Back to the Future
| Back to the Future | |
|---|---|
 Official Logo | |
| Directed by | Robert Zemeckis |
| Written by | Robert Zemeckis Bob Gale |
| Produced by | Bob Gale Neil Canton |
| Starring | Michael J. Fox Christopher Lloyd Lea Thompson Crispin Glover |
| Cinematography | Dean Cundey |
| Edited by | Arthur Schmidt Harry Keramidas |
| Music by | Alan Silvestri |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date | July 3, 1985 |
Running time | 116 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $19 million |
| Box office | $381.1 million |
Back to the Future is a 1985 American science fiction adventure movie directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Crispin Glover. It is the first movie in the Back to the Future trilogy.
Premise
[change | change source]17 year old Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time in his friend Doc Brown's DeLorean time machine to the year 1955, and accidentally changes an event that would have led to his parents becoming a couple. Marty must now try to get his mom and dad to fall in love in time for the school ball before he's erased from existence forever.
Plot
[change | change source]In 1985, Marty McFly lives with his depressed mother Lorraine and his "loser" father, George in the fictional town of Hill Valley. Marty has a brother and a sister, both of which are similarily troubled. George is pushed around by his childhood bully and current supervisor Biff Tannen. Marty tells his girlfriend Jennifer that he's worried he'll eventually end up like his parents despite his dreams of becoming a music artist.
Doctor Emmett Brown, an enigmatic friend of Marty's, invites him over to the mall in the middle of the night to show Marty his new creation: a DeLorean that can travel through time. The heart of the time machine is the "flux capacitor," a regulating device invented by Doc Brown, which is powered by plutonium. Doc Brown demonstrates a successful time jump by sending his dog, Einstein, one minute into the future. Doc prepares another jump to the night he had the idea for time travel, November 5, 1955, when suddenly, Libyan terrorists attack the pair after it's revealed that Doc Brown stole the plutonium from them. He is shot dead by the terrorists, and Marty escapes in the DeLorean, accelerating to 88 miles per hour which activates the time machine and sends Marty back to the year 1955.
In 1955, Marty realises he has no plutonium left in the time machine and therefore has no way to return to 1985. In a café, Marty accidentally runs into a teenage version of his father, George, and discovers that Biff was bullying him even then. Marty follows George as he goes to spy on a teenage Lorraine in her bedroom, but falls from his tree branch and into the path of an incoming car. Marty saves George, but is knocked out in the process.
Marty wakes up in bed and is spoken to by his mother, believing he had a bad dream. However, Marty realises he's still in 1955, and his mother is a teenager. She believes his name is Calvin Klein, after reading the brand on his underwear, and she quickly becomes infatuated with him.
Later, Marty tracks down a younger Doc Brown at his family home, and after being questioned by the scientist, convinces him that he's from the year 1985. Marty shows Doc Brown the video captured by his camera of 1985 Doc Brown explaining how the time machine works and the 1.21 Gigawatts needed to power it. Dumbstruck by the notion of anything being able to output such a large amount of power, Doc explains that the only thing that could provide that much was a bolt of lightning. An idea spurs in Marty's head, realising that the famous Hill Valley Lightning Storm was to take place only a few days later, giving them the idea to modify the time machine so that a lightning bolt could give it the power it needs to send Marty back to the future.
However, Marty discovers that a photograph of him, his brother, and his sister is slowly fading. Doc Brown is horrified to realise that Marty's actions have changed the future, and that by saving George, Marty prevented him and Lorraine from falling in love. Eventually, Marty will fade out of existence, since his parents never fell for each other. Doc Brown instructs Marty to introduce George to Lorraine and get them together to save the future. However, attempts to do so fail as Lorraine is instead infatuated with Marty, leading to Biff targeting him.
After Lorraine asks him to go to the school dance with her, Marty hatches a scheme to get Lorraine to fall for George. He plans to fake romantic advances on Lorraine, and for George to stop him, saving Lorraine. However, the plan is interrupted when Biff's friends lock Marty in the trunk of another car as revenge for humilating them earlier. Things go further awry when Biff gets into the car with Lorraine and attempts to hurt her. George approaches the car expecting to find Marty but is horrified to discover Biff with Lorraine. She pleads for George to save her, but Biff orders him to walk away.
However, George doesn't relent, and orders back to Biff that he leave Lorraine alone. Biff twists George's arm and in the process, shoves over Lorraine. Enraged and filled with a new kind of determination, George punches Biff in the face and knocks him out instantly. Starstruck with her savior, Lorraine takes George's hand and the two attend the school dance together.
Marty is freed from the car but the lead guitarist hurts his hand in the process. After discovering that George knocked out Biff, Marty finds out that the guitarist is unable to play. He recalls his mother saying that she fell for his father after she kissed him as Earth Angel played at the dance, so Marty volunteers to play the guitar in the guitarist's place. After George and Lorraine kiss, Marty's future is saved. Noticing his talent, the band members encourage Marty to perform a song, and after instructing the others to play to his tune, Marty plays Johnny B. Goode, much to the awe of the audience. The band lead calls his cousin to tell him of the electrifying new sound he had heard.
After rushing to the Hill Valley clock tower, the building that is to be struck by lightning, Doc Brown has a setup that involves a rod aboard the time machine striking a wire connected to the clock tower just in time as the bolt of lightning hits the building. Doc discovers a letter from Marty warning him about what happens to him on the day Marty first travelled back in time, but Doc rips it apart, scared about the consequences it would have on the universe.
Before enacting their plan, Marty adjusts the time machine to arrive exactly ten minutes before he had originally time travelled to 1955. The plan is a success, and the bolt of lightning provides enough power to send Marty back to the future, much to the excitement of Doc Brown.
In 1985, Marty arrives ten minutes before the first time jump, but the time machine breaks down, forcing Marty to run to the mall. However, he appears to be too late when the Libyans shoot Doc Brown dead. Past Marry travels to 1955, and 1985 Marty rushes to Doc's side. Doc Brown then gets up, revealing that he had been wearing a bulletproof vest and that he pieced together and read Marty's letter after all. After taking Marty home, Doc Brown travels to 2015 in the time machine.
The next morning, Marty wakes up to find out that his family has completely changed. His father, George is a confident and successful author, his mother, Lorraine is happy with her life, and his siblings are also successful in their lives. Biff now works for George, cleaning and waxing the family's cars. After Marty reunites with Jennifer, Doc Brown suddenly reappears, having returned from 2015 and insisting that they need to go to 2015 with him to save themselves and their children from a terrible life.
Marty worries that Doc Brown doesn't have enough road to accelerate to the 88mph needed to time travel, but Doc Brown insinuates that "where they're going, they don't need roads", and the time machine takes off into the air, sending Doc Brown, Marty, and Jennifer back to the future.
Cast
[change | change source]- Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, a teenager aspiring to be a rock star one day.
- Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown, an enigmatic and genius scientist who cracks the secret to time travel.
- Lea Thompson as Lorraine Baines-McFly, Marty's repressed mother.
- Crispin Glover as George McFly, Marty's pushover father.
- Thomas F. Wilson as Biff Tannen, George's childhood bully.
- Claudia Wells as Jennifer Parker, Marty's girlfriend.
- James Tolkan as Mr. Strickland, the longtime principal of Hill Valley High School, who has a hatred of slackers.
- Marc McClure as Dave McFly, Marty's fast-food working brother.
- Wendie Jo Sperber as Linda McFly, Marty's socially repressed sister.
