I am almost as giddy as when I posted about “Ghostbusters.”  I honestly wanted to jump in and do this back-to-back with that, but there was just so much that I needed to finish before we’ve come to this point…

…and now we’re here!

As I have referenced before, we did not get a VCR until 1986. Prior to that, a lot of people did the same as we did.  We would occasionally rent a VCR at the local rental shop if there was a movie in particular that the entire family was excited to see.  That all changed at the release of this movie.  It was the first time I remember seeing a new release, ever, taking up an entire wall of rental space.  That happens all the time now, but this was the first.  I had many friends that had gone to this film in theaters with their families and I was very excited to see it.

Every copy was already rented and there were no machines available to rent.  It was that popular.

First things first, we bought a damn VCR–RCA–it converted into a back pack and connected to a large camcorder that dad used to shoot home videos on.  I loved that damn thing.  I think we had that thing for 15 years before it finally crapped out on us.

So we came back the next week and there were about 5 copies of the movie available.

As much as I heard about it, I didn’t really understand the concept until I sat down to watch it.  Then everything became clear by the time it was over and I wanted to watch it again, right away.

First off, the soundtrack is awesome.  The intro and “outro” song was so cool, I wanted to buy the soundtrack, but I never got a round to doing that.  My cousin had a copy and I made him play it all the time when I visited.  Every time I hear Huey Lewis and the News, I grin and think about this movie.

The shot of all the clocks and the alarms going off at the same time is so interesting.  Each clock on the wall was very unique and to hear that many different variations of the same sound is quite harmonious in a weird way.  This is of course occurring after Marty McFly has blown himself across the room with an amp as tall as a basketball hoop at full capacity.

I used to think he was so cool.  I used to wear Levis with an orange vest over them because I wanted to emulate Marty’s look.  Yes, I was a nerd, and no I didn’t just wear that on Halloween.  I dressed like that.  I also had a skateboard (like Marty’s) that had “Back to the Future” on it with a picture of the Delorian time machine.

I never did learn how to play the guitar, and I did try to pull the “”skateboard grab the car trick” once….once.

It was a bad idea.  I should’ve listened to my dad, he warned me.

The layers that were dealt with in this movie were quite amazing.  I think it needs three views to really catch everything that this movie offers.  Once for pure enjoyment.  Twice to catch some of the inside jokes at the beginning that Marty and his parents share together as a family.  A third time for all of the detail that you find in the “look” of each set that the actors work on.  I think I watched it 4 times the first time we rented it.

I remember watching the actors portray their roles in the present (1985), in the past (1955), and back to the future (get it?) 1985.  What an underrated bit of work that entire cast showed.  Crispin Glover in particular as George McFly, Marty’s father.

Lea Thompson was also at her best playing Marty’s mother and Christopher Lloyd gave a performance as a character too large for one film in Doc Brown.

I’m at the point at which I don’t want to give too much more away.  For anyone that might read this that has not seen it, I wouldn’t want to take away the pure joy you will receive in watching this movie for the first time.

Movies like this and “The Terminator” that deal with time travel, if anything, give us conversations about possibilities.  “Well what if Marty did this instead of that?  Would he still be born?” Etc.

Who doesn’t like having those conversations?

At the end of the day, I loved the idea of time travel and having the ability to fix things when given the opportunity.  It makes for great science fiction, and feeling good after a movie that allows you to think a little is never a bad thing.

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