It’s the right time to go ‘Back to the Future,’ blockbustering’s most brilliant social satire

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“Back to the Future” is a film you can watch again and again. It’s a fast-paced and funny take on the fading American dream, and it packs a surprising punch. You can almost imagine classic directors like Frank Capra and Preston Sturges applauding Robert Zemeckis’s cleverness and daring.

I haven’t even mentioned the sequel, where the bully Biff Tannen transforms Hill Valley into a garish casino and hotel. But the original “Back to the Future,” which is back in theaters this week for its 40th anniversary, already contains all the sharp social commentary the series is known for. It’s arguably Hollywood’s most intelligent and successful blockbuster, and its impressive details deserve another look.

Director Robert Zemeckis, along with Bob Gale who co-wrote the script, packed an incredible amount of story into every shot of “Back to the Future.” The film opens with a single camera movement through Doc Brown’s garage, quickly revealing his life story – from being wealthy and living in a mansion, to losing it all and selling his land to unscrupulous developers. The camera eventually focuses on his modest bed, covered in bills and trash from the nearby Burger King, a stark contrast to his former life.

Look closely and you’ll notice a lot of careful storytelling. There are pictures of Doc’s heroes, including Benjamin Franklin, a famous inventor. Then you hear a radio ad for a car dealership that used to sell Studebakers. A news report follows about missing plutonium, and the anchor repeats the official story that it wasn’t stolen, just a mistake – but we quickly learn that’s a lie when Marty McFly’s skateboard appears near a radioactive container. Then Doc’s complicated breakfast machine malfunctions, sending up burned toast and overflowing dog food, hinting that Doc and his dog, Einstein, have been gone for some time. When I was younger, I thought this meant Doc was just a bad inventor, but I was wrong!

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On the Universal Studios lot, near the iconic clock tower, Bob Gale – the writer and producer behind “Back to the Future” and the creator of its time travel paradoxes – showed us his amazing personal collection of original props from both “Back to the Future” and “Back to the Future Part II.”

The house is filled with clocks – dozens and dozens of them. Many seem to foreshadow events to come. There’s a mix of old and new, including some that likely survived a fire. We see weather-predicting clocks and whimsical, moving ones, like a little statue of a drunk man drinking, which mirrors Lorraine Baines’ future struggles with alcohol. A tiny Harold Lloyd figure hanging from clock hands subtly hints at Doc Brown’s dangerous situation at the end.

The opening shot of “Back to the Future” is particularly impressive – a long, unbroken camera movement. This technique was also used memorably in John Carpenter’s 1978 film “Halloween,” with a famous single-take shot following young Michael Myers as he commits his first murder, and was handled by the same cinematographer, Dean Cundey.

It’s surprising to learn that the iconic opening scene with Doc Brown wasn’t part of the original plan when filming “Back to the Future” began with Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly. The scene wasn’t added to the script until February 1985, well into the reshoots with Michael J. Fox. This kind of improvement shows real creative brilliance – the commitment to refining a good idea until it becomes truly exceptional.

Audiences don’t always immediately recognize a great film. While “Back to the Future” was an instant success, staying at number one for 11 weeks, other classics take time to find their audience. Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life,” for example, was initially a box office disappointment but gained popularity with a new generation nearly 30 years later. Interestingly, Capra was still alive in 1985 when Ted Turner acquired the film and famously colorized it, giving the classic a new look.

Frank Capra told reporters he was frustrated because even the movie’s villain appeared bright and happy. He explained that this meant the story had to be altered. It was a situation where, like Doc Brown from ‘Back to the Future’ might say, even small changes could lead to big problems.

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Progress isn’t always steady or guaranteed. As the movie “Back to the Future” suggests, things can sometimes regress or stagnate. In the film, the town of Hill Valley experiences this – despite the mayors in 1955 and 1985 both using the same campaign slogan, “Progress is his middle name,” the town is clearly falling apart.

In 1985, Hill Valley is a town showing its age. The high school is covered in graffiti, and it seems no one is trying to clean it up. The town square is rundown, with torn awnings, boarded-up windows, and a park that’s been replaced by a parking lot. Now, it’s mostly filled with pawn shops, adult entertainment venues, and bars, along with a Toyota dealership – a deliberate nod to the car import battles of the 1980s. To top it off, the clock on the courthouse has been broken for thirty years, ever since a big thunderstorm.

It’s unfair to blame the government for everything. Mayor Goldie, who started as a busboy and worked his way up, is actually trying to get the town clock fixed for everyone. It took me a long time to notice, but in “Back to the Future,” the older man who pushes Marty to save the clock tower is actually trying to keep it broken, claiming it’s important for Hill Valley’s history.

Early versions of the script showed the activist – described by the filmmakers as a woman resembling a member of a church group – as an extreme and dangerous traditionalist. A scene that didn’t make the final cut had her claiming the lightning strike on the clock tower was a sign from God, and she happily pointed out that the broken gears proved God’s power over science.

Doc Brown would consider that blasphemy. Marty McFly gives her a quarter anyway.

This young character doesn’t question the problems around him. Having grown up in this town, he’s used to things as they are – even if people sometimes think he looks like a sailor because of his vest. He’s more like someone passively accepting a bad situation. When the older version of him arrived from a different future, he was shocked by the economic hardship. But, like many teenagers, this kid is too focused on his own concerns – getting back to his girlfriend – to notice or comment on the difficulties faced by himself and his generation.

The movie mostly avoids showing the downsides of the 1980s, and it doesn’t spend much time highlighting the positive aspects of the 1950s, a time when the middle class was strong, income differences were smaller, and local groups like the Kiwanis and YWCA actively worked together to improve their community, proudly displaying their support on the town’s welcome sign.

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Despite appearances, there are signs that things aren’t as stable as they seem. The instances of casual racism and sexual harassment are more widespread than just Biff’s behavior. It’s not only horrible when Biff inappropriately touches Lorraine, but there’s another person doing the same thing at the dance, which is equally disturbing.

Subtle signs of a fraying community appear throughout the film, like when Lorraine’s father, Sam, introduces a new TV during dinner, effectively ending conversation. He then dismisses the idea of anyone needing more than one TV. This moment is played for a laugh, but it’s also a challenge: will Marty – and the audience – recognize the larger, more troubling story unfolding beneath the surface, a story about a town – and perhaps the nation – rapidly losing its way?

I can watch “Back to the Future” countless times and still discover new details and things to think about. The movie shows Marty traveling between the 1980s and 1950s, but he doesn’t really stop to consider how different those times were. The director, Robert Zemeckis, wants viewers to be the ones to explore those questions that Marty overlooks.

He wonders what became of the workers at the Texaco station, and why his parents seem to have lived in better homes than he does. He imagines what it would be like to have fun, affordable dates with his girlfriend – like going to a diner or the movies – instead of just sitting on a bench. He also questions why their town can’t focus more on creating a pleasant space for people – couples, artists, and children – instead of prioritizing cars and parking.

Even after Marty returns to 1985 and sees a police helicopter flying above, along with a movie theater advertising a ridiculous, made-up adult film called “Orgy, American Style XXX,” his first reaction is to cheerfully exclaim, “Everything looks great!”

That’s not accurate. The very first words he speaks are, “Fred, you look great!”—said to a man sleeping under newspapers. Despite the seemingly positive comment, the scene feels surprisingly sad.

I’m constantly amazed by the production design in “Back to the Future,” and it’s all thanks to Lawrence G. Paull. What’s really fascinating is that he was 17 in 1955 – the same age as George McFly in the movie! Unlike the director, who was very young at the time, Paull actually lived through that era. His background in architecture really shines through; he didn’t just design sets, he built a whole believable town. He’d recently gotten an Oscar nod for his incredible, dark vision of the future in “Blade Runner,” and rightly so. But I think his work on “Back to the Future” is just as brilliant, because it quietly suggests that the problems of the future are already present today.

Doc Brown didn’t actually intend for anyone to travel to the past. He just briefly entered the date he invented time travel – a moment of reminiscing – with the original plan being to leave Marty behind and travel to the future on his own.

Doc excitedly shares his lifelong wish: to glimpse the future and witness how humanity evolves and improves over time.

Nobody spoil what comes next.

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2025-10-30 22:32