Back to the Future - General Discussion - Blu-ray Forum

Moviefan2k4 · 10-05-2024, 03:44 AM

Hey, all.

I know there's several threads dedicated to the various home video formats and theatrical re-releases of this beloved film series, but in doing an on-site search I couldn't find a thread where folks could discuss everything related to the trilogy in general. So, I've decided to start one, and this first post is about my own history with the franchise. Its fairly-long-winded, so please bear with me. Here goes...

My "Back to the Future" Story

I first became aware of "Back to the Future" in 1988, when my folks recorded it off an NBC television broadcast dubbed "Back to the Future Night", hosted by late comedian and actor Leslie Nielsen. The program mostly consisted of the entire movie, albeit edited for language and commercials (concepts an 8-year-old child neither understood or even cared about at the time). But other than the film itself, the next best thing was that most of the station breaks contained footage from the making of the second film. I was mesmerized, having no idea how movies were made and just being enamored by everything I saw. This was also when Robert Zemeckis gave that cheeky interview where he said hoverboards were real, so naturally in my youth I believed him, and harped on my mother to get me one that Christmas (needless to say, that went nowhere). When "Part II" was finally released though, my excitement skyrocketed, and seeing the trailer at the end for "Part III" probably had me thinking, "Hold up - they're doing another one so soon? AWESOME!!!"

I eventually wore out that initially-recorded VHS tape, but then owned multiple official releases of the trilogy on that format over the next few years. The first DVD release came out when I was in college, and I'd learned the basics of Photoshop by then so I made custom covers for them. I loved listening to the commentaries by Bob Gale & Niel Canton, and watching all the documentaries and interviews I could find. When Michael Klastorin released his "Ultimate Visual History" book for the series, I immediately went nuts and bought a copy. In 2010, the Blu-Rays came out, so it was cool to see the films again in an even better video quality. I was fairly disappointed though, that Universal didn't make any more new bonus material for that release (they still ported over almost everything from the DVDs, though).

Around that same time, I got to meet Christopher Lloyd at a convention in Plano, TX, and it took everything I had will-wise not to fully geek out in front of him. I've always identified with Doc as a character, seeing a lot of myself in Chris' performance. He signed an 8x10 of Emmett in the brain helmet for me, but sadly I didn't have a camera so I wasn't able to take a picture with him. Three years later, at another convention, I met Lea Thompson, James Tolkan, and Claudia Wells. They were all super sweet, and I got autographs from all of them. I had my own camera this time, but due to the contracted rules of the convention they weren't allowed to do any free photo-ops, which I still think sucks. Last year, I bought a 1/6th scaled figure of Doc from Sideshow Collectibles - its still in the box though, since I don't have enough shelf space to display it properly.

I did recently buy the whole trilogy on the 4K format, but so far I've only watched the original. While it looked amazing, I did notice something which honestly puzzled me a fair bit. During the movie's first act, most of the outdoor daytime exteriors seem to be fairly de-saturated apart from the flesh tones. Indoor scenes like the McFly family home and Hill Valley High are fine, along with the night shots at Twin Pines Mall. By comparison, everything set in 1955 pops like crazy, almost as if it was actually filmed during that era. This new color grading doesn't really bother me, but I was curious as to whether Robert Zemeckis did this for the original release almost 40 years ago, and the 4K resolution just made it more obvious. I didn't find any direct way to contact him or Bob Gale online, so instead I sent two emails to Universal's home video department; I'm still waiting to hear back from them.

Anyway, that's my story as a somewhat-obsessed fan thus far. Thanks for patiently reading, and to quote our favorite mad scientist himself, "See you in the future!"

Dynamo of Eternia · 10-05-2024, 04:21 AM

Back to the Future Night was actually in 1989, just before the 2nd movie came out. I remember watching it, and I also recorded it. I think I actually still have that VHS tape somewhere. I'm about the same age as you (I was 8 in '88 and 9 in '89).

I also thought the comment about hoverboards being real (but being banned from stores) was meant as a serious statement. I told my mom that I wanted one. And she egged me on for a while, saying that she knew someone at work who could get ahold of one. I thought she was serious, but later found out she was joking (and this went on for at least days if not longer... it wasn't like she joked and then told me the truth a few minutes later).

A good few years ago now (but a good couple decades+ after the film came out), Mattel had a replica of the hoverboard available for preorder (sort of a crowd fund kind of thing, only they didn't charge you until it shipped) through their MattyCollector site at the time. It didn't actually hover, but it was at least official and from Mattel (just as it was in the movie). I basically had my mom get it for me as a Christmas gift to make up for the joke when I was younger.

A few years ago, there was an episode of The Goldbergs (which takes place in the 80s) in which the main character, Adam, watches that interview with Zemeckis saying hoverboards are real. At one point he breaks his arm doing something foolish (I forget what, it's been a while since I've seen it), and instead of admitting to what really happened, he uses the excuse that he was on a hoverboard... and his teacher says they aren't real. So then he's trying to film himself, making it appear that he was on one, and falls down, and after-the-fact "proof." LOL

To back up a bit, I saw the first movie at some point on VHS when we rented it. And then at some point I receive a copy of it as a gift (likely for my bday or Christmas, I don't remember which). It was a movie that I enjoyed on my first viewing, and it grew on me more each time I would watch it after. I consider it my all time favorite movie (and I love the sequels, too... I kind of see them as one big movie, even if the first film was made with no intent for a sequel).

I don't recall exactly when I first saw the movie, but I had already seen it several times, and owned it well ahead of the second movie coming out. My main reason for recording the entire Back to the Future Night event was because of the behind the scenes of Part II, but I recorded the whole movie as well.

I remember seeing the 2nd and 3rd movies in the theater when they came out. The cliffhanger at the end of Part II drove me insane, and I wanted to know what happened right away! For that reason, I couldn't wait to see Part III and I was super excited when it came out.

Considering that they didn't originally intend for there to even be sequels to the original movie, they did a pretty good job overall in making it seem like it was always the plan with how they handled the second movie.

For many years, I never realized that Jennifer was recast in the second movie. Keep in mind this was back in the VHS days and I watched this on much smaller TVs than what I have today. So the difference (at least to me as a kid) wasn't as obvious as it would be today. It probably wasn't until I was well into my teen years that a friend of mine pointed out that she was recast, and I was like "No she wasn't!"... but of course I was wrong! LOL

Even though I never saw the first movie in theaters during it's original run, I had heard and become aware at some point in my late teen years that the "To Be Continued..." at the end was added for the home video/VHS release, and wasn't in the original theatrical release. Even though I was aware of that, when the trilogy first came out on DVD in 2002, I was very disappointed that it was removed.

There is some commentary or bonus feature where they explain that they went back to the original elements, and wanted to present it as it was in theaters. And I can certainly respect that. But I was and still am disappointed that it has never been an option on any DVD/Blu-Ray/4K release. Given that the 2nd and 3rd films end with "To Be Concluded..." and "The End" respectively, there was a nice consistency between them when the first movie has that text at the end. This really annoyed me with that first DVD release. I've gotten used to it over the years, so I'm not nearly as upset today about it, but I would still love the option of a modern transfer of the film with that intact.

Back in 2010, a local independent theater that sometimes does special events had a screening of the first movie, and several of the actors were there. Including Christopher Lloyd, Claudia Wells, James Tolkan, and Lea Thompson. I got my picture taken with each of them, and I had Lloyd sign a DVD copy of the first movie, and I had James Tolkan sign a DVD copy of the 1987 live action Masters of the Universe movie, which he was also in. It was a really cool event.

I've seen some of the wider theatrical re-releases of the first movie that have occurred over the years. And on October 21st 2015, I did go to the theater for a screening of the entire Trilogy, though I didn't stay for Part III because it was starting late and I had to work the next morning. That was at a local Regal theater. I had opted for that because it was of the entire Trilogy, but in hindsight, I really should have gone to that same aforementioned independent theater where they were just showing Part II. They didn't have any celebrities from the movie there for the event, but they had a lot more going on (I believe they had several Deloreans in the parking lot, among other things). So it was more of a larger event there, as opposed to the trilogy screening just being older movies being shown in a regular movie theater, with not much else special going on with it.

I'm super grateful that Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale are in agreement on not doing any kind of sequel or reboot/remake of this, and not allowing it to happen since they have control over it. They are hoping to have this put in their estates so this is held up even after they pass away. Hopefully they can pull that off, preventing that from happening at all until they eventually become public domain, but which time I likely won't be alive anymore. I love these movies too much, and I can't see any kind of new film based on the property living up to what has already been made. It would just be disappointing, and I would rather this be left alone. There's plenty of other properties that have been and (if they haven't been already) will likely be mined for whatever dollar can be made from them today. I am happy for this one to be left alone and for artistic integrity to be prioritized over the almighty dollar. Besides, there's plenty of things that have been made and can still be (like video games, comics, etc.) based on this to still make some money from the IP. And I don't have a problem with those things. But leave the films alone.

I have a ridiculous number of copies of these movies in my collection. And at some point I plan to get the recently repackaged 4K box set with each movie in it's own individual case, though I will likely wait for a good sale.

Moviefan2k4 · 10-05-2024, 05:32 AM

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