know until he takes this strange journey is that his parents were actually a lot like him, and probably know more about what he's going through than he ever realized.
The underlying theme to all three BttF movies is that while history repeats itself, it's never too late to chart another course for your life. The mistakes you've made can form you into the person you will become just as much, if not more so, than your successes.
Of course, being produced by Steven Spielberg, the movie is also about kick-ass effects (for 1985) and hilarity. Certain lines are still funny enough that I find myself having to pause the DVD to give myself time to laugh, lest I miss another joke or gag.
The next time you're sitting at home, bored, and you need something to pass the time, you can do a lot worse than Back to the Future. If you haven't seen it in a while, I can assure you: it still holds up. Give it a shot.
Grade: 10
(All movies are graded on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being cinematic perfection, and 1 being most Julia Roberts movies)
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