With most movies I’ve seen, I have a fairly good memory of the first time I saw them, especially if they had an impact on me. I don’t remember the first time I saw Back to the Future too well though. I’m not sure whether it was a rental, or on TV. Either way, I enjoy the trilogy now just as much as I did back then, even if the ways I enjoy them have changed. Just a heads up, there will be a lot more behind the scenes details in this review than normal lately. There are so many fascinating stories behind this movie’s production that it’s worth a look.
Back to the Future was first conceived in 1980 by long-time collaborators and friends, Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. After releasing their comedy, Used Cars, Gale visited his parents and looked at his father’s old yearbook. He wondered if he and his father would be friends, if they attended school together, and realized he could test that if he could travel back in time. When he shared that idea with Zemeckis, Zemeckis remembered his mother’s often contradictory childhood stories. That conversation quickly turned into the idea that became Back to the Future. They would end up co-writing the movie together, with Zemeckis directing.
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