Reely Bernie Faves: Back to the Future (1985)

For me, Back to the Future (1985) is more innate than nostalgic. The audible memory recall is crystal clear:

Hello? Hello? Anybody home? Huh?

Are you telling me that you built a time machine… out of a DeLorean?

Even the car horn and gas station dings that match the beat to “Mr. Sandman” upon Marty McFly’s 1955 arrival at the Hill Valley center is clear to me.

This was babysitter go-to material when I was a kid in the 80s. I remember the illegally-dubbed VHS tape my dad made, and I can still see his handwriting on the cheap label.

There is an airtight seamlessness to Back to the Future’s exposition, rising action, and epic climax. It is the fastest 116 minutes of a movie I have ever experienced. Thanks to Christopher Lloyd’s wide-eyed “Doc,” the necessary energy keeps the explanatory, (non-scientific) scientific dialogue flowing. Then, there’s the clever setup of Biff and “McFly” that occurs in ’85 and recurs 30 years in the past at the central, jukebox sitting diner.

Holding the entire timescape together is none other than Michael J. Fox (not Eric Stoltz). Did you see Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie? A must.

After taking guitar lessons from Paul Hanson and stage performance inspiration from Huey Lewis (“I’m afraid you’re just too darn loud”), Michael J. Fox goes to town on the electric guitar at the Enchantment under the Sea dance. “I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet. But, your kids are gonna love it!” (Chuck Berry certainly did.)

Back to the Future is all about suspension of disbelief. The vanishing of Marty and his siblings on the polaroid is an ingenious visual cue that literally and metaphorically demonstrates the butterfly effect of past events on the future.

The whole thing is simply joy moviefied, and a made-up word here feels as natural as traveling back in time.

Something also has to be said about the soaring, melodic, and heroic film score by Alan Silvestri. It is also innate to me, and it sizes up to anything John Williams. The brass motif complements and empowers the bullied, the ridiculed, and “McFly’d” out there.

In a way, Back to the Future is an ode to the underdog. Doc, Marty, and Marty’s dad prevail in the end.

Here’s a movie that is forever in my DNA no matter how far back I go as I get older.

Reely Bernie Faves:

1. Amadeus (1984)

2. Magnolia (1999)

3. Poltergeist (1982)

4. Pulp Fiction (1994)

5. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

6. The Godfather Part II (1974)

7. Weekend at Bernie’s (1989)

8. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

9. Goodfellas (1990)

10. Nosferatu (1922)

11. Pollock (2000)

12. Kicking and Screaming (1995)

13. Jaws (1975)

14. Fargo (1996)

15. Citizen Kane (1941)

16. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

17. The Endless Summer (1966)

18. Back to the Future (1985)

19. Angel Heart (1987)

20. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

21. The Goonies (1985)

22. Trainspotting (1996)

23. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)

24. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

25. Bambi (1942)

26. The Paradise Lost Trilogy (1996-2011)

27. Psycho (1960)

28. Parenthood (1989)

29. Swingers (1996)

30. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

31. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

32. Smoke (1995)

33. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

34. A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

35. Edward Scissorhands (1990)

36. City of God (2002)

37. 1917 (2019)

38. Black Swan (2010)

39. School of Rock (2003)

40. Mulholland Drive (2001)

41. Groundhog Day (1993)

42. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

43. The Greatest Showman (2017)

44. National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)

45. The Florida Project (2017)

46. Cinema Paradiso (1988)

47. So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)

48. Shadowlands (1993)

49. Steve Jobs (2015)

50. ¡Three Amigos! (1986)