In 1980 filmmaker, Robert Zemeckis was looking in his father’s High School yearbook and wondered whether he would’ve been friends with his father. That’s what sparked the idea for the 80s classic Back to the Future. The film stars Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Emmett Brown, and Thomas F. Wilson as Biff Tannen. The film originally starred Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly but he was fired over a month into filming due to his bad comedic timing and method acting.
The film is about a High School student named Marty McFly and his efforts to return to the future (1985) after he is accidentally sent back to 1955 by a time-traveling Delorean invented by his friend Doc Brown. Doc Brown would later be killed by terrorists the night Marty left. After which Marty would have to ensure his birth after he made his mother fall in love with him instead of his father.
The film’s creation was a difficult one, with the lead actor being changed relatively late into filming, Michael’s schedule filming family ties, and studios thought the film was too clean for a teen comedy for the time. Although Disney was mortified with the idea of Marty’s Mom falling in love with him.
However, the film’s difficult beginnings led to one the best movie trilogies of all time with the sequel, Back to the Future Part 2 in 1989 and Back to the Future Part 3 in 1990. The film has also inspired merchandise such as action figures, Lego sets, a Playmobil line of toys, and video games. The movies would gain a two-season cartoon series from 1991 to 1992. The film is a personal favorite of mine and one the best 80s comedies of all time and is even a film some consider to be a perfect movie.
