Every damn time.
Every single goddamn time I watch this film I want to skateboard, and I want to be able to play guitar much better than I can, and I want to beat up the school bully...basically I just wanted to be Marty McFly.
And I have done ever since I was 11 when I first watched this, because he really is just the perfect protagonist. He has a relatable struggle with wanting to be successful, his story has high stakes, he's extremely likable and funny...just about the only thing you could complain about is the often recognised fact that he doesn't really have an arc of any sort.
But (at least for me) it's really not needed because of everything he does mentioned above, plus the fact that no one could have played him any better than Michael J. Fox, who delivers what is honestly one of my favourite performances ever in this film, and the fact that he very nearly couldn't be part of the film at all is terrifying. There's some other universe that has Eric Stoltz as Marty instead, and no hate to Eric, but that's not a universe I want to live in.
But for as much as I could bang on about Michael J. Fox in this, all the other major actors are just as fantastic. Every single one of them played one of the best examples of their respective archetype in cinema: Christopher Lloyd gave us one of the most memorable and funniest mad scientists ever, Crispin Glover must have forever damaged his social standing by playing one of the biggest dorks ever captured on film to perfection, Lea Thompson never fails to convince you that she is an utterly infatuated girl (and an alcoholic at the beginning), and Thomas F. Wilson as Biff is my single favourite bully in cinematic history. What an ass.
Coming back to this after it had been a few years since I last saw it, however, it really struck me just how funny this film is. I remembered there being a few jokes, sure, but this really is a straight-up comedy, and everyone of the aforementioned actors aside from Michael J. Fox is hamming it up massively. But it works because Marty is the everyman thrown into a wacky situation unimaginable to anyone watching, so every other character being so over the top works perfectly for the tone.
None of them could have been so funny without a great script though, and as far as I'm concerned this film has one of the best ever written. There's brilliant foreshadowing, set ups and payoffs, the plot is imaginative, it's paced flawlessly, and the dialogue is absolutely gorgeous. Trust me, another thing I do everytime I watch this is I end up quoting it for weeks afterward.
This has also got to be Robert Zemeckis' best directing by far - so many memorable images, the production design is great, especially with how good it is at making you believe you're looking at a 50's version of a town, and there isn't a single editing flub.
And good lord that main theme. Need I say more?
You can argue that there's a few minor plot holes here and there, and admittedly in some ways it is a little problematic today, but none of that really bugs me because of just how damn good this screenplay is overall, and I really couldn't think of anything else to moan about.
So yeah, Back To The Future was in some ways already a classic in 1985, it was a classic in 2015, it'll undoubtedly still be a classic in 2045 and beyond, and if you haven't seen it...get on that. You've only got so much time.
Every single goddamn time I watch this film I want to skateboard, and I want to be able to play guitar much better than I can, and I want to beat up the school bully...basically I just wanted to be Marty McFly.
And I have done ever since I was 11 when I first watched this, because he really is just the perfect protagonist. He has a relatable struggle with wanting to be successful, his story has high stakes, he's extremely likable and funny...just about the only thing you could complain about is the often recognised fact that he doesn't really have an arc of any sort.
But (at least for me) it's really not needed because of everything he does mentioned above, plus the fact that no one could have played him any better than Michael J. Fox, who delivers what is honestly one of my favourite performances ever in this film, and the fact that he very nearly couldn't be part of the film at all is terrifying. There's some other universe that has Eric Stoltz as Marty instead, and no hate to Eric, but that's not a universe I want to live in.
But for as much as I could bang on about Michael J. Fox in this, all the other major actors are just as fantastic. Every single one of them played one of the best examples of their respective archetype in cinema: Christopher Lloyd gave us one of the most memorable and funniest mad scientists ever, Crispin Glover must have forever damaged his social standing by playing one of the biggest dorks ever captured on film to perfection, Lea Thompson never fails to convince you that she is an utterly infatuated girl (and an alcoholic at the beginning), and Thomas F. Wilson as Biff is my single favourite bully in cinematic history. What an ass.
Coming back to this after it had been a few years since I last saw it, however, it really struck me just how funny this film is. I remembered there being a few jokes, sure, but this really is a straight-up comedy, and everyone of the aforementioned actors aside from Michael J. Fox is hamming it up massively. But it works because Marty is the everyman thrown into a wacky situation unimaginable to anyone watching, so every other character being so over the top works perfectly for the tone.
None of them could have been so funny without a great script though, and as far as I'm concerned this film has one of the best ever written. There's brilliant foreshadowing, set ups and payoffs, the plot is imaginative, it's paced flawlessly, and the dialogue is absolutely gorgeous. Trust me, another thing I do everytime I watch this is I end up quoting it for weeks afterward.
This has also got to be Robert Zemeckis' best directing by far - so many memorable images, the production design is great, especially with how good it is at making you believe you're looking at a 50's version of a town, and there isn't a single editing flub.
And good lord that main theme. Need I say more?
You can argue that there's a few minor plot holes here and there, and admittedly in some ways it is a little problematic today, but none of that really bugs me because of just how damn good this screenplay is overall, and I really couldn't think of anything else to moan about.
So yeah, Back To The Future was in some ways already a classic in 1985, it was a classic in 2015, it'll undoubtedly still be a classic in 2045 and beyond, and if you haven't seen it...get on that. You've only got so much time.