It has been well over a year since I’ve contributed to Podcasters Assemble. I’ve dropped by for a few Disassembled episodes but not a proper assembly. Last season was focused on the films of Hayao Miyazaki. And while I have love and admiration for Miyazaki-sama and his library of films, I didn’t feel like I had a deep enough connection to those films to speak about them at length. But Back to the Future is a different story.
This is one of those films that feels like it has always been present in my life, even though it came out when I was five. I remember that Michael J. Fox was, at that point in time, a big deal. He was probably one of the first actors whose name and face I knew. One of the reasons I am acutely aware of that fact is because I used to have a cassette tape with my brother and I recording ourselves performing a news program. In that tape, my brother name-checked Michael J. Fox during one of his stories. I still wish I had that tape and could have digitized it. My voice was a far cry from what it is today.
Anyway, Michael J. Fox, or Mike Fox for the cool kids, was on a hit TV sitcom called Family Ties and became the breakout star of the show. That same year, another film called Teen Wolf came out and it just felt like he was all over the place.There’s a real fun story behind all of that too.
During his time on Family Ties, Fox accepted the role in Teen Wolf because there was a filming delay due to another cast member’s pregnancy. During filming, he apparently became so frustrated with the film and lamented something along the lines of, “Spielberg’s down the road making great movies, and I’m here playing a werewolf.” Both films were shot on the same lot. Back to the Future was the film in production with another lead, Eric Stoltz.
It has been stated in multiple interviews that Michael J. Fox was the first choice for Marty McFly. Unfortunately, Fox’s schedule wouldn’t allow it. And unfortunately for Bob Zemeckis, Bob Gale, and Steven Spielberg, Eric Stoltz wasn’t working out. He had been cast based on the strength of his performance in the film Mask, which is an underrated and oft-forgotten film starring Cher and everyone needs to go find it and watch it (if you can). Anyway, according to multiple sources, Stoltz was not playing the character comically but seriously. Like method-actor serious. He almost broke Tom Wilson’s collarbone during the cafeteria fight. Hell, he persistently insisted on being called Marty so much that Christopher Lloyd didn’t even know his name was Eric until he was fired.
After four weeks of shooting, Zemeckis, Gale, and Spielberg decided to let Stoltz go. Fun fact though is that he is still technically in the final cut of the film. It seems in the wide shot of Marty being chased down by the Libyan nationalists, Marty was, in fact, Eric Stoltz. The filmmakers saw no point in refilming the sequence since you couldn’t see his face clearly anyway. But damn if I’m not going to look a little harder next time!
The question remained, “who would replace him?” They once again tried to work something out with Fox and the producers over at Family Ties, ultimately coming to an agreement that would have him filming his TV show during the day, and filming the movie at night with day shots taking place on the weekend. This agreement is something Fox was hyper-focused on doing, surviving off of five hours sleep a day for several weeks. And while I commend him for this drive and passion, I began wondering if THIS isn’t what triggered the onset of Parkinson’s. This is complete speculation on my part. Just a theory I have based on some of the facts from his documentary which you all should watch. Moving on.
What a star Michael J. Fox is in this film. You can instantly see why he was cast in the role. In fact, the super cool sounding production company Atlantic Releasing Corporation held back the release of Teen Wolf, just to capitalize on Fox’s rising fame once the buzz about Back to the Future was floating around tinseltown. And they were smart to do so as the film became a surprise hit. Michael J. Fox has started his disdain for the film, which is unfortunate. I think it’s pretty funny. We should do a Disassembled about that flick. Maybe work in Teen Wolf Too if we just want to torture everyone. Goddamn that flick. Moving on!
It’s funny to think that Emmett Brown could be considered Christopher Lloyd’s breakout role as well. Follow me here: he had been working ten years in the business before landing this role, showing up in classics like Mr. Mom, Clue, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and even One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, another classic that needs to be added to the list. Yet with the exception of Reverend Jim Ignatowski from Taxi, I don’t think anyone would point to any of those roles as THE role they remember him from. But as the years pass, more and more will forget the good reverend, but Doc Brown will persist. It feels like a role he thoroughly enjoys playing, since he’s done so in other media outside of these flicks.
I guess thinking about it now, this film was a breakout for many of its stars. Lea Thompson had been seen in a few big movies like Red Dawn, All the Right Moves and Jaws 3 before this, but none of them more memorable than Lorraine Baines! Do any of you remember Kelly Ann Bukowski? If you said “yes,” that’s bullshit and you know it! Props to her for becoming a proficient director on TV. Moving on!
Tom Wilson had the unfortunate fate of being typecast because he was so freaking amazing as Biff. Like I can’t even begin to think of anyone else who could play this character to perfection like Tom Wilson does. It has been said he drew from his own experiences with bullies, and as someone who has encountered his fair share, he nails it. Makes me feel sorry for the guy.
Crispin Glover… What can I say about this cat? He’s one of those actors that I love to see pop up in movies. He always brings some weird energy to whatever character he’s playing. A one-note character like Jimmy in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter should be barely memorable. But because Crispin Glover played him, he’s one of the few you remember because of his acting choices. Same with this film. It doesn’t work if George has any form of a backbone until the pivotal scene. And Crispin plays him so meekly that you can easily believe how this kid grew up to be a massive pushover. He’s one of the cogs in the machine that makes this movie work so well. I have more to say about him, but we’re gonna put a pin in that and come back to it in the next episode.
Let’s talk about that score. Alan Silvestri, who has been composing music for films for over 50 years, gives us what I would consider to be one of his most memorable and recognizable pieces of music of his career. Granted there are so many others: Predator, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Forrest Gump, The Avengers. And those are just the biggest ones. Plenty of other amazing scores like Flight of the Navigator and Super Mario Bros. The score elevates the film in all the best ways.
As I said earlier, this film has always been in my life. While I can think of nothing specific that resonated with me on some personal level, I have always come back to it at some point to watch and appreciate. It feels so expertly paced and well-crafted that even though I’ve watched the movie many, many times and I know how it will end, I still get anxious during the thunderstorm scene. The only other movie that does that to me is Jaws. When a film can still elicit those feelings after multiple viewings, it’s doing something right.
And I say that as someone who has given thought to some of the “perceived” plot holes in the movie. Like how George and Lorraine would have forgotten meeting Marty all those years ago. I get how that would seem odd. But try to perceive 30 years ago (if you’re not a fetus at this point in time) and tell me what details you remember. He was in their lives for a week at most, and they would have no pictures to refer to and be like, “Hey wait a minute!” Funny enough, that was one of the original endings. George would have unearthed an old newspaper that would have had Marty singing at the prom. But I guess smarter people realized that a prom wouldn’t exactly be newspaper worthy… unless it was a small town. Hill Valley didn’t come off as a small town to me.
I guess we should talk about the perception of “incest” in the movie. I feel as though it gets a pass for me because I don’t see it as condoning or promoting it. Lorraine has no idea who Marty is. When she meets him, he’s the most interesting person she’s ever met. He’s everything she isn’t and she becomes enamored with him. It makes sense. Meanwhile, Marty is fully aware of who Lorraine is and wants no part of her crush, thank Christ. Although I will say, Marty didn’t push Lorraine off of him as abruptly as he should have… or like at all for that matter. She was on him for at least 4-5 seconds. The moment her lips hit his, he should have jumped the fuck out of the car and peaced out. Luckily, she was hit with the realization that something was off and, in that moment, lost her desires for Marty aka Calvin.
Now, I will say the scene where Lorraine ponders the name “Marty” is a bit ridiculous. Especially considering her first son’s name is Dave… not Marty. So, the name didn’t even really resonate that hard. It was just something she eventually came back around to. Furthermore, why in the fuck would Marty not assume the moniker of Calvin as opposed to his real name since he isn’t supposed to exist in the past?? At no point in the film would that have been problematic for any reason. It’s MORE problematic that he’s using his real name! But what does it matter anyway? Marty still fucked with time.
The concept of time travel has always fascinated me. However, there are elements to some theories I love more than others. In this film, we seemingly follow the rules of the Novikov Self-consistency Principle. I say seemingly because that principle implies that Marty’s journey was predetermined and therefore all paradoxes would be moot. Were there no sequels to this film, this would be an easy argument. However, the sequels add complications so, for the sake of the idea, we’ll stay focused on this film. One concept I enjoy in time travel stories are the little changes made due to the displaced character’s interactions. I felt most of it here was on the surface at the end showing his parents being successful and Biff being… well not Biff. I wanted to discover other little changes like how the Twin Pine Mall became Lone Pine Mall. It wasn’t in your face and was a detail I didn’t discover until later viewings. I love stuff like that.
While the concept itself sounds more sci-fi than it is, the film itself is a wonderful exploration into the idea of meeting your parents before you were ever conceived, let alone considered. It’s a fascinating idea that could be explored in other films and maybe to greater effect. While I do love this film, I can acknowledge that the messaging towards the end falls apart, even though it’s on brand for that time in the 80s. We’ll get into that for the next film. For years, I wondered what the future would look like, according to this film. All because home video releases of the film added “To Be Continued…” even though a sequel was years away. But what we got was something unlike anything we’d ever seen before.
Pencil & Paper Productions 