Back to the Future III: On-This-Day Thursday
Every Thursday, an older film released on this opening weekend years ago will be reviewed. They can be classics, or simply popular films that happened to be released to the world on the same date.
For May 25th, we are going to have a look at Back to the Future III
Naturally, the success of Robert Zemeckis’ blockbuster busting Back to the Future deserved some well earned sequel treatments, and quickly (before that time travel high wore out). So, Back to the Future II was released with a pretty grim storyline attached to it; then, there was that uncertainty towards its end. It was inevitable that this would lead to Back to the Future III: an actual effort by Zemeckis to continue doing new things with a fresh series. Back to the Future was clearly the best, because of its fusion of science fiction and coming-of-age topic points. II, while flawed, was a more solid take on the sci-fi element of the series, taking us to a new age that could have very well happened (colour me surprise that that umpteenth Jaws sequel didn’t actually happen).
I get what III is trying to do. By traveling back to the west, Zemeckis can craft a new age wild west film within the universe he has already created here; allegedly, this was an idea Michael J. Fox had while they worked on the first film. The premise is nice, especially considering how westerns were effectively borderline dead by this time (until Dances with Wolves helped pump life into the genre that same year, but who would know that during the production of this film?). As a continuation of the series, there’s an assuring finality to this particular film, since the encroaching issue of Doc Brown and Marty’s guaranteed safety becomes more and more pressing. As a throwback to an old genre, it’s a sweet testament that seems more in love of the idea of the wild west than diving deeply into it (which is a shame).
This film isn’t Marty McFly’s first rodeo. I save my worst jokes for in-between film reviews like this one.
When the film pushes to be inventive, it becomes frankly ridiculous at times. In a franchise where we fully believe in Doc Brown and his DeLorean’s capabilities, the line eventually gets crossed here with the locomotive. Perhaps being a prophecy of the rough Zemeckis animated period, the locomotive sequence borders on insulting in a series that frankly deserves better. There are some things one can do to avoid crushing the suspension of belief that a magical film like this one can do. Rubbing your face in the schmaltziness of such a moment isn’t one of those things. Aside from some major faux-pas, III isn’t actually that horrendous, considering its best intentions for the series (including actually ending, which some series simply don’t know how to do). What I always say (you may find one day) is that Robert Zemeckis — even at his worst — is always doing something unique and interesting in his films. Back to the Future III is one of those cases where such a filmmaker turned what could have been an even worse conclusion into something at least fun.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.