BACK IN TIME: REFLECTING BACK

The trilogy of films BACK TO THE FUTURE 1-3 have captured the love and admiration of a generation. It was the perfect combination of writing, directing and acting that brought to life the tale of Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), a 17 year old high school student who gets caught up in traveling back in time in his friend Dr. Emmett Brown’s (Christopher Lloyd) time machine, a hopped up DeLorean. He ends up meeting his parents in their high school years as well and comedic results follow.

One of the things found in the series of films, in particular the second where they went into the future, was predicting what the world would be like in 2016. So as the year arrives many have wondered what did and did not occur in those predictions. It garnered a new interest in the films for many who remembered them fondly and a new generation that wondered what the allure was. In short, a new interest in a classic set of films that hold up today as much as they did during their initial releases.

So it’s no surprise that a documentary about the films has been in the works for some time and now arrives on that well known year. BACK IN TIME gives us a look back at the original films along with interviews with those involved in the making of the movies as well as the lives of the fans that it touched. In so doing the homage gives us a chance to reminisce and to discover just how deep the world of fandom goes when it comes to movies.

One would expect to find glowing memories coming from those behind the scenes. For Fox it was the movie that catapulted him from TV series star to mega-movie box office success. Lloyd did much the same having gotten his first major notice in the series TAXI. Director Robert Zemekis cemented his standing in Hollywood with this film, a follow up to his successful ROMANCING THE STONE. Any documentary about these films would have to include all of them and they do so here, showing not only how the films were made but how grateful all involved were for the opportunities it provided them.

What makes this film a bit different than the standard documentary on these movies is the look at the fandom that surrounds it. There are people who have recreated replicas of the car that was the time machine in the film. There are others who dress as the characters they love when they gather together for various events and conventions. None of these seems too over the top infatuated with the film but there is definitely a love affair with the movie going on here.

The few complaints of those who didn’t seem to enjoy this documentary revolve around the disjointed way in which the story is told at times. I found that to be on the plus side. When you gather together with friends to discuss a movie or an event it is rare that you do so in a straight timeline. You talk about one item and that reminds you of another so you discuss that topic and then maybe return to the initial subject. This film is like that, as if you’re sitting with a friend talking about these great movies going back and forth and bringing back the excitement they instilled in you at the time. Its comfortable feeling.

Documentaries about movies should have that sense of wonder and appreciation rather than being made as if the topic at hand were as important as say the rise and fall of the Third Reich. Those fact based documentaries are about things that will change the world and the history of it. Documentaries on movies are about those things that may have changed a few lives personally but not the history of the world. They are the things that dreams are made of, things that might inspire but that don’t actually make it happen.

This film is a love story to all of those who found the original films to be fantastic. It is a documentary that will inspire some to seek out the original three movies and to watch them. It will renew interest in movies that were a part of their time, which captured the imagination of a generation. That’s a good thing. To get young people to discover something great from the past is something that needs to happen more often. Let’s just hope it doesn’t inspire Hollywood to place this on their far too lengthy list of past hits they think need remade. A must see for fans of the films.

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