BACK TO THE FUTURE PART III
A film review by Chad Polenz
Copyright 1997 Chad Polenz
*** (out of 4 = good) 1990, PG, 120 minutes [2 hours] [adventure/western/sci-fi] starring: Michael J. Fox (Marty McFly, Seamus McFly), Christopher Lloyd (Dr. Emmett Brown), Thomas F. Wilson (Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, Biff Tannen), Mary Steenburgen (Clara Clayton), produced by Bob Gale, Neil Canton, written by Bob Gale, directed by Robert Zemeckis.
"Back To The Future III" was a sequel that didn't have to me made, but as far as unnecessary sequels go, this is one of the best. It doesn't have the originality of the first two films, but it is still a good, decent movie.
Just like "Part II," this one picks up right where the last one left off. Marty (Fox) gets a letter from Doc (Lloyd) from the year 1885 and learns he is happy and not to rescue him. But Marty is still stuck in 1955 (again) and needs the help of the 1955 Doc to get back to the future. But when the two realize the Doc of 1885 gets killed, the 1955 Doc wants Marty to rescue him (after all, that's going to be him someday). So Marty goes back in time and hilarity and adventure ensues.
It seems that every time Marty travels through time he gets stuck somewhere. This time he becomes stuck in 1885 when he rips the fuel tank of the DeLorean, thus the car cannot run without gasoline, unless they can get a train to push it up to 88 m.p.h. (ah ha!). There's a lot of the standard time traveling confusion and conflicts, almost exactly like the situations that occurred in the first two, but surprisingly enough it doesn't wear itself out. And for the first time, Doc gets the girl.
Mary Steenburgen co-stars as Clara Clayton, a school teacher who was supposed to fall into a ravine but Doc saves her at the last minute. And so a romantic affair develops between the two, and this is a nice little surprise. It's nothing too sappy and it's nothing too implied either, and it also affects the plot of the story. The chemistry between Lloyd and Steenburgen is pretty convincing, they have a cartoonish charm of sorts.
Meanwhile Marty is having a problem with the "Biff" of this time period - Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen (Wilson). When he continues to insult and provoke Tannen they decide to settle it once and for all at a shootout, except that it's scheduled at the time when Marty and Doc are supposed to hijack a train to go back to the future. The grand finale of this film is not unlike that of the original movie. It involves being in the right place at the right time and of course little obstacles crop up to get in their way.
Overall, "Back To The Future Part III" has a lighthearted adventurous tone to it. I hope next time Doc will build a time machine that is impossible to damage, or have it run out of fuel or power. What good is traveling through time if you keep getting stuck somewhere?
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