Opening

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Coming Soon

78% Kill Your Darlings Oct 16
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Back to the Future (1985)

tomatometer

96

Average Rating: 8.6/10
Reviews Counted: 68
Fresh: 65 | Rotten: 3

Inventive, funny, and breathlessly constructed, Back to the Future is rousing a time-travel adventure with an unforgettable spirit.

82

Average Rating: 7.2/10
Critic Reviews: 11
Fresh: 9 | Rotten: 2

Inventive, funny, and breathlessly constructed, Back to the Future is rousing a time-travel adventure with an unforgettable spirit.

audience

89

liked it
Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 1,078,582

My Rating

Movie Info

Contemporary high schooler Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) doesn't have the most pleasant of lives. Browbeaten by his principal at school, Marty must also endure the acrimonious relationship between his nerdy father (Crispin Glover) and his lovely mother (Lea Thompson), who in turn suffer the bullying of middle-aged jerk Biff (Thomas F. Wilson), Marty's dad's supervisor. The one balm in Marty's life is his friendship with eccentric scientist Doc (Christopher Lloyd), who at present is working on a

Dec 17, 2002

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Cast

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All Critics (69) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (65) | Rotten (3) | DVD (31)

It isn't often that extremely clever moviemakers use their brains in the service of pure fun. But that's just what the people who made Back to the Future have done. This brilliant contraption of a film could become the hit of the summer.

June 26, 2013 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Sentinel
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's big, cartoonish and empty, with an interesting premise that is underdeveloped and overproduced.

June 26, 2013 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Zemeckis and Gale... give us two priceless scenes in which the young time-traveler simply regards his parents-to-be with wonderment, delight and empathy. And we cannot help but share that emotion and relate it to our own lives.

June 26, 2013 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The picture packs a wonderful wallop.

March 29, 2011 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | Comment (1)
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Performances by the earnest Fox, the lunatic Lloyd, the deceptively passionate Lea Thompson, and, particularly, the bumbling-to-confident Glover, who runs away with the picture, merrily keep the ship sailing.

May 5, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment (1)
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Director Robert Zemeckis confronts the oedipal heart of the time-travel genre with this zestfully tasteless 1985 tale about a teenager (Michael J. Fox) who is projected back to 1955 and then must arrange the romance of his parents.

February 26, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comments (4)
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The humour, the pathos, the tension - even the blooming soundtrack - all conspire to ensure that the tale of a teenager traveling back 30 years to ensure his parents meet and ultimately mate can, given its vintage, now be fairly described as a classic.

June 26, 2013 Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK]
Daily Mail [UK]

Under the splendid direction of Robert Zemeckis, who also co-authored the screenplay with Bob Gale, Back to the Future is a joyous flight into the domain of a teen-ager`s fantasy.

June 26, 2013 Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Just sign on for the trip. Back to the Future offers the summer's most dazzling joyride.

June 26, 2013 Full Review Source: People Magazine
People Magazine

It's great fun most of the way and makes up in humor what it lacks in sense.

June 26, 2013 Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor
Christian Science Monitor

It was, is and always will be a true Hollywood classic.

July 14, 2011 Full Review Source: Digital Spy
Digital Spy

The most commercially popular of 1985.

April 21, 2011 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com
EmanuelLevy.Com

Undeniably one of the greatest films of the 1980s and indeed, of all time, Back to the Future has endured so well because it walks that fine tightrope of managing to appeal to just about everyone...

February 16, 2011 Full Review Source: What Culture
What Culture

'80s time-travel favorite has laughs, romance, action.

January 1, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media

an undeniably fun film, one whose clever plotting, memorable characters, and deft balance of both wistful nostalgia and celebration of the here and now deserves comparisons to The Wizard of Oz

October 28, 2010 Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk
Q Network Film Desk

Back to the Future is one of the best popcorn movies ever made. It's ingenuity, time-traveling twist ups and wonderfully vibrant characters resonate in ways few films ever achieve.

October 25, 2010 Full Review Source: IGN DVD
IGN DVD

It's a timeless joke that never gets old: One day you will grow up to be your parents and they'll have the last laugh. The innovation here was in telling the joke backwards.

October 25, 2010 Full Review Source: Cinemalogue.com
Cinemalogue.com

"Future" fandom resonates in the public imagination because it marries innocence with high-concept fun.

October 15, 2010 Full Review Source: indieWIRE
indieWIRE

A little more sophistication would have been no bad thing -- but a good script keeps it zipping along.

October 6, 2010 Full Review Source: This is London
This is London

Delightful and sophisticated to a degree beyond the dreams of today's movies in similar vein.

October 2, 2010 Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph
Daily Telegraph

Zemeckis' popcorn classic combines watertight scripting with broad but brilliant performances, all held together by Fox's stumbling charm.

September 30, 2010 Full Review Source: Total Film
Total Film

The counter-Freudian drama is handled with easy wit and flair, like a Shakespearian disguise comedy, and it made a whopping star of Fox.

September 30, 2010 Full Review Source: Guardian [UK]
Guardian [UK]

Audience Reviews for Back to the Future

Just watched this for the first time in over a decade. This time in remastered high def picture and sound. My daughter and I loved it. She even cheered when Marty made the trip back home!
March 20, 2007
jmanard52

Super Reviewer

Smart, innovating and classical in every way. Robert Zemeckis' sci-fi adventure is filled with historical references that's constructive and filled with joy and laughter. Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd provide a masterful form of chemistry that is a rarity in film. 4.5/5
July 24, 2013
Eugene Bernabe

Super Reviewer

    1. Lorraine Baines: He's an absolute dream!
    – Submitted by Chloe B (3 months ago)
    1. Dr. Emmett Brown: I'm sure in 1985 plutonium is in every corner drug store, but in 1955, its a little hard to come by! I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you're stuck here
    – Submitted by Kevin D (6 months ago)
    1. Biff Tannen: You caused 300 bucks' damage to my car, you son of a bitch. And I'm gonna take it out of your ass.
    – Submitted by Alex A (8 months ago)
    1. Dr. Emmett Brown: Oh my god. They found me; I don't know how but they found me. RUN FOR IT, MARTY!
    2. Marty McFly: Who? Who?
    3. Marty McFly: What do you think? The Libyans!
    4. Marty McFly: HOLY SHIT!
    – Submitted by Matt N (8 months ago)
    1. Biff Tannen: Mr. McFly! Mr. McFly, this just arrived. Oh, hi, Marty. I think it's your new book.
    2. Lorraine Baines: Oh, honey! Your first novel.
    3. George McFly: Like I've always told you, you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.
    4. Biff Tannen: Oh, Marty. Marty, here's your keys. You're all waxed up, ready for tonight.
    5. Marty McFly: Keys?
    – Submitted by Majd K (8 months ago)
    1. Dr. Emmett Brown: Is there a problem with Earth's gravitational pull in the future? Why is everything so heavy?
    – Submitted by Alexander H (9 months ago)
View all quotes (71)

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Latest News on Back to the Future

August 17, 2011:
How Marty and Doc Brown First Met
After more than 25 years, the answer is revealed by "Back to the Future" co-writer Bob Gale. Or...
June 6, 2011:
Robert Zemeckis Warms Up for Flight
The director commits to his first live-action project in far too long, with Denzel Washington...
May 2, 2011:
Robert Zemeckis Pushes Replay
Because no week would be complete without some speculation about Robert Zemeckis' next project,...

Foreign Titles

  • Zurück in die Zukunft (DE)
  • Back to The Future (UK)
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