In the year 1985, a teenage boy named Marty McFly goes to see a scientist called Doc Emmett Brown at his house. He is working on an experiment, except that it goes wrong.

Shortly after, Marty takes his skateboard to school. He meets up with his girlfriend, Jennifer. However, the two get in trouble for being late. Not only that, but Marty is also discouraged from auditioning for a music contest. Regardless of what his teacher said, Marty decides to try out anyway.

After school, Marty is spending time with Jennifer. The two almost kiss, but get interrupted, including by Jennifer’s father.

At home, Marty is having dinner with his family. His uncle was supposed to be released from prison. His mother even made a cake to welcome him back. But everyone just has to eat without him.

However, Marty’s dad’s car gets hit. The family gets into an argument about it, including Marty’s siblings.

Sometime later, Marty meets up with Doc Brown again. He is working on a time-traveling car. His dog, Einstein, is the guinea pig when it comes to the trial.

Although Marty worries about Einstein, Doc Brown assures that his dog is okay. And he comes back to the present just fine.

But stakes rise when some dangerous men try to hurt Doc Brown. Marty drives the car away and goes fast. He also escapes the shooters—only to accidentally go back in time to the year 1955, when Doc Brown first established his inventions.

Marty crashes into a barn. The people from that year are shocked. Not only that, but they also fear him.

Marty even finds out that he went back in time 30 years. He goes into a diner to make a phone call to Doc Brown—but the one from 1955.  

Not long after, some mean teenage boys come inside. They pick on this other kid, whose last name is also McFly. He turns out to be Marty’s dad, George. Marty gets nervous.

After leaving the restaurant, Marty tries to convince himself that this is all just a dream. But he also runs into his mom, Lorraine.

At some point, he falls asleep and wakes up in his mother’s house 9 hours later. Once again, he is with her, unhappy that he is not back in his time.

Marty meets Lorraine’s family when they were children. They are eating dinner.

Lorraine shows interest in Marty, not knowing that he’s her future son. Her family is shocked to learn that he has 2 TVs, which was unusual in the 1950s.

Sometime later, Marty meets a younger Doc Brown and tries to convince him that he’s from the future. After some resistance, young Doc Brown finally believes him.

He says that there is only one way for him to get back to his time. That is to be in the time-traveling car and struck by lightning on a certain day at a specific time. Marty is now willing to accept that he has about a week in 1955. But young Doc Brown warns him how interfering with the past can greatly and negatively impact the future.

And the first alteration is Marty’s siblings starting to disappear from the photo he has of them and him. Lorraine was supposed to fall in love with George, not Marty. That is what’s causing the change.

Marty discovers that he needs to make sure that his parents fall in love. Otherwise, he and his siblings won’t exist.

However, he has trouble getting them to develop feelings for or even trust each other. So, Marty begs George to ask Lorraine to the high school dance. But George is too nervous and thinks that he will fail.

Marty does everything he can to help him build his confidence. He even comes up with a plan to get Lorraine to trust George.

However, the bully, Biff, interferes with it. He and his gang lock Marty in the trunk of a car.

Not only that, he also hurts Lorraine. But George does knock him out as a way to defend her.

At the dance, however, while Marty is trying to perform with the band, he finds himself unable to play the guitar. That is because his existence is fading since his parents never made their relationship official.

Can that be fixed, though?

I was quite surprised with how this movie engaged me. One strong aspect was the worldbuilding, particularly the time-traveling car. It had unique features and settings that could program what year and time of day one could travel to. Not only could it go to the past, but also the future.

Doc Brown was intelligent and creative, despite how some characters found him crazy. But Marty did have a good relationship with him. He didn’t get as much screentime with Jennifer, yet I also admired how he liked her.

I was also impressed with how Michael J. Fox played a teenager at around 23 years old. He really made his character feel like a real adolescent. Not only did he act like an actual teenage boy, but he also might have worn youthful make-up. You probably know that it’s common for teenage characters to be portrayed by actors in their 20s.

Anyway, there are other aspects that I’d like to discuss. One is the plot. I appreciated the approach to how a kid needed to get his past parents to fall in love in order for him to exist.

The tension levels remained high throughout much of the film. I would constantly worry about what would happen next.

The depiction of the 1950s looked pretty historically accurate. The high school scenes with Marty’s teenage parents reminded me a little bit of Grease, which you probably know is also set in the 50s.

Regardless of the strengths, though, I will admit that some parts lagged. But there were not too many that did.

A lot of twists and turns occur, as well. See the movie to discover what they are.

Overall, I enjoyed Back to the Future. It had a strong concept and fantastic science fiction worldbuilding.

I give this film 4 out of 5 stars.