October 26th 1985. Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) may
be a gifted guitar-player with a nice girlfriend called Jennifer (Claudia Wells),
but Marty is a slacker and seems destined to join his dweeby father George (Crispin
Glover) as the latest failure of the McFly family. His friend Dr Emmett Brown
(Christopher Lloyd) has told him to meet him in the early hours of the morning,
to show him his latest invention. Doc Brown has created a time-machine fitted in
a DeLorean DCM-12, powered by plutonium to travel forwards or backwards in time
once you hit 88 miles per hour. Suddenly, they are ambushed by Libyan
terrorists and Marty accidently travels to 5th November 1955,
leaving Doc behind and with no plutonium to get him back to 1985. His encounter
with his teenaged parents George and Lorraine (Lea Thompson) means the future
has changed and Marty is slowly fading away. Marty has to find enough energy to
power the DeLorean, ensure his existence and get back to Doc Brown in 1985.
Back to the
Future is a fun-packed sci-fi adventure film, boasting some of the
most quotable quips of the 80s. Written by Rob Zemeckis and Bob Gale the script
is full of zingy one-liners, from the confused 1950s residents’ response to
Marty’s references, ‘What do you mean, you’ve seen this? It’s brand new.’ Irony
abounds in Back to the Future as
Marty knows the future of many of the residents he encounters, ‘Better get used
to these bars, kid.’ Some wry commentary is made on similarities between the
50s and the 80s – generations to come will still be watching the TV whilst
eating – and how people can become defined and stuck with same defining
behaviour and personality traits. It’s a thoughtful yet surprisingly dark
family film. Self-confidence and pursuing your dreams is advocated heavily in Back to the Future, as the McFly
timeline is altered and the family’s lives are enriched. For the adults, the
plot gets Oedipal very quickly once Marty arrives in the 50s and there is sexual
harassment, border-lining on assault by one character in the third act. This incident also leads to one of the few
misfires in the film towards the end, where karma is fulfilled in a problematic
and miscalculated manner.
Back to the
Future also includes some fantastic production design, exemplified in
the set of the town Hill Valley. In 1985 Hill Valley is dusty and well-lived in:
the slightly de-saturated colour tones of the shop fronts, the flyers pasted on
the walls and dimming neon signs. In contrast, 1955 Hill Valley is brighter
like it just had a fresh coat of paint. The retro (to the audience) billboards,
soda bars, jukeboxes and all the memorabilia are sprinkled throughout. The film
is very appealing to look at. Alan Silvestri’s score is large and energetic, pushing
the action forward whilst the soundtrack is a blend of rock and doo-wop.
Michael J. Fox is charismatic as Marty McFly, who is all show
on the front but has a fear of rejection lurking underneath. Marty is the
embodiment of 80s cool; he’s a slightly mischievous skate-boarder and guitar
player, which Fox handles with ease and confidence. Christopher Lloyd is in
mad-scientist overdrive as Doctor ‘Doc’ Brown, eccentric inventor and almost
like an uncle to Marty. Lloyd bursts with maniac energy onto our screen in a
shock of white hair – wide-eyed with a childlike glee for science – reeling out
scientific explanations and constantly creating new contraptions. Lea Thompson
plays Lorraine, a love-struck teenager and Marty’s (future) mother for the
majority of Back to the Future. Thompson
captures Lorraine’s nervousness whilst also conveying her infatuation and
desire, all in a single coy look. Like Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover performs
the role of George, a nerdy young man and Marty’s (future) father. Glover is
restless and his eyes are always downwards, as he is constantly self-doubting
himself when he’s not being bullied.
Back to the
Future is a laugh-out loud adventure with charming production design,
topped with some excellent comedic performances lead by Michael J Fox and Christopher
Lloyd.
0 comments:
Post a Comment