Back to the Future [Special Edition] [2 Discs]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Contemporary high schooler Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) doesn't have the most pleasant of lives. Browbeaten by his principal at school, Marty must also endure the acrimonious relationship between his nerdy father (Crispin Glover) and his lovely mother (Lea Thompson), who in turn suffer the bullying of middle-aged jerk Biff (Thomas F. Wilson), Marty's dad's supervisor. The one balm in Marty's life is his friendship with eccentric scientist Doc (Christopher Lloyd), who at present is working on a time machine. Accidentally zapped back into the 1950s, Marty inadvertently interferes with the budding romance of his now-teenaged parents. Our hero must now reunite his parents-to-be, lest he cease to exist in the 1980s. It won't be easy, especially with the loutish Biff, now also a teenager, complicating matters. Beyond its dazzling special effects, the best element of Back to the Future is the performance of Michael J. Fox, who finds himself in the quagmire of surviving the white-bread 1950s with a hip 1980s mindset. Back to the Future cemented the box-office bankability of both Fox and the film's director, Robert Zemeckis, who went on to helm two equally exhilarating sequels. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 2
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Features:
  • Looking Back to the Future: explore the legacy of Back to the Future in this 9-part retrospective documentary
  • Back to the Future night: go on the set of Back to the Future and Back to the Future Part II in this rare tv special
  • The Making of Back to the Future
  • Making the trilogy: chapter one
  • Q&a with director Robert Zemeckis and producer Bob Gale
  • Enhanced conversation with Michael J. Fox
  • Feature commentary with producers Bob Gale and Neil Canton
  • Deleted scenes
  • Outtakes
  • Universal animated anecdotes
  • Original makeup tests
  • Production archives
  • Excerpts from the original screenplay

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Won Best Sound Effects - 1985 (Robert R. Rutledge, Charles L. Campbell)
•     Nominated Best Original Screenplay - 1985 (Bob Gale, Robert Zemeckis)
•     Nominated Best Song - 1985 (Huey Lewis, Chris Hayes, Johnny Colla)
•     Nominated Best Sound - 1985 (Bill Varney, Robert Thirlwell, B. Tennyson Sebastian II, William B. Kaplan)

• British Academy of Film and Television Arts

•     Nominated Best Picture - 1985

• National Board of Review

•     Nominated Best Picture - 1985

• People's Choice Awards

•     Won Best Picture - 1985

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Michael J. Fox - Marty McFly
       Christopher Lloyd - Dr. Emmett Brown
       Crispin Glover - George McFly
       Lea Thompson - Lorraine Baines
       Thomas F. Wilson - Biff Tannen
       James Tolkan - Mr. Strickland
       Claudia Wells - Jennifer Parker
       Wendie Jo Sperber - Linda McFly
       Marc McClure - Dave McFly
       George DiCenzo - Sam Baines
       Billy Zane - Match

• Director:

  Robert Zemeckis

• Producer:

  Neil Canton, Bob Gale

• Screenwriter:

  Bob Gale, Robert Zemeckis

• Cinematographer:

  Dean Cundey

• Songwriter:

  Chris Hayes

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Bones Howe

• Songwriter:

  Huey Lewis

• Composer (Music Score):

  Alan Silvestri

• Editor:

  Harry Keramidas, Arthur Schmidt

• Production Designer:

  Lawrence G. Paull

• Art Director:

  Todd Hallowell

• Executive Producer:

  Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Steven Spielberg

• Set Designer:

  Cameron Birnie, Hal G. Gausman, Joe Hubbard, Marjorie Stone McShirley

• Costume Designer:

  Deborah L. Scott

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  B. Tennyson Sebastian II

• Makeup:

  Ken Chase

• Special Effects:

  Kevin Pike

• Camera Operator:

  Raymond Stella

• Stunts:

  Walter Scott

• Choreography:

  Brad Jeffries

• Casting:

  Judy Taylor, Mike Fenton, Jane Feinberg

• Assistant Properties:

  Peter Lonsdale

• Musical Performer:

  Tommy Johnson

REVIEW:

• Back to the Future is Robert Zemeckis/Steven Spielberg storytelling at its best, with humor, action, special effects and a Huey Lewis soundtrack rolled together in a package that proves "Fun" and "PG" are not antonyms. Michael J. Fox, then known mostly for his role on TV's Family Ties, is a teenage everyman who fulfills the dream of escaping his go-nowhere home life and dorky parents, only to find them transformed by his own hand. Supporting him is Christopher Lloyd, let loose to do what he does best -- act like a complete nut -- in the role of mad scientist Doc Brown. The film makes the most of the notion that Fox's Marty McFly can change the future, and successfully pays off on an astounding number of plot angles. Marty not only assures his own continued existence but changes the makeup of his family and community by helping his dad grow a backbone or (if you're watching carefully) altering the name of the local mall. More than just a series of anachronisms, Back to the Future has a real heart. You suffer along with Marty's teenaged dad, George, at the depredations of his tormentor, Biff, and get a genuine surge of adrenaline and pride when George finally takes his stand. Could this event lead to a changed life? In Back to the Future it does, believably. In fact, the film has more in common with the sentimental fantasy of It's a Wonderful Life than with the often-mindless action of the science fiction pictures that followed, proving that bigger budgets and more elaborate special effects didn't exactly lead to a higher-quality summer blockbuster. ~ Matthew Doberman, Rovi