Back to the Future Part III had a different job to do. Part II had ended on a cliffhanger and sent everybody out of the theater with their heads spinning, but the third film had to bring everything back down to earth, or maybe more accurately, out to the Old West. It was ending a story people had gotten very attached to and it had to do that without losing the sense of fun and invention that made the series feel special in the first place. We didn’t go to the future with flying cars and flat screens. This time it was dust, horses, locomotives, and a version of the past that felt just as exciting.
On this episode of the Retroist Podcast, I start with a memory from my time working at the mall. I spent a lot of lunched at the bookstore, where I kept running into a fan of the film who loved talking about where the series could go next. He was especially taken with the train at the end. He had no shortage of ideas about the sequels that could have followed if that machine had carried Doc and his family into one more adventure after another. These conversation say a lot about how Part III left people feeling. Even though it was the end, it still made us want to keep the story going.
From there I get into the movie itself, its release, and why it worked for people then and still holds up now. Part III does not try to top Part II by getting more tangled with time travel nonsense. Instead, it gets simpler, warmer, and more character driven. It gives Marty a chance to face something in himself, and it gives Doc a story that is not just about invention or danger, but about love, risk, and finally building a life outside his invention. It also has a very different look, taking Hill Valley and peeling it back into something rougher and more mythic.
I also talk about the cast, the making of the film, the music, and the way Part III completes the trilogy with a lot more confidence than it sometimes gets credit for. The first movie may be the cleanest and Part II may be the complex, but Part III has its own place because it knows how to end things well. It turns the series into something bigger than a time travel gimmick. By the end, it feels like a story about growing up, letting go, and deciding that the future is not something you chase, but something you make.
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Production Notes
This is the 361st episode of the Retroist Podcast and episode 10 of Season 18.
The story you hear in this episode was originally included in my first recording of my Back to the Future Podcast. I think it makes a lot more sense as part of the 3rd film discussion.
I like that this movie lets the series breathe a little. Part II is fun, but it is doing a lot. Part III feels more relaxed and confident. The old west setting, which is so familiar, probably helps with that.
I always enjoy when a movie gives Christopher Lloyd more to do than just be frantic. This one lets Doc Brown feel like a real person.
I like that Hill Valley is still becoming Hill Valley in this one. You are seeing the place before it turns into the town everyone knows. This feels like conformation hat they are treating it like a character.
Thomas F. Wilson really gets to have fun here. Buford Tannen is such a good variation on the Tannen problem.
Mary Steenburgen was a great addition. Clara does not feel like she wandered in from another movie. She fits right into this world.
The train sequence is one of the best endings in the trilogy. The pacing is perfect. It big, practical, and loud. A perfect way to wrap the adventure.
I like that the movie does not try to top Part II by being more complicated. It gets stronger by getting clearer.
Last movie, but I ain’t done yet.
Bonus clippings can be found over on Patreon for Supporters.
Music on the show is, as always, by Peachy.
Thanks for listening to the show and I hope you have a great weekend.
