Back to the Future Trilogy 4K UHD (1985-1990)

[nick4Knight]

This is turning into an internet thread version of the movie sliding doors, Starring Eric Stoltz as Martyr McFly.

[Cognoscente]

There's enough footage of Eric Stoltz to put together a Sliding Doors cut of the movie. In the December 1993 issue of Empire, Joel Silver (a colleague of Robert Zemeckis) referenced the Stoltz firing when justifying the firing of Lori Petty during the making of Demolition Man.

Silver said: "You saw it on two days of film; so when you have a producer on the movie who is there on top of it, you say Okay, it’s not working. The studio saw the film and said What do you want to do? I said I want to change it. It’s a lot cheaper than shooting the whole movie like they did in Back to the Future. Eric Stoltz was the lead but, the last week, they realized it was terrible and reshot the whole movie with Michael J. Fox."

[emailking]

Lorraine wouldn't have been in the parked car in the original timeline so Biff may not have had the same opportunity while drunk. But yeah, who knows.

Doc wants to fix the future immediately because he has just witnessed firsthand the results of Marty Jr.'s mistakes. It's not that he doesn't know it's fixable by some other means. But what's a good alternative? Tell Marty what happens? That might change his whole life. Doc's probably not going to be alive naturally in 2015, although maybe with all his body upgrades he could be. In part 3 he's spent 8 months in 1885 and has had a long time to think about these issues and realizes it's best to do nothing.

[chewbabka]

This is a tech question, but since I encountered on only these discs so far, asking here...

These have both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. My Panasonic 820 played the HDR10+ even though I have both Dolby and 10+ enabled on the player. Is there a way to tell the player to prefer Dolby Vision to HDR10+?

[martydmc12]

Originally Posted by Cognoscente

That reminds me - Billy Zane has never done an interview where he talked about working with Eric on Back to the Future. Back in 2015 (when those BTTF books came out), I tried to tweet Billy but he would only answer other people's tweets. On Instagram, he posted a throwback photo of Memphis Belle where he tagged everyone except Eric.

The below photo intrigues me. The only guy at the back who liked Eric was the guy who played 3D, Casey Siemaszko. In an interview, he said: "It sucked when Eric was replaced. He is a nice guy. I didn’t get it at the time."

As a co-writer of one of those BTTF books that came out in 2015, Billy Zane (and the rest of Biff's gang) were asked to be interviewed. They all declined.

Also as a side note, most people got along fine with Stoltz, he just wasn't right for the part. I have it on good authority that even he didn't know why he was there.

[Cognoscente]

Originally Posted by martydmc12

I have it on good authority that even he didn't know why he was there.

When he was interviewed for the L.A. Times in 1994, Eric said: "Zemeckis told me I was giving a good performance in a film he didn’t want to make – contemplative and thoughtful instead of comedic. I felt I could have done the part had he pointed me in that direction."

[martydmc12]

Originally Posted by Cognoscente

When he was interviewed for the L.A. Times in 1994, Eric said: "Zemeckis told me I was giving a good performance in a film he didn’t want to make – contemplative and thoughtful instead of comedic. I felt I could have done the part had he pointed me in that direction."

There's always going to be "he said/she said", and a lot of different stories being said about what really happened versus what they want the public believe happened. All I can say based on what I know and what I was told when my co-writer and I were conducting interviews with about 95% of everyone involved in the trilogy, when it came to Stoltz being let go, the people who were in the room when it happened said he looked relieved.

We asked Eric to participate and get his side of the story, but he gracefully ignored us.

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by chewbabka

This is a tech question, but since I encountered on only these discs so far, asking here...

These have both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. My Panasonic 820 played the HDR10+ even though I have both Dolby and 10+ enabled on the player. Is there a way to tell the player to prefer Dolby Vision to HDR10+?

You just have to turn off HDR 10+ playback in the settings of the Panny 820. Once you do that, it will play in Dolby Vision.

[Cognoscente]

Originally Posted by martydmc12

There's always going to be "he said/she said", and a lot of different stories being said about what really happened versus what they want the public believe happened. All I can say based on what I know and what I was told when my co-writer and I were conducting interviews with about 95% of everyone involved in the trilogy, when it came to Stoltz being let go, the people who were in the room when it happened said he looked relieved.

We asked Eric to participate and get his side of the story, but he gracefully ignored us.

Interesting. Perhaps Eric knew that he was about to be fired, so the suspense came to an end. As for how he could have known, there's a quote from Matthew Modine in the previous page which makes me think that Eric was tipped off.

When I had first read Modine's quote, I wasn't quite what sure what to make of it until last year when Tate Donovan told Mike Lowery for Moviehole: "I think I auditioned for it twice. The first time Eric Stoltz got it. Eric Stoltz was the original. And then they got rid of Eric Stoltz and there was a whole new mound of auditions and we were all clamoring to get in there."

Anyway, here is another quote from Eric - this time from the January 2003 issue of Empire: "I wasn't quite ready to jump off a bridge, but my ego was shattered."

[dbach690]

This may be off the subject, but I just watched #2 last night and I have a few thoughts. Of course, it's not as good as the original. The 2015 sequence is over the top for me. The character of Griff is so unhinged; it's kind of hilarious. I noticed that one of Griff's goons reappeared in Ski School. Anyway, the film redeems itself in the second half when they go back to 1955. Moreover, I'm amazed how much nudity is in this film for a PG rating--even if said nudity is in an old magazine.

[Filmmaker]

Originally Posted by dbach690

Of course, it's not as good as the original.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Filmmaker

[Show spoiler]

I have to agree. I like II, but it's the film Zemeckis reluctantly had to make to get to the superior (and loads more fun) Part III - and it shows.

[Filmmaker]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

I have to agree. I like II, but it's the film Zemeckis reluctantly had to make to get to the superior (and loads more fun) Part III - and it shows.

[dvining]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

I have to agree. I like II, but it's the film Zemeckis reluctantly had to make to get to the superior (and loads more fun) Part III - and it shows.

I agree.

I love III. I think III is great.

II is a fractured movie that takes about 45 minutes to settle into the story it actually wants to tell. Once it gets to alternate 85 it actually has a story, but up until that the movie's a pretty looking narrative drag.

[Filmmaker]

Originally Posted by dvining

II is a fractured movie that takes about 45 minutes to settle into the story it actually wants to tell. Once it gets to alternate 85 it actually has a story, but up until that the movie's a pretty looking narrative drag.

[Geoff D]

I have to say, I really didn’t like Part II when rewatching it on UHD. I’ve never been overly keen on it but this time it just didn’t work, it felt like each act is the climax of a separate film, and even when it gets back to 1955 it just makes me pine for the perfection of the first BTTF.

[dvining]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I have to say, I really didn’t like Part II when rewatching it on UHD. I’ve never been overly keen on it but this time it just didn’t work, it felt like each act is the climax of a separate film, and even when it gets back to 1955 it just makes me pine for the perfection of the first BTTF.

Alternate universe Part II opening lines:

Marty: "Well, that sure was a crazy adventure with Jennifer. That was heavy. I'm glad we got her home safe, Doc."

Doc: "Sure was, Marty. Great Scott! Is that a sports almanac from the future?!"

[KMFDMvsEnya]

I and III are my utmost favorites of the three but the II is still a good sequel just has tonal shifts that make it feel a tad odd from the rest. It does have plenty of great parts though.

I do feel that it was missed opportunity to actually have the Jennifer character be a more active participant in the last two films but the focus of the story lies with Doc and Marty so that is a minor quibble on my part.

[dylrichard02]

I think 1 is the best, but 2 and 3 tie for me, neither as good as the original, but still alright. The charm of the first one is not really matched (to me anyway) by any other movie in the franchise or otherwise.

[Gacivory]

To join in this. II is my favorite, followed closely by I, then III.