Back to the Future: 25th Anniversary Trilogy (+ Digital Copy) [Blu-ray]

Critics and audiences didn't seem too happy with Back to the Future, Part II, the inventive, perhaps too clever sequel. Director Zemeckis and cast bent over backwards to add layers of time-travel complication, and while it surely exercises the brain it isn't necessarily funny in the same way that its predecessor was. It's well worth a visit, though, just to appreciate the imagination that went into it, particularly in a finale that has Marty watching his own actions from the first film. --Tom Keogh

Shot back-to-back with the second chapter in the trilogy, Back to the Future, Part III is less hectic than that film and has the same sweet spirit of the first, albeit in a whole new setting. This time, Marty ends up in the Old West of 1885, trying to prevent the death of mad scientist Christopher Lloyd at the hands of gunman Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson, who had a recurring role as the bully Biff). Director Zemeckis successfully blends exciting special effects with the traditions of a Western and comes up with something original and fun. --Tom Keogh

The plot for the trilogy seems complicated at face value as teenage Marty (Fox) and his unlikely best friend Doc Brown (Lloyd) travel back and forth through time altering the past, present, or future at every pitstop. However, when you watch the films, the story is not complicated at all. The script is tightly woven, the characters are memorable, and the chemistry between the major players (Fox, Lloyd, Thompson, Steenburgen, Glover, and Wilson) is unrivaled.

The simple moral of the story is "Life is what you make of it."

Going against the grain, I have to admit that the second feature was my favorite of the three. This is primarily due to portions where Marty battles his way through scenes in the first film without being seen by his other self or his parents.....similar camera tricks were seen a few years later in Zemekis's other great film "Forrest Gump". I was also amazed at the gratuitous and shameless product placement in the second film, which even made "Seinfeld" seem subtle.

One thing I've got my fingers crossed for on the extras would be the scenes with the original Marty as played by Erick Stoltz. Allegedly, three weeks of filming occurred before he was switched out with Micheal J. Fox.


A stunning rift in the movies continuum Marty!!!   December 4, 2002
Jevron Mc Crory (London)
37 out of 41 found this review helpful

If there's only one thing DVD's should be applauded for, it's for giving old classics a new lease of life, and this particular title was destined for digital before anyone even knew what digital was. The Back to the Future Trilogy will, in most of us, invoke the same feeling of overwhelming nostalgia as when veiwing the original Star Wars trilogy.

It's been such a long time since I've viewed the original and wow, why did I wait so long before re-stepping back into the familiar DeLorean and riding through one of the most cleverly scripted and tightly paced films in history. I was blown away all over again by what the makers achieved in terms of, pretty much, everything. The performances are every bit as convincing and funny as you will remember and the sight of the DeLorean taking hair spin turns and breaking the time barrier only serve to ingrain this film deeply in your subconscious. It's simply what it set out to be, a thrill ride of honest intensity and adrenaline populated by sincere and truthful human characters that you generally care about.

The second part is, in more ways, even more successful. The plot is so tightly woven and controlled that you can't help but gasp at how much detail is included, from the Mc Fly family history to the correct way to turn on lights in the future. And for visual candy, you cannot beat the beauty of the flying DeLorean.

How much you enjoy the third will ultimately depend on how much you like westerns. While obviously retaining the style, wit and bravado of the BTTF legacy, it is alot more digestable in terms of plot and even set pieces. Though as a film by itself, it is a wonderful achievement in entertainment, viewing the installments in order may lead you to feeling ever so slightly let down by a conclusion to the one of the most twisted and brilliant trilogies ever to take place outside of a galaxy far, far away.

Keeping in tradition to the BTTF stamp of excellence, the extras on the DVD hit eighty eight miles per hour from the get go and rarely let up. Embarrassing other lesser DVD boxsets with it's desire to leave no stone unturned, we get 'on location' and retrospective documentaries examining the aspects and realities that the film makers endured in order to bring this adventurous tale to the silver screen. Cast and crew remincese fondly about how everyone involved was so excited about the potential of the script and the freshness that Michael J. Fox brought to the production. The star himself even sits in for a few interviews, giving himself wholeheartedly to talk about the movies that made him a household name.

While a frankly shocking reason is given to explaining Crispin Glover's absence in BTTF part 2 and therefore, all the extras thereafter, it is the absence of Doc Emmett Brown himself, Christopher Lloyd, that resonates most of all. Why he was not included in this celebration of the trilogy goes unexplained and therefore, unforgiven.

This minor gripe aside, this box set is for everyone who managed to hop onboard the DeLorean first time around. For others, this is the perfect medium and compliation to catch up with the time travelling duo as they were meant to be seen. It's astonishing how well the films have aged, and how much better than recent films they remain to be. A knockout!!!


One of the Best 1980's movies finally comes to DVD   June 26, 2002
53 out of 61 found this review helpful

One of the best iconic movies from the 1980's is finally coming out on DVD! It also is wonderful to see to that finally a widescreen edition will be available to be purchased. It is impossible to say what from this movie became a part of 1980's culture, but the very idea of a Time Traveling DeLorean and Flux Capacitor is still as popular today as it was all those years ago.

Back to the Future the first in the series, is perhaps the best, featuring the first trip of Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox)traveling back to 1955 and seeing his parents as kids in a time traveling DeLorean that 'Doc' Brown (Christopher Lloyd) created. Through many funny scenes he stops their first meeting and has to try and bring them back together or face the possibility of never being born.

Back to the Future II takes place in three time lines, 2015, 1955 and an alternate 1985. This world created by an item purchased from the future and taken back in time to 1955 can only be righted by Marty McFly traveling back once more to 1955 and setting time back as it should flow. Some of the scenes in here funny and some of the reportedly added scenes will be worth seeing, if they are added into the movie as they were originally shot.

Back to the Future III, takes place mostly in 1885 and while the last in the trilogy and perhaps one of the better ones takes place in the western style town of Hill Valley. Here more then any other movie Marty McFly faces the greatest chance of meeting his own end in the past and 'Doc' Emmit L. Brown (Christopher Lloyd)faces the greatest chance he has of disrupting the time stream for his own ends.

Overall an excellent series and one long overdo for the transition to DVD. Five Stars and more for this great 1980's movie and the trilogy it created!