Enter Jamie and Doc
Doc: Great Scott Jamie!
Jamie: What's up Doc?
Doc: You haven't ever seen the Back to the Future franchise before October of this year!?
Jamie: That's right Doc.
Doc: But they're classics! Millions of people grew up with it as part of their childhood!
Jamie: I know.
Doc: How did people react when you told them you had only seen them all for the first time recently?
Jamie: Surprised and shocked and rightly so.
Doc: Of course!
Jamie: It would have been worse if I hated it or not even been aware of it's existence.
Doc: That's true!
Jamie: And it's only fitting that I watched it on the 30th anniversary in 2015.
Doc: Of course! Who got you to watch them then?
Jamie: My great friend Simon. I owe him many thanks.
Doc: True. Is that all your going to do, just leave at watching them once then?
Jamie: No, I'm getting the films for Christmas. I want to watch them again and let other Trekkies know why I loved it so much!
Doc: How do you plan on doing that?
Jamie: Writing a blog about it of course!
Doc: What's a blog?
Jamie: A blog is...never mind, I need to write this now. I can't travel Back to the Future like you!
Doc: Your right! Great Scott, you better hop to it then!
Jamie: Thanks Doc!
Doc exits and Jamie muses and starts writing his blog.
Hello Trekkies and welcome to my last blog of 2015! As you may have gathered from that conversation between me and Doc, this is a special one for me on my reflecting on watching the classic Back to the Future franchise a couple of months ago in October!
Yes I know a few of you may be charging up your Phasers at that confession. (But please leave them on stun!) However being a first time watcher especially on the franchise's 30th anniversary gives me a unique opportunity in exploring my thoughts and feelings about BTTF. In reading this blog the feelings of nostalgia of viewing it for the first time may come back for you and remind you why you love it so much! So let's get stuck into it and go back to the...well in my case the past where it all began!
How I got into it!
It started with my confession to Simon that I had never seen any of the films before, which shocked him. So he made it his mission to get me to watch all three. Later that day after my confession he expressed his surprise on our podcast Facebook page, which got some responses that mirrored Simon's reaction (and rightly so which is understandable considering how much I enjoy watching movies)
So the next time I went round Simon's he sat me down to the watch the first film and I loved it so much we eventually had the BTTF marathon watching the whole trilogy back to back in one day!
I expressed my gratitude to Simon for getting me into the franchise afterwards via Facebook and Twitter.
Doc exits and Jamie muses and starts writing his blog.
Hello Trekkies and welcome to my last blog of 2015! As you may have gathered from that conversation between me and Doc, this is a special one for me on my reflecting on watching the classic Back to the Future franchise a couple of months ago in October!
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| 30th Anniversary |
Yes I know a few of you may be charging up your Phasers at that confession. (But please leave them on stun!) However being a first time watcher especially on the franchise's 30th anniversary gives me a unique opportunity in exploring my thoughts and feelings about BTTF. In reading this blog the feelings of nostalgia of viewing it for the first time may come back for you and remind you why you love it so much! So let's get stuck into it and go back to the...well in my case the past where it all began!
How I got into it!
It started with my confession to Simon that I had never seen any of the films before, which shocked him. So he made it his mission to get me to watch all three. Later that day after my confession he expressed his surprise on our podcast Facebook page, which got some responses that mirrored Simon's reaction (and rightly so which is understandable considering how much I enjoy watching movies)
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| Response 2 |
So the next time I went round Simon's he sat me down to the watch the first film and I loved it so much we eventually had the BTTF marathon watching the whole trilogy back to back in one day!
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So that's how I came to watch the films. Now I'm going to tell you why I love them!
Why I love Back to the Future.
Why I love Back to the Future.
There are many things I love about Back to the Future, the characters, story and the concepts, but it all comes down to three reasons.
1. It's really fun escapism!
I know this can be said for a lot of movies and franchises, it's a pretty generic reason, but for me it's the truth. Sitting there for six hours back to back watching all three films made me forget about my real life as I became absorbed into the world of Marty, Doc and the times that traveled to. It's a franchise that knew how to have fun and embrace it with where everyone involved looks like there having a whale of a time, so as a result, you feel as the viewer that you are too!
In particular the DeLorean car as a time machine! It just looked so cool and amazing with the style and the way Doc had designed it, that quite simply it's awesome! I've definitely got to get me one of those!
Yes I know I sound like a little kid here (clear throat) anyway it's looks nice. But also how how fast it drives especially when Doc revs it round the parking lot near the start of the first film! It's also great with the variety that the three films offer in terms of the times he and Marty travel in, 1955 (the decade my dad was born in) 2015 (where we're at now) and 1885 (Western era) of what was. This makes it even more fun going into essentially different worlds due to their ability to time travel, which brings me onto my second reason of loving BTTF.
2. Time/Time travelling.
How the movies navigate time travel and especially the periods of time that Doc and Marty end up in really resonated with me. With the time travel aspect BTTF does a good job of messing with your head especially as the time travel has that knock on effect on all three films with them going back and forth to 1955 and then to 1985, onwards to 2015 and then... oh wait 1885 anyway.
The fact is I enjoyed being challenged trying to make sense of the time travel with the different paradoxes and having two Marty's and two Doc's etc. The movies don't insult your intelligence, but just show you. And even if you don't understand the time travel elements, (I'm still not sure I do, I sometimes just get a headache thinking about it) there's plenty else to sink your teeth into. This diagram explains the different timelines created much better than I ever could.
I know it's quite a mouthful isn't it!
1. It's really fun escapism!
I know this can be said for a lot of movies and franchises, it's a pretty generic reason, but for me it's the truth. Sitting there for six hours back to back watching all three films made me forget about my real life as I became absorbed into the world of Marty, Doc and the times that traveled to. It's a franchise that knew how to have fun and embrace it with where everyone involved looks like there having a whale of a time, so as a result, you feel as the viewer that you are too!
In particular the DeLorean car as a time machine! It just looked so cool and amazing with the style and the way Doc had designed it, that quite simply it's awesome! I've definitely got to get me one of those!
 |
| The DeLorean building up to a temporal displacement. |
Yes I know I sound like a little kid here (clear throat) anyway it's looks nice. But also how how fast it drives especially when Doc revs it round the parking lot near the start of the first film! It's also great with the variety that the three films offer in terms of the times he and Marty travel in, 1955 (the decade my dad was born in) 2015 (where we're at now) and 1885 (Western era) of what was. This makes it even more fun going into essentially different worlds due to their ability to time travel, which brings me onto my second reason of loving BTTF.
2. Time/Time travelling.
How the movies navigate time travel and especially the periods of time that Doc and Marty end up in really resonated with me. With the time travel aspect BTTF does a good job of messing with your head especially as the time travel has that knock on effect on all three films with them going back and forth to 1955 and then to 1985, onwards to 2015 and then... oh wait 1885 anyway.
The fact is I enjoyed being challenged trying to make sense of the time travel with the different paradoxes and having two Marty's and two Doc's etc. The movies don't insult your intelligence, but just show you. And even if you don't understand the time travel elements, (I'm still not sure I do, I sometimes just get a headache thinking about it) there's plenty else to sink your teeth into. This diagram explains the different timelines created much better than I ever could.
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| Back to the Future Trilogy timeline/time travel explained |
I know it's quite a mouthful isn't it!
Anyway what also resonated with me is how much of an impact BTTF has had on my life simply by the time it was made and times that Marty and Doc travel to, both past (1955) and future (2015 or in our case now the current present) With Back to the Future coming out in 1985 and the sequel in 1989 (the year I was born) these movies give me a brief glimpse into what life was like in the 1980s with the clothes people wore and the cars they drove. A look at the tail end of a decade I was born in, but can never remember.
When both Mary and Doc travel back to 1955 to get Marty's mum and dad to fall in love is where we get a true sense of what life was like in America and to an extent Britain as they both benefited from the same fashion, technology, music and hairstyles. It was a time my dad was born in and experienced it, which he has told me a lot about. BTTF shows us mullets, Rock and Roll (which Marty "introduces" to the crowd in one of my favorite moments of the whole franchise!) Jazz and more.
It was an era of big change in music, fashion, technology and more and Back the the Future pays a great homage to it.
However the franchise, BTTF Part II more specifically has fun with imagining what 2015 (our current year) would be like with futuristic clothing and hoverboards.
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| 2015, the future clothing |
It's fascinating seeing how BTTF thought 2015 would like and comparing to that year, which we are in now. Unfortunately we don't have fashion like that and we still need the use of roads! But the idea of using hover boards isn't totally out of the question as the BBC explain!
I also like the fact the BTTF Part 3 III goes further back into the past of 1885, back in the western era days.
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| Marty and Doc in the Wild West (1885) |
It was simply nice to visit a different time and setting and I've always had a soft spot for the western genre, particularly having my Dad and Nan who watch the old Westerns all the time, especially the John Wayne ones like Stagecoach (1939), Rio Bravo (1959) and True Grit (1969) to name a few.
3. A Timeless franchise that hasn't aged.
This last reason is an obvious one, in terms of effects, the film has (even though they still look quite impressive 30 years on). But the style and substance it brings through the script, the storytelling and the acting makes this one for the ages. That rare type of franchise that has something for all ages and is always fun and enjoyable to watch no matter how much time has passed as evidenced with people still talking, remembering and watching it 30 years on.
I'm glad I have finally joined the crowd (should have done it years ago) and this is why I wanted to share what I loved about the franchise with all of you.
I wanted to send out a big thanks to Simon for the use of the pictures he gave me like the BFFT posters and the Facebook and Twitter ones. Thanks mate.
That's it for now! See you all soon!
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