Thirty years ago today, the best sequel of the 1980s was released to an ecstatic public(just don't tell "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Aliens" I said that). It was a long wait, three-and-a-half years to be exact, from the official announcement of "Part II" to it's theatrical unveiling. Nine Marvel movies could have been released today in that time. Reagan-era audiences were used to some anticipation, and I could argue we appreciated entertainment products more because of it. Series guardian Bob Gale had to get his heavy script just right, while Bob Zemeckis made history with "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". I've probably seen this movie a hundred times since fourth grade, which makes me uniquely qualified to explain it's greatness in detail worthy of Doc Brown.
We start with a seamless recreation of the first film's ending, the morning of Saturday, October 26th, 1985. The only obvious difference in four years is Elisabeth Shue replacing Claudia Wells as Jennifer Parker. I love that Shue played the girlfriend of the two most iconic '80s teens(let's pretend she ditched Daniel La Russo for Marty). Wells had personal problems and wasn't acting anymore by the time the sequel got rolling. I think Gale is also too nice to tell us they simply wanted a better actress in the part. Something's gotta be done about their kids. Yes, you marry your high-school sweetheart in the world of "BTTF", and it only adds to the series' wholesome charm.
Biff witnesses the Delorean take flight and vanish in thin air. That isn't the sort of thing you just forget about. A 47 year old Tannen is still every bit as sinister underneath his fake easygoing auto-repair guy persona. What the hell is going on here?
Alan Silvestri's epic score doesn't get talked about enough. It's a character in the movie, and immediately puts us in the mood for adventure. That adventure includes a breathless trip to 2015 to make absolutely sure that Marty's son and daughter don't make mistakes that completely destroy his entire family. It should be noted that the Bobs never really wanted to depict "the future" in "Back to the Future" because nobody ever gets it right. But the first film's ending(intended only as a joke) made it unavoidable, so they simply decided to get it out of the way rather quickly and just have fun with the whole crazy premise. It was the right call.
Seeing the time machine fly is a blast. If you love the Delorean(and who doesn't?), you probably get the most of it in this movie. I figure Doc spent close to a year in 2015-16. A hover conversion, cool gadgets, crazy clothes, a rejuvenation clinic. This is the greatest vacation imaginable. The chemistry between Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd is on full display here. They really bounce off each other in every dialogue scene, and it's a joy to watch them work in the same frame.
Let's talk about "the future". This looks like a peaceful paradise preferable to our reality. Okay, flying cars might be a little bit dangerous, but lawyers have been abolished, all the cops are female, and 9/11 never happened. The President is a woman and Princess Diana is alive(I have the newspaper). California native Rick Carter went on to become one of the all-time great production designers, winning Oscars for "Avatar" and "Lincoln". His rise in the industry began when he replaced Lawrence G. Paull(the original's art director) to create the 2015 version of Hill Valley. It was a three year creative odyssey and his team did an amazing job.
The attention to detail in these movies is astounding, with "Part II" being particularly rewarding for eagle-eyed viewers. Every rewatch reveals something new.
Zemeckis and Gale accurately predicted that nostalgia would be a big business in the early 21st Century. We didn't get "Jaws 19", but we did get remakes and reboots of just about everything else(except "BTTF"). Somehow, the pair knew that '80s nostagia would be especially enticing. From Michael Jackson to "Miami Vice", this colorful cafe complete with a dozen screens, quaint video games, and Pepsi(Perfect) dispeners, requires repeat viewings to drink in it's entire background. Elijah Wood was eight years old here, in his film debut. I like to think this experience was early preparation for the future Frodo to front a classic trilogy of his own, starting ten years later.
Hey, McFly!! Tom Wilson is terrific in this movie. We'll be talking more about his multi-faceted interpretation of the Tannen clan, and how it should have led to more showbiz opportunities. How psychotic is Biff's grandson? We can only imagine what this robbery entailed, and how many other crimes he's committed with this crazed crew. Griff's girlfriend(Darlene Vogel) and Jason Scott Lee look like they've hurt people. But Marty is unafraid. After his lookalike son cowers in fear, Martin McFly Sr. makes things right with a crowd-pleasing kick to the groin.
For many people, hoverboards are the first thing that come to mind when they think of "Part II". This pink floating device was a huge hit, and it took three weeks to film the three-minute chase in Town Square, a clever reworking of the first film's skateboard/manure truck scene. A smiling Zemeckis added fuel to the fire, when he alluded to the press that hoverboards were real but weren't safe enough to be sold in stores yet. The fact that so many inventors have set out to make a functioning levitation board a reality in the thirty-plus years since, is a testament to the imagination of Bob Z and his collaborators. Stunt-woman Cheryl Wheeler-Dixon was badly hurt filming the courthouse crash(she recovered about a year later), a sobering reminder of the very real risks involved in action filmmaking.
You ever notice how quickly movie characters always manage to dry themselves off? Well, Marty McFly has an excuse. I'll take a self-drying, size-adjusting jacket to go along with my hoverboard. With Griff and his gang off to jail, we're onto to the real plotline, as Marty realizes the financial possibilities of being a time traveler. The Cubs win the World Series in '15(Chicago was actually eliminated in the NLCS on Oct 21st in an eerie coincidence. They won it all in 2016).
Doc Brown doesn't like the idea of using the time machine to win at gambling. Christopher Lloyd was one of the best actors alive from the moment his primal scream concluded "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" till roughly "Angels in the Outfield", and this is the proof. The three-time Emmy winner admitted he worried about maintaining Doc Brown's energy level going into the shoot, as so much of the film depends on his manic expository dialogue. Doc is more frenzied than ever, and Chris totally nailed it.
Marty lives in Hilldale, which would be great, if Jennifer's presence didn't threaten to destroy the universe. Elisabeth Shue is a beautiful, underrated actress without a lot to do in "Part II". Zemeckis and Gale admitted that they wouldn't have put Jennifer in the Delorean in 1985 if they could have predicted the orgasmic response to the original and the studio's demand for a sequel. But Jennifer forced the filmmakers to plan another portion in 2015 with this comical detour. They turned a potential negative into a positive.
Crispin Glover would REALLY like you to know that he isn't hanging upside down in old-man make-up in the future McFly home. That's Jeffrey Wiessman, a little-known lookalike actor that had the misfortune of being caught in the middle of Glover's dispute with Universal. Crispin's falling out with the BTTF family has been well-documented. His eccentricities on the first film led to a lowball offer to appear in "Part II", which he rejected. Long story short- he successfully sued the studio for using his likeness without permission, the only aspect of this franchise that's even remotely controversial(unless you're a big Eric Stoltz fan). I always felt that the loss of Glover was a blessing in disguise. It forced Zemeckis and Gale to tighten up the script and improve the pace, which would have probably been slowed by Crispin's exacting performance style. The guy was a pain in the ass. I still think he deserved a Best Supporting Actor nomination for the original, and it would have been nice to see his face at a cast reunion or on a DVD Special Feature. It won't ever happen, and that remains a shame.
It should be noted that Michael J. Fox and Elisabeth Shue both aged a lot better in real life than their cinematic counterparts did. Grandma Lorraine sures knows how to hydrate a pizza(and talk incessantly as old ladies tend to do), setting up this intricate dinner table scene that took a week of preparation. Marty is an aging, depressed loser with a job he's about to lose and kids he can't even talk to. Basically, Marty ends up being a regular person. Yes, that's Flea from The Red Hot Chili Peppers as his coworker/former classmate Needles. Small world, that Hill Valley is.
Old Biff steals the Delorean, and he has all the time in the world to figure out how it works. I highly recommend the BTTF graphic novel series that launched on the 30th anniversary. Bob Gale hired talented writers and artists to fill in the blanks and tackle some of the unanswerable questions the trilogy left us with. Does 2015 change as soon as old Biff returns from his trip to 1955? Marty and Doc are carrying Jennifer away from the future McFly home in that Hilldale shithole, so they wouldn't even notice. These movies will spark your brain like few others.
We're back in 1985 at the 38 minute mark. It's just not the same one our heroes left before the opening credits. There's been some changes. Marty barely avoids a baseball bat attack from the Jive Dude in "Airplane!"(TV/theatre vet Al White) to kickoff a string of darkly comic moments that deftly drive home the dangers of time travel. Former principal Strickland(James Tolken) is a shotgun-wielding psycho itching to dish out some vigilante justice(the school burned down six years ago). Hill Valley appears to have a gang problem and loose gun laws. These scenes startled me as a kid.
Rick Carter's production design gets more time to shine as the alternate 1985 comes into sharper focus. Biff Tannen is now an evil cross between Donald Trump and Elvis Presley, and his rise to fame and fortune is humorously recalled in the lobby of his casino hotel. Recent events give these parts of the film an added weight and relevance. I'm not trying to get political, but it only takes one man and his millions to turn the world upside down.
Marty wakes up to his worst nightmare on the 27th floor. I'm not suggesting that Denzel Washington didn't deserve the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for "Glory". But Tom Wilson is essentially playing four characters, and is super entertaining. Hollywood really slept on this guy, just like that other great '80s bully Billy Zabka, but there won't be a belated "Cobra Kai"-style lovefest for him(we'll just have to settle for his Sandler-like "Question Song"). Lea Thompson clearly loved playing the big-breasted captive version of Lorraine in Hell Valley. I think we all loved it too.
"Oh, please, God, no, this can't be happening!". Some great acting from five-time Emmy winner Michael J. Fox. George McFly is a tombstone in this twisted timeline, and it's a real dramatic punch. Biff never forgot the punch that almost ruined his life at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance, and took the ultimate revenge, 18 years later. Doc's blackboard explanation at his deserted house occurs at the exact halfway point of the film, and is another excellent showcase for Chris Lloyd's oratory skills.
November 12th, 1955, that was when. Biff vividly recalls one of the worst days of his life, and it doesn't really matter if his lazy bum stepson knows about the almanac, because he's still got the gun that killed his old man. MJF's physicality is great, as he dodges bullets in a mad scramble out of the garish penthouse to the roof, with Biff's loyal goons putting up another obstacle to overcome. Doc makes the save, and we're back in good ol' 1955 at the one-hour mark.
Bob Gale's original script had Marty and Doc traveling to 1967 where some counterculture hijinks interfered with their mission to repair the space time continuum in the third act. Bob Z didn't like it, and wisely pointed out that they had the opportunity to do something that had never been done before in the history of sequels, and that's revisit the first movie from a different perspective. This is what separates the clean storytelling of BTTF from "Bill and Ted". We don't go to the '60s just for the hell of it, and the firmly established '55 setting is more than welcome after the unsettling nature of the alternate 1985. The stakes couldn't be higher. Marty and Doc must succeed.
Marty disguises himself in sunglasses and a leather jacket, because he probably saw "The Terminator", and that's what cool time travelers do. Biff never stops reminding us how awful he is, in sidewalk run-ins with small children and a dress-shopping Lorraine. Then old Biff arrives with information about the future. Just imagine your teenage self interacting with your elderly self. The Bobs executed that idea wonderfully, and Wilson is hilarious. UCLA wins 19-17. All Biff has to do is bet on the winners and he'll never lose. Fun fact- there are now FOUR Deloreans present on the morning and afternoon of November 12th, 1955.
Marty and Doc must avoid their OTHER selves, an intriguing plot point only hinted at in 1985, as we return to the first film's memorable settings. The Enchantment Under the Sea Dance and the '55 Town Square appear exactly as they did four years earlier. I don't think too many casual viewers could pass the Pepsi challenge here during the third act. Just think of all those extras and bit players that needed to be dressed and stationed as closely as possible to how they were before. It was a massive amount of work, that I don't think many other movies could have pulled off.
An alcohol-smelling Strickland is among the many difficulties in Marty's almanac retrieval efforts. James Tolken really makes the most of his five minutes onscreen. Biff's goons(Billy Zane, Casey Siemaszko, J.J. Cohen) want to pummel our hero as much as their dimwitted leader, a universe-destroying paradox if McFly doesn't think fast.
There was no way Marty was going to complete this mission without a face-to-face meeting with Biff. Bob Gale gives his teen time traveler a character flaw to add another complication- he hates having his bravery questioned and will fight to prove he's not afraid of confrontations. Biff takes advantage of an accidental assist from the slightly younger version of Marty, and makes his getaway with the almanac, as we're hurled feverishly toward the climax.
Bob Z knows you like hoverboards, and is more than happy to put McFly back on one for this pulse-pounding finale. Fun fact- this is the same tunnel that leads to Toontown in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". Biff's murderous impulses didn't start when he became a rich prick. He's prepared to deliver the ultimate punishment to Calvin Klein for stealing his almanac. Marty barely escapes his speeding '46 Ford, thanks to a perfectly-timed rescue from Doc and a manure truck that never quits. Neither does Alan Silvestri's score, which heightens everything.
Marty triumphantly burns the almanac and repairs the timeline from the safety of the Lyon Estates development. Everything is back to normal. George McFly doesn't die, Doc doesn't go to a mental hospital, and Jennifer and Einstein are both okay. The Bobs don't let the audience revel in the victory for long, though. There's still that famous Hill Valley lightning storm going down around 10 p.m. We've got fierce wind and heavy rain and the best cliffhanger this side of "The Empire Strikes Back" about to blindside every movie fan in the world.
If you're watching for the first time and are unfamiliar with the mythology, you have no idea where the story goes from here. Marty is stranded in 1955 without a time machine. For a good 30-40 seconds, Doc is dead. That lightning bolt blew up the Delorean. It's pre-internet, and no one knew there would be a "Part III". The Western Union guy(Joe Flaherty) is a little scary. But he's got a letter. It's from the Doc, whose been living comfortably for the last eight months in the year 1885. Brilliant.
There's only one man that can help Marty. The thirtysomething year old version of Doc, of course. "Part II" doesn't have a beginning or an end, and it's interesting that it wasn't presold to the public as the middle part of a trilogy in 1989. People weren't conditioned to the episodic storytelling we have now, and may have been expecting some finality. "Future" fans would only have to wait six months to see the dynamic duo in the Wild West. The third film was wrapping up at the end of the year, and the trailer that immediately follows "To Be Concluded..." was a precursor to all those pre-and-post credits sequences that became a standard practice in the 2010s.
"Part II" is about as much fun as you can have sitting passively in front of a screen. It's an hour and 45 minutes of pure pleasure. The original set impossibly high expectations, and Zemeckis and company were more than up to the challenge. It's fast, it's funny, it's light, it's dark, it's action packed. It's plot machinations get your brain working. Arthur Schmidt's slam-bang editing is another reason I've decided to revisit this durable childhood favorite every year on Oct 21st until I expire, and I'm sure future generations will pick up the habit in sixty years or so. Let's get this banger selected for preservation alongside it's predecessor, even if it's only for the prestige that it brings. "Back to the Future Part II" is one of the world's greatest films.
