Back to the Future Part II
Dir: Robert Zemeckis
1989
*****
Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale had no intention to make a sequel to their original Back to the Future film. The 1985 hit ended nicely, with the present being changed for the better and a comedic appearance from Doc Brown who declared that Marty had to come with him to the future to sort out a problem with his kids. The film would have remained an iconic family favorite if they had left it there but the fans wanted more and after the amount of money the first film made, so too did the studio. Zemeckis and Gale agreed that they'd make two sequels as long as Fox and Lloyd returned, although it was Gale who wrote most of the story while Zemeckis was busy filming Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Zemeckis and Gale have said since that they really regretted certain decisions they made in the first as it made continuity a real headache but continuity was only one of several issues they would have to overcome. While most of the original cast agreed to reprise their roles, Claudia Wells and Crispin Glover did not. Wells turned down the part due to her mothers ill health while Glover had other issues. Because the last scene of the original film is the beginning sequence of the second, and featured Wells, it had to be re-filmed frame by frame, with Elisabeth Shue as Marty's girlfriend, Jennifer Parker. Crispin Glover was offered less than half the salary of both Thomas F. Wilson and Lea Thompson. The three actors had level billing and Glover, quite rightly, suggested that this was unfair. Glover had clashed somewhat with Zemeckis and Gale in the first film and Zemeckis became particularly angry when Glover criticized the original ending of the second film, which was eventually changed. The original ending saw particular characters gain financial reward at the end of the film and Glover felt that this undermined the overall message of the film. When an agreement couldn't be met, Glover walked. Zemeckis and Gale overcame this by reducing his character's screen time and by using state of the art special effects to put Glover's face on the new actor. Understandably, Glover took umbrage to this and successfully sued the pair and changed certain laws within the Screen Actors Guild forever. It's a shame that Glover didn't return but the story written around his absence is strong, maybe even better than would could have come before. There are lots of familiar scenes in the second but it isn't the carbon copy that it could have been but much like the first film, it compares the lifestyles of youth in the 50's, 80's and in 2015. The 1989 vision of 2015 captured the imagination of many. It's a shame they got it completely wrong but they did get certain aspects right. They certainly got the fact that certain traits, particularly in the youth, are somewhat timeless. I think I'm right in saying that they got the science regarding time travel correct as well (apart from the fact future Marty would know that his past self was hiding in his house, unless he'd forgotton but I think this can be excused) and the ideas behind an alternative 1985 and a return to events seen in 1955 is creative writing at it's very best. It's complicated stuff but they've made it easy to follow and enjoy. The sequel is even more iconic as the original, it is complex, intelligent and heaps of fun. It's hard to say which is my favorite film of the trilogy but I think I favor Part II's conclusion over the other two as we see Doc Brown met by Marty straight after he's just sent him back to 1985 as seen in the first film in 1955. Phenomenal writing with excellent performances to match.