Who doesn't know Back to the Future? Who could possibly be clueless when they see a DeLorean? Who in the wide world doesn't know the images from this movie that have since 1985 been in the pop culture? Let's see how this classic does on my grading scale.
So let's see about the plot:
In 1985, troubled teen Marty McFly is trying to fit in. He has a troubled family, though. His father's a wuss controlled by a bully he has known since school, Biff, his mother is an alcoholic, his uncle is in jail, his brother has troubles getting a job, and his sister is, well, I guess she has issues as well. But he does have a girlfriend, Jennifer, and a good friend in Doc Emmet Brown, a sort of crazed scientist who isn't exactly a world famous scientist and has a few problems of his own.
So one day Doc calls him and says to be at the Twin Pines Mall at 2:00 A.M. After a losery day at school after being criticised by Mr. Strickland, trying out and failing to be accepted in a local Battle of the Bands, and coming home to see the car he was going to use to take Jennifer to the lake that weekend is smashed after Biff has crushed it, he goes.
Once he gets there, Doc reveals he has a science experiment for testing: time travel in the form of a DeLorean. Doc explains that when the DeLorean is powered by the flux capasitor, travels to 88 miles per hour and has enough plutonium loaded into it, you can travel through time. He tests it on his dog, Einstein, and after a success, he prepares to test it on himself by going 25 years into the future.
But unfortunately he had to steal the plutonium from a Libian terrorist group who comes after him. They shoot him, and Marty manages to drive the DeLorean and it travels him back to 1955, a date that Doc talked about when he discovered how to time travel. He arrives and has no idea where he's at.
After the DeLorean suffers a problem and can't drive, he walks into Hill Valley, the town he's known all his life and sees it fresher, newer, and much, much older. He walks into a cafe and finds his father, George, as a teenager, sitting next to him and being bullied by a much younger Biff. He tries to follow George home, finds him peeping on his mother, and after he falls from a tree into the street, he shoves him out of the way from an oncoming car and instead Marty is hit.
Marty wakes up with his mother taking care of him, a much younger Loraine Baines, before she was Loraine McFly. After a difficult dinner, he finds out where Doc lives and visits him. After a little convincing, Doc sees that the DeLorean is real, and says he needs to get back home to 1985. Unfortunately, Doc finds out that Marty has bumped into his parents. Doc explains that if the events of history are changed, he will begin to vanish. Marty pulls out a picture of Loraine and George's future children, and notices that his brother's head is missing.
When Marty goes to school the next day, Doc explains that his mother likes him instead of his father, and that if it continues he will cease to exist. He tries to convince George to talk to Loraine, but each time George ends up in trouble and Marty saves him and then has to confront Biff, making Loraine like him more. This happens a couple times, the second ending in Loraine following Marty home after Biff, who chases Marty in one of the best scenes of the movie, crashes into a manure truck.
Doc figures out, meanwhile how to get Marty back to 1985 without plutonium. He says the only other source that can generate that much power is a bolt of lightning, and it just so happens that the same night as the dance his parents fell in love at a storm took out the town clock tower after it was hit by lightning. So Doc says if they can connect the lightning to the DeLorean while it is going 88 miles per hour, Marty will go back to 1985. After a demonstration, Marty has his doubts.
So the night of the dance Marty has a plan all ready to go. Marty will take Loraine, they will not have a great time, he'll argue with her, George will come to her rescue and they will fall in love. Unfortunately George is delayed and instead of him coming to save Loraine, Biff comes to beat him up. George shows up, tries to stand up for Loraine, who is being, well, sexually assaulted, and after a little hesitation, George lays him out.
So George and Loraine go to the dance, Marty, meanwhile, has been locked in a trunk, and once the owners of the car, the entertainment for the dance, get him free, their guitar player has a sliced hand. So the dance is over unless Marty can play guitar, and what a coincidence. He notices in the picture that only he remains, and he sees that some other kid now has Loraine, and he begins to fade. But George comes back, kisses Loraine, and all is well again.
Marty ditches the dance and gets ready to go back to the future. After a few problems, Marty manages it. He gets back and realizes he has an opportunity to save Doc. Before he sent him a letter suggesting he get ready for the terrorists, but Doc feared it would leave him clues about the future and it will effect things so he ripped it up. Marty gets back to the mall in time to see Doc get shot, but sees that Doc is all right, was prepared, and has a bulletproof vest.
After Doc says his farewell, since he is going to the future after all, Marty goes home, wakes up the next day and sees a few things have changed. His brother and sisters have high-paying good jobs, his father is a novelist, his mother is thinner, healthier, and Biff owns a car waxing company. Jennifer comes over and asks if she can ride in Marty's truck, yes, he now has a truck, and before they can, Doc comes back with the DeLorean. He says that Marty has to come back with him to the future.
He says his kids, well, his and Jennifer's, are in trouble and they have to deal with them. As they get ready, Marty says, "Doc, you better back up. We don't have enough road to get up to 88." Doc replies, "Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads." He then revs up the DeLorean, and it flies to 88 miles per hour.
Now for the grading scale:
Acting: 9 out of 10. Very well done.
Entertainment: 10 out of 10. At its heart its a comedy, and it never loses that.
Screenplay: 10 out of 10. Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale created a masterpiece of a screenplay.
Directing: 9 out of 10. Zemeckis is a great director, as demonstrated here.
Technical Credits: 10 out of 10. Everything's great.
Genre Fit: 9 out of 10. A little action and romance here and there, but its pretty consistant.
MPAA Rating: 8 out of 10. A little strong on the language, but its still otherwise a PG.
Stupid Scenes: 10 out of 10. None that I can think of.
Deeper Message: 9 out of 10. Quite a few, like feel lucky for what you have, things can change, and can relate children and parents.
Beginning: 28 out of 30. Several great memorable scenes.
Middle: 30 out of 30. Fantastic.
Ending: 30 out of 30. One of the best endings ever.
Final Score: 172/180 or 96%. An A, well deserved, and nearly perfect. Ooh, that's the highest yet.
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