Back To The Future

Robert Zemeckis, USA, 1985, 111 minutes

Great Scott! A timeless film here, made in the mid-80's but largely set in the heady world of the 1950's (best ask your grandparents). Thanks to Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) and his car converted into a time machine (flux capacitors at the ready), Marty McFly (Michael J Fox) goes back to the 1950's and wreaks havoc with the space-time continuum when he accidentally stops his parents meeting for the first time, and from there, possibly their marriage and his birth.

The film is a dedication to the teenagers of the 1950's, with Marty teaching his dad-to-be how to artfully seduce his mum, all whilst she is trying to get it on with her future son (cringe). Despite all the Oedipal vibes flying around, Marty gets to play some Chuck Berry to the youth of the time (it doesn't go down too well, imagine playing Squarepusher to the youth of the 1900's), invent skateboards and affect the future in many more ways until the "younger" Doc Brown can fix the car to reach the requisite 88 miles per hour to go back. Where? Back to the Future!

Whilst you may have had your head in the sand for the last 18 years to have missed this film, it is always worth another watch, if only to boost your 1950's slang vocabulary.

Review by Niko Ovenden
Written for EUFS Programme Autumn 2003