Movie #71 – Back to the Future (1985) - 116 min, cert PG.
Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) has a lousy home life. His dad is a wimp who is constantly bullied by his overbearing boss and his mum is a nagging alcoholic. Rather than spend time at home, he hangs out with the local mad professor, Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd). One night, Doc Brown unveils his latest invention to Marty – a fully operational time machine made out of a DeLorean sports car. Things don’t go to plan and Marty ends up transported back in time 30 years to 1955 when his parents were teenagers themselves. He accidentally interferes with their first meeting and must repair their relationship to preserve his own existence. At the same time, he and a younger Doc Brown are trying to find a way to get him back to 1985.
This was one of the best family movies of the 1980s and it still holds up just as well today. In fact if anything, it seems to get better with age. The casting is superb. All the actors play their characters perfectly, particularly Lloyd & Fox and it’s hard to see how the movie could have worked with anyone else in those roles. But it’s the way Robert Zemeckis handles the delicate balance between comedy, drama, action, sci-fi & nostalgia so well. He never lets the film lean too heavily towards any one of those elements, and the result is a beautifully crafted piece of entertainment which leaves you with a big smile on your face.
Score – 10/10. It’s a faultless piece of cinema.
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