1.21 Gigawatts

Ever notice that Hill Valley of 2015 looks a lot like Universal Studios City Walk.

The popularity of the BACK TO THE FUTURE trilogy is a little surprising to me. I'm into the hype and nostalgia, which is what provoked me to pick up the new bluray box set. But revisiting the movies is a reminder of what they were.

The original movie was a great story. It's a template for an uplifting time-travel movie: if you could improve the way you did things in the past, you could improve your present world.

Part II is far more technically complicated and features a lot of iconic cinematic bits. It's got some really cool sequences, yes, but seriously it's a narrative dud. The narrative exists as an excuse for Zemeckis to build some new filmmaking technologies. It riffs on the idea of "repairing" the future without really adding something new; gags are recycled in a way that makes the whole seem increasingly less fresh.

Part III slows down enough to spin something that better resembles a satisfying narrative... but it's still a paler riff on the first movie.

Some really interesting docs on the discs, I must say. And the third disc includes the ENTIRETY of the old BACK THE FUTURE RIDE, which is crazy! Boy, did that ride suck... but you still rode it because you had to.