Our take
Why Back to the Future still feels almost perfect
Back to the Future is one of those rare movies where almost everything seems to land exactly where it should. The comedy works, the adventure works, the romance works and the time-travel rules are complicated enough to be interesting without ever getting in the way of the fun.
What really makes it special is how quickly the film gets you invested in Marty. He is cool without being impossible to relate to, and the moment he ends up in 1955 the movie turns into one long chain of problems that somehow keeps getting more entertaining.
The moments
The scenes we never forget
The DeLorean hitting 88 miles per hour, Marty waking up in 1955, the school dance, Johnny B. Goode and the clock tower finale are the sort of scenes that people remember even if they have not watched the film for years.
The clever bit is how much setup goes into those moments. Tiny details planted earlier suddenly matter later, which is one of the reasons the movie is so satisfying to rewatch.
Doc & Marty
One of cinema's great odd-couple friendships
On paper, Marty McFly and Doc Brown should be a bizarre pairing. One is a teenager trying to survive high school and the other is an eccentric scientist who has somehow turned a sports car into a time machine.
Yet Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd make the friendship completely believable. Their chemistry gives the film a warmth that stops all the time-travel mechanics from becoming cold or overly complicated.
Watching it now
What has aged — and what hasn't
There are definitely moments that feel very specifically of their time, but the filmmaking itself has aged remarkably well. The practical effects still have weight, the pacing is incredibly tight and the DeLorean remains one of the coolest pieces of production design ever put on screen.
More importantly, the film never relies on nostalgia alone. Even if you did not grow up in the 1980s, the story still works because its characters and stakes are so clear.
Maximum 80s
The 80s factor
Back to the Future is packed with the decade without ever feeling like it is trying too hard. Marty has the skateboard, the red bodywarmer, the Walkman and the guitar. The soundtrack gives us Huey Lewis and the News. And then there is the stainless-steel DeLorean sitting at the centre of everything.
What makes it even better is that the movie gets to compare 1985 with 1955, turning the decade itself into part of the joke.
Would we still recommend it?
Without hesitation.
Back to the Future is one of those films that reminds you how much fun a blockbuster can be when every part is working together. It is clever without showing off, sentimental without becoming syrupy and exciting without losing sight of its characters.
Nearly forty years later, it still feels like the kind of movie you can put on with almost anyone and know they are going to have a good time.
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More movies from the 80s
If Back to the Future is your kind of movie, there's plenty more from the decade worth revisiting.
