Back to the Future Part III
Dir: Robert Zemeckis
1990
*****
Just as it looked like Marty and Doc Brown had saved the day at the end of Back to the Future Part II, the time machine is suddenly struck by lightening, sending the Doc to Hill Valley in 1885. Minutes after this tragic scene, we see a man from the Western Union arrive and deliver a letter to Marty from Doc that he had sent seventy years previous. It's a brilliant piece of writing that led into the third and final film of the series perfectly. Part II and Part III were filmed back to back, which I think helped overcome many of the continuity issues they encountered between the first and second installments. The third film is a little less serious than second and returns to the feel and format of the original film somewhat. However, this time the story revolves around Doc Brown more so than Marty, which I personally like most about the film, especially as we never got to see a future Doc of 2015. Again, the film compares lifestyles of 1880's and 1980's people of Hill Valley and recreates many scenes from the first and second films but without being a contentious copy. The idea of traveling back to the old west was actually Michael J. Fox's when Gale asked him during the first film which era he would travel to if he had a time machine. Gale and Zemeckis were clearly fans of the genre and cast and crew were all said to be keen to make what is a solid western in it's own right as well as a tribute film. The film has many appealing features such as the cameos of Western veterans Pat Buttram, Harry Carey and Dub Taylor who give the film an element of credibility, the birth of many aspects of Hill Valley the viewers had enjoyed in the two previous films, Marty McFly's ancestors (all played by Fox, much like his future relatives were in Part II), a ZZ Top cameo performance (something all films should include) and a romantic story line for Doc Brown. Mary Steenburgen was cast as Doc Brown's love interest, although she passed at first until her kids, huge fans of the first film, pestered her to take it on. It's a rather lovely love story between the two characters, completely different from the norm and definitely one of the film's highlights. The many references to classic westerns were brilliantly handled and never overdone. The film is more simple than the previous films, allowing for the characters to really come alive and develop far more than they had before. It's a rewarding finale to the trilogy with an equally rewarding conclusion. The final scene is a little cheesy and doesn't really make a lot of sense but it contains the heart of the trilogies message and gives the viewers what they really wanted. It's a great conclusion of what is a (the) perfect trilogy.