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'''The ''Back to the Future'' series''' is a [[comedy film|comedic]] [[science fiction]] [[adventure film|adventure]] [[film]] series written by [[Bob Gale]] and [[Robert Zemeckis]], directed by Zemeckis, produced by [[Amblin Entertainment]] and distributed by [[Universal Pictures]]. The main plot follows the adventures of a high school student [[Marty McFly]] ([[Michael J. Fox]]) and [[mad scientist|eccentric scientist]] Dr. [[Emmett Brown]] ([[Christopher Lloyd]]) as they use a [[DeLorean time machine|modified DeLorean automobile]] to [[time travel]] to different periods of the history of [[Hill Valley (Back to the Future)|Hill Valley]], [[California]].
The '''''Back to the Future'' series''' is a [[comedy film|comedic]] [[science fiction]] [[adventure film|adventure]] [[film]] series written by [[Bob Gale]] and [[Robert Zemeckis]], directed by Zemeckis, produced by [[Amblin Entertainment]] and distributed by [[Universal Pictures]]. The main plot follows the adventures of a high school student [[Marty McFly]] ([[Michael J. Fox]]) and [[mad scientist|eccentric scientist]] Dr. [[Emmett Brown]] ([[Christopher Lloyd]]) as they use a [[DeLorean time machine|modified DeLorean automobile]] to [[time travel]] to different periods of the history of [[Hill Valley (Back to the Future)|Hill Valley]], [[California]].


The first film was the highest-grossing film of 1985 and became an international phenomenon, leading to the second and third films which were filmed [[Back to Back Film Sequels|back-to-back]] and released in 1989 and 1990 respectively. Though the two sequels did not perform quite as well at the box office as the first film, the trilogy remains immensely popular after nearly a quarter century and has yielded such spin-offs as an [[Back to the Future: The Animated Series|animated television series]] and a [[Back to the Future: The Ride|motion-simulation ride]] at the [[Universal Studios Theme Parks]] in [[Universal Studios Hollywood|Universal City, California]] (now closed); [[Universal Studios Florida|Orlando, Florida]] (now closed), and [[Universal Studios Japan|Osaka, Japan]], as well as an upcoming [[Xbox 360]], [[Wii]] and [[PS3]] video game. The film's visual effects were done by [[Industrial Light and Magic]]. All together, the trilogy was nominated for five [[Academy Awards]], one of which ([[Academy Award for Sound Editing|Best Sound Editing]]) was won.
The first film was the highest-grossing film of 1985 and became an international phenomenon, leading to the second and third films which were filmed [[Back to Back Film Sequels|back-to-back]] and released in 1989 and 1990 respectively. Though the two sequels did not perform quite as well at the box office as the first film, the trilogy remains immensely popular after nearly a quarter century and has yielded such spin-offs as an [[Back to the Future: The Animated Series|animated television series]] and a [[Back to the Future: The Ride|motion-simulation ride]] at the [[Universal Studios Theme Parks]] in [[Universal Studios Hollywood|Universal City, California]] (now closed); [[Universal Studios Florida|Orlando, Florida]] (now closed), and [[Universal Studios Japan|Osaka, Japan]], as well as an upcoming [[Xbox 360]], [[Wii]] and [[PS3]] video game. The film's visual effects were done by [[Industrial Light and Magic]]. All together, the trilogy was nominated for five [[Academy Awards]], one of which ([[Academy Award for Sound Editing|Best Sound Editing]]) was won.

Revision as of 17:58, 7 September 2010

"Back to the Future Trilogy" redirects here. For the album, see The Back to the Future Trilogy (soundtrack).
Back to the Future
File:BackToTheFutureLogo.jpg
Official logo
Directed byRobert Zemeckis
Written byRobert Zemeckis
Bob Gale
Produced byBob Gale
Neil Canton
Frank Marshall
Kathleen Kennedy
Steven Spielberg
Steve Starkey (associate 1 & 2)
StarringMichael J. Fox
Christopher Lloyd
Thomas F. Wilson
Lea Thompson
James Tolkan
Part 1:
Claudia Wells
Crispin Glover
Parts 2 and 3:
Elisabeth Shue
Jeffrey Weissman
Part 3:
Mary Steenburgen
CinematographyDean Cundey
Edited byHarry Keramidas
Arthur Schmidt
Music byAlan Silvestri
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
1985-1990
Running time
337 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$99,000,000
Box office$957,587,347

The Back to the Future series is a comedic science fiction adventure film series written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, directed by Zemeckis, produced by Amblin Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The main plot follows the adventures of a high school student Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and eccentric scientist Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) as they use a modified DeLorean automobile to time travel to different periods of the history of Hill Valley, California.

The first film was the highest-grossing film of 1985 and became an international phenomenon, leading to the second and third films which were filmed back-to-back and released in 1989 and 1990 respectively. Though the two sequels did not perform quite as well at the box office as the first film, the trilogy remains immensely popular after nearly a quarter century and has yielded such spin-offs as an animated television series and a motion-simulation ride at the Universal Studios Theme Parks in Universal City, California (now closed); Orlando, Florida (now closed), and Osaka, Japan, as well as an upcoming Xbox 360, Wii and PS3 video game. The film's visual effects were done by Industrial Light and Magic. All together, the trilogy was nominated for five Academy Awards, one of which (Best Sound Editing) was won.

Storylines

Back to the Future

Main article: Back to the Future

17-year-old Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time to 1955 in a time machine built from a DeLorean by eccentric scientist Emmett L. Brown, also known as "Doc". Upon arriving in 1955, Marty inadvertently causes his mother (Lorraine McFly) to fall in love with him, rather than with his father (George McFly). This begins to cause what Doc Brown later describes as a paradox that would cause Marty to disappear from existence. To make matters worse, Marty did not bring back any additional plutonium to power the time machine, so he must find the 1955 version of Doc Brown to help him reunite his parents and return to 1985. Biff Tannen, the antagonist, further complicates Marty's efforts to return to an unaltered 1985. Marty successfully causes his parents to fall in love and simultaneously ruins the future of Biff Tannen, who in the end is an auto detailer instead of George McFly's boss. Marty learns in the end that his family situation has improved because of the way his parents' relationship was changed by his intervention in the past. However, in the film's final moments, Doc Brown and the DeLorean appear and Doc tells Marty that he has returned from the future, and that Marty must come back to the future with him.

Back to the Future Part II

Main article: Back to the Future Part II
DeLorean time machine

Doc Brown travels with Marty to the year 2015 where he has discovered Marty's family is in ruins. Marty buys a sports almanac containing the outcomes of 50 years worth (1950-2000) of sporting events. However, Doc catches him and throws the almanac in the trash, where the aged Biff Tannen finds it. While Marty and Doc are at Marty's future house, Old Biff steals the DeLorean time machine and gives the book to himself just before he goes to the dance at the end of the first movie. When Doc and Marty return to 1985, they find that Biff has used the almanac's knowledge for financial gain, which allows him to turn Courthouse Square into a 27 story casino, "own" Hill Valley, get away with the murder of Marty's father, and later marry Marty's mother. Marty learns that Biff was given the book by old Biff on November 12, 1955, so he and Doc go back to that date in order to steal the almanac from Biff before he can use it to destroy their lives. They accomplish this in a complex fashion, often crossing their own past-selves' paths. When the duo are about to travel back to 1985, a lightning bolt strikes the DeLorean and scrambles the time circuits, sending Doc back to 1885 and leaving Marty stranded once again in 1955.

Back to the Future Part III

Main article: Back to the Future Part III
Film Trilogy timeline

After finding out that Doc Brown is trapped in 1885, Marty sets out to find the 1955 Doc to help him fix the DeLorean (which has been waiting for him in a mineshaft for 70 years) and restore it to working order. Learning that Doc gets shot in 1885, Marty travels back in time to save Doc (who has become a blacksmith) and bring him back to the future. Unfortunately, an arrow has ripped a hole in the fuel line, emptying the gas tank and rendering the DeLorean engine useless. Furthermore, Doc falls in love with schoolteacher Clara Clayton, and considers staying in 1885. Marty must convince Doc to come back with him and find a way to get back to his time before it's too late. After several dramatic action scenes involving a speeding locomotive, Marty returns to 1985 in the restored DeLorean. It appears on a train track as planned, and Marty jumps out just in time to see the DeLorean time machine destroyed by a modern train. He worries that Doc has been lost in the past forever, when suddenly Doc Brown appears in a new time machine, modeled after a locomotive. He introduces Marty to Clara (to whom he is now married) and his two sons, Jules and Verne. When Marty asks if Doc and his family are going to the future, Doc replies that he's already been to the future. The locomotive flies across the sky and disappears, and the trilogy ends.

Main cast

Character Film
Back to the Future Back to the Future Part II Back to the Future Part III
Marty McFly Michael J. Fox
Dr. Emmett Brown Christopher Lloyd
Biff Tannen Thomas F. Wilson
Lorraine Baines Lea Thompson
George McFly Crispin Glover Jeffrey Weissman
Jennifer Parker Claudia Wells Elisabeth Shue
Dave McFly Marc McClure Marc McClure
Linda McFly Wendie Jo Sperber Wendie Jo Sperber
Mr. Strickland James Tolkan
3-D Casey Siemaszko
Match Billy Zane
Skinhead J.J. Cohen
Marty McFly Jr Michael J. Fox
Marlene McFly Michael J. Fox
Griff Tannen Thomas F. Wilson
Seamus McFly Michael J. Fox
Maggie McFly Lea Thompson
Clara Clayton Mary Steenburgen
Buford 'Mad Dog' Tannen Thomas F. Wilson
Chief Marshal James Strickland James Tolkan

Marty McFly and Doc Brown were included in Empire's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time, ranking #39 and #76 respectively.[1][2]

Crew

Film Year Director Writer(s) Producer(s) Executive Producer(s)
Back to the Future 1985 Robert Zemeckis Robert Zemeckis
Bob Gale 		Neil Canton
Bob Gale 		Steven Spielberg
Kathleen Kennedy
Frank Marshall
Back to the Future Part II 1989 Story:
Robert Zemeckis
Bob Gale
Screenplay:
Bob Gale
Back to the Future Part III 1990

Reception

Box office performance

Film Release date Box office revenue Box office ranking Budget Reference
United States Foreign Worldwide All time domestic All time worldwide
Back to the Future July 3, 1985 $210,609,762 $170,500,000 $381,109,762 #97
#59(A) 		#138 $19,000,000 [3]
Back to the Future Part II November 22, 1989 $118,450,002 $213,500,000 $331,950,002 #338 #191 $40,000,000 [4][5]
Back to the Future Part III May 25, 1990 $87,727,583 $156,800,000 $244,527,583 #535 #315 $40,000,000 [6]
Total $416,787,347 $540,800,000 $957,587,347 $99,000,000
List indicator(s)
  • (A) indicates the adjusted totals based on current ticket prices (by Box Office Mojo).

The Back to the Future series is the seventeenth highest grossing trilogy of all time at the domestic market[7] and the thirteenth highest grossing trilogy of all time, worldwide.[8] Both these figures are unadusted for price inflation.

Critical reaction

Film Rotten Tomatoes
Overall Cream of the Crop
Back to the Future 96% (45 reviews)[9] 80% (5 reviews)[10]
Back to the Future Part II 63% (38 reviews)[11] 33% (6 reviews)[12]
Back to the Future Part III 71% (35 reviews)[13] 50% (6 reviews)[14]

Home media

DVD release

In July 1997, Universal Studios announced that Back to the Future would be one of their first 10 releases to the new format, though it ended up being delayed for five years. It was finally released in 2002 in widescreen, with a black box. In the USA, a fullscreen version was also released.

Framing issues

In December 2002, when the DVD was released, the video of the widescreen version of Parts II and III contained many shots that had been framed incorrectly, either because the shots were too high or low to center the image correctly, or because they zoomed in on the image, eliminating portions of the image on all sides. One notable example is when Marty's futuristic jacket adjusts itself to fit him, the misframed version does not show the sleeves changing size, thus ruining the visual gag.

In May 2003, Universal corrected the problem and prepared "V2" (Version 2) DVDs, that could only be distinguished from the original, flawed DVDs by the mark of a small "V2" near the edge of the discs themselves (and, of course, by comparing the corrected video). In Region 2, the discs were called "R1" for revision 1.

However, Universal did not initially begin packaging the V2 discs with the trilogy box set that was being sent to retailers, and the original discs were not recalled. Instead, Universal set up a toll-free phone number which owners of the original DVDs could call, and ask for a postage-paid envelope to be sent to them. Owners would send their flawed discs to Universal in the envelope, and would soon thereafter receive the corrected "V2" discs by mail.

However, although Parts II and III now contained corrected framing, a new problem appeared with Part III, in that the video contrast was set incorrectly, resulting in scenes that were too dark. Universal then released a third version of the DVD for this film (known in Region 2 as "R2"), and this was sent out as described above.

In January 2005, Universal began a nationwide promotional campaign, announcing that they would reissue the DVDs of the trilogy at a special low price (about half the set's original retail price) on January 25, 2005, and then put the entire trilogy on moratorium a week later, on February 1, 2005, with new stickers on the box declaring "Lowest Price Ever: Own It Before Time Runs Out!" The discs in this release contained no new content or bonus features from the original release: even the packaging was almost identical, except for including the promotional sticker and excluding the multi-page, full color DVD menu booklet. No booklet or chapter insert is included in the revised release, but did finally contain the corrected V2 discs. Curiously, only the disc for Part II displays the "V2" marking on its edge; the Part III disc does not, but fans have analyzed its video carefully and concluded that, despite the lack of the "V2" marking, the Part III disc is the corrected one.

Second DVD release

On October 21, 2008, BTTF.com broke the story that Universal will be releasing each of the "Back to the Future" films individually. The DVDs were released on February 10, 2009. "Back to the Future" became a 2-disc set featuring the documentary "Looking Back to the Future" and "Back to the Future: The Ride."[15]

Blu-ray release: "25th Anniversary Trilogy"

In June 2008, a special screening of the trilogy was held in Celebration, Florida. Bob Gale told the crowd they were seeing the digitally remastered version that was going to be used for the Blu-ray version of the movies. Gale also spoke to potential supplemental features on a Blu-ray version of the trilogy, saying only that never-before-seen bonus materials may appear, though he stopped short of offering any specifics.[16] On June 28, 2010, Universal announced that the Blu-ray edition of the films would be released on October 26, 2010, twenty-five years to the day from the date of the fictional events from the first film.[17]

Release formats and features

Box Audio Scene Specific Commentary Framing Enhanced MJ Fox interview
1986 (Part I) CED Tan with Marty and DeLorean Stereo No ? No
1986 (Part I) VHS Blue with Marty and DeLorean Stereo No Correct Widescreen No
1993 Japanese Laserdisc Charcoal with logo Stereo No Generous No
VCD Blue with Marty and DeLorean Stereo No Correct Widescreen No
2002 R1 DVD Blue with Marty and Doc with DeLorean Dolby 5.1 Yes Incorrect Widescreen Yes
2002 R2/R4 UK DVD Black with DeLorean Dolby 5.1 and DTS No Incorrect Widescreen No
2002 R2 German DVD Black with DeLorean Dolby 5.1 and DTS No Incorrect Widescreen ?
2003 "V2" (Part II & Part III) DVD No box Dolby 5.1 Yes Corrected Widescreen Yes
2005 R1 DVD Blue with Marty and Doc Dolby 5.1 Yes Corrected Widescreen Yes
2005 R2/R4 UK DVD Blue with DeLorean Dolby 5.1 and DTS Yes Corrected Widescreen Yes
2005 R2 German DVD Blue with DeLorean Dolby 5.1 and DTS No Corrected Widescreen ?
2005 R2 Japanese DVD Blue with DeLorean ? ? Corrected Widescreen ?
2006 R2 UK DVD Blue with DeLorean Dolby 5.1 and DTS Yes Corrected Widescreen Yes
2008 R2 UK DVD Black Steelbook Case with DeLorean Dolby 5.1 and DTS Yes Corrected Widescreen Yes
2009 R1 Individual DVDs BTTF: Marty with DeLorean
BTTF II: Marty and Doc with DeLorean
BTTF III: Marty, Doc, and Clara with DeLorean 		Dolby 5.1 Yes Corrected Widescreen Yes

The footage that was shot with Eric Stoltz in the role of Marty McFly before he was replaced with Michael J. Fox has never been officially released. This footage was not included in Universal's original DVD release in 2002 or in 2009, despite many fans hoping that Universal would include it. Some very brief footage will be included with the blu-ray.

Soundtrack album

In 1999, Varèse Sarabande released a Back to the Future trilogy soundtrack with 8 tracks from the first film, 7 from the second, 4 from the third, and 1 from the ride.

Games

Main article: List of Back to the Future video games

Various video games based on the Back to the Future movies have been released over the years for home video game systems, including the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 computers, the Sega Master System, the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, NES, and Super Nintendo system.

References

  1. ^ "Marty McFly entry on ''100 greatest movie characters''". Empireonline.com. 2006-12-05. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
  2. ^ "Doc Brown entry on ''100 greatest movie characters". Empireonline.com. 2006-12-05. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
  3. ^ "Back to the Future (1985)". Box Office Mojo.
  4. ^ "Back to the Future Part II (1989)". Box Office Mojo.
  5. ^ "Back to the Future Part II (Foreign gross)". The-Numbers.
  6. ^ "Back to the Future Par III (1990)". Box Office Mojo.
  7. ^ http://secure.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/trilogy.htm
  8. ^ http://secure.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/trilogyww.htm
  9. ^ "Back to the Future Part". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  10. ^ "Back to the Future Part (Cream of the Crop)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  11. ^ "Back to the Future Part II". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  12. ^ "Back to the Future Part II (Cream of the Crop)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  13. ^ "Back to the Future Part III". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  14. ^ "Back to the Future Part III(Cream of the Crop)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  15. ^ http://www.bttf.com/forums/blogs/timetraveller/19-bttf-2-disc-special-edition-dvd-coming-february.html[dead link]
  16. ^ "RUMOR: Bob Gale hints "Back to the Future" may be coming to Blu-ray Disc". HighDefDiscNews. 2008-06-03. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
  17. ^ "Official press release of BTTF on Blu-ray". California: Prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
  18. ^ "IPDB listing for Back to the Future: The Pinball". Ipdb.org. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
  19. ^ "TellTale press release about winter 2010 BTTF game". Telltalegames.com. 2010-06-09. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
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