Back in 1985, BACK TO THE FUTURE arrived on screens and kicked off one of the most enjoyable trilogies of the eighties.
Produced by Steven Spielberg and Directed by Robert Zemeckis (Contact, Castaway, Forrest Gump, Allied) its a blast from (and to) the past and enjoyable from start to finish.
Michael J. Fox had his first big screen role as Marty McFly, a high school student suddenly thrust 30 years into the past and meeting his Mom and Dad as teenagers.
I had forgotten just how much fun the set up was and how cleverly Zemeckis and his writers get Marty back in time.
Christopher Lloyd is Kramer-hilarious as the wacky genius Doc Brown, the eccentric Crispin Glover has his most successful mainstream role as Marty's Dad, George and Lea Thompson is sweet, funny and perfect as Marty's Mom Lorraine.
So many classic moments from the time-traveling DeLorean, to Marty (Is your name Calvin Klein? It's on your underwear.") dealing with his Mom's flirting, Doc's madcap plan to go Back to the future and the climactic high school dance.
It's exciting, funny and a lot of fun, cleverly setting up two sequels that would appear in the following five years as the eighties came to a close.
Zemeckis is one of our best directors and his ability to balance big budget special effects, thrills and comedy has turned out some of the most enjoyable movies of the past four decades.
Huey Lewis's music adds to the fun and that's him in a cameo as one of the judges at the talent show.
The curse of time travel movies is that you tend to spend too much time looking for holes in the logic of the story. Fox and Zemeckis give you NO time to think about logic, knocking you out with laughs and one great set piece after another in this fast moving blockbuster hit.
BACK TO THE FUTURE holds up perfectly 33 years after its release and gets an A.
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