Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes - Posts Tagged "back-to-the-future"

Crispin Glover who played George McFly in the original Back to the Future didn't come back for the sequels. And he claimed that there was a big philosophical reason for not returning:

He noted that he wasn't the only person asking questions about the original ending "It had to do with money, and what the characters were doing with money ... I said to Robert Zemeckis I thought it was not a good idea for our characters to have a monetary reward, because it basically makes the moral of the movie that money equals happiness". Glover argued "the love should be the reward", and "Zemeckis got really mad" over Glover's questioning.

This shows a Hollywood actor can be part of a great movie and entirely miss its point. The ending of Back to the Future wasn't about materialism, in the end it was about the power of a father to shape his family's destiny.

Warning: This discussion will contain spoilers for any of the three people who haven't seen it yet and you ought to

At the beginning of the movie before Marty goes back to the 1955, George McFly is a joke. He's been being pushed around by the same bully he has for more than 30 years. Biff Tannon is still getting George to do his work for him and reaping the profits.

George won the love of his wife because he was peeping into her window, fell out and got hit by a car. She felt sorry for him. Again pathetic.

Even worse, we learn that George McFly would let Biff interfere with his kids and call his kids name without any defense. George McFly was a weak immature man who never grew up and was never really challenged to. No wonder his kids grew up a bunch of insecure underachievers.

However, one moment in 1955 when he laid out Biff Tannon to save the lovely Elaine. The same woman fell in love with him: not because he was pathetic, but because he'd stood up for her. He grew up and developed moral courage. He became a different man and it changed the destiny of his entire family. Yes, that meant Marty had a nice truck, but it also meant he had a better family whose lives were touched by a father who could stand up for himself and for them.

Understanding that, I can get why Robert Zemeckis got mad because a 20 year old actor came in and suggested a major rewrite because he didn't actually understand what the movie was about. The sad thing is that all these years later, Glover still doesn't.

Back to the Future: Untold Tales and Alternate Timelines by Bob Gale

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects the initial four issue mini-series of the Back to the Future comic book series as well as the fifth issue. It's written by Bob Gale, the co-writer of Back to the Future, and he gives the entire book an authentic feel.

Gale decided to write a series where there was no real thru storyline. The stories are all things that occurred before the movies or in between films, thus the title. Were given more short vignettes such as how Doc and Marty met and we get to see the newspaper that led Doc to a cheap used Delorean as well as how Doc's how burned down. These stories aren't bad, but they're not particularly funny or brilliant. There's a reason why they didn't film this. Still, the book is never bad or boring, but most of it was kind of so-so. The best most of the stories did was be slightly amusing. However, if you're a bigger Back to the Future buff than I am, you may enjoy this more than I did.

However, the last of these Untold Tales story is really good and addresses a great question as to what happened when Doc went back to the future and how did he get the money for all the improvements to the DeLorean. It's actually pretty finally.

The final issue blew me away. It gave us Clara's story. I'd just always thought of her as the woman who married Doc Brown who was a schoolteacher, but Gale gives her a very moving and poignant backstory that draws on a lot of ideas from the movie and show the challenge she faced growing up a woman with her interests in the 19th century. It also offers more insight on Doc's trip to the dystopian 2015. This issue is outstanding and makes the entire book worth reading.

So overall, I'd give it a 3.5 star rating.



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Back to the Future: Continuum Conundrum by Bob Gale

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This second volume in the Back to the Future comic series represents a complete story, unlike the previous volume, which was an anthology series.

Its March, 1986 and Marty is missing Doc Brown and all the adventures they had, when they stumble into Doc at his old lab, but find that its Doc. However, its Doc before he built the train at the end of Back to the Future III, but after he'd married Clara Brown.

It's a nice time travel plot that takes us to a new year, introduces some new technology, and generally recaptures the feel of the movies. No, it's not essential, and the emotional stakes aren't at near the same level as the movie, and it's open to how well the art captures the characters. Nevertheless, this is a good time and worth a read for fans of the series. A big improvement on the first volume.



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Transformers/Back To The Future by Cavan Scott

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Transformers/Back to the Future is one of those stories that just seems so ridiculous, but somehow is a fun and satisfying. The plot is simple enough: after getting back from the future, the Decepticons find a way to get access to the Delorean and wipe out most of the Autobots and then set out to rule the Earth with Biff Tannen playing a major role (of course.)

This is just a bizarre and fun back that works in the wackyness of Marty McFly and Doc Brown helping humanity and a few surviving autobots battle the Decepticons. The strength of the story is its commitment to its premise and its big ridiculous ideas. The book doesn't have a whole lot of character insight or some great emotional connections. At four issues, it doesn't really need it. It just tells an audacious concept combing two great eighties franchises in one comic. If the possibility of combining these two universes intrigues you, this is worth checking out.



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