The Film
Great Scott! It's been 30 years since Back to the Future first debuted. Two extremely successful sequels followed fairly quickly, making the Back to the Future Trilogy one of the most beloved franchises in film history.
Being a beloved franchise, it's no wonder that Universal released the Back to the Future: 25th Anniversary Trilogy Blu-ray five years ago. However, being that the actual "Back to the Future Day" (and not one of those fake memes) is now upon us, it sort of makes sense that there would be a follow-up release.
The Back to the Future: 30th Anniversary Trilogy set celebrates yet another milestone, but also October 21, 2015, which is the exact setting of the second film in the series.
Of course, the original Back to the Future is one of the best films on Robert Zemeckis' resume. And that really says something, since the director's history is packed with classic such as Romancing the Stone, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Forrest Gump, Cast Away, and more.
Hands-down, the original the best of the bunch. The story of likeable teen Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), his adventures back to 1955, and his weird but brilliant friend Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) is the most memorable, most quotable, and the one that you've most likely seen more than a handful of times. That's because it's fun, funny, and filled with family-friendly action (and a few curse words, which I had forgotten about!).
The sequel, Back to the Future II, followed four years later, with the tough task of taking viewers into a distant future -- October 21, 2015. Of course, watching it now, it's a bit laughable at the expectations, but as Zemeckis has pointed out, it's supposed to be. He wasn't looking to predict but to entertain, which he does for the most part. The jokes aren't as funny as they were the first time around and some of the acting is bit over the top, as are some of the situations. Also, it's a bit dark. Biff (Thomas F. Wilson) is an excellent bully, but a murderer? Whoa, this is heavy.
A mere six months after Back to the Future II was released theatrically, Universal delivered Back to the Future III. This is where the franchise gets back to its roots, for the most part. It's still not as great as the original, but Marty's adventures into the Old West are slightly less dark, more fun, and allow Doc to get more screentime.
The Picture
Universal didn't bother to upgrade the image from the Back to the Future: 25th Anniversary Trilogy Blu-ray; these are just the same discs in new packaging. Why bother? This is the best this trilogy has looked. I have nothing but good things to say about the 1.85:1 image for each film.
Back to the Future has a nice color palette, which surprisingly never seems washed out or dated. One of the many things that I love about this movie is that it has so many close-ups, which allows it to show off some pretty sharp imagery here. The detail on Marty's guitar hand, the lines on Mr. Strickland's neck, Doc Brown's sweaty brow, textured tree bark; it doesn't just look excellent for a 30-year-old movie, but for any movie.
Back to the Future II was filmed just four years later, so it's not like there were too many advances in filmmaking. Still, it offers a slight step up, with sharp imagery and colors that are pretty spot-on throughout. That sharp detail can be a bad thing at times. Maybe I'm just spoiled, but I think Blu-ray makes the special effects and makeup look especially cheesy here, mostly on the the plastic faces of Biff and Lorraine.
The last of the lot is Back to the Future III. This has a bit of a darker color palette, due to the dusty Old West setting. However, I thought the colors and details were pretty wonderful here. The horses, the lush greens, and even the blue skies all stand out. Overall, it's on par with the second film, which makes it a hair better than the original.
The Sound
All three of the films are pretty dialogue-heavy, which is clear throughout the entire trilogy. However, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track gets plenty of chances to shine on each film. Some of the action I wanted in the surrounds remained up front, such as screeching tires and gunshots. Alan Silvestri's score seems to be the star of each film, but there is plenty of great surround moments throughout the trilogy. There are birds, crickets, bells, horses, trains, fireworks, and flailing guitars, but really any of the scenes that involve the DeLorean are the ones that offer the biggest bank for your buck.
The Extras
The reason you'll want to upgrade to this set is that it adds in a whole new bonus Blu-ray. (Sadly, it dropped the three standard-def DVDs for that, but you still get digital copies of each film.) This extra disc does make this a great collection, but it would have been nice to see Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, and even Thomas F. Wilson get together for a roundtable retrospective -- sort of like they did with Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Still, the new disc has two new but slightly goofy shorts with Doc Brown and a pair of fake commercials "from 2015." It also includes the 2009 9-part documentary "Looking Back to the Future" and two episodes of Back to the Future: The Animated Series, which ran on TV in the early 90s. (If you pop for Back to the Future: The Complete Adventures, you will get all 26 episodes of the show.)
The last new featurette is Outatime: Restoring the DeLorean, a really interesting 22 minutes about the three cars used in the trilogy and how the "A" Car was restored in 2012. Apparently, fans can be real savages. Weather wasn't kind to the car, either. However, producer Bob Gale and the Time Machine Restoration Team helped put the whole thing back together again -- and even made a movie about it. This is just a snippet of a larger film, which had a limited theatrical release. If you're intrugued, it will be coming to Blu-ray at some point.
Final Thoughts
Hello, McFly? The absolute best way to celebrate Back to the Future Day is with the Back to the Future: 30th Anniversary Trilogy. If you already own the 25th anniversary edition, we understand why you'd be skeptical. You should be skeptical. However, this is a great release. The only way you could do better is by purchasing the limited-edition Back to the Future: The Complete Adventures set, which adds in the complete animated series, a 64-page book, and collectible light-up "Flux Capacitor" packaging.
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