Back to the future

[johnnygobbs]

I really like Star Wars IV-VI but I can't really compare them to Back to the Future or its sequels. I simply enjoy the latter films on another level. I respect your opinion and I don't mind if you like Star Wars more. 

I have not seen any of the Indiana Jones films entirely, but when I do I'll get back here with my own opinion on them.

The first Back to the Future is my favourite film out of all the trilogies we've mentioned.

But The Empire Strikes Back and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade are not far behind.

[Edd Grayson]

I can watch Back to the Future on its own and think it's the best, but even if I watch the other two I don't feel that they're really far from the original in quality, they're still very good.

I loved The Empire Strikes Back, for me it was even better than the film that started it all, Star Wars (1977). By comparison, Return of the Jedi wasn't quite at that height, but it was still quite good and a fitting end.

[thecolorsblend]

Dude, I totally get that but at the same time there's a friggin' honesty to Jedi that grabs me every time. I love the entire original trilogy for different reasons but, man, Jedi really was something else.

[Edd Grayson]

Dude, I totally get that but at the same time there's a friggin' honesty to Jedi that grabs me every time. I love the entire original trilogy for different reasons but, man, Jedi really was something else.

I know what you mean, really. There are are fans who aren't fond of it, but I still think it's much better than third films in other series, and certainly not inferior. Except that I prefer "Empire" over it and "A New Hope" remains more special because it was the very first and I still remember how amazed I was.

[thecolorsblend]

I know what you mean, really. There are are fans who aren't fond of it, but I still think it's much better than third films in other series, and certainly not inferior. Except that I prefer "Empire" over it and "A New Hope" remains more special because it was the very first and I still remember how amazed I was.

Maybe I'm too nitpicky but I love the entire unaltered trilogy for different reasons.

For Star Wars (I have no idea what "A New Hope" or "Episode IV" mean because the movie is called just plain Star Wars, people!) there's this almost manic energy to it. It's everybody going along with this insane idea of using impossible technology to tell an impractical story on a shoestring budget and only two minutes to make the movie. It's insanity from beginning to end, the imagination drips off the screen and I just eat it up with a spoon. I just admire the BALLS of making that film, you know?

Empire is the character piece. The rebels won a short term victory but then they all had to get slapped down by the Empire in their own ways. By the end of the film, it would be fair to say that most of the good guys either have faced or are facing their worst nightmares. There's no big, climactic battle at the end to tidy everything up. They get the tar beaten out of them and then... that's it.

Jedi gets criticized but this is Lucas reversing and undoing all the mishaps, setbacks, shortcomings and defeats the Rebels suffered in Empire. What went wrong for the heroes in Empire gets set right in Jedi. And this doesn't come back defeating or destroying what lies in their path. It comes only from accepting what's happened and working to build a better tomorrow. And that can only be done with true unity of purpose and purity of heart. If the previous films (and to arguably even a bigger degree the prequels) teach nothing else, it's that it isn't enough to do the right thing. One must be possessed of the right reasons for doing it. THAT is why the Emperor ultimately lost. He wanted peace but not for the betterment of the galaxy; it's for his own sense of conquest.

Freaking amazing, I love the Star Wars trilogy.

And yes, I love Back to the Future too. I love the entire trilogy. If I have one gripe about it, it's how the legacy aspect ultimately watered down Biff as the villain in the third movie. He's replaced kind of generically with the Tannen family in BTTF III. That begins somewhat in BTTF II but really goes into overdrive with BTTF III.

In BTTF, he was deranged and when you set him off, there's no telling what he might do. But in BTTF II, he was a KILLER. He was totally scary by the time Doc rescued Marty from getting run over in the tunnel. And you kind of lose that once you get into BTTF III.

I do find it interesting that apparently nobody's arguing that Nolan's trilogy is the best of all time.

[JokerMeThis]

My favorite trilogy is Indiana Jones. Those are three of my favorite movies ever and were a huge part of my childhood.

As for the fourth movie, well, I prefer to be positive. 

[Edd Grayson]

Great post, thecolorsblend! Some complain about having Biff turn from school bully to genuine villain in Part II but I really liked it. The actor Tom Wilson was great fun as all versions of Biff and the other Tannens, Griff in 2015 and Buford in 1885.

I know that the original name is Star Wars (1977), but I used A New Hope just to avoid confusion since the whole franchise is also called Star Wars. Like the original Star Trek show is just named "Star Trek", but it became known retroactively as "The Original Series" or just TOS. 

And I am glad that nobody mentioned the "Star Wars" films from 1999-2005, not as the best trilogy of course, but at all. 

[johnnygobbs]

Great post, thecolorsblend! Some complain about having Biff turn from school bully to genuine villain in Part II but I really liked it. The actor Tom Wilson was great fun as all versions of Biff and the other Tannens, Griff in 2015 and Buford in 1885.

The Alternate 1985 Biff is an example of what happens when someone who is already a bully is given access to unlimited power and resources; he becomes a complete monster, although don't forget that the original 1985 Biff tried to sexually assault Lorraine.    And the worst part is Marty kind of put her in that position...

[Edd Grayson]

I think that even the "new" 1985 Biff wasn't different. He was subservient to George McFly and acted nice because George proved he was the better man and stood up to him. But he could still be mean to those weaker than him, which is actually what a bully does.

To Tom Wilson's credit, I never hated Biff as much as I would hate a similar character with those traits, because he played him as a comical villain for the most part.

Marty had a pretty dumb plan to begin with, but through a series of events that weren't controlled by him, he made his father stand up to the bully for real.

[johnnygobbs]

I think that even the "new" 1985 Biff wasn't different. He was subservient to George McFly and acted nice because George proved he was the better man and stood up to him. But he could still be mean to those weaker than him, which is actually what a bully does.

To Tom Wilson's credit, I never hated Biff as much as I would hate a similar character with those traits, because he played him as a comical villain for the most part.

Marty had a pretty dumb plan to begin with, but through a series of events that weren't controlled by him, he made his father stand up to the bully for real.

I don't think Marty's plan was that dumb.  But he was desperate and had to come up with something, otherwise he'd cease to exist.

I only blame Marty because he interfered with his parents' lives in the first place.  If he was thinking rationally he wouldn't have tried to rescue his father from getting knocked over by Mr Baines' car because he would have known that everything would have worked out. 

But I agree with you about Biff.  It's hard to hate him, at least in his 1955 guise, because he acts like such a buffoon.  But I think by 1985 he's become a lot more nasty, bitter and even slightly smarter, and when he gets his hands on the Sports Almanac he really turns into a particularly nasty piece of work.