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Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Crispin Glover, Lea Thompson, Thomas F. Wilson ... see more see more... , James Tolkan , Claudia Wells , Wendie Jo Sperber , Marc McClure , George DiCenzo , Norman Alden , Ivy Bethune , Maia Brewton , J.J. Cohen , Jeffrey Jay Cohen , Lisa Freeman , Donald Fullilove , Courtney Gains , Paul Hansen , Will Hare , Deborah Harmon , Huey Lewis and the News , Cristen Kauffman , Robert Krantz , Jason Marin , Boyd 'Red' Morgan , Read Morgan , Jeff O'Haco , Sachi Parker , Elsa Raven , Gary Riley , Casey Siemaszko , Harry Waters Jr. , Billy Zane , George 'Buck' Flower , Jamie Abbott , Katherine Britton , David Harold Brown , Lee Brownfield , Robert de Lapp , Richard L. Duran , Jason Hervey , Karen Petrasek , Tommy Lee Thomas , Lloyd L. Tolbert , Granville "Danny" Young , Frances Lee McCain , Johnny Green , Elizabeth Chambers

Contemporary high schooler Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) doesn't have the most pleasant of lives. Browbeaten by his principal at school, Marty must also endure the acrimonious relationship between his ... read more read more...nerdy father (Crispin Glover) and his lovely mother (Lea Thompson), who in turn suffer the bullying of middle-aged jerk Biff (Thomas F. Wilson), Marty's dad's supervisor. The one balm in Marty's life is his friendship with eccentric scientist Doc (Christopher Lloyd), who at present is working on a time machine. Accidentally zapped back into the 1950s, Marty inadvertently interferes with the budding romance of his now-teenaged parents. Our hero must now reunite his parents-to-be, lest he cease to exist in the 1980s. It won't be easy, especially with the loutish Biff, now also a teenager, complicating matters. Beyond its dazzling special effects, the best element of Back to the Future is the performance of Michael J. Fox, who finds himself in the quagmire of surviving the white-bread 1950s with a hip 1980s mindset. Back to the Future cemented the box-office bankability of both Fox and the film's director, Robert Zemeckis, who went on to helm two equally exhilarating sequels. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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88% liked it

988,517 ratings

Critics

97% liked it

61 critics

PG, 1 hr. 56 min.

Directed by: Robert Zemeckis

Release Date: July 3, 1985

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DVD Release Date: December 17, 2002

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Stats: 60,092 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (60,092)

  • jmanard52
    June 14, 2011
    jmanard52
    Just watched this for the first time in over a decade. This time in remastered high def picture and sound. My daughter and I loved it. She even cheered when Marty made the trip back home!
  • fb701560354
    February 7, 2012
    fb701560354
    Back to the Future is a hilarious, imaginative, and unforgettable time-travel adventure. It's well-acted, well directed and edited, and it's spirit is immense. The science is actually thoroughly explained so it makes perfect sense which makes it great fun for audiences of all a... read moreges. Back to the Future will keep people coming back again and again. The only reason I didn't give it perfect is because it does get a little hokey and cheesy in places. But they are minor details....
  • thmtsang
    January 22, 2012
    thmtsang
    First movie of the Back to the Future triology, the original is always the best. Doc Brown makes a time machine out of a Deloran car. Marty gets sent back in time by accident to when his parents first met. Full of interesting characters. Imagine seeing your parents as they were y... read moreoung and not how they recall things. He gets caught up with his mum, dad, Doc and the class bully Biff. Can Marty make it back in time before his whole existence is eliminated?
  • fb1664868775
    December 11, 2011
    fb1664868775
    One of the few films from my childhood that hold up as a classic when I rewatch them today. Bob Zemeckis injected the perfect amount of Frank Capra-esque goodhearted spirit into this masterpiece.
  • blkbomb
    November 28, 2011
    blkbomb
    Dr. Emmett Brown: If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits eighty-eight miles per hour... you're gonna see some serious shit. 

    "Mart McFly just broke the time barrier. Now he has one week to fix it."

    Back to the Future is one of the quintessential films of the 80's. ... read moreNot only is it the greatest time travel movie ever, but it is also one of the most fun movies ever. There is so much in the movie to like. From the quirky Doc Brown to the dance where Marty plays "Johnny B. Goode." The movie is the very definition of classic. It works as an action/adventure, a sci-fi and a comedy, all with extreme precision. This is one of those movies that you can watch over and over again, and never grow tired of it.

    A crackpot scientist invents a time machine out of a car. When he is showing it off to Marty, a band of terrorists kill him because Doc ripped them off to get the plutonium. Marty then goes back in time to 1955 where he runs into his parents and seeks the help of a younger Doc Brown. Now Marty must make sure his parents get together and he must still manage to make it... Back to the Future.

    The film features a pretty good 80's cast, with Michael J. Fox in the lead role. My favorite performance of the movie comes from Crispin Glover as George McFly. Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown is also great. Robert Zemeckis really came up with something amazing with the story. If you don't have fun while watching this movie, more than likely there is something wrong with you.

    The movie is a pure extravaganza of all the great things that went into a good 80's movie. It has the soundtrack, the story and feel that could only come from the 80's. This is the best film in the trilogy and I really like all three. I would have hated to have been alive when the first movie came out because it would have been hard to wait those 4 years for the second film. Thank God for television, there isn't a week where you don't see these movies on.
  • movieguru12
    November 12, 2011
    movieguru12
    The best one out of the whole trilogy. The DeLorean, Marty's mom being in love with Marty & Marty's sucessful attempt of putting his parents back together with Doc's help. Another one of my all-time favorite movies! :) It's an absolute dream! :) :) :) :) :) :)
  • aquateen2
    November 2, 2011
    aquateen2
    A very witty and impressively done film which I expected to be more goofy and camp then quotable and funny. What makes Back to the Future what it is though is the stellar and charismatic performances by its hilarious lead cast.
  • aSpaceCowboy
    September 9, 2011
    aSpaceCowboy
    (new review coming)

    I will admit it's a very entertaining movie, and has surprisingly good effects for an '80s film, but a giant portion of the make-up and sidesteam acting was enough to annoy me. i still think it's a great and fun movie to watch
  • fb100000040220993
    September 5, 2011
    fb100000040220993
    Along with "Stand By Me", this was my favorite movie when I was a kid. In fact, if I remember correctly, it might have been the first movie my family owned on VHS. All sentimentality aside, this movie is still as charming today as it was in the 80's. The characters are great a... read morend the storytelling is very cohesive considering it's ambitious scope. I don't think I really have to recommend this movie, you've already seen it, and I'm sure you enjoyed it. If there's one flaw to point out, it would be the overexposure of Huey Lewis music. Of course, any Huey Lewis is too much Huey Lewis. Just saying.
  • spielberg00
    August 11, 2011
    spielberg00
    BACK TO THE FUTURE, despite the cheesy '80s setback, is a pretty good work of art.

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Critic Reviews

Richard Corliss
March 29, 2011
Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine

The picture packs a wonderful wallop. Full Review

Variety Staff
May 5, 2008
Variety Staff, Variety

Performances by the earnest Fox, the lunatic Lloyd, the deceptively passionate Lea Thompson, and, particularly, the bumbling-to-confident Glover, who runs away with the picture, merrily keep the ship ... Full Review

Dave Kehr
February 26, 2007
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

Director Robert Zemeckis confronts the oedipal heart of the time-travel genre with this zestfully tasteless 1985 tale about a teenager (Michael J. Fox) who is projected back to 1955 and then must arra... Full Review

Janet Maslin
May 20, 2003
Janet Maslin, New York Times

Mr. Zemeckis is able both to keep the story moving and to keep it from going too far. He handles Back to the Future with the kind of inventiveness that indicates he will be spinning funny, whimsical t... Full Review

John Hartl
January 1, 2000
John Hartl, Film.com

So busy being clever that it trips over its own ingenuity.

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Shows not only a fine comic touch but also some of the lighthearted humanism of a Frank Capra. Full Review

James Berardinelli
July 3, 1985
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

One of the mid-'80s most enduring and enjoyable confections: an infectious mix of comedy, fantasy, satire, excitement, and nostalgia. Full Review

Simon Reynolds
July 14, 2011
Simon Reynolds, Digital Spy

It was, is and always will be a true Hollywood classic. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
April 21, 2011
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

The most commercially popular of 1985. Full Review

Shaun Munro
February 16, 2011
Shaun Munro, What Culture

Undeniably one of the greatest films of the 1980s and indeed, of all time, Back to the Future has endured so well because it walks that fine tightrope of managing to appeal to just about everyone... Full Review

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Facts

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    • Dr. Emmett Brown: Great Scott!
    • High-School Band Judge: I'm afraid you're just too darn loud.
    • Lorraine Baines: What was it George, birdwatching?
    • Dr. Emmett Brown: If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.
    • Marty McFly: Are you telling me that my mom has got the hots for me? Precisely Whoa this is heavy There's that word again,heavy. Why are things so heavy in the future is there a problem with the Earth's gravitational pull What...?
    • Dr. Emmett Brown: If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you gonna see some serious shit.
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Back to the Future Trivia

  • In which movie was Michael J Fox "the only kid ever to get into trouble before he was born?"  Answer »
  • "Whoa, this is heavy". "There's that word again; "heavy". Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the earth's gravitational pull?"   Answer »
  • In which film did a car hold the liscence plate reading, "OUTATIME."  Answer »
  • In which movie the Michel J. Fox need trash to go to the past?  Answer »
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