Stars: Michael J.
Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen, Thomas F. Wilson, Lea Thompson,
Crispin Glover, Billy Zane, Elizabeth Shue, Matt Clark, Harey Carey, Harry
Waters Jr., Claudia Wells, Marc McClure, Huey Lewis, Flea, and ZZ Top
Writers:
Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale
Director:
Robert Zemeckis
Back
To The Future Feature Length: 1 Hour and 56 Minutes
Back
To The Future Part II Feature Length: 1 Hour 46 Minutes
Back
To The Future Part III Feature Length: 1 Hour and 56 Minutes
Extras:
Michael J. Fox Discusses His Experience Making The Back To The Future Trilogy,
Outtakes, Deleted Scenes, Audio Commentaries, Live Q &A Session On All Three
Films With Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale,
Making The Trilogy, Animated Anecdotes, Music Videos, Evolution Of The Special
Effects, Behind-The-Scenes Segments, Production Archives, Trailers
Languages:
English, and French Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Three-Disc Alpha Keep Case Within A Glossy Cardboard Slipcase
Chapter
Stops: 20 Per Film
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1985, 1989, 1990/DVD Release: 2002
Theatrical
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Universal Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: PG
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Arguably the most
popular film trilogy of the last quarter of a century after the original
"Star Wars Trilogy" and the "Indiana Jones Trilogy" is the
Steven Spielberg produced and Robert Zemeckis directed "Back To The Future
Trilogy." Bob Gale wrote the screenplay for Parts II & III and co-wrote
the original with Robert Zemeckis, which starred Michael J. Fox in his most
memorable feature film role as Marty McFly, the teenager who journeys with
eccentric scientist Doctor Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) in a series of
adventures back and forth through time in a time traveling DeLorean. The films
inspired a Saturday morning cartoon series as well as a popular ride at
Universal Studios theme parks.
"Back To The Future" is the
best in the series with an emphasis on clever storytelling and characterization
over special effects. Marty McFly must return back to the future from 1955 and
see to it before he leaves that his own future parents (Lea Thompson and Crispin
Glover) fall in love to ensure his own birth. The film wonderfully deals with
the paradoxes of time travel and features a cameo by Huey Lewis early in the
film. No need to remind anyone of the popular songs by "Huey Lewis And The
News" that added to the film's popularity. Practically everyone I knew when
I was in high school and the original film opened theatrically in North America
was riding around in skateboards for a year or so after the film's initial
opening. I find it somewhat ironic now that scooters have become popular
again with kids after seeing the films on DVD.
Before Robert Zemeckis continued and
concluded his trilogy, he directed "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" While I
believe the choice to direct a completely different project was a good one, I
also feel that too much time passed between the first film and the other two
films and the promise set up in the first film never exactly met my expectations
in the sequels. Still collectively the trilogy holds together pretty well when
watching each film one after the other. It is also important to note that there
was never a trilogy planned originally when the first film was being made and if
I remember correctly, according to information within the extra features in this
set the “To Be Continued” card at the film’s close first appeared on the
film’s original home video release after it had already been established as a
worldwide hit.
"Back To The Future Part II"
picks up where the original left off and while the next two chapters feature
some great effects that would be later perfected by ILM in other projects,
including films by Robert Zemeckis, there second film's journey into the future
really does not make much sense since Doctor Brown could have easily just told
Marty what happens to his son and prevented all of the alternate reality
timeline messes, but then again I guess we wouldn't have a trilogy would we?
The real action in "Back To The
Future Part II" takes place in 1955 where scenes from the original picture
are repeated, but from a different perspective, adding another layer of fun to
the story. The film's ending is a teaser set up for "Back To The Future
Part III" wherein Marty journey back to 1885 to save the Doc's life and at
the same time just about every western cliché is exploited for laughs. The
train sequence is excellent cliffhanging excitement and a variety of veteran
western character actors have bit roles in the film. The rock band "ZZ
Top" performed a song for the soundtrack and appears in the film, and Flea
of the "Red Hot Chill Peppers" appears briefly in both Part II and III
so that Marty can finally overcome his fear of being called a coward. This angle
was never present in the first film and feels tacked on to the sequels.
Both movies were shot back to back with
Part III being closer in spirit to the original. The three films have been
digitally mastered for release on DVD with brand new Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
mixes for each installment. Universal Home Entertainment is releasing the
trilogy in both an anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) aspect ratio and a panned and
scanned (1.33:1) aspect ratio with the two different trilogy presentations sold
separately. I was actually surprised the films were presented theatrically in
(1.85:1) because for some reason I always thought they were released in
(2.35:1). Well I never saw the first one in the theater, but I did catch the
sequels on the big screen and I can say that it is no surprise that these three
discs not only present the films better than ever before on home video, but as a
“Back To The Future” DVD-Video experience, “The Complete Trilogy” is the
definitive and most in-depth dissertation on the three movies collectively as
one is ever likely to see. This is an absolute must own for fans of the series,
genre film lovers, and in my opinion is easily among the top ten DVD releases of
2002.
The picture quality on all three films
is amazing though there are some scenes that reveal some grain in the first film
and there are a anomalies that look like compression artifacts in some of the
background saloon scenes in part III. The best looking of the three films is
“Back To The Future Part II” because the image appears consistently sharp
throughout. However let there be no misunderstanding regarding how the first and
third films look because aside from what little grain I noticed, these films
look so good that it dates the effects in particular with the hoverboard in part
3 as well as some of the composite shots in part 2. Even so the films still have
a timeless quality about them because essentially the story as a whole is self
contained. So while it is ironic that a story about time travel to and from 1985
feels contemporary even in the year 2002, the fact that the focal point for our
characters begins in 1985 actually lets us look at it in hindsight as almost a
period piece of sorts.
English and French Language Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtracks are provided for all three features and the new
mixes on all three sound great and take good advantage of the multi-channel
sound capabilities of home theater sound systems that was just not possible when
the films were produced over ten years ago.
English Captions and Closed Captions
for the hearing impaired as well as Spanish Language Subtitles are encoded on to
each film and many of the featurettes included on all three discs feature
English Captions and French and Spanish Language Subtitles as well. While some
of the extra features spread out across the three discs, each film gets it’s
own DVD presentation. The three discs, which have surface artwork that looks
almost holographic, come packaged within a three-disc Alpha keep case that is
housed within a glossy cardboard slipcase with artwork that is identical to the
artwork on the keep case within. There is a 12 page insert containing a brief
synopsis on the premise of each film, bonus feature and scene selection
information as well as production notes. Another insert containing information
on an online contest for five family vacations to Universal Studios Orlando or
Hollywood was enclosed within the keep case too.
Each film contains multiple commentary
options. Unique to “Back To The Future” is an option that allows the viewer
to see excerpts from an interview with Michael J. Fox pertaining to his
experience making the film. Mr. Fox also participates in other featurettes found
on all three discs. All three discs
also feature a candid conversation with Director Robert Zemeckis and Producer
Bob Gale and there is also a feature length audio commentary with Producers Bob
Gale and Neil Canton for all three films. In addition there is an added text
commentary of anecdotes for all three films. Collectively these options would
seem pretty comprehensive and they are, but these are only the tip of the
iceberg once you get to the rest of the extra value features included across all
three discs.
Acclaimed Documentary and Special
Features Producer Laurent Bouzereau put together much of the featurettes and
more just as he has for such notable DVD titles as “The Lost World: Jurassic
Park,” “Jaws,” “Close Encounters Of The Third Kind,” “A. I.:
Artificial Intelligence” and DreamWorks DVD release of “Minority Report,”
which streets the same day as “Back To The Future: The Complete Trilogy” on
Tuesday, December 17, 2002 in Region 1 North America.
The easiest way for me to go through
the rest of the extra features is to go through what is on each disc separately
since the trilogy is being sold as a set collectively. In addition to the
features on disc one containing “Back To The Future,” viewers are treated to
the original “Making Of Back To The Future” featurette (14:28.) It is
amazing to see how young everyone appears here. In particular, Mr. Spielberg
looks like a radio D.J. with his long hair and sunglasses. This is complemented
by the brand new “Making Of The Trilogy Part I” (15:30), which contains
brand new interviews with Michael J. Fox, Bob Gale, and Robert Zemeckis, who all
participate on the other two “Trilogy” segments on the other discs. One gets
to see a few still photos of Eric Stoltz as “Marty McFly” as well as learn
that at one point C. Thomas Howell was being considered for the role of “Marty
McFly” as well. It is surprising to learn that the film’s budget was pretty
low considering the talents involved and just how important it was for the
careers of everyone involved.
There are eight deleted and extended
deleted scenes that run over ten minutes and can be viewed individually or as
one reel with or without a commentary by Producer Bob Gale. An outtakes reel
(2:45) script excerpts that can be read on screen with the need for a DVD-ROM
player, makeup tests, production archives containing still galleries of
production photos, behind-the-scenes photos, DeLorean designs, and time travel
designs wrap up the extra features on disc one along with the theatrical teaser
(1:25) and a spot for the Michael J. Fox Foundation For Parkinson’s Research.
Extra features on “Back To The Future
Part II” include the original making of featurette (6:40), “The Making Of
The Trilogy Part II” (15:30), which reveals why Crispin Glover did not appear
in the two sequels, and seven deleted scenes (5:40) that can be watched
individually or as a whole with optional commentary by Bob Gale as well. The
deleted scenes are made up o extended sequences that include “Old Terry and
Old Biff”, “Dad’s Home Extended”, “Pizza Scene”, “Jennifer Faints
Extended”, “Old Biff Vanishes From Car,” “Burned-Out High School,” and
“Marty Meets Dave.”
Other bonus features on disc two
include outtakes (: 50), a production design featurette (2:55), a storyboarding
featurette (1:31), designing the DeLorean (3:33) complete with Bob Gale reading
a letter from DeLorean himself regarding his appreciation for his car’s use
for the film, designing time travel featurette (2:42), hoverboard tests (: 58),
evolution of the visual effects demonstrations (5:42), and more production
archives featuring futuristic designs and vehicles of the future in addition to
the production shots and behind-the-scenes photographs. The theatrical trailer
for “Back To The Future Part II” (2:21) and a Universal Studios Theme Parks
spot (: 59) as well as the “Power Of Love” music video (6:27) with Huey
Lewis And The News and featuring Christopher Lloyd as “Doctor Brown” wraps
up the features exclusive to the second DVD in the set.
“Back To The Future Part III”
contains the balance of the bonus features that include the original making of
featurette (7:31), the “Making Of The Trilogy Part III” (16:19), a deleted
scene (1:14) another outtakes reel (1:36), a “Designing Hill Valley”
featurette (1:08), a look at how the ad campaigns were designed for the three
films (1:18), more production archives that include production designs and a
poster gallery that features some unused concepts like a “Back To The Future
Part III” poster that mimics the one-sheet for “Indiana Jones And The Last
Crusade” and a mock poster for “Jaws 19: This Time It’s Really
Personal…”
The ZZ Top music video for
“Doubleback” (4:08), the “Secrets Of The Back To The Future Trilogy”
hosted by Kirk Cameron (20:40), frequently asked questions regarding the films,
and the trailer (2:18) close the features exclusive to disc three.
All three discs feature Cast and
Filmmaker Bios and Credits, Production Notes, “Universal Total Access”
including the original screenplay for the first film, web links, and DVD
recommendations and all three discs feature a full motion main menu with
animated transitions to standard interactive still frame menus and all are easy
to navigate.
An excellent set that was well worth
the wait, “Back To The Future: The Complete Trilogy” will debut on DVD-Video
on Tuesday, December 17, 2002 from Universal Home Entertainment.
© Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.