DVD Review: Back to the Future Trilogy Sp. Ed.
Universal Re-Releases Popular Time Travel Series with New Extras
Feb 23, 2009
That any teen citizen of our modern time (or older) wouldn't have at least heard of the popular story of Marty McFly by now, sounds as unlikely as getting hit by lightning twice. All the same, for those just joining our time travelling program, here's a brief rundown of the film series, and how it connects from one film to another...
Back to the Future Trilogy Overview
Marty McFly (Michael J Fox) is a high school student living in Hill Valley, California, in 1985. A budding musician who is looking to make it big, he is friends with one of the local scientists, Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown (Christopher Lloyd). Marty's family life is rather unenjoyable, with his defeatist, underachieving siblings, father, and alcoholic mother.
When Doc Brown shows Marty his latest invention, a time machine built out of a DeLorean car, Marty is skeptic at best. One demonstration later (using Doc's dog Einstein as guinea pig), and Marty is a believer. Shortly thereafter, Libyan terrorists arrive and kill Doc for stealing their plutonium, necessary for the sufficient powering of his time vehicle.
When Marty escapes using said car, he triggers the device, and ends up in November of 1955, almost 30 years before. It isn't long before Marty comes across the teenage version of his parents (Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover), and so Marty starts changing the course of history, potentially creating a paradox which could see him blink out of existence.
All turns out well in the end (let's be honest, the film spawns two sequels, the first film must therefore end on a happy note), with Doc Brown helping him return to the present (or is that the future to them? Anyhoo....), where he sees how he improved his life for the best.
Part II has Marty taking off with Doc Brown once again, this time for the future (30 years ahead, to be exact), where the older version of Marty, along with his offspring (all played by Fox), get themselves in life-changing trouble. All the while, they don't notice an elderly Biff Tannen (Thomas Wilson), the baddie from the first film, going back in time to the 50's, to give himself a sports almanac, changing the future. Doc and Marty are back to the past -- again -- and try to set things right.
Part III closes the trilogy in style, with Marty heading back to the year 1885, where Doc Brown has been exiled, when the flying car he was piloting in Part II got hit by lightning, activating the time circuits. Marty must contend with many of his contemporaries' ancestors, while making sure he doesn't change the future in the process.
Back to the Future Trilogy Overall Analysis
Universal gives this trip a decent re-release, though for anyone looking for a reason why they would decide to set them out yet again in a repackaged blitz, is anyone's guess. The picture has been remastered, and so there's added crispness to it, and the sound has been amped up as well. Therefore, it's already an improvement on the versions released a few years back.
Much of the special features are the same, look for new extras on the first film, including a very forgettable TV special hosted by Leslie Nielsen. Another added bonus is the full footage of the Back to the Future ride at Universal. Though it's a treat to see what many tourists experienced in the film's heyday, the effects feel weak and dated, and the acting wooden.
Overall, the fringe benefits added onto said discs are for purists, and don't really add to the product, other than giving new reason to buy the collection again...Do so for the added picture and sound quality, and for the films themselves.
7 out of 10 for remastering a trio of classic sci-fi goodness. Minus points for useless additional bonuses.
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