It isn't often that extremely clever moviemakers use their brains in the service of pure fun. But that's just what the people who made Back to the Future have done. This brilliant contraption of a film could become the hit of the summer.
Back to the Future
He was never in time for his classes... He wasn't in time for his dinner... Then one day... he wasn't in his time at all.
1985 · 1h 56m · PG
Adventure, Comedy, Science Fiction
Directed by
Robert Zemeckis
Overview
Eighties teenager Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time to 1955, inadvertently disrupting his parents' first meeting and attracting his mother's romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by rekindling his parents' romance and - with the help of his eccentric inventor friend Doc Brown - return to 1985.
Director and cast
- Robert Zemeckis Director
- Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly / Marty McFly Jr / Marlene McFly
- Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Emmett Brown
- Lea Thompson as Lorraine Baines McFly
- Crispin Glover as George McFly
- Claudia Wells as Jennifer Parker
- Thomas F. Wilson as Biff Tannen
- Marc McClure as Dave McFly
- Wendie Jo Sperber Cast
- George DiCenzo Cast
- Frances Lee McCain Cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
It's big, cartoonish and empty, with an interesting premise that is underdeveloped and overproduced.
Zemeckis and Gale... give us two priceless scenes in which the young time-traveler simply regards his parents-to-be with wonderment, delight and empathy. And we cannot help but share that emotion and relate it to our own lives.
The picture packs a wonderful wallop.
Performances by the earnest Fox, the lunatic Lloyd, the deceptively passionate Lea Thompson, and, particularly, the bumbling-to-confident Glover, who runs away with the picture, merrily keep the ship sailing.
More films
Back to the Future Part II (1989)
Adventure · Comedy · Science Fiction · PG
Marty and Doc are at it again as the time-traveling duo head to 2015 to nip some McFly family woes in the bud. But things go awry thanks to bully Biff Tannen and a pesky sports almanac. In a last-ditch attempt to set things straight, Marty finds himself bound for 1955 and face to face with his teenage parents -- again.
- Runtime
- 1h 48m
- Director
- Robert Zemeckis
- Cast
- Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Adventure · Comedy · Science Fiction · PG
The final installment finds Marty digging the trusty DeLorean out of a mineshaft and looking for Doc in the Wild West of 1885. But when their time machine breaks down, the travelers are stranded in a land of spurs. More problems arise when Doc falls for pretty schoolteacher Clara Clayton, and Marty tangles with Buford Tannen.
- Runtime
- 1h 59m
- Director
- Robert Zemeckis
- Cast
- Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Thomas F. Wilson
Short Circuit (1986)
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Pleasantville (1998)
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Geeky teenager David and his popular twin sister, Jennifer, get sucked into the black-and-white world of a 1950s TV sitcom called "Pleasantville," and find a world where everything is peachy keen all the time. But when Jennifer's modern attitude disrupts Pleasantville's peaceful but boring routine, she literally brings color into its l...
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- Director
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- Cast
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Clockstoppers (2002)
Adventure · Family · Science Fiction · Thriller · PG
Until now, Zak Gibbs' greatest challenge has been to find a way to buy a car. But when he discovers an odd wristwatch amidst his father's various inventions and slips it on -- something very strange happens. The world around him seems to come to a stop, everything and everybody frozen in time. Zak quickly learns how to manipulate the d...
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