No Fate But What we Make: Terminator Reboot

One of my two worst movie fears is coming true with the news that Terminator is getting a reboot that will (inevitably) be the beginning of a new trilogy. My other worst fear is that next in Hollywood's sights will be the Back to the Future trilogy. Robocop and Total Recall remakes I can handle but Terminator 1 and 2 and the BTTF trilogy are my untouchable sacred cows.

I can deal with endless inferior sequels to classics like Die Hard and I can handle remakes of some of Hollywood's output but I can't stomach a Terminator reboot. Every year I show students in my Film Studies class both Terminator 1 and 2 when we are studying how to analyse films from a genre and feminist approach. Each year some students grumble about Terminator 1 which occasionally looks very dated in places but then we get to Terminator 2 and I think pretty much every student loves it.

Some would argue the first Terminator is in need of a remake then if it fails to grab the youth and looks dated in terms of 80s hair cuts and some dodgy stop-motion scenes. I would argue otherwise. With Terminator 2 still looking relatively fresh and still dazzling in terms of its brilliant use of CGI, the pair of films perfectly complement each other and while the original might be a bit harder to stomach for modern young audiences, it is an inspiring example of what can be achieved on a modest budget.

I hear Arnie might be back for the reboot, no doubt shoe horned in by some dodgy bit of screen writing that introduces him as the creator of the Terminator programme or something. I also hear rumours of Paul Walker appearing which is worrying. No real offence to Paul Walker but I can't bear to see him as a new Kyle Reese. Admittedly though, he looks ok below. I guess as long as he's not John Connor.

I just don't see how a reboot can improve on the original stories or action scenes. Then again, I'm not sure reboots often even have the intention of improving on anything. I want to say boycott this reboot at all costs but on the other hand, I know as the stills, posters, and trailers start to roll in, I'll probably start getting excited about it. However if we can convince enough people to stay out of the cinemas for this one, perhaps we can stop the inevitable Back to the Future prequel which I can predict won't be far behind. (They're bound to try and get Fox and Lloyd in for cameos).

There are so many things I don't want to see ruined about these movies, I can't even begin to count them. I wish instead of rebooting, Hollywood could just take a chance on something original that could potentially be of the same quality as James Cameron's films. Before buying a ticket for the Terminator reboot, I urge you to please remember there is no fate but what we make for ourselves.

Genre Analysis of The Terminator

Here's a look at The Terminator and some other science fiction films taking a genre approach.  This is for my BTEC Film Studies students who are currently writing up their own analysis of science fiction films which I hope they will then turn into a blog post just like this!  Enjoy reading and please leave any feedback if you have anything to say about what has been written here.

Arnie becomes an icon

The Terminator (James Cameron, 1984) is a hybrid of genres.  It has elements of science fiction, horror and action films.  Some of the conventions that make it recognizable as a science fiction film are the use of robots and scenes that are set in the future.  It has horror conventions such as an unstoppable monster that will not die and does not feel pain.  It is also mostly set at night and has a girl being relentlessly chased by the monster/robot.  The Terminator is also full of car chases, gun fights and explosions which audiences expect to find in an action film.

Firstly, The Terminator is science fiction.  The hero and villain are time travellers from the future.  The audience knows this by the dialogue and the fact that the villain is a cyborg.  Time travel is not overly significant to the plot as once the protagonist and antagonist are in the present, they do not travel back and forth in time again.  Many other science fiction films use time travel much more with characters going to the past, the future and their present.  An example of this is the Back to the Future trilogy where the protagonist travels from 1985 to 1955 to 2015 to 1855.  This is only possible in science fiction and allows the characters to have adventures in different time periods.  It also allows the filmmaker Robert Zemeckis to make a science fiction Western hybrid in Part 3 of the trilogy.

Genre Hybrids: Back to the Future Part 3

Cyborgs are a science fiction convention that do not exist in the present.  They are robots that appear human.  Beneath the skin it has a metal endoskeleton.  This metal endoskeleton helps the film conform to genre expectations of the horror and action film.  The Terminator is almost invincible so it can survive gun fights and even explosions.  This means the heroes have to repeatedly try to kill it, leading to more action scenes.  It also means that the villain keeps rising after it appears to have been killed.  This makes it similar to the slasher films' psycho killers like Michael Myers of Halloween and Jason Vorhees of Friday the 13th.  The use of a metal endoskeleton signifies the robot's strength and power and how hard to kill it will be.  The skeleton signifies that it is dead and therefore impossible to kill.  Its red eyes and gritted teeth also make it appear angry, scary and determined.

Michael Myers just won't stay dead

The future is presented in the film through the use of flashbacks.  It is dystopian as machines have waged a war on the human race and there are few survivors.  It is darkly lit and there are flying machines and Terminator robots that hunt down human survivors.  The bleak future is created through special effects such as models of robots and ruined cities.  Humans live underground and hunt rats, showing the dire situation that the human race is in, in the future.  Technology is killing humans and this emphasises a message that humans depend too much on technology and are advancing too quickly in the present.  Science fiction films set in dystopian futures often have messages to convey about the time in which they were made.  An example of this is Children of Men that takes place in England, 2027.  The human race is infertile and London is dirtier and more polluted than it is now.  The only thing that seems to be looked after and technologically advanced is adverts on the side of buses and buildings.  This suggests that corporate power and greed remain unchanged from present times.  There is a bombing in the opening scene and lots of references to patriotic values and discrimination against immigrants.  This is clearly a reference to the post 9/11 behaviour of the British and American governments and demonstrates how genres adapt over time.  The culture also seems obsessed with celebrity as shown by their staring at the screen and grief over the death of someone they have never met.  Children of Men offers a different vision of the future from The Terminator, but still has uses science fiction conventions to represent it.

Children of Men's dystopian future London

Robots are not present in Children of Men but they feature prominently in The Terminator and Transformers.  They are futuristic as they have real human skin and hair and can sweat and bleed.  The Terminator also has a type of 'Terminator vision' created by a red tint and various bits of written information scrolling on the screen when the audience sees from The Terminator's point of view.  Like in Transformers, the robots disguise themselves; The Terminator as a human and the Transformers as various vehicles.

Terminator POV

The music and editing also helps the audience to decipher the genre.  For the action moments such as car chases and fights, the music speeds up.  The synth score sounds futuristic and the high pitched string sounds are very reminiscent of classic horror music from films such as Psycho.  Tension is created through the use of intercutting between the Terminator and his prey, Sarah Connor.  The audience is made to worry about Connor’s safety by the order of the shots.  The Terminator is also shot from a low angle to make him look dominant.  This is common for villains and sometimes heroes.

Terminator terminating.

Terminator is structured like many other horror, science fiction and action films.  It introduces a hero and a villain at the beginning and sets them up as binary opposites.  The human is vulnerable, caring and sensitive and willing to do anything, including sacrificing himself, for the good of the human race.  The Terminator is set up as exactly the opposite.  It may look human but it is made of metal and therefore hard to kill, it has no feelings and its purpose is to destroy humans.  The human and robot come into a series of conflicts together; gun fights, car chases and eventually at the climax hand-to hand combat.  The action film is often structured around a series of confrontations and set-pieces.  The target audience want stunts, action and fighting and so conversations and dialogue are scattered through the film between big action moments.

Kyle Reese: Human Hero

Terminator also subverts the expectations of the crime and action film as The Terminator drives a police car in one car chase.  This means the villain is driving a symbol of law and order.  Usually the police are a force for good in action films and this use of the police car suggests that the Terminator is the new symbol of order.  He will not stop until he catches his prey, like the determined detectives of many action films.  This is taken further in the sequel as the T1000 villain morphs into the figure of a policeman throughout the film.  It also subverts expectations and adapts to reflect more modern representations of women than were present in many of the science fiction films of the 1950s.  Sarah Connor may begin the film as a typical damsel in distress but by the end she is a strong female who must fight the villain by herself and wins.  This is similar to the convention of the ‘final girl’ in slasher films who is the last survivor of the killer and must fight back to survive.  This convention can be seen in films including Halloween and Friday the 13^th.

Sarah Connor: The Final Girl

Great Scott: Meeting Christopher Lloyd

Two of my very good friends in Australia went along to the Supanova Pop Culture Expo in Perth yesterday and got the opportunity to meet the absolute legend that is Christopher Lloyd.  Yes that's right Doc Brown from the Back to the Future series.  In the flesh.  And here's the photo to prove it!

Not only that but they did it in grand style.  That's T.A. on the left dressed as Claudia Wells/Elisabeth Shue (I'm guessing she's going for Shue as the 'You're Fired' note is from Part 2) as Jennifer Parker/McFly.  On the right is JJ dressed as Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly.  And in the middle is the Doc, unfortunately not dressed as the Doc.  Shame he didn't make an effort.  Only kidding, what a legend!

Seriously... how freaking awesome is this?  Anyone else met someone as cool as Mr Lloyd and got the photo to prove it?

My First 10 Years of Movies: The 80s

As I turned 30 last year year, here is the first of a three-part post.  Partly inspired by Cinematic Paradox’s 100 Film Facts About Me post and partly inspired by Front Room Cinema’s Born into Film series, I thought I’d try and give you a breakdown of my film loving life year by year.  As I was born in 1981, my first 10 years of the movies were mostly the glorious 1980s.  If you want to see my top 10 films of the 80s click here.  But for now, here's how the movies shaped, influenced and warped my impressionable young mind.

1981: I was born.  The top 5 rated films of the year according to IMDb are Raiders of the Lost Ark, Das Boot, The Evil Dead, Chariots of Fire and Escape from New York.  I do not recall going to the cinema or seeing any films yet (funnily enough!).  I still haven't seen the last two on that list.

1982: Rambo and E.T. first appeared on screens.  It would be a long time till I would see either.  My oldest sister was eight at the time and had a hard time at school with everyone calling her ET because they were her initials.

1983: The Star Wars saga should have ended this year with Return of the Jedi.  Unfortunately it didn’t.  The first Star Wars film I saw in the cinema was The Phantom Menace in 1999 at age 18.

1984: The Terminator, Ghostbusters and A Nightmare on Elm Street were released.  Fortunately at the age of three, I was not going anywhere near these films yet.  But soon, all three would scare the crap out of me and become three of my all-time favourites.

 1985: The Goonies was released.  I wasn’t old enough to catch this in the cinema but when I finally saw the film, it affected my imagination so much that whenever I was alone, I would pretend I was in the movie being chased by villains in an underground cave system.  I’ve always wanted to write a script as perfectly pitched at kids as this.  Back to the Future and Teen Wolf both also came out, resulting in my eventual Michael J Fox poster on my wall that I got from the magazine Smash Hits.

1986: Thanks to Chris in the comments below, I remember seeing An American Tail in the cinema.  Must have been age 5 so that's my excuse for crying a lot at the ending!   Aliens, Top Gun, Platoon and Labyrinth all released.  Didn’t see any in the cinema.  But the first CD I ever owned was the Top Gun soundtrack.  Still love that shit.  I remember thinking CD's were incredibly cool compared to crusty old cassette tapes.

1987: This was the year of getting to go on my first film set.  I was cast as Tom the Vicar’s son in a film called The Girl in a Swing and was on set for about three days.  I’ve still never seen the film the whole way through but my parents said I didn’t make it into the final cut and that the film is full of filthy sex scenes and nudity.  Bad start to my acting career but it opened my eyes to the wonder of filmmaking.  Predator and Robocop were released.  

1988: Die Hard released.  I vividly remember being with my Mum in a shopping centre and walking along behind a couple of guys and one guy was telling the other about the scene where John McClane wraps the fire hose around his waist and jumps off the top of the exploding building.  I was seven years old and I couldn’t wait to see it.

1989: My Dad took me to see Back to the Future Part 2 this year and I bloody loved it.  My Dad fell asleep and said he found it too confusing.  I also remember seeing Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Ghostbusters 2 in cinemas so my love of film was definitely kicking in.  I was too young for Batman apparently.  And on a cruise ship to Denmark, my older sisters got to see The War of the Roses (which I only wanted to see because it was rated 15) while I was stuck with seeing All Dogs Go to Heaven with my Mum.

1990: The year of Home Alone.  This film instantly became my new favourite.  I saw it at least twice in the cinema.  I desperately wanted to be Macaulay Culkin.  I also saw Edward Scissorhands and rfememver having to pull myself together before the lights came on at the end so my sister wouldn’t see I’d been crying.  At nine years old, I was also dribbling over everything Ninja Turtles (or Hero Turtles as they were called here in the UK) so the movie was a must-see in the cinema.  Still love it.  The Witches and Arachnophobia also warped my fragile little mind, giving me a fear of old women and spiders that, certainly in the latter case, has still not gone away.  This year I saw my first 18 rated films: Robocop (the scene where Murphy is tortured and repeatedly shot was too much for me to watch), The Terminator (loved every second) and somebody gave me a copy of A Nightmare on Elm Street that was taped off the TV.  My first proper horror scared me into having regular nightmares but again, I absolutely loved it.  Also Moonwalker was released on VHS this year and I think this is probably the first film my Mum ever bought for me.  She got sick of me wanting to rent it from the video store every week.

1991: I clearly remember people telling me about the film Silence of the Lambs that had a lampshade made out of skin in it.  I’m not sure there actually is but I remember being told that.  As my babysitter had rented Terminator for me, I was beyond desperate to see Terminator 2 in the cinema but it was a 15 so I couldn’t.  I had to wait for my older sister and her friend to buy the video because they were both besotted with Edward Furlong.  I was jealous of Macaulay Culkin for getting to be in My Girl where he had to do 17 takes of the kiss with Anna Chlumsky apparently.  Bryan Adams was dominating the UK music charts with Everything I Do (I Do it For You) from the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves sound track.  I contributed to both the film and the single’s success by seeing the film in cinemas twice and buying the single on cassette tape.  I also saw Rocketeer and TMNT2: The Secret of the Ooze in cinemas.

So that’s my movie life from birth to the age of ten.  Coming soon: 1992-2001 the next 10 years of my movie life.  If you like the idea, I hope you will all feel free to nick it and try it for yourself but please leave a link to little old I Love That Film!  

And while you're here, what were your first experiences of the cinema?

Best films of the 1980s

The films of the 80s should have dated worse than any other decades.  The hair, the clothes, the synthesiser music.  But for those of us born and raised in the decade of filthy excess, nothing could be further from the truth.  This decade means a lot to me.  These are the films that got me into films. 

If my favourite films of the 70s held little surprises, this list may hold even less.  Some of these films were the first 18 rated films I ever saw.  One was the film that shaped my every waking day dream until I was about 14.  All of them are classics.  From the Vietnam war to a Vietnam war allegory, from the past to the future and from skscrapers to underground caves, these are the films I've probably seen more times in my life than any others. 

I love the 80s and I love the cinema of the 80s but these are the films that, mostly taped onto VHS tapes from the TV, held my attention and have kept my affection for over 20 years.  Chuck on some Huey Lewis or Simple Minds and check out my top 10.

10. Ghostbusters (Ivan Reitman, 1984) A giant marsh mallow man, a creepy opening in a deserted library, a classic theme tune and casting chemistry rarely bettered.  Bill Murray wise cracks while chasing woman of the decade Sigourney Weaver.  But its the mix of scares (to a young kid!) and comedy that get this on the list.  Some scenes are pretty terrifying and had to be watched from behind the sofa, while the special effects were great for the time but may make this a more dated entry on the list.  Not Murray's best comedy of the decade but the rest of the cast supply enough laughs and memorable characters to edge out Caddyshack from this list.

9. A Nightmare on Elm Street (Wes Craven, 1984) Also featured in my top 10 horrors, this is a film that, like the more recent Paranormal Activity plays on the fear of switching the light out and going to sleep.  However, unlike that more recent entry in the genre, Nightmare has a knife-gloved psycho who can invade the dreams of teens and slash them up for the 'sins' of their parents.  Taking the slasher template from Halloween and Friday the 13th, Freddy Krueger had more personality, more inventive killings and (in this first entry at least) was a truly terrifying and iconic boogeyman.  Who needs a mask with a face like Freddy?

8. Airplane (Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, 1980)  Hugely influential spoof that has probably been responsible for spawning more awful films than any other (yes I'm looking at you Disaster/Date/Superhero/Epic Movies).  Also responsible for giving us Leslie Nielsen's half classic, half rubbish career in comedy.  But this film cannot be praised highly enough.  Working closely from the script of a straight disaster film, Airplane is full of so many hilarious lines, sight gags and performances, it's become overly quoted but never bettered.  Lloyd Bridges and the dodgy pilot are the standouts in a film full of outrageous comedy.

7. Platoon (Oliver Stone, 1986)  War is hell.  Charlie (winning) Sheen shows why he was the go-to-guy for Stone in two of the directors greatest films.  Subtle as a sledgehammer, the film sees the battle for a young grunts soul as he veers between Dafoe's Christ figure and Berenger's angel of death.  Like The Deer Hunter, Platoon shows the horror of war, this time showing just why the Vietnamese were likely to want to make American soldiers play russian roulette for their amusement.  Stone and Sheen are at the top of their game and to top it all off, brilliant music and early roles for John C. McGinley, Johnny Depp and Forest Whitaker.

6. The Goonies (Richard Donner, 1985) Corey Feldman had to be on this list somewhere and it's in the company of Sean Astin, Josh Brolin and friends as they take on criminals underground in the best Spielberg film he never directed.  Forget E.T., Super 8 and all the other pretenders, this is the ultimate kids adventure.  Pirates before Depp made them cool again, water slides, booby traps, first kisses and Short Round (from Temple of Doom) all add up to make this the sweetest, funniest kids versus bad adults film there is ever likely to be.

5. Aliens (James Cameron, 1986)  Cameron's second best film of the decade and one of the greatest sequels ever made.  Upping the number of xenomorphs, the guns, the testosterone and the body count and giving Ripley a little girl that needs protecting all take this second entry in the franchise to a whole new level.  This is a war movie with a group of marines outclassed by the ultimate killing machines.  Ripley may take a back seat at the start but comes to the fore as the grunts drop like flies and the Alien Queen needs a smackdown in the mother of all movie fights.

4. The Breakfast Club (John Hughes, 1985)  The coolest character in teen films is delivered in an angsty, funny and damaged performance by Judd Nelson.  The Brat Pack get Saturday detention in the best of Hughes' films with the stereotypes peeling away to reveal the sad, lonely individuals on the inside.  With drug-fuelled dancing, a nasty piece of work for a principal and a classic 80s soundtrack, this is probably the film I fear the most being remade.  The characters were pretty much ripped off for The Faculty so I beg Hollywood to leave this one alone now.

3. Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988)  Simply the best action film of all time.  Bruce Willis is effortlessly cool.  The story spawned a whole sub-genre of one man vs a group of terrorists flicks that were often pretty good (e.g. Under Seige= Die Hard on a boat, Passenger 57= Die Hard on a plane etc.).  John Mclane took the steroids out of action cinema forever, putting an end to the reign of Schwarzenegger and Stallone.  Great stunts, genius plot elements (bare feet!), Alan Rickman in a classic piece of Euro-villain bastardry and Willis's delivery of one-liners make this the most funny, thrilling and tense actioner ever.

2. The Terminator (James Cameron, 1984)  The best James Cameron film of the decade is his first step into science fiction.  A brilliant story delivered in an incredibly fast paced movie that like it's titular character never stops to allow you time to take a breath.  Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton are both excellent as the villain and damsel in distress but Michael Biehn must also be praised for making the most of a hero character who mostly spills reams of exposition while running, driving and fighting an unstoppable machine from the future.  Cameron displays his ample talent for action, storytelling and working on a low budget.  It's a wonder why some of his lesser films have cost so damn much when you see what he did here with so much less.

1. Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985)  Another science fiction that, like The Terminator, goes easy on the science and instead crosses genres to create something much more fun, less cerebral and exciting.  With one of the greatest buddy pairings in film, Fox and Lloyd nail the roles of high school teen and eccentric inventor in a tightly crafted narrative that climaxes in that brilliant clocktower set-piece.  The Libyan terrorists are laughable stereotypes but the Oedipus fuelled drama with Marty and his Mum make this icky but endearing.  Biff is also up there with the Terminator and Hans Gruber as one of the 80s greatest villains!  Huey Lewis on the soundtrack, a killer ending that leaves you gasping for the sequel and iconic characters add up to the greatest film of the 80s.

What no Raiders????  No Empire?  Or is it Raging Bull or Blade Runner missing from this list?  Don't be shy... let me know how you feel!

TOP 10 SEQUELS

Another week, another list. This time its sequels. Love them or hate them, there's been some classics. As with all lists, this is very subjective. I'm not suggesting that these are the BEST sequels ever made but they are my FAVOURITE sequels ever made. These are probably all pretty popular choices (well the top 10 anyway... maybe not the near misses) but I think the films that are missing are what may be the biggest surprise. In chronological order:

Aliens (James Cameron, 1986): Cameron ramps up the action, tones down the horror and gives us one of the best fights in movie history. The marines are badass but Ripley outlives the lot of them and gets to deliver the greatest demand ever written.



Evil Dead 2 (Sam Raimi, 1987): Raimi remakes the original overdosing on slapstick, gore, insane camerawork and making the best horror comedy of all time. Bruce Campbell's performance is easily the most physical and funny ever seen in a horror film.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Steven Spielberg, 1989): The best of the bunch; charming, exciting and with Connery at his best. Great stunts and a stroke of writing genius teaming 'Junior' with his old man.

Back to the Future 2 and 3 (Robert Zemeckis, 1989 and 1990): Part 2 is head twisting fun with an imaginative future, a dark turn in an alternate 1985 and a finale that returns to the superior original. Part 3, though the worst of the trilogy, still deserves a mention for an amazing train pushing Delorean climax that is edge-of-the-seat stuff.



Die Hard 2 and 3 (Renny Harlin, 1990 and John McTiernan, 1995): How can the same shit happen to the same guy twice? Not sure but I'm glad it did as the airport set 'Die Harder' has some truly brilliant scenes. Ejecting out of grenade-filled exploding plane. Fighting on wing of taking off plane. Bruce killing the frikkin T-1000. It's all here. 'With a Vengance' is cleverer and pairs Willis with none other than Samuel L. Mother F**king Jackson for excellent buddy movie banter.



Terminator 2 (James Cameron, 1991): In my humble opinion, the BEST SEQUEL OF ALL TIME. Improves on the already great, original classic. The special effects are eye-popping and the story is filled with set piece after set piece of mind-blowing action. The performances are all round perfect. And Cameron delivers another of the greatest action heroines ever in the buffed up, semi-psycho Sarah Connor. The T-1000 in truck vs 10 yr old John Connor on little motorbike is the best action scene ever!



Lord of the Rings 2 and 3 (Peter Jackson, 2002 and 2003): The 'Fellowship' was stunning but this is where the story really steps up a gear. Gollum shows up, Gandalf returns, the armies of Mordor advance and the fellowship is spilt. The final part of the trilogy brings it all together for epic battle after epic battle and a hugely emotional journey for Sam, Frodo and Gollum.



The Matrix Reloaded (The Wachowski Brothers, 2003): Overdoses on special effects in parts but the action is still incredible from the 'burly brawl' (Neo vs endless Agent Smiths) to the freeway mayhem and with the incomprehensible ramblings of the Architect, leaves the audience clueless about where the trilogy closer is heading. Unfortunately 'Revolutions' lost the plot.



The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008): Batman Begins brilliantly explained Bruce Wayne's turn to the 'dark' side. Backstory taken care of, The Dark Knight explodes with chaos thanks to Ledger's wild card Joker and the increasing strain on all Gothams do-gooders (Wayne, Dent, Gordon) that guarantees this is a comic book movie that is unlikely to have a happy ending.



Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich, 2010): Toy Story is genius. Many say the second improved on it. But for me the second one was too soppy and sing-songy. But the trilogy closer goes dark with real menace, a horrible bastard of a villain, and an emotional and tense climax that is apocalyptic, terrifying and at the same time absolutely beautiful.

And here's the 5 that just missed out:

Ghostbusters 2 (Ivan Reitman, 1989): Funny but also bloody terrifying!
Child's Play 2 (John Lafia, 1990): Chucky's back and malicious as ever!
American Pie 2 (J. B. Rogers, 2001): Very funny but also very sweet!
Jurassic Park 3 (Joe Johnston, 2001): Flying dinosaurs!
Austin Powers in Goldmember (Jay Roach, 2002): Cruise, Paltrow, Spacey, Spielberg.

What no Empire Strikes Back? No Godfather? No... sorry. Am I mad? Blasphemous? Joking? Does this list make you want to hurt me? Get in touch and vent your spleen!

Great Scott!

Just finished re-watching the Back to the Future trilogy on DVD. Reminded how absolutely brilliant the first film is. The screenplay is so well crafted and the complications build and build right up to the climax which is still nail-bitingly tense even after watching it so many times. Marty and the Doc have got to be one of the great buddy-pairings of cinema or at least 80s blockbuster cinema when everyone was making 'buddy' movies. And it's a film that sets up a sequel in a totally not annoying way but the rest of the film itself still feels like a complete story (like The Matrix also does). 

Two was slightly disaappointing after all these years of it being my favourite of the trilogy. Still very clever (with the alternate 1985 and discussion of continuums) and love going back into the first film but this time it just kept reminding me of how perfect its predecessor is. 

As for part three, it's never been anybodys favourite as far as I'm aware but the train sequence at the end almost equals the clocktower climax of the first film for nail-biting thrills. Just don't mention the lessons learned and flying train ending.

The whole trilogy should be celebrated for so many reasons; Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd's awesome performances, Robert Zemeckis pushing the technology of cinema forwards (and not forgetting his great characters), not ruining the childhood memories of so many by cashing in with a far inferior fouth film, Crispin Glover and last but not least Thomas F. Wilson as Biff who is a hysterical panto villain throughout. 

It's also got me wondering: Are these the greatest films featuring time travel ever?