'Films to See' 1: Back to the Future (1985)

Back to the Future is, lets face it, one of the best films ever made. It has suspense, intrigue, romance, and a bloody great story. So when I found out that one of my house mates hadn't seen it, I was more than a little shocked. After the flood of exasperated noises, I finally managed to give him a slap and tell him that we're watching the DVD! I got to thinking what that'd be like to see it for the first time again, how it would've been in a cinema in 1985. I logged on to my computer and I get an e-mail. 25th Anniversary re-release of Back to the Future...at the Cinema!!! Thank you Odeon.

Come Monday, we're sat in the cinema, with the film, one of the best films...ever...about to start, and my friend turns to me (in his unique, lucky position, imaging being able to see BTTF in a Cinema for the first time) and says "It's a bit empty, if this is so good, I'd have thought there'd be more people"! I nearly slapped him again, although he did have a point, aside from the two of us, there were only two others in the room. I shook is off when the music began. 

Back to the Future, for those poor, sheltered people who don't know, is about a teenager (Marty McFly - Michael J Fox) who accidentally travels back in time to 1955 in DeLorean made into a Time Machine by an eccentric Scientist, the Doc (Christopher Lloyd). In 1955, he meets his parents (Crispin Glover and Lea Thompson) and sets about a chain of events that could erase him from time completely. He has to set History straight, and get back to the future with the help of the younger, even more eccentric Doc from 1955. 

"Why is 'Back to the Future' such an important film?" Well, I'm glad you ask that, I'll tell you. A GOOD Time Travel film is hard to come by, mainly because it's tough to find a concept that works, and also because it is such a head trip for writers to work their way through paradoxes, like for instance: 

SPOILER ALERT 

With BTTF. Marty McFly travels back in time and accidentally stops his parents from falling in love, nearly erasing his whole existence...but, if he never existed, he wouldn't have been able to go back in time to stop himself from existing...but if he hadn't gone back, he'd still be around, to keep going back... but if...AHHH it's too much... 

Well, like I said, Paradoxes confuse a writer, but they make great films, and I'm pleased to say that my friend loved it. To quote him "I forgot that I was watching a 25-year-old film, it felt as new and exciting as modern films". One thing he continually noted, to my slight annoyance, is that he'd seen a lot of the 'clichés' before. He had to remind himself that this film came first, it made the cliché. 

That is the important thing about Back to the Future, and the reason that it kicks off our Epic Journey, because it is somewhat of an archetype. There were Time Travel Stories before BTTF, but it was this film which set the premise for all subsequent Time Travel stories, the unique storytelling, and comical moments, the heart warming relationships, and indeed the light-hearted yet tense danger posed to our hero make for an marvellously entertaining film, and subsequent series which everyone should own.


Will :-D


All Pictures Courtesy of Google