Back In Time (2015 Back To The Future documentary/MVD Visual DVD)

Picture: B Sound: B Extras: D Film: B+

Filmmaker Robert Zemeckis' 1985 Sci-Fi/Comedy Back to the Future is in my top ten favorite films of all time and I'm even in love with the two inferior (but fun) sequels that follow teenager Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and Doctor Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) on time traveling adventures that take them into the past, future, and alternate realities as well. Partly inspired by Buckaroo Banzai (reviewed elsewhere on this site), the sequels struggled at the box office, but many have caught up with them since.

At this point, I have owned the trilogy so many times over the years on different formats from VHS to DVD to now Blu-ray (and soon probably Ultra HD 4K), and with all of the countless bonus features that have been done on the films, it seemed to me when assigned this disc that there wasn’t much more to be said. And while Back in Time isn't exactly full of too much new information to the diehard fanbase like myself, it's still a charming little documentary on the love of the franchise and features an impressive line-up of interviews from the original cast and filmmakers, on top of interviews with other big names in Hollywood now that have been inspired and look fondly upon the franchise.

Starting out with a beautiful wide aerial shot of a decked out DeLorean automobile driving down a lone backwoods country terrain, along with a montage of fans from all over dressing up like their favorite characters, it quickly becomes apparent that this documentary is something more than your traditional electronic press kit promoting the new sale of the film, but by fans that actually care. Interviews with producer Steven Spielberg, stars Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd along with Lea Thompson, even James Tolkan, director Robert Zemeckis and writer Bob Gale are intercut between clips of the film and others to give a full backstory of the progression of the franchise from initial idea to execution. Hailed in an early act of the doc as a ''perfect screenplay'', it is also noted that the story isn't exactly traditional in a Hollywood writing sense either, which goes to show that a little bit of originally can go a long way.

The editing and production value here is pretty top notch and definitely a step above your normal fan made documentary. While at first I was a bit skeptical about how good this would be, I am proud to say that this is the ultimate documentary on Back to the Future and a must see for fans.

Presented in standard definition with a anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track, the film looks and sounds fine on DVD but has been issued on Blu-ray and those with a player might want to get that edition.

Sadly, no extras.

- James Lockhart

https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/