1989 Back to the Future Part II

At the end of the original movie, the monicker, TO BE CONTINUED was a joke. Yet Back to the Future was such a hit for Universal that the execs wanted more. So Robert Zemeckis and his writer/producer Bob Gale went back to the drawing board and issued us a sequel that not only expands the whole concept, it throws everything out and back in again.

The movie was shot back to back with part three, which was released just 6 months later in 1990. It was designed to be a middle, in the same vein as The Empire Strikes Back, it is meant to cause complete upheavel for the audience and pose more questions than it answers. For some this was a sticking point and led to a mixed reaction; for me, I loved it.

The ending, which I won't spoil for anyone, is so beautifully done that it remains in the memory long after the movie is done. It begins with Marty and the Doc going to the future to sort out Marty's kids. It gets a little messy but the two return to 1985 job done. However, they soon realise they are in an alternative 1985, the timeline having been changed. So they must return to 1955, the setting of the original movie, to reset the timeline. It ends on a wonderful cliffhanger.

The cast return with the exception of Jennifer, played by Claudia Wells in the first movie and in the sequels by Elizabeth Shue. Michael J. Fox by this time was a movie star and had no commitments to television that dogged the shooting of the first movie. Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown is in his element in this movie, amping up the eccentricity.

The movie zips along, there are some great in-jokes for movie buffs, and everyone involved look like they're having a blast. Chapter 3, while still a good film, lacks in the same way most concluding chapters do, in that it all has to end. Sometimes leaving the audience wanting more, as the first one did, is a far better option.

This sequel did not hit the heights of the first but still made an excellent $331m at the box office. It is a trilogy well worth checking out.



Search Abe Books for the novel and more at: back to the future part 2