Back to the Future Part III

Back to the Future Part III
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Robert Zemeckis
Produced by	Bob Gale Neil Canton Executive Producers: Steven Spielberg Frank Marshall Kathleen Kennedy
Screenplay by	Bob Gale
Story by	Robert Zemeckis Bob Gale
Starring	Michael J. Fox Christopher Lloyd Mary Steenburgen Thomas F. Wilson Lea Thompson
Music by	Alan Silvestri
Cinematography	Dean Cundey
Editing by	Harry Keramidas Arthur Schmidt
Studio	Amblin Entertainment
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	May 25, 1990 (1990-05-25)
Running time	118 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$40,000,000
Gross revenue	$244,527,583
Preceded by	Back to the Future Part II

Back to the Future Part III is a 1990 American science fiction action-adventure comedy Western film and the third and final installment of the Back to the Future trilogy. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen, Thomas F. Wilson and Lea Thompson. It was released by Universal Pictures.

Continuing where Back to the Future Part II left off, Marty McFly has discovered that his friend Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown is stuck in the year 1885. By getting help from Doc, Marty unearths the DeLorean time machine and uses it to travel to 1885 and bring him back to present-day 1985.

Filming took place in both California and Arizona and the film was released in the United States on May 25, 1990. The film was a commercial success and achieved $244.53 million at the international box office, making it the 6th highest grossing film of 1990. Fan reaction to the film was more positive than to the first sequel with many stating that this entry to the series reflected more the original. Critics also gave Part III better reviews than Part II, which had been met with mostly mixed to positive reactions.

Plot

In 1955, Marty McFly and Doc Brown use the information in Doc’s 1885 letter to retrieve and repair the damaged DeLorean. As they retrieve the car, Marty spies a tombstone with Doc's name, dated six days after the letter. Learning Doc was killed by Biff Tannen's ancestor, Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, Marty decides to go back to 1885 to save Doc.

Marty arrives on September 2, 1885, in the middle of a United States Cavalry pursuit of Indians. While evading the pursuit the car's fuel line is torn, and Marty hides the car in a cave. While walking to Hill Valley, Marty meets his Irish^[1] great-great-grandparents Seamus and Maggie McFly; to disguise his identity, Marty adopts the name "Clint Eastwood". In town, Marty runs afoul of Buford and his gang, who begin hanging Marty before Doc saves him. Doc agrees to leave 1885, but with the fuel tank in the DeLorean empty and gasoline unavailable, there is no way to power the car. Doc devises a scheme to use a locomotive to push the DeLorean up to speed. As Doc and Marty explore the rail spur they intend to use they spot an out-of-control horse-drawn wagon. Doc saves the passenger, Clara Clayton. The two fall in love, finding many common interests, especially the works of Jules Verne. Buford tries killing Doc at a town festival but Marty intervenes; Buford then goads Marty into a showdown in two days' time. Consulting the picture of Doc's tombstone, they note that Doc's name has disappeared, but the tombstone is otherwise unchanged. Doc tells Marty the tombstone represents the events of the future and warns him that it could be Marty instead of Doc that Buford shoots.

The night before their departure, Doc angers Clara by telling her he is from the future, as she believes it is merely an excuse to end their relationship. Distraught, Doc returns to the town saloon to get drunk. Marty rides to the saloon and convinces Doc to leave with him. Unfortunately, Doc drinks a single shot of whiskey and passes out. Buford arrives and calls Marty out. Marty realizes his reputation is unimportant and refuses to fight. Doc revives after being force fed a prairie oyster and tries fleeing with Marty, but Buford's gang captures Doc, forcing Marty to fight. Marty uses a firebox door from a stove as a bullet-proof shield, and hits Buford in the face with it. Buford destroys the tombstone and is arrested. With Buford no longer a threat, Marty and Doc depart to steal the locomotive.

Clara is on the train when she overhears a salesman discussing a man he met in the saloon, despondent about his lost love; realizing the man is Doc, and that he loves her, Clara triggers the emergency brake and runs back to town. She discovers Doc's model of the time travel experiment and rides after him. Clara boards the speeding locomotive while Doc is climbing towards the DeLorean. Doc encourages Clara to climb out to him, intending to bring her to 1985. The locomotive's funnel explodes due to the propellant Doc put in the engine to make it go faster and the locomotive begins falling apart; Clara falls off the side, hanging by her dress. Marty passes Doc his hoverboard, and Doc uses it to save Clara. They coast away from the train safely; the DeLorean disappears through time while the locomotive roars over the edge of an incomplete bridge and is demolished.

Marty arrives safely on October 27, 1985, but the powerless DeLorean is destroyed when a freight train strikes it head-on. Marty returns to his home, discovering that everything has returned to the improved timeline. Marty finds Jennifer sleeping on her front porch. Later, Marty uses the lessons he learned in 1885 to avoid being goaded into a street race with Needles, avoiding a potential automobile accident. Jennifer opens the fax message she kept from 2015 and finds the message regarding Marty being fired erased.

Marty takes Jennifer to the time machine wreckage. As they survey the remains, a steam-powered locomotive equipped with a flux capacitor appears, manned by Doc, Clara and their children, Jules and Verne. Doc gives Marty a photo of the two of them by the clockworks at the 1885 festival. Jennifer inquires about the fax and asks what it means. Doc tells them it means that the future has not been written yet, and that it is "whatever you make it, so make it a good one". After the Browns bid farewell to their friends, Doc’s train converts into a hovertrain and roars off into an unknown time.

Cast and crew

Cast

• Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly (aka "Clint Eastwood") and Seamus McFly
• Christopher Lloyd as Dr Emmett "Doc" Brown
• Mary Steenburgen as Clara Clayton
• Thomas F. Wilson as Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen and Biff Tannen
• Lea Thompson as Maggie McFly and Lorraine Baines McFly
• Elisabeth Shue as Jennifer Parker
• James Tolkan as Marshal James Strickland
• Jeffrey Weissman as George McFly
• Matt Clark as Chester, the bartender
• Dub Taylor as Saloon Old-Timer #1
• Harry Carey, Jr. as Saloon Old-Timer #2
• Pat Buttram as Saloon Old-Timer #3
• Burton Gilliam as Colt Gun Salesman
• Richard Dysart as Barbed-Wire Salesman
• Michael Peter Balzary (Flea) as Needles
• ZZ Top as the band at the dance
• Dannel Evans as Verne Newton Brown

Crew

• Robert Zemeckis: director/screenwriter
• Bob Gale: producer/screenwriter
• Neil Canton: producer
• Kathleen Kennedy: producer
• Frank Marshall: executive producer
• Steven Spielberg: executive producer
• Steve Starkey: associate producer

Production

Michael J. Fox was asked by Zemeckis, during filming for the original, about what time period he would like to see and responded saying he wanted to visit the old west and meet cowboys, Zemeckis and Gale were intrigued by the idea, but held it off until Part III.^[2] Filming actually began during production for Part II, but only one scene was filmed during that time.^[3] Filming was halted when Michael J. Fox's father died and when his son was born.^[2] Mary Steenburgen was cast in mind, while her children persuaded her to star in the film.^[2] Also, George Lucas paid a visit to the production crew on the set at Red Hills Ranch.^[2] Gale and Zemeckis have stated that Lucas is a fan of the trilogy.^[2]

Location

The western scenes were filmed on location in Monument Valley.^[4] Some of the location shooting for 1885 Hill Valley was done in Jamestown, and on a purpose-built set at the Red Hills Ranch, near Sonora, California.^[4] The train scenes were filmed on the Sierra Railway,^[5] a heritage line in California, using their locomotive No. 3 (repainted as Central Pacific #131 for the movie).

The place where the train crashes into the DeLorean in 1985 was filmed at Port Hueneme, California . The road used for the incident with the white Rolls Royce was Doris Avenue, with the corner of North Ventura Road, at Oxnard, California .

Release

The movie grossed US$23 million in its first weekend of US release and $87.6 million altogether in US box office receipts – $243 million worldwide.^[6] On December 17, 2002 Universal Pictures released Back to the Future Part III in a boxed set with the first two films on DVD and VHS which did extremely well. In the DVD widescreen edition there was a framing flaw that Universal has since corrected, available in sets manufactured after February 21, 2003.^[7]

In 1990, the movie won a Saturn Award for Best Music for Alan Silvestri and a Best Supporting Actor award for Thomas F. Wilson.^[8] In 2003, it received AOL Movies DVD Premiere Award for Best Special Edition of the Year, an award based on consumer online voting.^[9] The film received a Thumbs Up from Gene Siskel and a very marginal Thumbs Down from Roger Ebert^[10] on Siskel & Ebert, the opposite of their opinions on Back to the Future Part II. Aside from this, the film received generally positive reviews during its release. Rotten Tomatoes earned Back to the Future Part III a "fresh" score of 71%.^[11]

Video and computer games

LJN released an NES game called Back to the Future Part II & III, a sequel to their game based on the first movie. An arcade Back to the Future Part III game was also released that would eventually be ported to several home video game systems, including the Sega Mega Drive. However, the games ended up being a critical flop due to their odd level design, and few references to the films. GameTrailers placed it at number eight in their "Top Ten Worst Movie Based Games."

References

External links

• Official Universal Pictures site
• Back to the Future Part III at the Internet Movie Database
• Back to the Future Part III at Allmovie
• Back to the Future Part III at Rotten Tomatoes