This movie starts what is perhaps the classic time-travel trilogy. While it is definitely not the most serious of films, that may be what is most charming about it. The fact that Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), a high-school kid from California, can jump in a car in order to save himself from Libyan terrorists may seem dated now, but in 1985 when the movie came out? This was classic cinema. Okay, that might be a bit over-the-top, even then. But what makes the movie is that it's fun to watch.
Marty is friends with Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), and Marty receives an invitation to meet Doc at the mall one night to help film a science experiment. When he gets there, he finds that Doc has turned a DeLorean into a time machine, and a somewhat surprised Marty watches as Doc sends Einstein (Doc's dog) through time in the car. It all goes awry when the Libyans show up to demand their uranium back. I mean this is good stuff!
The Libyans shoot Doc, so Marty jumps into the car and takes off. While he's running, he inadvertently trips the flux capacitor, which is what makes time travel work, and unknowingly gets the car up to 88 miles per hour, which is what trips the time circuits. Then he's off to 1955, which is just what happens to be set in the control panel. That was when Doc had set the controls, since that was when he first envisioned things happening.
Before he knows what's happening, Marty is in 1955, and he's trying to figure out what is happening. The next thing he knows, he's being hit by a car - his grandfather's car - and his mother (his young mother!) is taking care of him. There's just one problem. It was supposed to be his father that was hit by the car, and without that event, they will never meet and fall in love, and if they don't do that, he can never be born, and if he can't be born, he can't come back in time. Talk about a paradox! There's only one man who can help him - Doc!
Marty heads over to Doc's lab and manages to convince him that he is from the future, and they set out to both send Marty back to the future and get Marty's parents back together. Of course both will work out, but there's plenty of action along the way. The way that the movie is put together is very well done, and dealing with time travel isn't an easy subject (just look at A Sound of Thunder for how badly things can turn out if you don't think them through).
Sure, it's lighthearted, but it's very well done and enjoyable for the whole family. But it's also put together in such a way that it's a solid storyline. Though the subject is a tricky one, there aren't really any flaws in the logic (you could probably make some if you wanted to nitpick about the technology). Just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Rated PG, but there's nothing bad here. Even the kids can enjoy it. Great Saturday afternoon entertainment.
Also make sure you catch the sequel in Back to the Future Part 2.
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