Back to the Future III [Special Edition]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

The final installment in the Back to the Future trilogy picks up where the second film left off, but it casts off the dizzying time travel of the first two films for mostly routine comedy set in the Old West. Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) receives a 70-year-old letter from his inventor friend, Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), who tells Marty that he has retreated a century in time to live out a relatively quiet life in the Old West. Doc Brown reveals that he hid his DeLorean car/time machine in an abandoned mine outside town, and when Marty does some research and discovers that the Doc died shortly after writing the letter, he decides to find the car, travel back in time, and warn the Doc about his demise. Meanwhile, the Doc, who has fallen in love with a local woman (Mary Steenburgen), realizes he can't hide in the past from the problems he has caused to the time flow in the previous two adventures. He reluctantly decides to return to the present with Marty, but first, they have to find a way to get the DeLorean up to time-travel velocity with a broken fuel line and no gasoline. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Features:
  • The making of Back to the Future Part III
  • Making the trilogy: chapter three
  • Q&a qith director Robert Zemeckis and producer Bob Gale
  • Feature commentary with producers Bob Gale and Neil Canton
  • Deleted scene
  • Outtakes
  • Universal animated anecdotes
  • Designing the town of Hill Valley
  • Designing the campaign
  • Production archives
  • The secrets of the Back to the Future trilogy
  • Faqs about the trilogy
  • ZZ Top "Doubleback" music video

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Michael J. Fox - Marty McFly
       Christopher Lloyd - Dr. Emmett Brown
       Mary Steenburgen - Clara Clayton
       Thomas F. Wilson - Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen
       Lea Thompson - Lorraine McFly
       Elisabeth Shue - Jennifer
       Matt Clark - Bartender
       Richard Dysart - Barbed Wire Salesman
       James Tolkan - Marshal Strickland
       Pat Buttram - Saloon Old-Timer
       Harry Carey, Jr. - Saloon Old-Timer
       Dub Taylor - Saloon Old-Timer
       Christopher Wynne - Buford Tannen's Gang
       Sean Gregory Sullivan - Buford Tannen's Gang
       ZZ Top
       Bill McKinney - Engineer

• Director:

  Robert Zemeckis

• Screen Story:

  Bob Gale

• Screenwriter:

  Bob Gale

• Screen Story:

  Robert Zemeckis

• Screenwriter:

  Robert Zemeckis

• Cinematographer:

  Dean Cundey

• Songwriter:

  Johnny Colla, Chris Hayes, Huey Lewis

• Composer (Music Score):

  Alan Silvestri

• Editor:

  Harry Keramidas, Arthur Schmidt

• Production Designer:

  Marjorie Stone McShirley, Rick Carter

• Art Director:

  Jim Teegarden

• Co-producer:

  Neil Canton, Bob Gale

• Associate Producer:

  Steve Starkey

• Executive Producer:

  Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Steven Spielberg

• Set Designer:

  Beverli Eagan, Martha Johnston, Nancy Mickelberry, Lisa Newman, Joseph G. Pacelli Jr., Paul Sonski

• Costume Designer:

  Joanna Johnston

• Makeup:

  Kenny Myers, Michael Mills, Ellis Burman

• Special Effects:

  Scott Farrar, Michael Lantieri, Ken Ralston

• Consultant/advisor:

  Arvo Ojala

• Animator:

  Gordon Baker, Wes Takahashi

• Stunts:

  Charlie Croughwell, Danny Costa, Walter Scott

• Choreography:

  Brad Jeffries

• Foley Artist:

  Kevin Bartnof

• Associate Editor:

  Peter Lonsdale

• Production Coordinator:

  Lata Ryan

REVIEW:

• "History repeats itself" is the jokey lesson at the heart of Back to the Future Part III, as the Old West version of Hill Valley is chock full of ancestors who all behave exactly as their descendents will in 1955, 1985 and 2015. It's in this way that Back to the Future Part III succumbs to sequelitis, the malady that inflicts series in which the same jokes are tirelessly repeated, to remind audiences what they liked so much about the original. And because the head-spinning questions raised by time travel in the first two movies were what connected with audiences, awakening their intellectual curiosity and sense of awe, there's something noticeably absent when the series settles down in an old dusty town for its finale. A conventional, though not unappealing, western/comedy, Back to the Future Part III relies a lot more on the waning charm of Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, plus an influx of sweetness from Mary Steenburgen, than the fascinating gadgets and elaborate plans that made the first two whir along. Although the softer tone is a welcome change after the dark Back to the Future Part II, the third film feels like a technological and creative step backward in terms of its narrative and contrived plot elements. It maintains a whiff of the genius and wit that set the series in motion, but it also seems like Universal's attempt to play it safer after the risky and challenging middle installment. It's a competent conclusion to the series, but too comfortable to earn the kind of affection this series deserves. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi