In light of the films recent inclusion in the BFI's 'Films Kid Must See' list, being voted the #1 family film of all time and a restrospective documentary (along the lines of Jaws's "The shark still works") entitled "LOOKING BACK AT THE FUTURE", I thought the BTTF trilogy should have its own thread on its 20th Anniversary.
Documentary Trailer
(stay tuned at the end for a classic line from the guy who played Lou at the diner)
http://www.bttf.com/lookingback/
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To give this thread a worthy boost, here's a PM conversation between me and Redlum from about a year ago. Completely un-re-read and unedited (except for one reply written on a remote control through a TV with an internet connection), so please excuse the inevitable hyperbole I was so fond of at that time (and still have a tough time shaking). First up, Redlum:
Quote from: ®edlumThere are lot of films that had the great mis-fortune of being made in the 80's. In some ways the decade made them what they are but its rare to find them pop-up in peoples top 10's etc. Spielberg and Spielberg-esque movies, really. I think the next generation of filmmakers will hold these films close to their hearts, and it will show. Of course, maybe thats just nostalgia talking. My Top 10 would most definately include Back to the Future. Its also, one of the most polished screenplays I can think of.
Thread-wise, there's a fair bit of Spielberg hate that goes around Xixax, and with that, the cynical view that Zemeckis is just his clone. I think BTTF is generally well regarded though.
Quote from: WithnailYeah, the eighties seems to be commonly viewed as the bastard child of movie decades. Back to the Future seems one of the few eighties movies that can feel like it's made in the eighties and still end up on people's Top 10s. I give almost all credit to the script - brilliant! Not a single joke falls flat, and not a single one hasn't been properly built up. Back to the Future is the rare example of bucketloads of expositional dialouge, that you never really give a second thought, until the punchline or pay off hits you. Even more of a rarity in an eighties feelgood film. Maybe that's the appeal. The way it fuses it's well written script with pure feelgood nostalgia (for two decades non-the-less; eighties and fifties).
Quote from: ®edlumExactly. People (cynical people) might say that that "pure feelgood nostalgia" is tainted by the product placement but as a kid it never even crossed my mind.
Nice one on citing George Vs Biff as a great fight scene. Immediately followed by another favourite 'moment' in the film - "Are you okay?" (as strings the fade in and George lifts Lorraine to her feet).
What are your feelings on the sequels. I love them, too, though not as much as Part 1. In some ways they suffered from being more tongue-in-cheek because the premise had already been setup, but that was inevitable. I think Zemeckis did an amazing job considering he never wanted to really do them in the first place, and the scripts didnt have the benefits of the constant polishing and re-drafting that the first was subject to.
Quote from: WithnailSorry for replying so late. I've been stuck in Oslo without an internet connection for a few days now. "Are you okay?" Is the only moment in film history that I can get chills from just by thinking about it. And the look on Elaine's face as she falls in love with him on the spot. I believe I mentioned it as a "most romantic scene" in one of the site's endless best/ most/ favorite threads. I love the sequels, though as you say, there not half of the first one. I always praise the second one for it's ability too take the concept to the next level, without just multiplying the number of effects shots. They don't ever get near the charm of number one, though. I think it's because it had a more down too earth approach, whilst the sequels were more science fiction, becoming perhaps what critics dismissed the first one as: brainless (though you could argue) sci-fi. Maybe part of the success is that it managed to utilize sience fiction elements in a (to a certainn degree) real enviroment, so as to take advantage of the opportunities this brings: larger than life terror (Marty fading at the dance), whilst still being able too keep the "normal" situations like Elaine being pushed away from George by the red haired bully kid suspenseful, and the effect intercutting between them creates.
Quote from: ®edlumHey, man. Sorry for my slow reply.
I agree, the George/Elaine kiss is magical, but what totally lifts it is the Silvestri score when it merges with Earth Angel. Marty launches to his feet (I wonder if thats actualy him sitting down, played in reverse) to that final chorus. I dont think I've seen any film capture that 'high school dance' so well. I thought the scene in Carrie was pretty great but Back to the Future rose to the greater challenge of actually having the highschool victim get the girl. George McFly gets the girl, and it doesn't feel contrived or just for the sake of a cute laugh. The George and Elaine characters are really well developed, for roles which in any other production would be pretty predictable. I mean, I love the fact that the girl that George ends up having this magical, 50's movie, moment with at the finale, was someone who at the start of the movie, he was watching undress with a pair of binoculars, up a tree.
I'd rally be interested to hear of any directors that list BTTF in some kind Sight and Sound (I think thats the one) poll. I mean Tarantino unashamedly lists some personal favourites as opposed to 2001, citizen kane etc.
Redlum
Quote from: WithnailQuote from: you
I agree, the George/Elaine kiss is magical, but what totally lifts it is the Silvestri score when it merges with Earth Angel. Marty launches to his feet (I wonder if thats actualy him sitting down, played in reverse) to that final chorus.
Yup, that scene is edited so damn perfect. Combined with the larger than life terror of Marty fading, and the sudden appearance of a horrorfilm-like score, the kiss just shoots the atmosphere to the polar end of the spectrum.
I think the development of George as a character, may be one of my favorites in film history as well. Going from unsympathetic (he's rude to Marty, peeps, runs of after Marty saves him, and tries to avoid him afterwards), slightly neurotic peeping tom, to a guy that's desperately (but innocently) in love, to a fucking hero you can't help cheer for as he's been pushed around the whole film. Our sympathies kinda develop in parallell with him falling in love.
Quote
I'd rally be interested to hear of any directors that list BTTF in some kind Sight and Sound
I'd kill to see that. If I ever make it big, you can be sure as hell that I'll go on and on about the brilliance of the film if asked about my inspirations.
Nothing but agreement about BTTF. Rises above other eighties comedies by leaps and bounds. Probably the prime example of how dating a film doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing.
BTTF 2 doesn't get the respect it deserves. Though the future segment is a bit too tongue in cheek, its still fun. But how ballsy is the stuff later on, such as the alternate 1985, "other selfs," and two movies literally overlapping?
I used to dislike BTTF 3, as I would say its just the first movie but with horses. But I watched it again and realized how fun it is, even if the ending is still too cheesy for my tastes.
I love the trilogy. Especially BTTF 2. So much fun.
Back To The Future is definately one of my all time favourites. It's one of those movies I can watch mutiple times in one sitting and each gag gets a laugh out of me every time. It also fits into that 80s nostalgic category, being one of many films I watched when growing up; those films tend to stay with you the rest of your life.
Quote from: McfLy on March 06, 2006, 01:49:54 AM
Back To The Future is definately one of my all time favourites. It's one of those movies I can watch mutiple times in one sitting and each gag gets a laugh out of me every time. It also fits into that 80s nostalgic category, being one of many films I watched when growing up; those films tend to stay with you the rest of your life.
As long as we forget about the 3rd part, I would have to agree with you good sir!
Since others have been linked to here gos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8uwuLxrv8jY
i like that one but i linked to it in the brokeback thread weeks/month ago!
:doh:
The second one is the best. No contest!
You are incorrect.
The second one could not exist and loses all its charm without....the first one.
I don't agree (with Silias).
Back to the Future 2 is undoubtedly the one that milks the concept best, but what the first one accomplishes so well, is that it introduces the concept with extreme efficiency (without making it feel hasty – this film is a prime example of economic scripting), then lets it rest, allowing the drama (and comedy!) afforded by it to play out. It's barely a sci-fi/ fantasy film at all, just a comedy with sci-fi bookends. And in the one scene where it appears outside the bookends, it's a great excuse to have the usual drama-at-the-dance be just as dramatic as it prefers – which is what these dances usually do in films, though Back to the Future has a "proper" reason.
In the second one this is pretty much inverse; the concept has taken centre stage. To great effect, I think, but the first one is much better written (the sequel has the disadvantage of more time-traveling), and uses the humor of the concept better. While the humor of the first one plays on Marty's various interactions with the fifties ("what would a modern kid do in the fifties?"), the humor of the second one mostly results to sight-gags ("what would the future look like?"). Though I think the fifties segment of the sequel is almost as great the first one. The second to last scene, in the rain, is incredibly good. By the time this scene comes around the concept is so firmly established, that it succeeds in making me feel that Doc – believed dead for half a minute of screen-time, until we learn he's in the old west – has actually been gone the hundred years between the old west and now. To me it's the best example of time-traveling in the trilogy. That, right there, is me time-traveling; a couple of minutes made to feel like a century.
Two things:
I love the fact that the first one plays on the eighties as The Future; a walkman becoming a sci-fi element. This idea is built upon the entire first act of number two, when they humorously approximate an "eighties future". The joke then double-back's to comment on itself when we enter the Café Eighties, and witness, well, not quite the eighties.
And: During recent viewings, I've always re-felt that same "terror" I felt as a kid, when the punk snatches Elaine away from George at the dance, though I have a feeling this is in light of South Park's "Ginger" episode.
Quote from: Just Withnail on March 27, 2006, 05:57:29 AM
That, right there, is me time-traveling; a couple of minutes made to feel like a century.
Excellent point. The power of that idea is exemplified by how vividly I imagine the circumstances of Doc first arriving in 1888 aswell as the letter sitting in the Western Union offices for 70 years. This idea is capatislised on and actually visualised with great eeriness in part III, when they discover the hidden Delorean. A great homage to 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' which generates the same emotions upon the discovery of the initials of Arne Saknussemm as peering in on the cloaked time machine. Most of the time the Delorean is taken for granted or as part of a joke but in that moment it becomes magical and myseterious, making its destruction at the end more powerful than it would have been.
I regrettably haven't read "Journey" yet, though I guess I’ll have to :)
The portrait of time we get in the Western Union scene is a turning-point, really. Until that point, the time-traveling has either been sensationalistic (both of Marty’s times in the first), or just taken for granted (Doc leaving in the first, and most of number two). The Western Union sequence is the first step towards the mythical and magical aspect in takes on in the third.
The view on time-travel adapts to the point in time. In number one, and from the POV of the eighties and fifties, the time-travel is sci-fi. In number two, from the POV of a sci-fi future and an alternate reality, the visual portrayal of time-travel is almost secondary to the fantastic and hellish new locations – both due to other sorts of eye candy, and because with the sheer amount of travel, you needn’t see it happen every time. The image of the Delorean is almost neutered – which ties in with the notion of capitalizing on time-travel, and reducing it to mere finance. But then, at the end, with the instant arrival of the letter, time-travel suddenly has a highly mysterious quality. Perhaps because throughout number two, the dangers (“the pitfalls and the perils”, I believe Doc says, right?) of time-travel has been the focus. How not to use the time-machine. Should it be used at all? etc. Now suddenly, the odd displacement of people in time is utilized to bring out the inherent magic and beautiful simplicity of a letter. Dear Marty…It’s a great scene. Of course, a letter as a saving grace and carrier of good news also plays a prominent part in number one, which is a nice association to have at this point).
And then, finally, in number three, completely removed from modern technology, the Delorean, and time-travel, is portrayed almost as magical (and ultimately, with the old locomotive/ time-machine cross over, it becomes mythical). As you mention, this begins in the scene where they rediscover the Delorean at the beginning of number three, where it regains its potency, as we see it for the first time since number two. You’re completely right about the Delorean having gained a more poignant meaning by the end; it’s the death of a character, really.
Lloyd keen for Back to the Future 4
There have been rumours of a "Back to the Future 4" for years – one had Sarah Michelle Gellar linked to the project, playing a youthful scientist, another had Michael J.Fox being downgraded to cameo player – but rumours being rumours, they were burnt quicker than mulleted-hair near a wall heater.
In an interview with BTTF.com (for their forthcoming DVD "Looking back at the Future"), Christopher Lloyd says he'd be keen to wear the frizzy locks of Doc Brown again – and if they could pull it off, 'Great Scott' he'd be there.
"I think it'd be a wonderful thing if it could be pulled off," Lloyd professes in the documentary. "I don't know what the angle might be or whatever, but if Bob Gale wants to write another one and Bob Zemeckis gets excited to do it, anything could happen."
In 1999, Amblin commissioned several writers to pen treatments for a potential "Back to the Future 4", but the project was ultimately shelved.
Quote from: MacGuffin on May 29, 2006, 01:21:45 AM
In 1999, Amblin commissioned several writers to pen treatments for a potential "Back to the Future 4", but the project was ultimately shelved.
And there it shall remain. Or else.
Please, Nike, make me some future shoes
Remember those awesome shoes Marty McFly wore in Back to the Future Part II? Despite the fact that the movie was made sixteen years ago and online petitions are about as useful as mowing your lawn with a spatula, that hasn't stopped one man from trying to get Nike to create a pair of shoes like the ones donned by our favorite time-traveling, vest-wearing, Huey Lewis and The News-listening pal.
http://www.petitiononline.com/future2/
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Its valid, but I dont think its going to happen because not a lot of people would buy them. They did a limited amount of the Steve Zissou shoes, but they were almost impossible to get and expensive.
I bet the technology exists for a pair to be made with the auto lace/auto size feature. It just wouldn't be economically feesable to produce, but it would be great if they made just one for the hell of it and auction it off to the highest bidder.
This is pretty cool, it's an "editing experiment" where someone with a lot of time synched up the enchantment dance so you can see where all the Marty's are at the same time.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4589540173717485087
Fantastic find. Thanks! I will be going to see BTTF 2 and 3 tomorrow at the grauman's. Cannot wait...
http://www.dailymotion.com/donaldtheduckie/video/x1gfgw_hoverboards
hoverboards are real!
Universal's Future Ride To Close
The venerable Back to the Future ride at the Universal Studios theme park in Los Angeles will close down forever on Labor Day, after which time it will be revamped as a new Simpsons-themed ride scheduled to open in summer 2008.
In anticipation of the 14-year-old attraction's imminent demise, Future co-star Christopher Lloyd (Doc Brown) appeared at the theme park on Aug. 2 and told SCI FI Wire that, for him, "it's been a great ride!"
The ride has been a fixture at the theme park since 1993, hosting what park officials estimate is 61 million flights.
As part of the closure countdown, Universal is sponsoring an online contest for fans to submit 90-second video tributes to the ride and movies and a sweepstakes to win a 1981 stainless-steel DeLorean auto like the one transformed into a time machine in the movies.
Also on hand at the ceremony were the movies' special-effects supervisor Kevin Pike and screenwriter Bob Gale, who was nominated for an Oscar for the first Back to the Future. Gale said the time-travel movie "still resonates today with kids."
Oh man, when they closed the E.T ride i nearly cried.
I was wondering when they were going to nix BTTF - but it's still a little painfull.
On a lighter note: how cool do you think a SIMPSONS ride could be! This get's me giddy.
Is the ride going to still be at Universal Studios in Florida? I'm pretty sure I rode it there.
Quote from: Ravi on August 04, 2007, 12:49:42 AM
Is the ride going to still be at Universal Studios in Florida?
they got rid of it already.
BTTF.com have just announced that Universal will re-release all three Back to the Future films on DVD on 2/10/09, and Back to the Future will be a 2-disc Special Edition with new bonus material.
Quote from: MacGuffin on November 24, 2008, 09:45:48 PM
BTTF.com have just announced that Universal will re-release all three Back to the Future films on DVD on 2/10/09, and Back to the Future will be a 2-disc Special Edition with new bonus material.
The "Buy it on DVD Again Right Before We Release the Blu-Ray" edition
I still have my shitty DVD that was recalled version. It rules.
Quote from: Stefen on November 24, 2008, 11:13:47 PM
I still have my shitty DVD that was recalled version. It rules.
Me too! I can't see Marty's fucking power laces, that shit sucks.
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http://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo.asp?number=DC21012
When are we seeing the blu-ray of this? I want to rebuy this trilogy but I've been waiting. Its the hardest part.
Quote from: SiliasRuby on July 31, 2009, 11:13:20 PM
When are we seeing the blu-ray of this? I want to rebuy this trilogy but I've been waiting. Its the hardest part.
Rumor: Back to the Future and Jurassic Park coming to Blu-raySource: SciFiWire
As Marty McFly once said, "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything." And according an inside source at Universal, the studio will finally accomplish what we've all been waiting for—a Blu-ray release of all three Back to the Future films, as well as the Jurassic Park trilogy.
At least that's what's being reported by Nuke the Fridge, which posted that the six films are supposedly due out in their new high-definition format sometime in October/November 2010.
The site stated that it received the following e-mail from its inside source:
"'Nuke The Fridge' you didn't hear this from me, but I just got word from Universal of a upcoming release of Back To The Future and Jurassic Park Blu-Ray release."
Except for the part about them being over a year away, that's great news. My girlfriend will no longer have to listen to me complain about those two movies not being on Blu-ray every single time we go to Best Buy. Every single motherloving time.
Have you guys read the original script parts of Back to the Future that were posted on Cracked? Might as well find it and give you the URL ... here goes:
http://www.cracked.com/article_16716_7-terrible-early-versions-great-movies.html
Revealed: The real-life drama behind Back to the Future
Source: SciFi Wire
"Hey you, get your damn hands off her." Those classic words were memorably spoken by George McFly before he laid out Biff Tannen in the classic ending to one of the most beloved films of the '80s, Back to the Future.
Crispin Glover will forever be synonymous with George McFly, despite the fact that he played the character only once and did not return for the sequels. In fact, the circumstances as to what exactly happened and why Glover did not return have been cause for some debate in the ensuing years.
What we do know is that Glover was ultimately replaced by lookalike Jeffrey Weissman, who donned prosthetics and sunglasses to fool audiences into thinking Glover was again playing the role. Unamused by the stunt, Glover sued the producers and won a settlement, leading to a new set of rules for the Screen Actors Guild in regards to illicit use of actors.
Although the situation was apparently laid to rest some 20-plus years ago, recent comments by BTTF co-writer and producer Bob Gale have irked Glover, prompting the actor to break his longtime silence in regards to the situation.
"On the DVD to the Back to the Future Trilogy, Bob Gale has said something that's totally fabricated," Glover told a group of reporters at this weekend's press junket for Hot Tub Time Machine. "He said I asked for twice the amount of money that Michael J. Fox asked for in the first film. In the negotiation for the second film, they offered me less than half of what any of the actors that were being asked to come back in the film—Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Tom Wilson. They had all done studio films, and they'd made a lot more money. I was being penalized."
The actor adds that his notorious visit to the David Letterman show, in which he appeared in character as Rubin from the forthcoming film Rubin and Ed, may have added to the situation. "It was very apparent to me when we were doing the negotiations that I was not wanted," said Glover. "If I was going to do it, it was essentially a punishment. I was going to have to take less than half of what anybody else was going to take to come back to the film. It was not a normal negotiation. It seemed to me that there was an aggressive quality toward the negotiations."
In the years since, Glover has made amends with BTTF director Robert Zemeckis, returning to play Grendel in the director's 2007 film Beowulf. But Bob Gale is another story. In addition to the DVD comments, Glover says that the writer/producer made similar comments in recent radio interviews. "I've talked about it very little, but I'm starting to talk about it," Glover added. "I just feel like I can be totally quiet about it and people [can] think that I've done this kind of wrong thing or I can tell the truth of what has happened. [Gale] did not address that what they did was totally immoral and illegal and just wrong. [They] put another actor into false nose, chin and cheekbones in order to fool people into believing that I was in the film."
While Glover says he is proud of the work he did on BTTF, for him it remains tainted in many ways. Besides the legal issues that arose from the sequels, the actor had to deal with the replacement of the film's leading man after a majority of the film had already been shot. (Fox famously replaced Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly; Stoltz can now be seen as Daniel Graystone on Syfy's Caprica.)
"People often ask me, 'Oh, was that a fun film to make?'" Glover said with a laugh. "I'd shot most of my scenes with Eric Stoltz. It was not known [that Stoltz wasn't working out], and it was surprising. I'd worked with Eric Stoltz before. We'd done a Bayer Aspirin commercial. We played brothers. I'd known him a bit, and I liked him. I thought he was a good actor. You know, if you shoot a number of months, and then in the middle of the shooting, there's a large replacement like that, it's unnerving."
Glover added: "Working on Back to the Future was, you know, I don't like to get into too much detail, because I probably should write about it at some point and time. But I'm very glad I'm in the film. Ultimately, I had a good working experience with Robert Zemeckis working on that movie. Good things happened in it and I'm glad I'm in the film."
http://www.americancinematheque.com/archive1999/2010/Egyptian/Time_Travel_ET2010.htm#BACK%20TO%20THE%20FUTURE (http://www.americancinematheque.com/archive1999/2010/Egyptian/Time_Travel_ET2010.htm#BACK%20TO%20THE%20FUTURE)
stoked.
Holy crap, we're only five years away from the Back to the Future II future.
i know, can't wait for the hoverboard!
Not too much longer
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Barack to the Future
Universal Studios has OFFICIALLY confirmed what we've been reporting for a long while now: The Back to the Future Trilogy is coming to Blu-ray Disc this Fall! Specifically, you'll be finally be able to buy all three films in one 25th Anniversary Blu-ray set on 10/26 (SRP TBA - note that a 25th Anniversary DVD set will also be available). Video will obviously be 1080p, and Universal's press release says the set will feature new restorations of each film along with DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio. Extras will include most (if not all) of the previous DVD special features, including feature commentaries with producers Bob Gale and Neil Canton, Q&A commentaries with director Robert Zemeckis and producer Bob Gale, a Michael J. Fox Q&A, 16 deleted scenes, 3 archival documentaries (Making the Trilogy: Chapters One, Two & Three, The Making of Back to the Future Part I, II & III and The Secrets of the Back to the Future Trilogy), 9 behind-the-scenes segments (Outtakes, Original Makeup Tests, Production Design, Storyboarding, Designing the DeLorean, Designing Time Travel, Hoverboard Test, Designing Hill Valley and Designing the Campaign), Back to the Future: The Ride, Huey Lewis and the News' Power of Love music video, ZZ Top's DoubleBack music video, 5 image galleries (Production Art, Additional Storyboards, Photographs, Marketing Materials and Character Portraits) and theatrical trailers. New for for the new 25th Anniversary sets are a 6-part retrospective documentary called Tales from the Future featuring interviews with Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, director Robert Zemeckis, producers Bob Gale and Neil Canton, and executive producer Steven Spielberg (includes In the Beginning..., Time to Go, Keeping Time, Time Flies, Third Time's the Charm and The Test of Time), The Physics of Back to the Future featurette with physicist Michio Kaku and the Nuclear Test Site Ending Storyboard Sequence. In addition, the Blu-ray set will exclusively include the 3 new U-Control options (Setups & Payoffs, Storyboard Comparison and Trivia Track) and a 30-minute archival Back to the Future Night TV special hosted by Leslie Nielson. And here's something especially exciting: Stephen Clark of the excellent BTTF.com tells us (per producer Bob Gale) that the new documentary WILL include ultra-rare footage of Eric Stoltz (who was briefly cast as Marty McFly), PLUS the films have been given new HD transfers AND the film grain is preserved too! (Great Scott!!) All in all, there's over two hours of new material.
Deja vu.
Can't wait to get my misframed Blu-Ray!
see footage of Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly!
http://www.avclub.com/articles/watch-eric-stoltz-play-marty-mcfly-in-this-alterna,46268/
part of a documentary on the bluray release.
Oh, yeah, I didn't want to see that.
i'm still waiting for actual footage.
with sound.
Stoltz will never rape my memory of Marty.
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even without sound you can see what was wrong with stoltz from that footage.
as zemeckis describes, there's just no humour. he looks too serious, even a bit disturbed. like he's secretly freaking out inside about being in the future.
michael j fox was a great marty cos he made it seem like he was amazed at the situations his character got himself into but also it never felt like he was struggling with the psychological weight of having the entire time-continuum resting on his shoulders. just look at stoltz eyes, he's definitely thinking way too much about it.
Stoltz was maybe/surely doing his thing from the original script which was a lot more serious and quite depressing. Zemeckis doesn't want to go into that to explain it cause this at first was not a family comedy.
Edit: Im not saying th script hadn't already changedat that point but maybe his whole character idea was from the earlier script. Whereas Fox never read the early thing to screw up his vision.
Just a theory
I was under the impression that it was always a family comedy - that it was this clean-as-a-whistle family comedy that all the studios were passing on for five years because everyone was making porky's-type raunch.
Here's the first script
http://www.scifiscripts.com/scripts/back_to_the_future_original_draft.html
it's real crazy and different. Google "early script back to the future cracked" there's a website that lists the differences. Marty is depressed or something if I recall.
but was that the draft that eric stolz took part in?
Quote from: pete on October 14, 2010, 12:06:02 PM
but was that the draft that eric stolz took part in?
No. They didn't change the script for MJFox, they were shooting with the same script.
I don't think Pas is saying that the Stoltz script is the first one, I think he's suggesting that because Stoltz was familiar with the first version, that's the tone he was prepared for, not the more light and comedic version. MJF worked better because he didn't even know about that first script.
Interesting theory, but it could also be that Stoltz isn't funny.
Quote from: P on October 14, 2010, 04:35:42 AM
even without sound you can see what was wrong with stoltz from that footage.
as zemeckis describes, there's just no humour. he looks too serious, even a bit disturbed. like he's secretly freaking out inside about being in the future.
michael j fox was a great marty cos he made it seem like he was amazed at the situations his character got himself into but also it never felt like he was struggling with the psychological weight of having the entire time-continuum resting on his shoulders. just look at stoltz eyes, he's definitely thinking way too much about it.
agreed, especially the shot in which marty is revealed behind his dad in the greasy spoon restaurant. MJF delivered the shock and wonder in spades compared to Stoltz performance. Stoltz has always been best when he's playing a pompus douche who doesn't give a shit (pulp fiction, killing zoe), this just required too much of him.
NERD SIDE NOTE - in an episode of Fringe from 2nd season, two watchers come out of a movie theatre and on the marquee we see "Back to the Future staring Eric Stoltz". It's a cool easter egg.