Review Detail

7.6 6 10
Special Projects July 12, 2012 8257
(Updated: August 28, 2012)
Enjoyment
 
9.0
This was a lot of fun. I’m not sure why people’re bitching about the length; I edited together the 3 movies years ago into one long movie by chopping out the closing credits and the “To be continueds” (and keeping the version of “Roads? Where we’re going….” that we all prefer).

I watch it probably once or twice a year.

That said, what you lose in this experiment is that you don’t have anything vested in the characters going in, b/c all the setup is gone as we start in 1885 (the “Indians!” scene). However, what it DOES do is highlight the parallels between BTTF 1 and 3, which is what I’ve always enjoyed about #3.

We then get to 1955. At first I thought the scene we open with, Marty & Doc in the flying DeLorean arriving very early in the a.m. (from BTTF2, in search of the almanac), was out of order. It turns out it’s an error in the movies: The dialogue in BTTF1 implies that the Enchantment Under the Sea dance is the same night as the scene in George’s backyard when he’s hanging laundry and talking to Marty about the “Get your damned hands off” plan. But it looks like BTTF2 has made it so that the backyard talk is one day earlier than the dance. It could be that the error is even in the first movie, but I will have to pay closer attention when next I watch the originals.

That said, the way the editor did NOT rely on the screen magic of BTTF2 to make the original and its sequel intermingle was truly spectacular. (And if you’ve read other reviews by me [see: the Quantum of Solace review], you know I do NOT say that often.) He did a great job of utilizing both the original cut of 1955 and the new take as seen in BTTF2. Bravo!

The editing and music is particularly strong by our FanEditor in the intermingling of BTTF 1 & 2 in the ‘50s — there’re only two bad cuts by my count (1. from Marty on the guitar at the dance to Doc on the Walkie and 2. The cut right after Biff finds Marty-2 peeking in through the door at himself and his parents), but everything else was perfect. And very impressive.

The other thing this edit highlights is how superior BTTF1 is to the other 2 — as much as I enjoy the other two, it’s just a far superior film.

What I think could help this FanEdit is to open with a 2-minute character-building montage that sets the stage for 1885; as mentioned (by myself and others), 1885 is bland when you’ve nothing vested in it. And then, what it needs is a longer montage (perhaps 5-6 mins) at the end that takes us through the ENTIRE trilogy (perhaps in the order of the actual movies as opposed to this fan-edit) as a sort-of finale, b/c this edit lacks both a setup and a climax. Nevertheless, it’s a great deal of fun, a new way to watch these movies — and it’s technically impressive.
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