The summer of 1985 were the transition months of my life from 7th to 8th grade. It was another summer of fun in my middle school years. It was a time to hang out with my friends, go to the summer program at the Wenham playground filled with activities and games, shoot down waterslides, go to Canobie Lake Park with the other altar boys and go to the movies. 10 summers previous the summer blockbuster movie season had begun with Jaws. I was too young to partake of the terror this film gave to beach goers. Probably a good thing as I like to go swimming in the pond down the hill from my house.
5 summers previous I got to explore the galaxy on an ice planet, a swamp planet, a city in the clouds, a chase through an asteroid belt and a messy love triangle in the greatest movie since Star Wars namely The Empire Strikes Back. I had Star Wars action figures, a mini-death star, a t-shirt with Luke on a Tan-Tan, records, trading cards, and books. Just the year before I got to see Indiana Jones do all sorts of crazy stunts in his latest motion picture which included a dinner of bugs monkey brains and goy to see a giant Marshmallow Man threaten to end the world.
That summer The Goonies brought a group of friends together to go on an adventure. It reminded me of my group of friends I hung out with. It had the kid from temple of doom as a gadget guru who invented stuff that helped them along on their quest to get to one-eyed Willy’s gold. It had a waterslide, dangerous traps, a great theme song by Cindy Lauper and a kid my age kissing a very pretty girl. The kid would grew up to star in The Lord of the Rings films. What was not to love in this movie?
Going to the movies was a great magical experience as a gen-xer growing up the 80’s. It brought me to a world larger than life. A world I could not visit unless I went to the cinema. As cool as watching The A-Team on TV at home it was still great to get away to the the theater. As the summer of 85 continued, a film came out in the heart of summer that made going to the movies more grand, exciting and mysterious then all the others I had seen so far up to that point in my life.
It was my mother who brought me to my first screening of Back to the Future. It was just after the school season had ended at the beginning of July. BTTF was released in theaters on July 3, 1985 . It was at the Loews movie theater at the Liberty Tree Mall. Or was it USA cinemas at the time? Once it Sack cinemas. It had only two theaters which were both huge. A few years later when I turned 16 I got a job at that theater. My older sister Patty eventually got a job there also. My friends loved it as I got them free tickets to movies.
For some reason the film kept breaking and the projectionist had to keep fixing it. It wasn’t all digital back then. That was the big glitch in the enjoyment of the movie. I may have objected to some of the language but was otherwise mesmerized. I can’t remember what my mother thought of it. But I loved it. So much so that I saw it several times in the theaters. The first time I saw it I was completely unaware of what was going to happen storywise. The mystery of the DeLorean time machine going back and sticking Marty back in the 1950s with his existence at stake was a storehouse of thrills, tension and surprisingly laughs.
- Would Marty be erased from existence?
- Was Doc really dead in the future?
- Would George get to kiss Loranne on the floor before it was too late?
- Would the Delorean make it under the wire before the clock tower was struck by lighting?
These were the questions that this movie made you ask as you sat amazed at what was happening and pondered as you munched your popcorn. One of the great joys of re-watching this movie with other people who had never seen it before, gaze in wonder at the same thing I saw with my mother for the first time and ponder these same things.
I believe that I can practically quote any scene from this movie as it is so vivid and alive in my imagination. I can sing along with practically all the songs. One of the first albums I ever owned on cassette tape was the Back to the Future soundtrack. It helped that one of my favorite bands of the 80’s, Huey Lewis and the News, sang the two signature songs of the film. It brought Johnny B. Goode to a whole other level of greatness. Sometimes when there is a tense moment of some time restraint in my life, the theme music starts playing in the background of my head.
BTTF has a few moments of faith. One of the greatest moments in the film is Doc Brown explaining how the time machine works to Marty and suggesting that if you wanted to see the birth of Christ you would set this date. Even Jesus makes a small cameo. It was interesting to learn that in real life Thomas F. Wilson who plays the bully who mucks up the works and creates obstacles to overcome for the hero is in real life a committed catholic. People of faith live and are active in the stories and life we live.
The magic of this film still resonates when I watch this film today. I honestly think it continues in Parts 2 and 3 but not in quite the same way. The trilogy as a whole is my favorite film series of all time. I think I was more influenced in my creativity by Star Wars, as it shows in some of the stories I wrote as a kid, but I have more affection for Back to the Future. Time travel stories are my favorite genre of storytelling. A person is in a place where there not supposed to be and watching how they react in a situation they shouldn’t be in is fascinating and provides some great story telling.
Back to the Future 40 years later is still astonishing audiences especially with the Live on Stage Musical, which I still haven’t seen. Perhaps I will see it at some point. I also would like to rewatch the first movie again with someone who hasn’t seen it and watch the happiness that comes from watching the wonderment of the story unfold before them.
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