Growing up as an immense Back to the Future fan, I personally could not wait until the trilogy was released onto DVD. After waiting 12 long years since BTTF3 was released in theater's, my dreams came true and surely exceeded my expectations.

The BTTF trilogy on DVD is absolutely loaded with extras. Besides having a 1.85:1 ratio and surround sound for all three movies, the DVD trilogy contains over 10 heart pumping hours of extras for the die hard fan.

The only negative aspect about the DVD trilogy is the framing, seen in the widescreen format. What I mean by this is that when Universal pressed the scenes, they sometimes cropped a foot or two out of the picture, leaving a rather, different impression than when seeing BTTF in the movie theaters. In all honesty, I didn't notice in the first time through. But it is most prominent in BTTF2, as the power air drying jacket joke becomes not viewable due to the cropping. However, Universal has promised a re-pressing of the DVD's in February, so if you are a hardcore fan who cares about this, than I would suggest waiting until then. Otherwise, what are you waiting for?!

A brief synaposis of the plot before I dive into the DVD features...

The story begins when Marty McFly, in 1985, at his friend Doctor Emmitt Brown's request, meets him at Twin Pines Mall and discovers that Doc has invented a time machine and built it out of a DeLorean automobile. Libbian terrorists track Doc down to the mall and shoot him. Marty runs for cover, and while doing so, jumps into the time machine and goes back to 1955. Here, Marty encounters his father, George and mother Lorraine. Because he disrupted when they would first meet, 1955 Doc informs Marty he must get his parents back together or risk being erased from existence. After succeding in doing so, but not before troubles with Biff Tannen, a recurrent bully throughout the movies, Marty goes back to 1985 with the help of the lightning strike which stops the Hill Valley clock tower, in 1955. Marty safely gets back to 1985 where Doc informs him he will go into the future. The next day, Doc comes back and says to Marty he must come with him to fix future events. Marty's girlfriend Jennifer comes along as well. They venture into the year 2015.

Here, Marty successfuly engages in activity with Griff, Biff's grandson and changes future history, resulting in Marty's son being not arrested. However, Biff of 2015 steals a Sports Almanac that Marty purchases which tells every score from every sporting event between 1950-2000. Biff steals the time machine to go back and give it to his younger self in 1955. Upon Marty, Doc and Jennifer going back to 1985, they venture to an alternate reality to them, because 1985 changed due to Biff recieving the almanac in 1955. So Marty must now learn the exact time 2015 Biff gave 1955 Biff the almanac. Marty acquires the information then successfully gets the almanac back where he burns it. Doc, unfortunately gets struck by lightning while trying to land the DeLorean while in 1955. Marty, through a letter by Doc, learns that Doc was sent back to 1885.

While retrieving the DeLorean with 1955 Doc to send Marty back to 1985, they stumble on a tombstone which reads Doc died one week after writing the letter in 1885. So Marty once again goes back to the past, now 1885 to rescue Doc. Here, he runs into Bufford Tannen, a relative of Biff. After clearing Doc, they hijack a train and push it to 88 miles per hour sending Marty back to 1985. Doc however, remains in 1885 due to him finding his love, Clara, and rescuing her from the train that is pushing the time machine. In 1985, Marty escapes a train going straight toward him, but the time machine is destroyed. When he and Jennifer return to the site of what is left, Doc arrives with wife Clara, and his two sons on a train time machine to assure Marty that all is well...

BTTF 1
In the first disc, there is of course, the full length motion picture of Back to the Future. You are greeted with a very user friendly menu which lets you select from the movie, scene selection as well bonus materials.

Included in the bonus section are two neat documentaries of behind the scenes footage and footage while shooting BTTF1 entitled "The Making of Back To The Future" and "Making The Trilogy: Chapter 1." Both of these features are continued in the two sequals. They offer commentary by Writer Bob Gale and Director Bob Zemeckis as well as executive producer Steven Speilberg and of course, all the actors.

Also included are hilarious outtakes while shooting the first movie as well as a barage of deleted scenes. The deleted scenes section may be the most anticipated part of the entire DVD collection, as until its release, relatively few people either knew about or have ever seen. With commentary from Bob Gale, you get to know exactly where in the movie they would have fit and the reasons for their cut from the final production.

Other extras include a new interview with star Michael J. Fox looking back at his experience shooting BTTF1 while juggling his full time day job of working on the set of Family Ties. There are also feature commentaries with Bob Gale and Neil Canton was well as make-up tests, exerpts from the original screenplay, theatrical trailer and a special "Did You Know That?" section which include over 150 facts, trivia and mistakes about the movie, that everyone will surely be amazed at while viewing the movie.

BTTF 2

On the second disc, the full length motion picture of BTTF 2 is also found on again a user friendly opening menu which lets you select between the movie, scene selections and bonus materials.

Again, the extras are numerous and exciting here. The second parts of "The Making Of Back To The Future Part 2" and "Making The Trilogy: Chapter 2" commentaries are found here. All of the writers, producers, actors and director offer insight into the behind the scenes life of shooting the sequel and how it all came about. One of my favorite parts was how producer Bob Gale described how the end of BTTF1 was purely a joke, they never, ever intended to make a sequal, and certainly not two.. so when they went back to the drawing boards to come up with a plot line for BTTF2 they found themselves very limited as they had to pick up the movie with Doc, Marty and Jennifer all going into the future because of some family tragedy relating to Marty. Gale said how if they had to do it all over again, they would have never brought Jennifer in the DeLorean at the end of BTTF1 and never have ventured into the future for part 2.

Also included in the extra potion of the DVD are again hilarious outtakes while shooting the sequal and the ever popular and widely anticipated deleted scenes. Though not as numerous as the orignial BTTF, the deleted scenes do fully satisfy the thristy mouths of die hard fans throughout.

In addition, (YES THERES MORE!) is a 6 minute piece of called the "Hoverboard Test" which shows the viewers how exactly the idea, design, and the how to of filming the hoverboard for BTTF2 emerged from. There is also a Q & A with Bob Zemeckis and Bob Gale, as well as theatrical trailer, production archives, Huey Lewis's "Power of Love" music video and also a very interesting look at Industrial Light and Magic's (ILM) work on the great many special effects found in the sequal.

BTTF 3

The third and final disc features the full length movie which is accesed from anoth user friendly menu screen with the same options of viewing as the previous two movies.

The concluding documentaries of "The Making Of Back To The Future Part 3" and "Making The Trilogy: Chapter 3" highlight this disc. Also included is a neat little piece of how the art department team actually created the 1885 town of Hill Valley for the movie.

Only one deleted scene is available on this disc for BTTF 3, however the outtakes here do make up for the lacking of deleted scenes.

Besides the feature commentary, Q & A, production archives, trailer, and "Did You Know That" found on the previous two discs, the third BTTF features a nice commentary of Bob Gale explaining the concept behind the original theatrical advertising and marketing campaign, as they had a very limited budget to work with in order to try and make the movie a hit.

Found on the original VHS trilogy, which was released 11 years ago is a 20 minute piece with Kurt Cameron explaining the secrets of the BTTF trilogy. Everything is explained from how the hoverboard flew in part 2 to if and when they will indeed be making Back to the Future Part 4.

Additionally, there is a FAQ section and music video from ZZ Top.

The Back To The Future Trilogy DVD did not dissapoint at all. The extras truely show that with quantity, can also come quality. With all three full length motion pictures, 10 hours of extras to keep you envigorated within the BTTF series, and a price of only $45-50, you can't go wrong with picking a copy up. Whether you are a true fan, such as myself, or one who has never seen the movies, do yourself a favor and treat yourself to a look at one of the best DVD trilogy's ever to be released.


Jason
UMD311@aol.com



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12