One of the reasons why science fiction films are ignored and sometimes even despised by serious mainstream film makers and corresponding critics’ establishment is in many of them not taking the “science” part of “science fiction” seriously. This is most evident in time travel films, where the concept is often used as cheap gimmick without any consideration for its practical long-term implications, including Grandfather Paradox. The films that actually take those issues seriously usually end up very good and some of them became undisputed classics. One such example can be found in 1984 The Teminator, and the other in Back to the Future, film directed by Robert Zemeckis one year later, which ultimately became not only well-regarded by critics and genre fans alike, but also one of the most popular and beloved films of the era.
The plot begins on October 26th 1985 in Californian town of Hill Valley. Protagonist, played by Michael J. Fox, is Marty McFly, 17-year old high school student who likes skateboarding and dreams of becoming rock star. He also likes to hang out with Dr. Emmet “Doc” Brown (played by Christopher Lloyd), eccentric inventor who lives in house full of cool gadgets and wants to build a time machine. Marty is asked to help Doc with an experiment involving modified DeLorean car powered by plutonium stolen from nuclear power plant with the help of Libyan terrorists. Experiment goes well before Libyans show up and kill Doc, forcing Marty to use DeLorean for escape and accidentally ends up back in time. He comes to Hill Valley on November 5th 1955. After some difficulties, he finds younger version of Doc and, after some difficulty, convinces him that he actually came from the future. While Doc tries to figure out how to power DeLorean within the limitations of 1950s technology, Marty is faced with more pressing matters. He accidentally meets his 17-year old mother Lorraine (played by Lea Thompson) who is immediately infatuated with him. This situation is not only awkward, but potentially fatal, because that makes her completely ignore Marty’s nerdish and unassuming father George McFly (played by Crispin Glover). If that state of affairs remains, Marty and his future siblings would never be born, so Marty must use all of his skills and powers of persuasion to set his future parents as a couple.
Back to the Future was produced by Steven Spielberg in a time when his film making career was at its peak. While this film maintains Spielbergian formula of balancing the conservative family values with rebellious curiosity and sense of wonder among the younger generations, it owes its existence more to the original authors – co-writer Bob Gale who came with the original idea of teenage protagonists meeting his parents as teenagers, as well as director Zemeckis who fought for years to get this film made. Gale’s and Zemeckis’ script is very well written, because it takes many aspects of time travel in seriously and actually makes them an important element of the plot. Protagonist is constantly aware that his actions might not only drastically change the future but also erase his own existence and he is also tempted with the idea of saving his old friend from the violent demise decades in the future, only to be repeatedly warned by Doc that such action might create more harm than good. But the most interesting aspect of time travel scenario is Oedipal twist in which protagonist, to his utmost horror and embarrassment, discovers that his mother is romantically attracted to him.
There were various ways in this story could have been told, ranging from straight drama to raunchy teen sex comedies that used to be the rage in early 1980s Hollywood. Authors of Back to Future opted for more generic comedy, but also added a lot of 1950s nostalgia, as well as trying to have story that made some sort of sense, with the protagonist having at least some basic idea what to do and how to extract himself from its predicament. Although film clearly belongs to science fiction, there are relatively few special effects (although they are made quite well and look impressive even many decades later) and most of the budget went to two versions of Hill Valley – 1950s and 1980s – built on Universal lot. In those scenes audiences can see the great effort invested in reconstructing the past – through costumes, sets, props, as well as music and various pop culture references. The most notable detail is the emergence of rock’n’roll, which this film attributes to accidental actions of the protagonist in memorable scene near the end. Alan Silvestri adds to the film with a flamboyant orchestral soundtrack which gives epic sound with easily recognisable theme.
The films also benefits from very good cast. Michael J. Fox is great in the role of an average American teenager who nevertheless has enough skills and resourcefulness to get himself out of most unusual situation. His performance looks even better in light of the fact that he shot this film at the same time he was shooting popular sitcom Family Ties and was, as result, completely exhausted and without sleep most of the time. Christopher Lloyd, actor best known for playing quirky and unusual characters, is wonderful as Doc and he portrays him as formidable combination of mad scientist and father figure. But even better are actors who play supporting characters in different time periods, aided by good makeup that allows them to be as convincing as teenager as middle-aged persons. Lea Thompson is effective in the role of Lorraine, first introduced as conservative mother in 1980s only to appear as completely different, much wilder and adventurous character as teenager in 1950s. Crispin Glover, one of the most eccentric actors in Hollywood, portrays George with much more energy and originality in what would ultimately become the best known and the most conventional role of his career. Thomas F. Wilson is also very effective in the role of film’s main villain Biff, who appears as typical school bully in 1950s and George’s intimidating boss in 1980s. Wilson leaves great impression on the viewers, although his character would get more emphasis in two subsequent sequels.
This film is display of great skill and good sense of style, but there are some flaws. Most notable is introduction of Marty’s 1980s girlfriend Jennifer Parker (played by Claudia Wells), a character which mostly adds some extra running time and whose main purpose is to prevent some potentially unpleasant questions about the way Marty might feel about 1950s Lorraine. Another problem with script is scriptwriters’ compromise over the issues of evading time paradox at all cost. Marty gets allowed to change some of the past in the way that would be reflected in certain small details when he returns in 1980s, but still not severely enough to erase himself from existence. This compromise was, of course, motivated by commercial considerations. Back to the Future was supposed to provide audience with the conventional happy end, and it did so, becoming smash hit and maintaining its status as essential piece of 1980s popular culture.
It was and it still is, in many ways, clear product of its time. This can be seen in various pop culture references that are at times difficult to understand to those who never experienced 1980s. The most important reference is Ronald Reagan, US President at the time whose name appears in 1950s scenes as relatively unknown Hollywood actor and object of a joke. Despite that, Reagan actually loved the film and later even quoted it in his speeches. This shouldn’t be surprising because Back to the Future in its essence represents the idealised vision of Reagan’s America and celebrates its values of self-reliance, entrepreneurship and technological progress. In the years that followed, films like this, showing small town capitalist America as “shining city on a hill” proved to be weapon more potent in tearing down Iron Curtain than ICBMs and played crucial role in America’s victory in Cold War. In many ways, Back to the Future became an anti-thesis to The Terminator, using time travel to paint optimistic picture based on glorious nostalgic past instead of dark and uncertain future. Today’s audience might or might not agree with such vision, but this film is well-made and very entertaining and, as such, deserves recommendation even to those without 1980s nostalgia.
RATING: 8/10 (+++)
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