Back to the Future Part IIIIf you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything; but sometimes, the heart wants what the heart wants, and rarely do the two run along the same wavelength. In the final installment of the series, Back to the Future Part III sends Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) on an adventure back to the Wild West to rescue his partner-in-time, Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown (Christopher Lloyd), stranded in the year 1885. Doc leaves Marty explicit instructions not to come back for him; and while Marty would have begrudgingly respected his friend's wishes, it is only when he discovers what fate awaits Doc in the past that he knows he must go back to rescue him.
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Back to the Future Part III is a movie about friendship at its core, namely the friendship between Marty and Doc, their bond strengthened through the discoveries and perils they have faced together across time, as a result of the time-travelling DeLorean which the Doc designed. It's also important to observe that it is a friendship between a young man and an older one, spanning decades in age as well as in a "fourth dimension" way, connecting without boundaries of time and space. And while Marty is the main character of the Back to the Future movies, it is in this movie where Emmett really shines as the hero. He rescues Marty from being hanged by the infamous outlaw Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson), saves the new school teacher, Clara Clayton (Mary Steenburgen) from being pulled over a ravine by a runaway carriage, and devises a way for them to return to their rightful place in 1985, even after the DeLorean becomes "traditionally" inoperable as an automobile. As in the preceding films, there are numerous moments which hearken back to the memorable scenes of the other entries, as though time were doubling back on itself. When Marty emerges in the 19th century, he ends up getting knocked out, waking up in yet another dark room, convinced he is talking to his mom about another terrible dream he had. Instead, he is talking to his great-grandmother, Maggie McFly (Lea Thompson); in a scene successfully one-upping the previous versions, he has no idea who she is, meeting his great-grandfather, Seamus McFly (also Michael J. Fox) as well, who aids him out of a kind of subconscious familial bond. When Marty is reunited with Doc, he reveals the fate which awaits him at the hands of "Mad Dog" Tannen by presenting him with a photograph of his own tombstone. The matter of eighty dollars rings a bell for Doc, but he has no idea who his "beloved Clara" is...yet; he refutes the idea that he could fall in love at first sight as "unscientific". But when Doc does save Clara Clayton from a ravine--thus avoiding a future where the canyon is named after her--he is smitten by her beauty, only to find that his real love comes when he learns just how much they share in common: a mutual fondness for the sciences and adoration of the works of Jules Verne, not to mention dancing. That kind of foundation of shared interests is what makes solid relationships possible. One might presume that Emmett had no one else to love in his life before her, and thus dove fully into his scientific pursuits...it's about time that changed.
One could say that a conclusion in the Wild West was inevitable for Doc Brown, a period of time he has reflected on with a romanticized vision in his mind. This would make sense, considering that Doc must have heard stories of the period and era as a child--he hints as much, when he tells Marty that his family were German immigrants, who changed their names from "von Braun" during World War I. It would not be so unlikely to assume that young Emmett used to read boy's adventure stories about cowboys and train robberies. Doc Brown has always been a character governed by time, fascinated not only by the past and future, but by the science fiction of Jules Verne; one might have presumed he would also have been a fan of H. G. Wells. (An interesting bit of trivia: Mary Steenburgen starred as a love interest for another time-travelling, eccentric scientist in the film, Time After Time.) What we do know about Doc is that he claims to be perfectly happy in 1885--his letter delivered with the utmost timeliness by Western Union confirms as much. Doc is weary from the chaos which has come of his scientific experiments with time; one would presume his next dog would be named Oppenheimer, in light of the anxiety which has arisen from his circumstantial tampering with the space-time continuum. His retirement in the past is his retreat, and his solution to the problem of the time machine is to inevitably destroy it. Yes, Doc overlooks the great things which have come from his invention, but Clara reminds him of this. The scenes between Emmett and Clara make up the heart of the movie, although Marty still gets to play out plenty of action and chases, primarily with "Mad Dog" Tannen. For Marty, his own challenge of the heart is the same issue he had struggled with in the previous film, that he is easily provoked into a dare, a challenge, even a gunfight. It's only when Marty is literally confronted with his own tombstone--well, not his, but Clint Eastwood's...not the Clint Eastwood, but...oh, you get the idea--that he finally begins to get wise to the dangers he's quick to put himself into. Both Doc and Marty struggle with the tenets of time-travel logic, desperately trying to avoid causing a paradox or undue alterations to the future, something they do have experience with and know how small stones can cause big ripples in a pond. But Doc finds it especially difficult to balance the conflict between his heart and his brain when he must make a touch choice about Clara. But isn't science designed to enrich our lives, not restrain it? Doc and Marty try to come to terms with that question in this final chapter of an exciting, science fiction trilogy spanning one-hundred thirty years; funny, it felt like it was only yesterday.
Recommended for: Fans of the previous entries in the Back to the Future series, with the same great mix of comedy, action, and drama--and a healthy dose of western--with familiar scenes revisited to put a smirk on your face, and a different perspective on the Hill Valley of long past. It's a fun send off to these beloved characters, and all the varied make up and costumes they must have endured to appear much older--or just different--in the varied decades.
One could say that a conclusion in the Wild West was inevitable for Doc Brown, a period of time he has reflected on with a romanticized vision in his mind. This would make sense, considering that Doc must have heard stories of the period and era as a child--he hints as much, when he tells Marty that his family were German immigrants, who changed their names from "von Braun" during World War I. It would not be so unlikely to assume that young Emmett used to read boy's adventure stories about cowboys and train robberies. Doc Brown has always been a character governed by time, fascinated not only by the past and future, but by the science fiction of Jules Verne; one might have presumed he would also have been a fan of H. G. Wells. (An interesting bit of trivia: Mary Steenburgen starred as a love interest for another time-travelling, eccentric scientist in the film, Time After Time.) What we do know about Doc is that he claims to be perfectly happy in 1885--his letter delivered with the utmost timeliness by Western Union confirms as much. Doc is weary from the chaos which has come of his scientific experiments with time; one would presume his next dog would be named Oppenheimer, in light of the anxiety which has arisen from his circumstantial tampering with the space-time continuum. His retirement in the past is his retreat, and his solution to the problem of the time machine is to inevitably destroy it. Yes, Doc overlooks the great things which have come from his invention, but Clara reminds him of this. The scenes between Emmett and Clara make up the heart of the movie, although Marty still gets to play out plenty of action and chases, primarily with "Mad Dog" Tannen. For Marty, his own challenge of the heart is the same issue he had struggled with in the previous film, that he is easily provoked into a dare, a challenge, even a gunfight. It's only when Marty is literally confronted with his own tombstone--well, not his, but Clint Eastwood's...not the Clint Eastwood, but...oh, you get the idea--that he finally begins to get wise to the dangers he's quick to put himself into. Both Doc and Marty struggle with the tenets of time-travel logic, desperately trying to avoid causing a paradox or undue alterations to the future, something they do have experience with and know how small stones can cause big ripples in a pond. But Doc finds it especially difficult to balance the conflict between his heart and his brain when he must make a touch choice about Clara. But isn't science designed to enrich our lives, not restrain it? Doc and Marty try to come to terms with that question in this final chapter of an exciting, science fiction trilogy spanning one-hundred thirty years; funny, it felt like it was only yesterday.
Recommended for: Fans of the previous entries in the Back to the Future series, with the same great mix of comedy, action, and drama--and a healthy dose of western--with familiar scenes revisited to put a smirk on your face, and a different perspective on the Hill Valley of long past. It's a fun send off to these beloved characters, and all the varied make up and costumes they must have endured to appear much older--or just different--in the varied decades.