As I’m sure social media told you, Wednesday was Back to the Future Day. Yes, in Back to the Future, Part II, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) traveled to the date October 21, 2015. He had a serious case of, well, future shock and discovered the iconic hoverboard.

If I hadn’t bene busy, I would’ve posted a blog about this on the actual day. But considering Marty had a bad habit of being late, I suppose I’m in good company.

The Back to the Future films were always popular in my family growing up. My first exposure to them was coming across either Part I or Part II on TV, but it was always either at the end of them, so I was a bit confused by what was going on. Also, ‘80s cartoons taught me to hate the words “To be continued…” since I was never sure if I could see the conclusion. Then when I was about ten years old, we went to McDonald’s, which was doing this odd promotion where customers could get a VHS tape—yes, I’m old enough to remember those, shut up!—of either a kids movie or an adult movie (no, not porn). One of those was the original Back to the Future. It was the only one we ever bought. (I’ve not seen a restaurant do anything like this since).

I watched that VHS constantly. It pushed all the right buttons for me: it was funny, exciting, and science fictional. I loved Marty and especially Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd). I always looked forward to seeing those two actors, especially Lloyd, in other things. My favorite scene of the first film was always when Marty wears the radiation suit and scares his dad into asking his mom out by saying he was an extraterrestrial named Darth Vader and was from the planet Vulcan. Referencing two of my favorite franchises is always a plus.

Ironically, though it was Part II that inspired the unofficial holiday Wednesday, that was the one I watched the least. I saw Part III a lot because it was aired on TV at least once a year. I was into that one because I had an obsession with trains as a kid (and so did my brother Jarod), so the exciting climax with the steam engine pushing the DeLorean and then being rebuilt as a time machine was delightful.

I have vague memories of watching the animated series that aired Saturday mornings on CBS. It was hosted by Lloyd as Doc Brown. It always ended with him demonstrating some sort of science experiment after the animated story was done. I swear to you the guy who did the demo was none other than Bill Nye the Science Guy! That’s why I wasn’t surprised to see him when he got his own show a few years later.

My fondest memory of Back to the Future, though, is that it’s the first film trilogy I watched in one run. I was sixteen at the time. I’d suffered a traumatic eye injury (long story), and was bedridden for two weeks. I was told to do nothing but watch TV and sleep since anything like reading or video games might worsen my injury. I got tired of daytime TV really fast. So, I had my parents rent all three movies, and I stayed up late watching them. I needed a good laugh. And hey, it worked. I have 20/20 vision now! J

These films are classics. They’re a rare example of a film trilogy that is truly interconnected and dependent on each other. They’re at once a product of their time and timeless. Hollywood has been rebooting/remaking many ‘80s classics, but I hope they never touch these. They could never be replicated.

How did you discover Back to the Future? What memories do you have of the trilogy?

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