30th Anniversary Of The First ‘Back To The Future’ Film Arrives On Oct. 21

The 30th anniversary of the first Back to the Future film is on Oct. 21.

‘BACK TO THE FUTURE’ 30TH ANNIVERSARY

Considering no one wanted to make the film in the first place, the 1985 hit has generated a lot of attention and affection from fans. The past week has been filled with celebrations with regards to the film, and on Oct. 21, there will be a red-carpet screening at Lincoln Center, hosted by Universal Home Entertainment.

The reason Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and Doc (Christopher Lloyd) set the time-machine in the DeLorean to Oct. 21, 2015 is that on that day the Cubs are predicted to win the World Series.

The New York celebrations that took place over the past week included concerts at the Radio City Music Hall, including the trilogy’s score conducted by Alan Silvestri. A 30th anniversary Blu-ray and DVD of the trilogy was released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Harper Collins released the book Back to the Future: The Ultimate Visual History. On Oct. 21 the first issue of the Back to the Future comic book will be released, and there will be a screening at the Lincoln Center and 1700 theaters.

The film was originally rejected by many studios, either for being too “sweet” or too “racy” (the latter by Disney). There were a lot of difficulties while making the film. Five weeks into production they switched out the lead actor, exchanging Eric Stoltz with Michael J. Fox. They also had to shoot the film around Fox’s Family Ties schedule. Some scenes they even had to shoot without Fox.

Before the movie first came out, script-writer Robert Zemeckis told Variety that he had voiced his concern at whether or not children would be interested in a film their parents were interested in. “It will be interesting to see if kids are too rebellious today to go to a movie that their parents like,” he had said. “It is clear, now, that these concerns were unnecessary as the film spawned two sequels and a multitude of fans that span several generations.

Bob Gale, who co-wrote the script with Zemmeckis, explained that the film’s success isn’t so surprising since the premise is one that’s easy to relate to. “Every human goes through a moment when they suddenly understand the concept that their parents once were children themselves,” he told Variety. “For a kid, that’s cosmic: ‘These grown-ups who know everything were once young screwn-ups like me!’ When Marty travels to the past, he discovers the answer to the question ‘What would it be like to be on my parents’ first date?”

The films made many predictions for the future, some of which have come very close to reality, such as Google Glass, Skype and hover-boards, but no one could have predicted the success this trilogy has achieved.