Retour vers le futur 2

BACK TO THE FUTURE, PART II (1985) *** Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Thomas F. Wilson, Lea Thompson, Elisabeth Shue. First sequel (noteworthy: both pts. II & III were filmed simultaneously back-to-back) takes up where the first one left off: Fox and Lloyd heading to the year 2015 where Fox must help his family of the future (he plays three other characters of the McFly clan) battling arch-nemesis Biff who goes back to 1955 to alter history...again. Darker in tone and plot but still fun all the same with some mind-twisting plot lines and cool effects.

'Back to the Future Part II' takes off where the first movie left. Pretty much the essence of the first one is present except this time Elisabeth Shue has been cast as Marty's girlfriend. Like the first movie, this one too is non-stop fun. The original plot once again, brilliantly revolves around the time-travelling paradox but this time the interference with the time-line has huger repercussions that are more complicated to solve. It's slightly a little more complex than the first movie but the energy and entertainment level is the same. I liked Zemeckis's version of 2015. It has that ultracool look and the futuristic gadgets and gizmos were quite amusing. The soundtrack is equally wild. The camera-work and special effects are very well done considering that the challenge was greater (e.g. showing two Michael J. Fox on the same screen). Okay, so showing the same actor share the screen with himself isn't anything new but in most movies/shows it looks poorly done which is not the case here. With most movies, the sequel tends to be a let down but 'Back to the Future Part II' is a great continuation of the first film.

Continuing a movie as perfect as "Back To The Future" must have been a really tough job. What made it even harder was that the writers Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale had to ignore an important character from part one. Because Crispin Glover asked for too much money, his character George McFly, Marty's wacky Dad, hardly appears in the sequels, which constricted the storyline a lot beforehand.

Still, "Back To The Future II" turned out to be a huge success, commercially and artistically. The movie is every bit as clever and delightful as part one. I think most viewers don't realize how extremely complex this story is, because it's so enjoyable to watch. Gale & Zemeckis wrote a screenplay that takes place in three different periods of time, changes storyline more than once, has characters interacting with themselves all the time, but never seems overdone or confusing. The most original trick the two Bobs pulled was to virtually return to part one and have the main character interfere with the original storyline. I don't think that has ever been done before or since.

No, the movie isn't flawless in a sense that everything can be explained logically. Bob Gale admitted himself that Marty and Doc shouldn't be able to visit their future selves in the first place. There are a lot of impossible time travels in part two (you can read about them in detail here: http://mjyoung.net/time/back2.html). "Mistakes" like that don't take away any of the fun, though, and I still think that the "Back To The Future" trilogy incorporates the logics of time traveling better than any other movie ever did.

Besides the perfect script the trilogy's success is due to Zemeckis ever so beautiful direction and his eye for detail, and of course the great cast. Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Thomas F. Wilson and Lea Thompson, all shamelessly underrated actors, are once again brilliant. It's a REAL pity that Crispin Glover didn't return for the sequels, but as I've said before, Gale & Zemeckis did a great job writing their way around his memorable character. The only other actress that didn't come back was Claudia Wells, who played Jennifer in part one and was appropriately replaced by Elisabeth Shue here.

Summing up, "Back To The Future II" is a more than worthy follow-up to one of the best movies of all time. In fact, I think it's the best sequel ever made, only rivaled by "Terminator 2: Judgement Day". But that's a different story...

Back to the Future Part II (1989) was green lighted after the success of the first film. The film follows the further adventures of Marty and Doc Brown. This film and the third installment were filmed back to back. However the complexity of the storyline turned off many of the fans of the original. But this is what I enjoyed about this movie. Instead of being the same old run-of-the-mill by the numbers sequel, the film makers decided to do something different and make this a brain twister film. The beauty of this movie is that you have to pay close attention to it.

The film takes place right after the events of part one. Doc Brown comes back from the future to help Marty get his kid out of trouble. Instead of leaving well enough alone, all three of them head off to the future to try and change events. They managed to pull it off but unfortunately they tore a fabric in time due to Marty being greedy and the nosy efforts of Doc Brown. Can Doc and Marty safely restore the space and time continuum before the universe collapses upon itself?

A fun sequel with a few cast changes (Elizabeth Shue now portrays Marty's girlfriend whilst Crispin Glover is no longer with in the film except in stock footage). Most of the original players return to reprise their original roles. Michael J. Fox stretches his acting abilities by playing his son and daughter as well as his older self. If you enjoyed the first film then you'll really want to watch this one (if you haven't already).

Highly recommended.

As a huge BTTF fan, I have to admit that this is the best BTTF flick ever made. It has all the ingredients to please all audience of any age. I personally like the 50's stuff in it, but I am also a huge 80's fan (the present in the movie) and the future is just hilarious. Of course...it has been almost two decades since this movie came out, and now we know that the future that is shown in BTTF 2 is a bit funny, but hey...do you remember Total Recall? Now THAT is also a future that would never see daylight, but at least the BTTF 2 future is amusing.

I have seen this movie over a dozen times, and I tried to find things that don't match, movie mistakes etc. (yes..I am a pain in the ..)but the thing is, I KNOW that there are mistakes (like reflections in window glass) but this movie keeps your mind drifting away, enchanted by the great story and great moments. Of course Spielberg never intended to have more ingredients then the past (50's), the present and the future. But almost 20 years later...it is also a (another) great movie to see what the 80's were all about. (so another great moment for people of my age, born in the late 70's)

I recommend this movie to ANYONE, but watch BTTF(the first movie) first, because you can't watch part 2 or 3 without watching it in the right sequence.

Have fun! (I recommend the trilogy box, you can purchase it anywhere)