Back to the Future, written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, directed by the latter

Back to the Future, written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, directed by the latter

Back to the Future is a classic motion picture.

It is not just one of the best comedies- rated by the public at 44 on the top Rated Movies list on IMDB – but also one of the more interesting science fiction propositions, a less serious travel in time narrative that offers a balanced take on the aspects of getting back in the past, with impact on…the future.

Michael J. Fox is sparkling, full of energy, radiant as Marty McFly and a lot of the success of the comedy rests on his performance, as well as the participation of Christopher Lloyd as an erratic, amusing, confused savant, Dr. Emmett Brown, and other members of the very good cast.

The hero takes part in an experiment conducted by Dr. Emmett Brown, which sends him into a different universe that of 1955, where things are so different and there is a danger that he might see his chances of being born…compromised.

The father of the protagonist is George McFly aka the perfect for the role Crispin Glover, a timid, introverted, shy teenager who looks like he would never get close to the attractive, self-assertive, outgoing Lorraine Baines, who is supposed to become the mother of the hero, yet at the same time it seems impossible at different moments.

The trip in time proposed here has the protagonist as the key element, taking a crucial role, for without his interference…his parents would not get close, so part of the mirth here comes from the paradoxical statement:

“Without Marty, there would be no…hero, Marty McFly”

To add some sophistication, another level of depth to this comedy which does not have the pretense that the scientific explanation is beyond dispute, Lorraine Baines becomes attracted by her…would be son!

Granted, Marty is effusive, interesting, dazzling and he has something special, a charm, a special knowledge…he comes from the Future, after all.

Indeed, he uses the advantages of someone who has heard the new music of the eighties, albeit some of what he would play at the guitar is far too advanced for audiences from 1955, knows how to use a skateboard- not yet invented in 1955.

The hero has to fight some serious foes, the most prominent being Biff Tannen, a failed individual in the future, but at the peak of his – physical – power in the past, where he terrorizes with his muscles colleagues and competitors.

George Mc Fly is terrified- like almost everyone else- of this massive, brutish, violent thug and without the urge, the pressure coming from his would be son, he would not be even noticed by Lorraine.

Marty has to fight hard to make the connection happen, for as he watches a photograph with him and his parents, his image is fading away, whenever obstacles, Biff and others interfere and it is suggested that the hero might not be there, at the end of the film after all…

The much less powerful, but very intrepid protagonist even challenges and knocks the strong Biff, after which he creates the skateboard, runs rings around the group of hoodlums led by the brute and with astute maneuvering, he makes his enemies clash and get a pile of manure on top of their car and their heads.

Part of the awkward humor is provided by the efforts of the son to seduce his…mother, so that she comes to the prom and then Marty would create a situation wherein George would come as the knight in shining armor, save the innocent girl from the clutches of the vicious Marty, and thus make her grateful and loving.

Only the scenario does not play as planned, first of all, the father forgets the time when he is supposed to interfere and knock Marty out and seems to miss it, then Biff shows up at the car, with his pathetic comrades, even more scandalous, Lorraine is not horrified by a lurid behavior, but on the contrary, seems ready to engage in some kind of intimacy with her would be child, when finally, she feels it is wrong and says:

“Kissing you feels like kissing my brother…”

Alas, Biff is alone with the helpless Lorraine and might even rape her, when things change, with intervention from the most unlikely corner, George has finally arrived at the car, thinking they will have a theatrical scene, in which he will pretend to knock down Marty, as they had arranged it and save the girl.

To his stupefaction and horror, it is Biff who has the control in the car and he the weaker boy has to summon all his courage, strength, determination and even madness to push against an adversary who is so much bigger, skilled in combat and who looks like being able to crush George.

Indeed, he has the poor boy near the ground, in pain, obviously near a total collapse, when, with a magical redemption, seeing the abuse inflicted on the girl he likes, George becomes the Saving Super Boy.

Marty has to play the guitar like Van Halen, for it is at a dance that the rapprochement that would bring him to the world – if he is not to fade in the fog of a parallel universe- happened at a dance and one of the members of the music band is injured, so the hero has to play.

The rhythm is excellent, until the protagonist tries something too modern, rejected by a public that was not yet ready for the music of the eighties, in a very entertaining, enchanting, at times fabulous comedy.