This Divisive Film Ended the Greatest Trilogy on a Sour Note, but It Deserves a Revisit
Some of the greatest film trilogies in Hollywood history often start with a bang and end with a whimper. Whether it is the Star Wars sequel trilogy or The Matrix franchise, they often feature promising story setups in the first installments only to result in lackluster payoffs in the finale. In the midst of any discussion about popular film trilogies, Back to the Future stands out in some unexpected ways. The release of Back to the Future Part III in 1990 was tasked with the monumental challenge of finishing off the time travel adventures of Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd as Marty McFly and Doc Emmett L. Brown, respectively. Robert Zemeckis’s original 1985 film was the perfect blend of sci-fi adventure, ‘50s nostalgia, and a touching love story above all else. Its highly anticipated sequel in 1989 doubled down on Zemeckis’s zany approach to storytelling with fantastical alternate timelines, groundbreaking special effects, and life-altering stakes being raised. When the 1880s-set third installment arrived in theaters, audiences had yet to re-embrace the Western genre that would roar back to life soon after with Dances with Wolves, Unforgiven, and Tombstone. While Back to the Future Part III may not be the trilogy’s fan favorite, it is the most mature chapter in the lives of Marty and Doc.
What Is ‘Back to the Future Part III’ About?
Following Back to the Future Part II’s surprise cliffhanger, where a bolt of lightning strikes the DeLorean, sending Doc back to 1885, Marty seeks help from the 1955 version of Doc to send him back to 1985. They follow instructions from the original Doc’s letter, written 70 years before, to find the DeLorean buried in an abandoned mine next to a Hill Valley cemetery. But when Marty discovers Doc’s tombstone explaining his death at the hands of Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson), he plans to time-travel to 1885 to get his friend back home to 1985. Once he arrives in the Old West era of Hill Valley, Marty’s mission faces a serious setback. The DeLorean’s fuel line is damaged by Native Americans, resulting in Marty and Doc plotting to steal a train to get the time machine up to 88 miles per hour. Adding more complications to getting back on time is Doc becoming romantically struck by schoolteacher Clara Clayton (Mary Steenburgen), and Marty running into trouble with Mad Dog, who challenges him to a duel. Both Marty and Doc are faced with difficult choices that could alter the course of history for the very last time.
‘Back to the Future Part III’ Is Doc Brown’s Story
If Part II appeared to take a dark turn with Marty’s arrival in a hellish alternate 1985 with Hill Valley run by a powerfully corrupt Biff Tannen, Part III goes slightly darker by shifting from sci-fi comedy to a full-blown Western. The colorful atmosphere of Hill Valley in the previous films is replaced by a rustic, dusty town in the early stages of development. Marty’s first encounter with Mad Dog and his gang turns violent almost immediately, with the outlaw hanging the ‘80s teen before Doc comes to the rescue. The initial conflict between Marty and Mad Dog sets up one of Part III’s dramatic subplots in which the former’s irrationality of being called “chicken” has fateful conflicts in the present and the future. It is life or death for Marty as opposed to preventing his parents from ever meeting each other or Biff from getting rich. Even Doc grapples with the fact that he saves Clara from a tragic accident that she was destined to die from. These creative choices by Zemeckis and co-writer Bob Gale were not simply conceptual ideas of time traveling back home or destroying a sports almanac. Back to the Future Part III emphasizes the characters taking a hard look at the consequences of time travel and why it has done more harm than good. For the fans of Part II who enjoyed the constant jumps from year to year, Part III eases down with a romance plot with beats similar but not exact to the George (Crispin Glover) and Lorraine McFly (Lea Thompson) love story. In this case, Doc’s romance with Clara takes center stage with Lloyd’s iconic character as the full-on lead instead of Fox. Throughout the trilogy, Doc has served as both an instigator (i.e., Building the DeLorean, bringing Marty and his girlfriend to 2015 to save their son) and a problem solver (i.e., helping Marty return to 1985, returning to 1955 to destroy the almanac). Part III sees the brilliance of Doc facing an issue devoid of logic: the matter of the heart. Where the people of Hill Valley in 1955 and 1985 view him as a quack-mad scientist, Clara sees past the genius to find Doc to be a true gentleman full of endless wisdom. If the trilogy’s story arc for Marty is about restraining his pride for the sake of a better future, Doc’s story is about following his heart instead of logic.
No Room for ‘Back to the Future Part IV’
Marty McFly on a hoverboard over a pond in Courthouse Square in Back to the Future 2Image via Universal Pictures
Some trilogies often end with the heroes standing tall over the villains. Back to the Future’s trilogy ends with the destruction of the DeLorean and the dynamic duo of Marty and Doc going their separate ways in the past and future. Audiences clamoring for a fourth movie and further endless adventures were left disappointed. However, this was the most fitting way to end the Back to the Future trilogy. Doc had evolved from a genius seeking discoveries through time travel, only for romance to ground his life perspective. Marty has a clean slate to make the right choices for his future without the need for time travel to address any shortcomings. Though there have been video games and other media serving as non-canonical continuations to the franchise, Back to the Future Part III was as sincere a conclusion as most trilogies tend to offer.
Back to the Future Part III is streaming on Pluto TV in the US.
Release Date
May 25, 1990
Runtime
119 minutes
Director
Robert Zemeckis
已发布: 2025-12-25 23:00:00
来源: collider.com
