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From: JAFFE@RUTGERS.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: BACK TO THE FUTURE
Message-ID: <2565@topaz.ARPA>
Date: Mon, 8-Jul-85 16:41:29 EDT
Article-I.D.: topaz.2565
Posted: Mon Jul  8 16:41:29 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 9-Jul-85 07:35:05 EDT
Sender: daemon@topaz.ARPA
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
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From: mtgzz!leeper (m.r.leeper)


                             BACK TO THE FUTURE
                      A film review by Mark R. Leeper

     The last film that came out with Stephen Spielberg's name on it was
GOONIES.  After seeing that I decided that these Spielberg-produced films
were on a downward spiral.  I told myself that I would avoid them in the
future.  Then a local theater had a sneak preview of BACK TO THE FUTURE and
hope sprang eternal.  For the first ten minutes of the film I was asking
myself why I didn't listen to my advice to myself and stay away.  After all,
why do I need a film about a cute kid on a skateboard and a horribly over-
acted mad scientist?  The remaining 106 minutes answered that question
rather nicely.

     In fact, BACK TO THE FUTURE has few or none of the script problems that
I saw in GOONIES.  Instead, we have a tightly written science fiction story
with likable characters, a fair amount of wit that really *is* funny, and a
great collection of time paradoxes presented in a witty fashion.  Nobody who
has read the basics of science fiction or seen much of science fiction
cinema will find much in the way of real ideas, but the old ideas are tied
together in a way as entertaining as they have ever been in the past.

     The story deals with Marty McFly, whose father is a life-long nerd and
whose life is in a shambles.  Marty has somehow acquired the friendship of a
really weird scientist (Christopher Lloyd), who one night reveals that he
has made a few special modifications to a DeLorean car.  When it is powered
with plutonium and is moving at precisely 88mph, it becomes a time machine.
It isn't too long before our hero finds himself trapped in 1955 and madly
trying to repair changes he has made in history.

     The script (by director Robert Zemeckis and producer Bob Gale), after a
shaky start, is remarkable for clever lines and for attention to technical
detail.  In spite of a few bizarre touches, this film works as a piece of
science fiction.

     The cast is made up almost exclusively of unknowns.  The minor
exceptions are Lloyd, whose face is familiar from ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S
NEST--he played a belligerent inmate--and from TO BE OR NOR TO BE.  Also
familiar-looking is James Tolkan as the vice-principal of the local high
school.

     This is a +2 film (on the -4 to +4 scale) and I consider it to be the
best thing with Spielberg's name on it since E. T.

					Mark R. Leeper
					...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper