Entertainment
Only Two Weeks Left To Watch Sci-Fi’s Greatest Trilogy On Netflix
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
In the Back to the Future trilogy, characters like Marty McFly and Doc Brown are always racing against the clock (sometimes quite literally) as they travel through the past, present, and future. Now, fans of the franchise are in their own race against time: there are only two weeks left to watch arguably the best sci-fi trilogy of all time on Netflix. Whether you’re sick of the modern state of science fiction or just want to relive the greatest films of your childhood, trust me when I say that this time-tripping trilogy from Robert Zemeckis is better now than ever before.
The general premise of the original Back to the Future (1985) is that a charming Everyman high schooler is inexplicably best friends with an elderly, eccentric genius. After the old man turns a DeLorean into a time machine, our young protagonist gets stuck in the past. There, he must find a way to travel back to his present day, but he’s got an even bigger problem: his teenage mom is in love with him, and unless he can play matchmaker for his nebbish father, he’s in danger of never being born.
Technobabble Takes a Backseat
On paper, the Back to the Future trilogy ran the risk of getting mired in tricky technobabble that would put Star Trek: The Next Generation to shame. Fortunately, these scripts keep the high-concept sci-fi light and breezy, wisely choosing to focus on its charismatic cast of characters. These characters are just as accessible as each movie’s plot because they follow broad storytelling archetypes: crackpot genius, earnest youth, unrepentant bully, and so on.
The Back to the Future trilogy has a perfect cast, starting with scene-stealing Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown, inventor of the time machine. The acclaimed actor is great at portraying a larger-than-life character, one who has mastered time and space but still doesn’t know how to talk to anyone except a local boy who cares more about rocking out and chasing girls than wheeling through the years. Lloyd brings the quiet pathos when needed (like when his character falls in love in the final film), but he’s at his best when playing the zany mad scientist to Marty McFly’s cooler-than-school straight man.
Michael J. Fox’s Finest Hour
Speaking of which, Michael J. Fox is the flux capacitor at the heart of this trilogy: as Marty McFly, he is perfectly believable as a high school student with typical teenage hopes (like taking his girlfriend on a romantic lake date) and concerns (like his dad being a huge dork). Fox portrays his character (who spends his spare time skateboarding and playing arcade games) as the ultimate man of his time, which makes it that much funnier when he’s constantly stranded in different eras. From name-dropping Darth Vader to clashing with the principal, Fox’s character is an affable everyman that geeks everywhere can relate to.
When I was younger, I was a tad weirded out by how each Back to the Future film felt very different from the last. The first movie was a lighthearted romp through the past, for example, while the sequel was a far scarier adventure into a dark, alternate present. Meanwhile, the third movie was a Western homage seemingly concerned more with Doc Brown finding love than Marty McFly making it back to 1985.
This Trilogy Is Better Than Ever
Now that I’m a bit older, though, I appreciate that this trilogy uses these films to explore the entire spectrum of time travel possibilities. That first movie was lighthearted, but it explored the butterfly effect in a very natural way by showing how easily Marty McFly almost kept himself from being born. The second explored the natural follow-up question: how screwed would everyone be if the past were intentionally altered by someone for personal gain, essentially shaping the future in their own image?
I didn’t fully appreciate Back to the Future III until I realized something as simple as it is profound: Doc Brown is the main character of this final film and not Marty McFly. Sure, Marty’s antics (including nearly getting killed by the ancestor of the bully that would so thoroughly torment his family) are entertaining, but the real story is technology-obsessed Doc Brown getting stuck in a time period where everything is decidedly low-tech. Living in a slower world helped him settle down and find someone, and it turns out that control over all of time and space can’t compare to having the love of a good woman.
Time Travel As Secret Metaphor
That’s the secret hidden in plain sight with the Back to the Future trilogy: everyone focuses on the zany time travel adventures (which would later inspire the hilarious Rick and Morty TV show), but the heart of these films is the characters’ search for personal identity. In helping his father become a man, Marty becomes the kind of boyfriend that his main squeeze deserves; in helping his young friend find inner peace, Doc Brown finally finds meaning for his own life. Time travel itself becomes a metaphor for self-actualization, and watching everyman Marty McFly achieve his full potential is cathartic because he is cinema’s ultimate audience surrogate.
The Back to the Future films were likely a staple of your childhood, but trust me when I say that these movies are better now than ever before. In an age of tired CGI, the practical effects of these movies are still breathtaking, and in an age of blockbusters written by committee, these movies still feel personal and utterly charming. This trilogy is pure, feel-good nostalgia, and these films are fun enough for the family that they are perfect to introduce your children to.
Gonna Go Back In Time
You need to make those introductions pretty fast, though, as the Back to the Future trilogy leaves Netflix after November 30. As of this writing, you have about two weeks left to watch the greatest sci-fi trilogy ever made before it hits 88 miles per hour and vanishes from this streaming platform altogether. After that, you may need to just grab the Blu-Rays from Wal-Mart, or maybe just build yourself a time machine so you can return to the past and watch the movies on Netflix.
Buy one of the most expensive vintage cars, pioneer a flux capacitor, and power the whole thing with plutonium you steal from murderous Libyans? Honestly, I’d take that over a trip to Wal-Mart any day of the week!
