Jeremy Clarke reviews
Back To The Future 2
Distributed by
Pioneer LDCE
- Cat.no: PLFEB 35191
- Cert: PG
- Running time: 105 minutes
- Sides: 2 (CLV)
- Year: 1989
- Pressing: UK, 1996
- Chaptered: NO
- Sound: Dolby Surround
- Widescreen: 1.85:1
- Price: £19.99
Director:
Starring:
Michael J. Fox
Christopher Lloyd
Thomas F. Wilson
Lea Thompson
If its predecessor is Zemeckis’ best to date,
this sequel comes a close second. BTTF II’s not a film that should be
seen before viewing part one as
it builds heavily on what has gone before and makes little sense as a stand
alone entity.
Opening on the Saturday in 1985, where BTTF ended, this second
adventure of Marty McFly (Fox) and nutty scientist Doc Brown (Lloyd) has
their Delorean travel first to 2015, then return to a drastically altered
1985 and finally back to 1955... and the very same night featured
in BTTF.
Where BTTF featured various cast members playing themselves thirty
years younger in 1955, this goes for broke with several stars (Fox, Wilson,
Lloyd, Thompson) playing their own descendants thirty years down the line
sometimes in addition to their older selves. It tops this in the 1955 segment
where Fox’s McFly and Lloyd’s Doc have to avoid contact with their previously
returned selves as they weave their way around the storyline of BTTF.
Michael J. Fox, for instance, is in the audience watching himself play
electric guitar on stage at the Enchantment Under The Sea Dance. Such
tricks - along with the characters frequently meeting one another - is
accomplished by impressive use of split screen which looks as seamless on
disc as it originally did in the cinema.
Beyond its indisputable place in the annals of special effects, though, the
film must go down as unique among time travel movies (or, indeed, movies
period) for being the only one where the protagonists actually revisit the
narrative of the first film: full marks to Zemeckis' and Gale's clever script
for pulling off the seemingly impossible.
Use of Surround here, while more polished than before, never achieves quite
the heights of BTTF's opening clocks sequence. As in
Pioneer's BTTF LD, lack of chapters is again an irritation. A further
minus is the side break coming abruptly at the end of a dialogue scene, even
if this does mean the second side starts off rather well with a spaghetti
Western playing on a television set. Considering the fade to black around ten
minutes earlier (when Fox is knocked out) - which would have been perfect -
it makes little sense that the side break occurs where it does.
Such annoyances aside, though, BTTF II looks if anything even more
lovingly lensed than BTTF and is served well by LD. The medium also
does wonders for characters frequently glimpsed in the distant background or
far away cars flying, hovering in, or hurtling through the air.
As before, the low price tag helps a lot and we look forward to
Pioneer at some stage releasing the third instalment. "That’s all in the
past," says Doc Brown. "You mean the future," replies
Marty. "Whatever," responds Doc. Speaking of which, this also
includes, on the end of side two and in the following order, trailers
for Twister (1.85:1), BTTF
and BTTF III (both full screen).
Before that, BTTF II proper ends with taster clips from BTTF III,
wherein the characters return to or are reincarnated as their ancestors in the
Old West. Parts II and III were conceived and shot back to back by Zemeckis
and Gale, with plenty of Old West and BTTF III references that only
become evident in BTTF II in retrospect.
Finally, be warned that this is a film which divides people who like the
original. (Personally I love it.) If you’ve never seen BTTF II and
dislike intensely convoluted plot - which this possesses in spades - it might
not be a bad idea to take a look at a friend’s copy before you buy. That said,
it’s a great movie, a steal at the price and, like its predecessor, highly
recommended.
Film 4/5
Picture 5/5
Sound 4/5
Review copyright © Jeremy Clarke, 1996.
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Jeremy Clarke
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