ROBERT ZEMECKIS

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BBBB

USA, 1985.  Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment.  Screenplay by Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale.  Cinematography by Dean Cundey.  Produced by Neil Canton, Bob Gale.  Music by Alan Silvestri.  Production Design by Lawrence G. Paull.  Costume Design by Deborah Lynn Scott.  Film Editing by Harry Keramidas, Arthur Schmidt.  

This first instalment in the popular science-fiction trilogy is still by far the best of the bunch, and one of the most delightful time-travel movies ever made. Michael J. Fox plays a teenager who is taken back in time by a kooky scientist (Christopher Lloyd) to the 1950s. When he gets there, he meets a teenaged version of his mother (Lea Thompson) who accidentally falls in love with him, and then by sheer mishap he prevents his father from meeting his mother, thus negating his own existence.

What he must do to ensure his own birth and then travel back to the present is a whirlwind adventure that isn’t dull for a second. Lloyd is terrific as the loopy experimenter, and Robert Zemeckis’s script (co-written with Bob Gale) is one of the year’s best.

Academy Award:  Best Sound Effects Editing
Nominations: Best Original Screenplay; Best Sound; Best Original Song (“The Power of Love”)

Golden Globe Award Nominations:  Best Picture-Musical/Comedy; Best Actor-Musical/Comedy (Michael J. Fox); Best Screenplay; Best Original Song (“The Power of Love”)