This is a big one … Logan’s Moving Pictures takes on the heaviest of the heaviest with Back to the Future II!!!
Ryan and I were ten years old when Back to the Future Part II was released in 1989, and while I doubt we saw it the weekend it opened, I have a clear memory of seeing it in the theatre with my dad. Our parents hadn’t been divorced long, and he picked us up one weekend and we took off to go see the much-hyped sequel. Unfortunately, I don’t remember much about the viewing itself, only that we were excited, and doubly so when the trailer for Part III began playing at the end of our screening. I’m not sure we knew there was going to BE a Part III, so it was mind-blowing to see footage of it already.
I also have vivid memories of Ryan and I discussing how plausible the 2015 Marty traveled to really was, especially when the rumors of hoverboards really existing began to somehow spread in the pre-internet world. Fueled by an interview given by director Robert Zemeckis as the film was coming out, saying that the technology was there but the moms of America kept it from getting into the hands of kids, our minds reeled with what we would do with that kind of transportation. Here’s where I should say, neither my brother nor I ever learned to even ride a skateboard, so if hoverboards did exist we’d have been useless on one. But, still, we fantasized.
The Zemeckis interview.
One of the other more tantalizing aspects of the movie was its exploration of alternate timelines, something Ryan and I both had a fondness for, probably stemming from our love of comics. I’m sure you could point to a number of films or TV shows that explored the notion of them (Star Trek for one), but I don’t think we were aware of any other mainstream media willing to go down that rabbit hole at the time. We were completely fascinated by it, and like hoverboards, we discussed it often and at length. Then there was the idea of making a movie inside the movie that had already been made. Having these different versions of the characters interact with those we knew from the first film without ultimately changing the outcome of it. I don’t think the delightfulness and inventiveness of it ever wore out its welcome for us. From the time we first watched it in theatres at 10 years old to the day he passed away at 41, Ryan and I were discussing Back to the Future Part II.
I’ve talked about my first cancer diagnosis before, and I know I’ve discussed how it led to us podcasting about the television show Mr. Robot, and what that meant for our relationship. One of the more incredible aspects about all of that was when, early in the show, we find out that Elliot’s favorite film is Back to the Future Part II. Eventually, we see a glimpse of his father and him dressed as Doc & Marty from the 2015 of that movie, and before the show ended we get to relive the two of them actually going to see it. The show would play with time, past regrets, alternate timelines, and even the for-laughs incest elements, though Mr Robot would always do it with a dramatic bend. We always saw show creator Sam Esmail as a kindred spirit, almost from the very first moments of the show, but never more so than when those BBTF2 references would show up.
A picture of Marty and his siblings plays a big role in the first BttF, so here one of me and mine on an Easter Sunday eons ago.
Most people, our father included, were (and still are) absolutely baffled by our opinion that the sequel was a better film than the original. I get it. It’s a tough opinion to defend. Especially when so much of what the second movie does is retreading the same ground. As kids, we were probably mostly in love with the future and all the tech promises it offered. But, as we got older we really did latch on to this idea of, if I may steal from True Detective, time being a flat circle. History repeating itself in some of the most bizarre ways, time folding in on itself, seeing the events that caused the situations that seemed to be nothing but happenstance in the moment, ripples that flowed outwards and inwards, it is a masterpiece of filmmaking that manages to do that and also be funny, witty, filled with incredible action set pieces and thoughtful futurism. For us, it was a perfect movie.
Editor’s Note: This is the scene referenced below, Editor’s theory is it was cast for technology’s sake making it even bizzarer, lazier, and wronger-headeder…
Looking at it now, it’s a lot easier to pick out the flaws. Certainly, there’s the treatment of Crispin Glover, who sued because they used his image without permission. You can point to his obscene demands to return as the McFly patriarch as the reason why, but it seems like those were just an easy way for him to reject the job offer without really having to say no. Then there’s casting Michael J Fox to play both his son and daughter in the future. What felt fun and lighthearted and silly at the time now just seems bizarre, lazy and wrong-headed.
There’s also some effects work that doesn’t really hold up (and some that holds up surprisingly well), but that’s par for the course when you’re looking back at movies like this. People love to point to Star Wars as this bastion of old-school effects work being better, but anyone who actually gets a peek at the original prints of those films can tell you that just simply isn’t the case. I imagine in the next twenty years people will look at the mocap work being done now and scoff at how badly it’s aged as well. But, for me at least, that’s a large part of the charm. I adore the original Clash of the Titans, and Ray Harryhausen’s work is a large part of why, and while it isn’t creature effects that are being brought to light in BTTF2 (besides the Jaws hologram, that is) the well-thought-out and now somewhat quaint futuretech and how they achieved the look is much like how I felt about the Titans film when I was a kid.
Above all of that, the one piece of this adored sequel that shines above everything else is the scene where Marty and Doc chase down young Biff to retrieve the Gray’s Sports Almanac, thus ensuring that the timeline with a deceased George McFly never comes to pass. When they succeed there’s this absolute moment of pure joy on both their faces; Doc floating in the sky in his modified Delorean and Marty on the ground with his own bit of hovering tech. Doc tells Marty to burn the Almanac, ensuring that at least the somewhat normal timeline falls back into place. Shortly after, Doc is nearly hit by a bolt of lightning (right as Marty is about to say the name of the film, a trope I love!), one stirred up by a thunderstorm in 1955, one famous for stopping Hill Valley’s clock tower permanently. Less famous for also sending Marty McFly back to the future when he found himself time-displaced and stranded in that same year. Which was yesterday for the characters and years for us. Time travel is fun!
Ryan and I enjoying a day on the river.
As Marty is warning Doc to be careful, that he doesn’t want to get struck by lightning in a DeLorean that happens to have a flux capacitor (of course it’s less clunky in the film), we see another bolt streak across the sky, and in an instant Doc and his time machine have vanished. Marty panics, trying to signal Doc on the walkie-talkie, slowly realizing his friend is gone. At that exact moment, a man pulls up behind him, rain begins to pour, and this stranger asks if he’s Marty McFly, because he has a letter addressed to him, one that’s been waiting at the Western Union since 1885.
For my money, this is the best acting of Michael J Fox’s career. The sheer joy on his face when he begins to understand what’s happening is infectious. That Doc was sent back to 1885, that his friend is alive, and that the only person who can help him now is…well, Doctor Emmett Brown, just the one in 1955. The one who just sent him back to 1985. Great Scott, indeed.
There’s so much emotion conveyed in those final moments, and so expertly. It’s outstanding, and easily one of my favorite film endings of all time.
In the Back to the Future universe, the people Marty loves and loses are never really gone, just lost somewhere in time, waiting for him to find his way back to them. I’m beginning to think that’s a fine way of thinking about my own losses. It’s impossible to watch the movie now and not think of Ryan. To not want to call him and break down some particular scene. To once again discuss how brilliantly the storytellers weave in and out of everything that came before. Rust Cohle in True Detective borrowed from Frederich Nietzsche when he said “Time is a flat Circle.” Number Six in Battlestar Galactica plagiarized J.M. Barrie when she said “All this has happened before, all this will happen again.” Marty McFly summarized it all with the words “This is Heavy.” And I couldn’t agree more.
This is a big one … Logan’s Moving Pictures takes on the heaviest of the heaviest with Back to the Future II!!!
Ryan and I were ten years old when Back to the Future Part II was released in 1989, and while I doubt we saw it the weekend it opened, I have a clear memory of seeing it in the theatre with my dad. Our parents hadn’t been divorced long, and he picked us up one weekend and we took off to go see the much-hyped sequel. Unfortunately, I don’t remember much about the viewing itself, only that we were excited, and doubly so when the trailer for Part III began playing at the end of our screening. I’m not sure we knew there was going to BE a Part III, so it was mind-blowing to see footage of it already.
I also have vivid memories of Ryan and I discussing how plausible the 2015 Marty traveled to really was, especially when the rumors of hoverboards really existing began to somehow spread in the pre-internet world. Fueled by an interview given by director Robert Zemeckis as the film was coming out, saying that the technology was there but the moms of America kept it from getting into the hands of kids, our minds reeled with what we would do with that kind of transportation. Here’s where I should say, neither my brother nor I ever learned to even ride a skateboard, so if hoverboards did exist we’d have been useless on one. But, still, we fantasized.
One of the other more tantalizing aspects of the movie was its exploration of alternate timelines, something Ryan and I both had a fondness for, probably stemming from our love of comics. I’m sure you could point to a number of films or TV shows that explored the notion of them (Star Trek for one), but I don’t think we were aware of any other mainstream media willing to go down that rabbit hole at the time. We were completely fascinated by it, and like hoverboards, we discussed it often and at length. Then there was the idea of making a movie inside the movie that had already been made. Having these different versions of the characters interact with those we knew from the first film without ultimately changing the outcome of it. I don’t think the delightfulness and inventiveness of it ever wore out its welcome for us. From the time we first watched it in theatres at 10 years old to the day he passed away at 41, Ryan and I were discussing Back to the Future Part II.
I’ve talked about my first cancer diagnosis before, and I know I’ve discussed how it led to us podcasting about the television show Mr. Robot, and what that meant for our relationship. One of the more incredible aspects about all of that was when, early in the show, we find out that Elliot’s favorite film is Back to the Future Part II. Eventually, we see a glimpse of his father and him dressed as Doc & Marty from the 2015 of that movie, and before the show ended we get to relive the two of them actually going to see it. The show would play with time, past regrets, alternate timelines, and even the for-laughs incest elements, though Mr Robot would always do it with a dramatic bend. We always saw show creator Sam Esmail as a kindred spirit, almost from the very first moments of the show, but never more so than when those BBTF2 references would show up.
Most people, our father included, were (and still are) absolutely baffled by our opinion that the sequel was a better film than the original. I get it. It’s a tough opinion to defend. Especially when so much of what the second movie does is retreading the same ground. As kids, we were probably mostly in love with the future and all the tech promises it offered. But, as we got older we really did latch on to this idea of, if I may steal from True Detective, time being a flat circle. History repeating itself in some of the most bizarre ways, time folding in on itself, seeing the events that caused the situations that seemed to be nothing but happenstance in the moment, ripples that flowed outwards and inwards, it is a masterpiece of filmmaking that manages to do that and also be funny, witty, filled with incredible action set pieces and thoughtful futurism. For us, it was a perfect movie.
Looking at it now, it’s a lot easier to pick out the flaws. Certainly, there’s the treatment of Crispin Glover, who sued because they used his image without permission. You can point to his obscene demands to return as the McFly patriarch as the reason why, but it seems like those were just an easy way for him to reject the job offer without really having to say no. Then there’s casting Michael J Fox to play both his son and daughter in the future. What felt fun and lighthearted and silly at the time now just seems bizarre, lazy and wrong-headed.
There’s also some effects work that doesn’t really hold up (and some that holds up surprisingly well), but that’s par for the course when you’re looking back at movies like this. People love to point to Star Wars as this bastion of old-school effects work being better, but anyone who actually gets a peek at the original prints of those films can tell you that just simply isn’t the case. I imagine in the next twenty years people will look at the mocap work being done now and scoff at how badly it’s aged as well. But, for me at least, that’s a large part of the charm. I adore the original Clash of the Titans, and Ray Harryhausen’s work is a large part of why, and while it isn’t creature effects that are being brought to light in BTTF2 (besides the Jaws hologram, that is) the well-thought-out and now somewhat quaint futuretech and how they achieved the look is much like how I felt about the Titans film when I was a kid.
Above all of that, the one piece of this adored sequel that shines above everything else is the scene where Marty and Doc chase down young Biff to retrieve the Gray’s Sports Almanac, thus ensuring that the timeline with a deceased George McFly never comes to pass. When they succeed there’s this absolute moment of pure joy on both their faces; Doc floating in the sky in his modified Delorean and Marty on the ground with his own bit of hovering tech. Doc tells Marty to burn the Almanac, ensuring that at least the somewhat normal timeline falls back into place. Shortly after, Doc is nearly hit by a bolt of lightning (right as Marty is about to say the name of the film, a trope I love!), one stirred up by a thunderstorm in 1955, one famous for stopping Hill Valley’s clock tower permanently. Less famous for also sending Marty McFly back to the future when he found himself time-displaced and stranded in that same year. Which was yesterday for the characters and years for us. Time travel is fun!
As Marty is warning Doc to be careful, that he doesn’t want to get struck by lightning in a DeLorean that happens to have a flux capacitor (of course it’s less clunky in the film), we see another bolt streak across the sky, and in an instant Doc and his time machine have vanished. Marty panics, trying to signal Doc on the walkie-talkie, slowly realizing his friend is gone. At that exact moment, a man pulls up behind him, rain begins to pour, and this stranger asks if he’s Marty McFly, because he has a letter addressed to him, one that’s been waiting at the Western Union since 1885.
For my money, this is the best acting of Michael J Fox’s career. The sheer joy on his face when he begins to understand what’s happening is infectious. That Doc was sent back to 1885, that his friend is alive, and that the only person who can help him now is…well, Doctor Emmett Brown, just the one in 1955. The one who just sent him back to 1985. Great Scott, indeed.
There’s so much emotion conveyed in those final moments, and so expertly. It’s outstanding, and easily one of my favorite film endings of all time.
In the Back to the Future universe, the people Marty loves and loses are never really gone, just lost somewhere in time, waiting for him to find his way back to them. I’m beginning to think that’s a fine way of thinking about my own losses. It’s impossible to watch the movie now and not think of Ryan. To not want to call him and break down some particular scene. To once again discuss how brilliantly the storytellers weave in and out of everything that came before. Rust Cohle in True Detective borrowed from Frederich Nietzsche when he said “Time is a flat Circle.” Number Six in Battlestar Galactica plagiarized J.M. Barrie when she said “All this has happened before, all this will happen again.” Marty McFly summarized it all with the words “This is Heavy.” And I couldn’t agree more.
Moving Pictures will return …
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