Back To The Future: The 2+3=1 Edit

This edit does exactly what you expect. It combines streamlined versions of part II and part III in a 2h48 mash up. It’s pretty linear and provides you with the experience of watching the two movies in one sitting. By doing so, you obviously lose some. I’d say that part II feels pretty complete. I never missed what was removed and think it even works better that way. I would have been happy with it as a 1h34 version of Part II.

When it comes to Part III though, unlike Marty, I’m left hanging. Over the years I’ve come to appreciate more of the performance from Thomas F. Wilson in the entire series. And his role as Buford ‘Mad Dog’ Tannen is the culmination of his work for the trilogy in my opinion. What’s left of Part III though, is not the Buford plot point. I understand the decisions that had to be taken to make this work, but I feel I’m missing out.

When it comes to Lossy’s edit, it is pretty much 50% Part II and 50% Part III. In my mind they are two very different movies and even if the transition between the two is well done, they feel like two movies stitched together. Giving my two cents here of course. I think I would have preferred Part II to cover the first act of the edit and Part III the second and third. Making a more natural segue over that stitch. How? I don’t know. Maybe that is not even possible…

Although, if I look at this edit with the eyes of someone who doesn’t know about BTTF, it works! It becomes a long movie that goes left and right (or back and forth!), but it works. The intro of Part II and the conclusion of Part III are the parentheses that encapsulate this crazy adventure.

The edits are good, the audio is pretty much untouched I believe, narratively speaking it functions and the project was an interesting experiment. But my enjoyment of the sequels, as you probably guessed it already, is lessened.
Overall it’s a fine edit and I’m glad I’ve seen it once. And that is why I’m recommending it.

I went into this edit with some form of excitement. Back to the Future is one of my all-time favorite films, and having watched the special features for all three movies, I've always been curious if Parts II and III would be better as one singular film instead of two separate sequels. Especially since they were both intended to be one movie at first, but that idea was changed because the script was too long (According to Spielberg, the script was 185 pages. For those of you in the dark, 1 script page equals 1 minute of screentime, and an average screenplay ranges from 90-120 pages). So, because I wanted to see if the long way was better, I had every reason to see lossy's take on the sequels. So, does this blending of the two fix a multitude of problems with the sequels? Well... Almost. I probably should say yes, though.

I'll admit. I was with this edit for the first 2 hours. A lot of the changes made prior to that point range from good to great. I think it was a smart idea not to tamper with Part II too much. The removal of Buford Tannen (Save for the hanging scene) was surprisingly more effective than I expected, and it simplified the narrative in a satisfying way. Cutting out the library scene was also a good decision, as it was always in violation of the rule of show, don't tell.

However, where the edit loses me is in its last 40 minutes. There are changes made to the Doc and Clara romance that came off as, um... How do I put this? Look, I get why those changes were made, and I'll be honest. The romance between Doc and Clara was never my favorite. But I think lossy might've worked a little too hard on the romance. The first issue I have is the removal of the festival dance. On the one hand, I get keeping Buford out, but I'm sure something from the festival dance (Maybe the ZZ Top scene?) could've been spared. It makes little sense that we never see Doc and Clara together at the festival when Clara is the one who invited Doc over in the first place. Why is it that all we ever see of the festival is just Doc and Marty getting their picture taken? The other change that bothers me is... The breakup scene. Okay, I agree that it's far from an oscar-worthy scene, but without the context of the breakup, it makes the next couple of scenes (Doc going to the bar, and Clara on the train) confusing and disjointed. I almost feel like both of those scenes should've been cut out along with the breakup. Either that, or the breakup scene is better off restored. I think lossy was trying to make it so that Doc would leave without saying goodbye, and Clara would somehow hear that Doc is feeling heartbroken, which would set the stage for the climax. But I'm afraid that line of logic wasn't clear enough for it to work, at least, from my end.

It's quite a shame, because if it weren't for those issues, I think the mixture of the two is the best strategy for the sequels. The darkness of Part II mixed with the overly-sentimental tone of Part III balances out the two films nicely, and there are some fantastic details I noticed where Part II foreshadows Part III. For example, the hoverboard chase in 2015, if you really think about it, is a foreshadowing of the climax between Marty and Buford in Part III (I know, that climax has been cut out, but the observation was still quite nice). Seeing those setups and payoffs in a single film is great, and for that reason alone, I do recommend this. I still have to take off some points due to the changes I've mentioned above, but I do believe that this is the best approach to the Back to the Future sequels I've come across to date.