Back to the Future

[Randall]

Well, that BTTFT tin also has lots of goodies inside, too!

[Ben]

So...no-one's heard of this coming out in the US, even as a store exclusive?

[Randall]

Looks like UK only. Here's the beauty shot:

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=5163

[Ben]

Yep...same shot as on the Amazon.UK page, but that's the final artwork. In my searches, there's someone out there with the box in hand, and the posters don't look quite so cool.

But I'm loving the license plate and the smaller repros. Apparently the Doc/Marty photo is a pixelated framegrab, and the Almanac is just eight pages of sports stats, but the art cards and overall tin are too good to pass up for me.

I'm going to go ahead and order the US set for the packaging/discs, and go for the UK tin for the extra goodies. The discs are region free so I'll be able to shift the UK box inside the tin without too many problems.

Betcha, though, that Uni pull a fast one like they did with Coraline, and announce this same tin for the US in November...

[Randall]

Too true. I think I'm satisfied with the regular edition anyhow.

[ShyViolet]

Wow, he's really amazing!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/peopl ... 22282.html

[Ben]

I've actually been following the progress of this for a couple of years now. Despite Fox's pull it's still taken him that long to get this to series. That said, at least they're going straight to series before the pilot is shown, suggesting that will become the first episode in a season run.

I'm not hot on the title, when it's not The Michael J Fox Show but a program about another character, but I guess that's the trade off for getting it on air (by using his name as the main pull) in this day and age, and it's not like The Phil Silvers Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show or The Bob Newhart Show did anything different.

If anything, it's quite a nice throwback to those kinds of programs, putting the onus fair and squarely on its star. I think this is going to be a terrific blend of Family Ties/Spin City sharp-edged comedy, tinged with some deeper drama; it's going to be special, I think (and hope).

[ShyViolet]

I saw a preview for this. It looks amazing! He's a truly awesome person!

[ShyViolet]

I have recently been re-watching part two and am stunned at how darkly brilliant it is. There is so much hidden meaning and depth to it; watching how Marty's life might play out if he made the wrong choices is fascinating and in some ways quite depressing. Despite his immense likability, Marty, like everyone, has traits that are less than noble: self-pity, greed, laziness and a fragile ego that can't take anyone calling him a name without a fight. His first sentence after learning that Biff took the book and went back in time is: "Son of a b**** stole my idea!" Even during the mission to get the book from Biff and destroy it, you can see in Marty's eyes that part of him still wants the book so he can get rich.
Marty Jr.'s personality also makes you question what kind of father Marty turned out to be. Marty Jr. is spoiled and lazy (a deleted scene shows him whining about not being able to watch TV) and completely unable to stand up for himself. Watching Marty Jr. being bullied by Griff and his gang must have been particularly galling for Marty after seeing his own father being bullied by Biff in 1955.
History, as so often in the trilogy, is indeed repeating itself.
Marty's marriage to Jennifer also has obvious cracks: Marty comments how Jennifer "should have been home hours ago.....I'm having a hard time keeping track of her." This may be a more than subtle hint that Jennifer is having an affair. There are other sad moments as well: Marty trying his hand at his old guitar after being fired: obviously, as Lorraine said, Marty gave up on his music years ago "and spent all those years feeling sorry for himself." Watching Marty's life crumble despite Marty Jr.'s fate being averted from being arrested is extremely sad: the complete opposite of the optimistic ending of part 1. Despite his parents changing for the better, Marty's future is far from assured.

[ShyViolet]

Awesome reuniting of the cast on the Today Show (from 2010, to celebrate the Blu-Ray release) Unfortunately no Tom Wilson or Crispin Glover.




(about 10 minutes long...hope it's ok. )

[ShyViolet]

Back in Time documentary trailer:

[EricJ]

Awesome reuniting of the cast on the Today Show (from 2010, to celebrate the Blu-Ray release) Unfortunately no Tom Wilson or Crispin Glover.

Crispin's not likely to come back, as one of the reasons that had him cut out of BTTF2 was his idealistic protests that "So that's the message at the end (of BTTF1)?--The family's happier now that they're rich and successful?"
(Hoo-boy....And they thought Eric Stolz was taking the thing way too seriously. )
Turns out Glover really was that weird all along.

[Ben]

Back in Time documentary trailer

Is this going to be on the new "Complete" BD set? Universal previously picked up fan doc "The Shark Is Still Working" for their Jaws disc so it wouldn't be unprecedented...

[Dan]

So according to the "Doc Brown Saves the World" short, inventions like the Hoverboard and especially Mr. Fusion will be responsible for a nuclear apocalypse that will occur in 2045 (thanks to Griff Tannen), thus Doc had to make numerous time jumps to prevent these things from existing.

...

*runs upstairs to check on Hoverboard purchased at Comic Con a couple years ago*

[Ben]

Just sent these thoughts to Rand by email and thought I would share them here, for what it's worth...just a quick note to warn you off the Back To The Future fan doc Back In Time, which I just saw.

We watched the trilogy on Future Day, Wednesday, and followed it up with the doc last night. I'm a bit wary of fan docs because despite good intentions these people ultimately are not professionals and the end results can be lacking in technical accomplishment if not content. Some can be great, and I have yet to see the one on Superman Lives, and some can be worthy but lame attempts to punch above their weight (Persistence Of Vision, about Thief And The Cobbler, lacks from a technical polish and lightness of content).

Back In Time isn't "bad", but it's not what you think it is, promising the "inside story" on the trilogy and beyond. Well, the breakdown is this: a half hour on the first film, culled from new interviews with most of the big cast names (and some minor ones) but saying absolutely nothing that you haven't got on the DVD or BD sets. Eric Stoltz is referenced, but covered more on the DVDs, and there's very little real behind the scenes stuff and no revelations or anything really interesting of note, actually.

Then it segues into a long stretch on the fans, by way of those that have owned or restored DeLoreans, been touched by the film, the Secret Cinema screenings, etc...none of which really focus enough on any one topic for a good amount of time (or those that are actually the more interesting anyhow) and have little to do with why we're watching this documentary (though I will say the time dedicated to the Fox Foundation is warranted and it's heartbreaking seeing the real "Marty" in 2015). Then, although the sequels have also been promised to be explored as well, they're only quickly brushed off in around five to ten minutes, and not very well at that since this part is intercut with other stuff such as what amounts to be a promo video for a guy pushing his "flying car" company.

And then the thing, which you think is going to be great at just over an hour and a half, is finished. Huh. I actually felt for my friend who brought his copy round to watch that he'd shelled out for this, and I could tell he wasn't too pleased either. I was also surprised at the few amounts of swearing in it, for a doc dealing with a set of family films. I know they do have the odd word in them themselves, but you don't really need that in a doc. Some of the interviewees are odd choices, too, especially Dan Harmon, who confirms that he's a real asshole, to use BTTF language.

So, be warned. I'm certainly glad I didn't cave and spend the near $30 on a copy of this, and no wonder that Universal didn't pick it up to go in their new box, which they did with a previous Jaws doc that, despite also being light on new content, was well made and worth a watch.

Strike this off the wish-list, save your bucks and catch it on Netflix somewhere down the line.