#4 MAR 23, 2017 · 9 yr ago
Just seen this again. This film is everything the first one is and a western as well. The original was described as "everything you go to the movies for", the third one is basically all that with the added, "what else could we add to make it bigger?" "Let's make it a western on top of all that!" The concept could easily have failed, but it worked beautifully. Partly because, yes, in terms of story and concept this film is much closer to the first one than the second was; although the period setting is entirely different, the basic premise is exactly the same. Less actual time travelling to do, just go back and go home. At least that's the plan, of course Biff's ancestor Buford Tannen is one fly in the ointment, and Clara Clayton another, albeit in a very different sense!
Marty's ancestors here, Seamus and Maggie, are much smaller parts than his parents were in the first. Lea Thomson's position in the casting reflects this, and of course Michael J. Fox plays his own great-great-grandfather, who flits in and out of the story like a fairy godmother, insisting that violence is not the way. And the lesson ultimately pays off. Not only does Marty manage to subdue Buford without firing a shot, he also avoids the accident with the Rolls Royce when he gets back to 1985, an accident that was hinted at in the second film, and which Doc almost mentions here when they're getting ready on the sunday.
Doc really takes centre stage in this one. The first one was all about Marty, the second had no character focus as such, although if anyone had any real development it was the various incarnations of Biff. This time it's Doc's turn. He goes through every emotion known to man, and invents a few new ones too I shouldn't wonder! His 1955 counterpart gets to go over the top, accidentally hitting the organ and landing on chords straight out of a horror movie. Then it's the discovery of his grave from 1885 that sparks this adventure. And then of course when Clara comes along, we see a side to Doc that we never believed could possibly exist.
The character of Clara was well thought out. They decided to make Doc fall in love, and then thought about creating a woman that he could fall for believably, someone with whom he would just "click" like that. Clara is very believable in that role, and Mary Steenburgen plays the part nicely.
Also Doc's 1885 gadgetry is indeed fun. All these massive machines to do such simple things that we take for granted, it's a little bit like the opening scene of the very first film, where Marty enters the absent Doc's place and we see all his contraptions there.
Back on the character front, Buford Tannen is of course just the sort of ancestor Biff would have. He was mentioned in Biff's story in the alternate 1985 in part 2, but here we meet him, and he's a Tannen all right, no question! That whole family is nothing but wrong'uns! Also very considerate of his gang to all wear black hats, in the tradition of black & white TV westerns, so we know they're the villains!
Another nice touch is the ancestral Strickland, the marshal the grandfather of the headmaster. They've been keeping discipline for all that time too.
The climax is very much in the same vein as the first one - suspense worthy of Hitchcock himself. Not only are they trying to reach 88mph, but there's the element of getting from the train to the car. This time it's not about reaching a precise spot at the right speed at an exact time, it's all about reaching the right speed before they run out of track. All seems straightforward enough, until Clara gets on the train, and signals to Doc in the only way he can hear, by blowing the train's whistle! And then of course it's the 2015 hoverboard that saves them. The explosions work well and add to the tension. The only explosion that doesn't quite do it for me is when the train crashes - you can see when it hits the ground, the explosion a moment later is from slightly further behind where it should have been.
And then we see 1985, right at the end when Marty gets back, over what he used to know as Clayton Ravine, has now been renamed Eastwood Ravine after the name he used. I guess Clint Eastwood got the joke when they asked for permission to use his name, the idea of old-timers in a western saloon calling Clint Eastwood, one of the most famous stars of westerns there will ever be, a sissy, is beautiful. I guess it was either him or John Wayne, and that one wouldn't work so well for the joke because it's a macho sounding name to begin with! But the name change is just like in the original where the Twin Pines Mall became the Lone Pine Mall at the end.
But I digress. Back to 1985 at last - and instantly the DeLorean is destroyed. It's what Doc wanted, and Marty wouldn't have been able to do all the repairs on it himself anyway, but still . . . he can't go back to grab Doc. He can't travel in time ever again. This is the end of the story . . . and then after he saves his present-day future by not rising to Needles' needling, he and Jennifer visit the wreck, and suddenly Doc appears in a time travelling train! Along with Clara and their boys. Obviously this version of Doc has spent some time working on this train. He's been stranded in the past for a good few years at this point but he never forgot Marty. Clara of course now knew that he was telling the truth about his time travel after seeing it in action (and the hoverboard!), and judging by the ages of Jules and Verne (what would they have done if they'd had girls?!), they must have come from the early 1890s, about 1892 at a guess, give or take a year, if we allow a little bit of time first for them to get married, that would I suppose have happened in early 1886, Jules would have been born maybe later that same year or maybe 1887 depending.
As for how Doc managed it . . . it's one of those things that we just accept, because it's Doc and he's a genius. Even at the end, when the train goes up in the air. Where he's going, he doesn't need tracks either!
