Great Scott! It’s been 38 years since Back to the Future first sped its way into theatres. Released July 3, 1985, Back to The Future changed the time travel movie genre forever.
Various setbacks, including numerous rejections and re-casting Marty McFly halfway through filming, meant that the ‘80s movie almost never happened — but the stars (and DeLoreans) aligned, making Back To The Future an Academy Award winner, Golden Globe winner, and the highest-grossing film of 1985.
Starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, Back to the Future spanned two further sequels and became one of the best movie series of all time.
Reflecting on the adventure movie in an interview with the Directors Guild of America, Zemeckis said, “Bob [Gale] and I knew our screenplay was really, really good, even though everybody rejected it, numerous times. It was just so tight, the kind of thing that I love. Everything is set up, everything is paid off.”
He continued, “There’s only one scene you could argue isn’t propelling either plot or character, which is when the movie stops for Michael to play ‘Johnny B. Goode.’ But every line of dialogue, every beat, every cut, every shot is doing what movies are supposed to do, which is propelling the plot or establishing character. There’s not a single extraneous frame.”
You can watch all the Back to the Future movies on Netflix now or check out other adventures on the streamer with our guide to everything new on Netflix. Or, read our Still A Michael J Fox Movie review before heading to Apple TV Plus to watch the heartbreaking documentary.