Back to the Future Part III Movie Review

Back to the Future Part III (1990)

Rent Back to the Future Part III on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Robert Zemeckis & Bob Gale (characters), Robert Zemeckis & Bob Gale (story), Bob Gale (screenplay)
Directed by:Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen
Rated: PG
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Plot
Marty McFly travels to the Wild West to save Doc Brown from "Mad Dog" Tannen.

Verdict
It's better than the second, but lacks the tense mood of the first. There are no consequences anymore. Anything can be undone. It isn't a question of if Doc and Marty can do it, but whether it will be done in ninety or one hundred and twenty minutes. This sticks to the formula of the first, with Doc Brown having a romantic interest this time, and multiple plot points concerning Bif, Marty's ancestors, and of course the question of whether they can fix everything and get back to the future.
Watch It. 

Review
The idea to set this in the wild west  originated when Michael J. Fox was asked what time period he'd like to visit during the first movie. This movie was filmed back to back with Part II. Seamus McFly was originally going to be played by Crispin Glover, but a contract dispute caused him to be replaced in Part II and Part III.

I've now re-watched the entire trilogy. (Review for Part I) (Review for Part II) The first movie was better than I remember it, and I already loved the movie. The second was surprisingly not that good, while the third was better than I remembered. The first is still head and shoulders the best of the trilogy.

This isn't as clever as the first movie, but it doesn't succumb to the common make yourself rich trope of the second. This has a bit more fun by traveling to the wild west, though it doesn't delve into the alternate dimensions that have been referenced in previous movies. How does Marty enter the correct dimension? The fact is this is entertainment and not a science movie.

While it's fun, the setting is uninspired and contrived. The movie is hokey compared to the original. I feel like I'm watching another one of Marty's shenanigans instead of a movie that's trying to at least pretend to stick to some variant of science. We get the same scenes of Bif antagonizing the McFlys and Bif eventually ending up in manure. It's not a bad call back, but the movie relies too heavily on them. This movie tries even harder than the second to emulate the first with an ill fated romance. Instead of Marty and his mother, it's Doc Brown and Clara. The movie franchise has just one formula. It was perfect in the first movie and just copied for the second and third. The third definitely juggles plot lines better than the second, but it still has a hint of silliness, from Clara on the train, Doc's plan to reach 88 mph, and Marty's confrontation with Mad Dog. The stakes don't feel as grave as the first, because the series has proven that Doc and Marty can undo anything.

The story is much the same in that Marty has to save the future. This time Doc Brown is trapped in 1885 and is in danger of being killed by an outlaw.

The references to Clint Eastwood in the second movie pay off here with Marty using the name and dressing like Eastwood from A Fistful of Dollars (1964). The theme song even gets a Western remix. It helps to have seen the second, but it's not mandatory. It stands on it's own well enough, another adventure in the saga.

Better than Part II, not as good as the first.

It's surprising how the movie treats Jennifer, Marty's girlfriend. The producers and writers must really hate that she was in the end of the first movie because that made them come up with a way to ditch her. They stick her on a porch and make two movies without her. There had to be a better way to handle this. While she does serve to bookend the second and third movie, it's comical how she spends most of her time.

Doc Brown rides off into the sunset in a train, now a time traveler rather than a odd ball scientist. The train doesn't compare to the Delorean, now an icon. While this movie is fun, it doesn't compare to the first. This lacks the classic moments and most of that is because at this point we have no concerns that Marty might fail.

While Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale, and Steven Spielberg stated they would not do a fourth installment, there was talk of a fourth movie in the mid nineties with Doc Brown going to Roswell, NM in 1947. I'm glad that never happened.