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Cast, crew, and fans explore the classic time-travel trilogy’s resonance throughout our culture 30 years after Marty went Back in Time.
Director Jason Aron’s new documentary, “Back in Time,” examines the enduring pop culture impact and broader legacy of the 1985 classic “Back to the Future.” A bit of a puff piece, the film nevertheless succeeds in framing “Back to the Future” as a critically important addition to American cinema. Following the iconic franchise’s conception in the early 1980s to its influence on multiple generations of movie-goers, “Back in Time” is a vanilla offering that still retains a certain charm.
The most interesting part of the film is its dissection of “Back to the Future”’s strange road to production. The exclusive interviews with writers Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale are a goldmine of Eighties nostalgia, and offer a unique insight into just how unlikely their success was. Their pitch was rejected by the studios, only to be revived and purchased several years later, and had their initial choice for Marty McFly (Eric Stoltz) unceremoniously dumped from production. Gale, in particular, has a bitingly sharp wit. It is truly intriguing to see how all the pieces came together at a seemingly perfect time in order for the picture to be to made.
One thing that I was struck by was the sheer amount of people who used one word to describe the “Back to the Future” script: “perfect.” One interviewee even states that there are professors at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, widely regarded as the top film school in the world, use the script as a model that aspiring screenwriters should seek to emulate. This surprised me, but the documentary lays out a surprisingly convincing case that “Back to the Future” should at least be taken seriously as a potential screenplay masterpiece.
Past the initial focus on production and immediate cultural impact, however, “Back in Time” begins to lose steam. It begins to transition from topical discussion with the principals involved in the creation of a timeless classic to an emphasis on “Back to the Future”’s impact on various collectors and superfans. While this isn’t uninteresting, it does pale somewhat in comparison to the larger scope adopted in the first segment.
To the filmmakers’ credit, they did achieve nearly unprecedented access to everyone involved in “Back to the Future.” Some of the most jarring moments come from seeing Michael J. Fox on screen in a rare appearance in front of a camera. It is deeply disheartening to see how much Parkinson’s has affected such a talented man, but it is also uplifting to experience Fox’s passion for the project, despite how much the disease has taken from him.
Available on DVD today
