Back to the Future (1985)
Average Rating: 8.6/10
Reviews Counted: 61
Fresh: 59 | Rotten: 2
Inventive, funny, and breathlessly constructed, Back to the Future is rousing a time-travel adventure with an unforgettable spirit.
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Critic Reviews: 8
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 1
Inventive, funny, and breathlessly constructed, Back to the Future is rousing a time-travel adventure with an unforgettable spirit.
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Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 988,517
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
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Cast
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Michael J. Fox
Marty McFly -
Christopher Lloyd
Dr. Emmett Brown -
Crispin Glover
George McFly -
Lea Thompson
Lorraine Baines -
Thomas F. Wilson
Biff Tannen -
James Tolkan
Mr. Strickland -
Claudia Wells
Jennifer Parker -
Wendie Jo Sperber
Linda McFly -
Marc McClure
Dave McFly -
George DiCenzo
Sam Baines -
Norman Alden
Lou -
Ivy Bethune
Ma Peabody -
Maia Brewton
Sally Baines -
J.J. Cohen
Skinhead -
Jeffrey Jay Cohen
Skinhead -
Lisa Freeman
Babs -
Donald Fullilove
Goldie Wilson -
Courtney Gains
Dixon -
Paul Hansen
Pinhead -
Will Hare
Pa Peabody -
Deborah Harmon
Newscaster (uncredited) -
Huey Lewis and the News
High-School Band Judge -
Cristen Kauffman
Betty -
Robert Krantz
2nd Bystander -
Jason Marin
Sherman Peabody -
-
Read Morgan
Cop -
Jeff O'Haco
Terrorist Van Driver -
Sachi Parker
1st Bystander -
Elsa Raven
Clocktower Lady -
Gary Riley
Guy -
Casey Siemaszko
3-D -
Harry Waters Jr.
Marvin Berry -
Billy Zane
Match -
-
Jamie Abbott
2nd Scooter Kid -
Katherine Britton
Peabody Daughter -
David Harold Brown
Starlighter -
Lee Brownfield
Pinhead -
Robert de Lapp
Pinhead -
Richard L. Duran
Terrorist -
Jason Hervey
Milton Baines -
Karen Petrasek
Girl -
Tommy Lee Thomas
Starlighter -
Lloyd L. Tolbert
Starlighter -
Granville "Danny" Young
Starlighter -
Frances Lee McCain
Stella Baines -
Johnny Green
1st Scooter Kid -
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All Critics (61) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (59) | Rotten (2) | DVD (31)
The picture packs a wonderful wallop.
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.
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.
The movie has all the benign good nature of a Frank Capra.
Top CriticMr. Zemeckis is able both to keep the story moving and to keep it from going too far. He handles Back to the Future with the kind of inventiveness that indicates he will be spinning funny, whimsical tall tales for a long time to come.
So busy being clever that it trips over its own ingenuity.
It was, is and always will be a true Hollywood classic.
The most commercially popular of 1985.
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...
'80s time-travel favorite has laughs, romance, action.
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
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.
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.
"Future" fandom resonates in the public imagination because it marries innocence with high-concept fun.
A little more sophistication would have been no bad thing -- but a good script keeps it zipping along.
Delightful and sophisticated to a degree beyond the dreams of today's movies in similar vein.
Zemeckis' popcorn classic combines watertight scripting with broad but brilliant performances, all held together by Fox's stumbling charm.
The counter-Freudian drama is handled with easy wit and flair, like a Shakespearian disguise comedy, and it made a whopping star of Fox.
This irresistible combination of dazzling effects and sly comedy propelled Michael J Fox to stardom and Robert Zemeckis to the front rank of Hollywood directors.
This film is WASTED on kids.
Boasts probably the tightest screenplay of any film in Zemeckis's body of work.
Thompson's funny, carnal performance forces us all to face an ugly truth: once, our moms might have been prowling teens too.
Probably the most carefully-scripted blockbuster in Hollywood history.
To put it bluntly: if you don't like Back To The Future, it's difficult to believe that you like films at all.
Audience Reviews for Back to the Future
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- 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
-
- 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.
-
- Dr. Emmett Brown: Oh my god. They found me; I don't know how but they found me. RUN FOR IT, MARTY!
- Marty McFly: Who? Who?
- Marty McFly: What do you think? The Libyans!
- Marty McFly: HOLY SHIT!
-
- Biff Tannen: Mr. McFly! Mr. McFly, this just arrived. Oh, hi, Marty. I think it's your new book.
- Lorraine Baines: Oh, honey! Your first novel.
- George McFly: Like I've always told you, you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.
- Biff Tannen: Oh, Marty. Marty, here's your keys. You're all waxed up, ready for tonight.
- Marty McFly: Keys?
-
- Dr. Emmett Brown: Is there a problem with Earth's gravitational pull in the future? Why is everything so heavy?
-
- Dr. Emmett Brown: When this thing gets up to 88 mph, you're gonna see some serious s***.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| John Hartl and Ken Hanke are complete fucking idiots. | 22 days ago | 0 |
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Foreign Titles
- Zurück in die Zukunft (DE)
- Back to The Future (UK)

