Back to the Future Part III (1990)

Tagline: They’ve saved the best trip for last... but this time they may have gone too far.

Curiosity: It wraps all those crappy loose ends from Back to the Future Part II… plus cowboys!

Plot: It looks like Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) might be trapped in 1955 after Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) and the DeLorean time machine are struck by lightning and sent off to an unknown period. Turns out Doc got sent to 1885, found he liked the place, and left the busted DeLorean hidden for Marty to find 70 years later via written instructions. Marty and ’55 Brown find the car alright, but they also learn something else – ’85 Doc was murdered just a few days after writing Marty that letter by Biff Tannen’s ancestor, Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson). Determined to save his buddy, Marty travels back… TO THE PAST! Where there’s cowboying!

Also Doc Brown gets some lady time.

Thoughts: Part III is a strong enough finale that I begrudgingly say it validates Part II. With fewer locales to time warp to, the film is able to focus on its chosen period, much like the original. There are also fewer make-up effects to put up with, so everybody looks good. The story is a lot stronger too. Too many events happen in Part II in order to move the story along, not because of characters’ actual actions. The “nobody calls me chicken” subplot from Part II that forces Marty to act like a dangerous idiot anytime somebody makes fun of him (funny how that never came up in the first movie) gets handled a little bit more smoothly too.

Also, it’s just straight up funnier. Wilson was the weak link in Part II; he had to essentially play the same character three different ways, so he ended up exaggerating their differences too much. Plus, as “Mad Dog,” he’s allowed to really show off his comedic chops, something Wilson has always excelled at.

Of course, the film also takes its Oedipal complex to its queasy conclusion, having Fox and Lea Thompson finally hook up as Marty’s ancestors, Seamus and Maggie McFly. What a motherfucker.

Reflection: While it gets sketchy after the first film, I’m pretty stoked on owning the Back to the Future trilogy. And now I can watch Huey Lewis and The News’ “Power of Love” and ZZ Tops’ “Doubleback” whenever I want!