30. Back to the Future (1985)
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Crispin Glover, Lea Thompson
Synopsis: Marty McFly time travels 30 years back to 1955 and interferes with his parents’ courtship; now he must fix that to save his existence.
So you’re my Uncle Joey. Better get used to those bars, kid!
Probably Hollywood’s most famous time travel flick and it’s deserving of its accolades because the script is so thoughtful, charming and funny, and the characters are memorable. I know a lot of people love the sequel as well; I’m not one of them. It gave me a headache.
Back in 2015, on the 30th anniversary of this film, we had a fascinating discussion/debate here on whether society had changed more between 1955-1985, the subject matter of the movie, or between 1985-2015. I argued the by far the greater changes had taken place in the former time: issues of race, feminist roles, societal norms were all profoundly altered but had changed very little between 1985 and 2015. Other people argued for the latter 30 years, focusing primarily on technological issues. There was no resolution but it was a great discussion.