Anyone who grew up in the 80s has seen Back To The Future stacks of times, purposefully or not. This movie, and its sequels, was screened on television so many times, it might as well have been part of the regular line-up (...perhaps it was...?) I saw fragments of this film in passing enough times that I could probably have pieced it together without having to sit down and watch it right through.
When I moved out of home, one of my housemates had the Back To The Future trilogy, and I decided to watch it to find out whether I had actually seen the films in full. And the answer was no. I had actually seen fragments of all three films, and stitched them together in to one giant film in my mind.
I think the reason the Back To The Future films work is that the time travel is the central plot point, with the rest of the events revolving around that, rather than the time travel being a means to catalyse the plot. As a result, the audience is less inclined to try to catch them out on any time travel mistakes, and more prone to wonder "Ooh.. I wonder what they're planning to do with that plot point..." I like a film where small details and lines are planted to recur and pay off later.
I also like a film with great music, but just how much is my opinion of a film's theme music influenced by feelings of nostalgia? Because, man, this movie has some great theme music. Music that heralds ADVENTURE!!
Final Thought: That comment above about the music heralding adventure got me thinking about other great sweeping adventurous music (Indiana Jones theme, Jurassic Park theme...), which then got me thinking about how those adventure movies died out somewhat after the 90s. I think they've been replaced with comic hero adaptations, which are often great, and I love them. But I loved those rollicking adventure movies... Bring them back.
Up Next: Back To The Future Part II (1989)
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