Back to the Future (1985) Redux ft. Alex Doffek and Thomas Baches

Revisit Episode: #74 Back to the Future (1985) Revisit (released on July 21, 2021)

New Episode: #263 Back to the Future (1985) Redux ft. Alex Doffek and Thomas Baches (released May 28, 2025)

Guests:

• Alex Doffek - Thomas' Uncle

• Thomas Baches - Alex's Best Friend

Cast:

• Robert Zemeckis, Writer/Director

• Bob Gale, C0-Writer

• Dean Cundey, Cinematography

• Alan Silvestri, Music

• Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly

• Christopher Lloyd as Emmett "Doc" Brown

• Lea Thompson as Lorraine Baines McFly

• Crispin Glover as George McFly

• Thomas F. Wilson as Biff Tannen

• Claudia Wells as Jennifer Parker

• Marc McClure as Dave McFly

• Wendie Jo Sperber as Linda McFly

*Recognition:

• Back to the Future was released on July 3, 1985.

• Back to the Future was a critical and commercial success, earning $381.1 million to become the highest-grossing film of 1985 worldwide.

• Critics praised the story, humor, and the cast, particularly Fox, Lloyd, Thompson, and Glover.

• Back to the Future would be nominated for 4 Oscars: Best Original Screenplay (Zemeckis and Gale), Sound, and Original Song (Power of Love); winning for Best Sound Editing Effects.

• Back to the Future was released on VHS on May 22, 1986, priced at $79.95, becoming the first film to sell 450,000 units at that price point, and was also the most-rented cassette of the year.

• The Back to the Future soundtrack was released in July 1985 on cassette tape, LP record, and compact disc (CD). The soundtrack's lead single, "The Power of Love", peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Sales were initially slow, but it eventually peaked at number twelve on the Billboard 200, in part because of the success of "The Power of Love".

• The film would go on to spark two sequels in 1989 and 1990 with additional commercial success.

• In 2004, The New York Times listed it as one of the 1,000 Best Movies Ever, and the following year its screenplay was listed as the 56th greatest screenplay of the preceding 75 years by the Writers Guild of America.

• Throughout the rest of the 2000s, it appeared on Film4's 50 Films to See Before You Die (#10), Empire's 500 Greatest Movies of All Time (#23), and the American Film Institute listed it as the number 10 best science fiction film, based on a poll of 1,500 people from the creative community.

• In 2010, Total Film named it one of the 100 greatest movies ever made, and the following year it was voted by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra listeners as their fourth favorite film of all time. It is also listed in the film reference book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

• A 2014 poll of 2,120 entertainment-industry members by The Hollywood Reporter ranked it as the 12th best film of all time.

• In 2015, the screenplay was listed as the 67th funniest on the WGA's 101 Funniest Screenplays list, and Rotten Tomatoes also listed the film at number 84 on its list of 200 essential movies to watch.

• Back to the Future currently holds a 93% among critics on RT, an 87 score on Metacritic, and a 4.2/5 on Letterboxd.

Plot Summary: In 1985, Marty McFly, an average teenager, finds himself accidentally embarking on the most extraordinary adventure of his life. Through a twist of fate, he ends up transported back to the year 1955 in a time-traveling DeLorean. As he navigates the charming yet unfamiliar world of the 1950s, Marty must ensure his parents still fall in love, overcoming the odds of high school drama and the villainous Biff Tannen.

With the clock ticking, Marty races against time, seeking Doc Brown's help to harness the power of a lightning strike to fuel the DeLorean and propel him back to the future. Through humor, heart, and a pulse-pounding sense of adventure, "Back to the Future" weaves a timeless story of self-discovery, love, and the extraordinary impact one person can have on the course of history.

Did You Know:

• The inspiration for the film largely stems from Bob Gale discovering his father's high school yearbook and wondering whether he would have been friends with his father as a teenager. Gale also said that if he had the chance to go back in time, he would really go back and see if they would have been friends.

• The rights to the film and its sequels are owned by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. In a 2015 interview, Zemeckis maintained that no reboot or remake of the film would be authorized during his or Gale's lifetime.

• Writers Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis actually received a fan letter from John DeLorean after the film's release, thanking them for immortalizing his car.

• In 2010, during a cast reunion, Michael J. Fox said that strangers still call him "McFly!" constantly. Fox said that the most remarkable instance was when he was in a remote jungle in the South Asian country Bhutan, located between China and India in the eastern Himalayas. A group of Buddhist monks passed him and one of them looked at Fox and said, "Marty McFly!"

• Doc's distinctive hunched-over look developed when the filmmakers realized the extreme difference in height between Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox; Fox is 5' 4½" (1.64 m) while Lloyd is 6' 1" (1.85 m). To compensate for the height difference, director Robert Zemeckis used specific blocking where the two often stood far apart at different camera depths. For close-ups, Lloyd would have to hunch over to appear in frame with Fox. The same approach was used in the sequels.

Best Performance: Michael J. Fox (Marty)

Best Secondary Performance: Christopher Lloyd (Doc)/Crispin Glover (George)/Thomas F. Wilson (Biff)

Most Charismatic Award: Lea Thompson (Lorraine)/Christopher Lloyd (Doc)

Best Scene:

• Shootout at Twin Pines

• Calvin

• Outwitting Biff

• Lorraine and Marty Parked

• George Confronts Biff

• Johnny B. Goode

• Lightning Strike

Favorite Scene: Johnny B. Goode/Outwitting Biff/George Confronts Biff

Most Indelible Moment: Lightning Strike/Back to the Future/Doc Survives/First Time Traveler

In Memorium:

• George Wendt, 76, American actor (most known for Norm on "Cheers", as well as "Taxi" and "Alice" and numerous guest appearances on other TV shows)

Best Lines/Funniest Lines:

Marty McFly: Hey, Doc, we better back up. We don't have enough road to get up to 88.

Dr. Emmett Brown: Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads.

Dr. Emmett Brown: If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour... you're gonna see some serious shit.

Marty McFly: Whoa. Wait a minute, Doc. Are you trying to tell me that my mother has got the hots for me?

Dr. Emmett Brown: Precisely.

Marty McFly: Whoa. This is heavy.

Dr. Emmett Brown: There's that word again. "Heavy." Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the Earth's gravitational pull?

Marty McFly: Silence, Earthling. My name is Darth Vader. I am an extraterrestrial from the planet Vulcan!

Marty McFly: What-what the hell is a gigawatt?

Marty McFly: Jesus, George, it was a wonder I was even born.

Marty McFly: If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.

George McFly: Lou, give me a milk. [dramatic pause] Chocolate.

Marty McFly: Dad, dad, daddio....

Marty McFly: Calvin? Wh... Why do you keep calling me Calvin?

Lorraine Baines: Well, that is your name, isn't it? Calvin Klein? It's written all over your underwear.

Stella Baines: You know, Marty, you look so familiar to me. Do I know your mother?

Marty McFly: [turning to look at Lorraine, his mother in the future] Yeah, I think maybe you do...

Marty McFly: [to Uncle Joey as a baby, playing in his playpen] So you're my Uncle Joey. Better get used to these bars, kid.

Dr. Emmett Brown: Then tell me, future boy, who's President of the United States in 1985?

Marty McFly: Ronald Reagan.

Dr. Emmett Brown: Ronald Reagan? The actor? [chuckles in disbelief] Then who's vice president? Jerry Lewis? [rushing out and down a hill toward his laboratory] I suppose Jane Wyman is the First Lady!

Marty McFly: Whoa. Wait, Doc!

Dr. Emmett Brown: And Jack Benny is secretary of the treasury.

Dr. Emmett Brown: No wonder your president has to be an actor. He's gotta look good on television.

Marvin Berry: [on the phone, as Marty plays "Johnny B. Goode"] Chuck! Chuck, it's Marvin. Your cousin, Marvin Berry. You know that new sound you're looking for? Well, listen to this! [holds the receiver out]

Stella Baines: He's a very strange young man.

Sam Baines: He's an idiot. Comes from upbringing. His parents are probably idiots, too. Lorraine, you ever have a kid who acts that way, I'll disown you.

The Stanley Rubric:

Legacy: 10

Impact/Significance: 9.25

Novelty: 8.13

Classic-ness: 7.38

Rewatchability: 7.38

Audience Score: 9.4 (93% Google, 95% RT)

Total: 51.54

Remaining Questions:

• How does an AK47 jam twice?

• How many Americans could find Libya on a map?

• How is there enough space in a mall parking lot to get up to 88 mph?

• Wouldn't Marty's parents remember that they met him in the past?

• Why didn't Doc go out on the roof of the clock tower instead of on the clock itself?

• When Doc slides down the cable, what is the cable anchored to on the other side near the ground?

• How does a musician like Marty not know what a gigawatt is?

• How do Marty and Doc have a relationship?

• How does the car run on electric?