On the eve of Fall Back (Saturday) – the closest thing that we humans have to actual time travel – it seems appropriate that Kid 2 and I went to see the 40th anniversary re-release of Back to the Future. As such, I decided to was time for another retro movie review.
WARNING: Back to the Future is one of my all-time favorite movies, so this review may be a little biased.
THE PLOT: for those who’ve been living under a rock for the last 40 years. Back to the Future is a story of high school kid named Marty McFly. Marnie has a pretty good life. He’s got a great girlfriend, but he lacks self-confidence in pursuing his dreams of becoming a rockstar. Marty watches his father, George, get bullied by his old high school nemesis, Biff and fears turning out just like him. .
One night, Marty learns that his good friend, the scientist Dr. Brown has invented a time machine. Through a series of mishaps, Marty ends up traveling back in time shortly before his parents would meet. His actions in the past end up putting his parents meeting, and Marty’s entire existence in jeopardy.
With the help of a younger version of Dr. Brown, Marty has to orchestrate his parents first meeting, try to avoid altering the timeline any more, and get himself… back to the future.
MY TAKE: Back to the future is one of my all-time favorite movies. It has action, suspense, romance, time, travel, and most of all a lot of heart. The movie the movie touches down on a truly timeless idea when it asks a question “what would it be like if you were to travel back in time and meet your parents when they were teenager?” Back to the Future checks off all the proverbial boxes. It’s no surprise that it was the highest grossing movie of 1985.
Both directors James Gunn and Quentin Tarantino have called back to the future “the perfect movie“. Tarantino claims of the pacing is top-notch and there is not a single scene of the movie that is unnecessary. Despite having watched the movie hunters, if not thousands of times myself, the union in the theater on Saturday was the first time I realized that Tarantino is absolutely right. I felt as if I’ve been in the theater for maybe one hour; despite the fact that the running time of BTTF is one hour 56 minutes
I wrote earlier about movie’s pacing but what stood out most to me in this most recent viewing is George McFly’s story – going from wimp to winner much like Marlon in Finding Nemo. I’m always a sucker for a story where a man finds his backbone. Likewise I’m always impressed by Tom Wilson’s portrayal of Biff Tannen. Wilson manages to strike a balance between buffoonery, humor and straight-up malevolence. Biff is not a real threat to anyone – until he is.
FINAL VERDICT: I absolutely positively give my highest possible recommendation for Back to The Future. The movie has held up remarkable well over the last 4 decades. Heck Kid 1 and Kid 2 both love the movie!
Back to the Future is currently streaming on Netflix
Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, 👍 comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related (and perhaps, not-so-related) posts:
- Rob’s Retro Movie Review: This is Spinal Tap (1984) – The Movie That Scaled to Eleven
- A Death in the Family (And My Disposable Income): My Life in Comics
- The Supporting Cast: Navigating the Eras of Male Friendship
- Life is What Happens: A Look Back at My Non-Existent 2025 Vision
- The Moment I Walked Inside a Hallmark Movie
The article “Rob‘s Retro Review: Back to the Future (1985)” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.
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