By This past Monday marked 25 years to the day that Marty McFly first traveled back in time. AMC theaters across the country celebrated the anniversary with theatrical screenings of Back to the Future and my trusty sidekick Pat and I were all too eager to take part in the fun.
My friend Jay, who works at the Best Buy adjacent to my local AMC, told me that a DeLorean would be in attendance. The above picture should be proof enough that he was misinformed. According to another friend, some guy brought his own DeLorean to the Saturday screening, but it’s just not the same!
Join me after the jump as I discuss how the film has held up, make a fairly scary observation about everybody’s favorite bully, and show you the only guy in attendance that was a bad enough dude to dress the part.
This past Monday marked 25 years to the day that Marty McFly first traveled back in time. AMC theaters across the country celebrated the anniversary with theatrical screenings of Back to the Future and my trusty sidekick Pat and I were all too eager to take part in the fun.
My friend Jay, who works at the Best Buy adjacent to my local AMC, told me that a DeLorean would be in attendance. The above picture should be proof enough that he was misinformed. According to another friend, some guy brought his own DeLorean to the Saturday screening, but it’s just not the same!
Join me after the jump as I discuss how the film has held up, make a fairly scary observation about everybody’s favorite bully, and show you the only guy in attendance that was a bad enough dude to dress the part.{{page_break}}
Like all great movies, Back to the Future holds up to the test of time. 25 years later, it’s just as entertaining and impressive as it must have been back in 1985. Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Crispin Glover, Lea Thompson, and the woefully underused Tom Wilson light up the screen throughout the film. The special effects are only mildly cheesy by today’s standards compared to many films of the era, the makeup effects are astounding, and the soundtrack is one of the most iconic in movie history. All day Monday I found myself humming the main theme with a dreamy smile plastered to my face.
Most impressive, however, by far, is the writing. The use of foreshadowing in this movie is absolutely incredible, and almost every single occurrence before Marty travels back to 1955 plays a part in the past. Entire chunks of 1985 dialogue re-emerge on numerous occasions, giving the movie-goer an ‘a-ha’ moment each time. The plot device of changing the present while in the past is also used to great effect, even in the smallest of ways (Marty running over one of the twin pine trees, leading to the Twin Pines Mall becoming the Lone Pine Mall). I could go on for days, but this isn’t a Deep Analysis or a review. Those come later.
I’d also like to note, and while I suppose I’ve always been aware of this, seeing it on the big screen made it much more obvious: Biff is a prick. Like most bullies, he’s mercilessly cruel, has a handful of faceless cronies, and is easily loath-able. However, when George McFly opens that car door expecting to punch out Marty, Biff is in the midst of attempted rape. Had George not manned up and punched the guy out, his future wife would have been raped. This is a seriously damaged person. On the bright side, when Marty returns to the present, we see that Biff is a small man who lives a small existence, waxing his far more successful neighbor’s car.
To wrap up, while there may not have been a DeLorean in attendance, seeing one of my favorite movies on the big screen, the way it’s meant to be, was the experience of a lifetime. If any of you got to experience it, comment and let me know. I’d love to hear your stories!
Also, as promised, here’s the only guy that was bad enough to dress up for the occasion:
