Back to the Future Part III is the third and final installment of the Back to the Future trilogy. The film is a science fiction western, using the time travel premise of the series to take Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) back to the Old West of 1885.

Plot

The film opens by replaying the conclusion of Back to the Future Part II, which is an altered version of the conclusion of Back to the Future Part I. Marty is stranded in 1955, but has received a seventy-year-old letter from Doc Brown who explains that he is trapped in 1885 as the technology required to repair the De Lorean would not be invented until 1947. The letter tells Marty where the De Lorean is hidden, but not attempt a rescue. Instead, he is told to immediately return to 1985 and destroy the time machine in order to prevent further disruption of the space-time continuum.

With the help of Doc's 1955 counterpart, Marty uncovers the De Lorean from a mine. Nearby they discover a tombstone that reveals that Doc died just six days after writing Marty the letter, having been murdered by Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen. With the De Lorean restored to working order through the use of 1955 components, Marty and the 1955 Doc agree that Marty will go back to 1885 and bring the 1985 Doc back to his own time. Before leaving, Marty takes a photo of the tombstone.

Marty as Clint Eastwood

Marty later goes to Hill Valley to find Doc, who has taken an alter-ego there as a blacksmith. Once there, Marty has a run-in with Buford Tannen, who attempts to hang him in front of the partially-constructed courthouse as punishment for Marty's ignorant use of the much-despised nickname "Mad Dog". Doc rescues Marty and argues with Buford over whether or not Doc owes Buford eighty dollars.

Doc then takes Marty back to his workshop, only to discover that the De Lorean's fuel line is broken, which is problematic as unleaded gasoline will not be available in Hill Valley until the early 20th century, whereas the nuclear fusion generator that empowers the time machine will not do the same for the car's engine. Doc devises a plan to push the De Lorean with a steam locomotive. The only portion of the track that is straight and level enough for the plan ends at Shonash Ravine. Because a bridge across the ravine exists in 1985, Doc insists that they can avoid falling into the ravine by reaching 88 miles per hour before they hit the edge of the tracks.

While surveying the tracks, Marty and the Doc see the town's new schoolteacher Clara Clayton on a runaway carriage. Doc saves her just before the carriage plummets into the ravine. The two fall instantly in love before Marty and Doc realize that Clara was 'intended' by the course of history to fall to her death, since both Marty and Doc remember the name of the ravine in 1985 was Clayton Ravine (in a memorial to her).

Buford attempts to kill Doc at the festival dedicating the town's new clock tower, only to have Marty disrupt the attempt. Buford goads Marty to a gunfight, which Marty schedules for the morning he and Doc plan to leave for 1985. Pulling out the photo that he had taken in 1955, Marty discovers that Doc's name on the tombstone has been replaced by "Clint Eastwood" and realizes that he, and not Doc, is now 'intended' to die. As Marty and Doc camp out the night before they leave, Doc sneaks off to say goodbye to Clara. He explains to her the truth about being the inventor of a time machine and his time travel, which she feels is a fanciful tale and just an excuse for abandoning her; both are crushed. The next morning, Clara buys a one-way train ticket to San Francisco, but as the train pulls out she overhears a comment by a man who spoke about how Doc talked about his love for her. Clara gets off the train and rushes to Doc's workshop, where she discovers the toy model of the time machine, then realizing he was telling the truth.

Meanwhile, Marty finds a despondent Doc in a saloon, whiskey shot in hand. Marty asks the bartender how much Doc has had to drink, to which the bartender replies, "That's his first one." Realizing Doc is still sober, Marty tries to persuade Doc to return with him to 1985. Doc finally agrees to go with Marty, but when the others in the saloon propose a toast to the future, he downs the whiskey shot and passes out. As Marty and the bartender try to revive Doc with a concoction called "wake-up juice," Buford impatiently waits outside for Marty, calling him "yellow" to get him to come out. Marty, who until now has been unwilling to back down from a fight, refuses the challenge. Doc eventually revives, and he and Marty attempt to sneak past Buford, but are noticed by one of Buford's henchmen. Buford nabs the still-hungover Doc, but Marty escapes, taking refuge in a room with an iron stove.

Buford threatens to shoot Doc unless Marty agrees to a duel. When Marty finally meets Buford, Buford lets Doc go and faces Marty for a shoot out. Marty refuses to use his gun because he knew that Buford was Biff's great grandfather and killing Buford would have erased all existence of the future Biff where in turn would have possibly eliminated the setting for Marty's parents to get together where Biff was a key factor. So he dropped the pistol to the ground. Buford shoots Marty and the bullet strike is clearly seen as a puff of dust on Marty's serape. Buford approaches him to gloat over his body, but Marty is only playing dead as he wore a self-made armor made from the stove's door, an idea inspired by the film A Fistful of Dollars which he had seen in Back To The Future Part II. Marty beats up Buford, knocking him into an unfinished tombstone which breaks and, because the tombstone is the same one that would have been on Marty's grave, its destruction causes it to disappear from Marty's 1955 photo.

Continuing with their plan, Marty and Doc meet the train, steal the locomotive and push the De Lorean down the tracks with Marty in the car and Doc in the locomotive. As Doc climbs along the outside of the train to board the De Lorean, he sees that Clara, who has caught up with them, has boarded the locomotive. He goes back for her, making the decision to take her with him to the future. Clara, however, gets trapped while trying to get to Doc, and Doc decides to rescue her instead of boarding the De Lorean. Realizing that Doc now will not make it to the De Lorean in time, Marty sends the hoverboard, which he had kept in the De Lorean since his trip to 2015, to Doc, who uses it to rescue Clara. Marty sees Doc and Clara clear the locomotive on the hoverboard before he returns to 1985 in the De Lorean. The locomotive falls into the ravine and is destroyed.

The Doc and family return from the past

Marty and Jennifer return to the track where they see the De Lorean's remnants and are surprised by the arrival of a new flying, heavily modified, 19th-century time machine piloted by Doc. Doc has married Clara, and the couple have two children, Jules and Verne. Doc returned to 1985 to get Einstein as well as see Marty again, showing that he wasn't stuck in 1885 after all. Doc gives Marty a souvenir, a framed photo of the picture they took in front of the future clock of the clock tower. As Marty and Jennifer watch, the train lifts off the track and flies up to 88 m.p.h. and disappears.

Cast and crew

Cast

Mary Steenburgen as Clara Clayton

• Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly (aka "Clint Eastwood") and Seamus McFly
• Christopher Lloyd as Dr Emmett "Doc" Brown
• Mary Steenburgen as Clara Clayton
• Thomas F. Wilson as Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen and Biff Tannen
• Lea Thompson as Maggie McFly and Lorraine Baines McFly
• James Tolkan as Marshal James Strickland
• Elisabeth Shue as Jennifer Parker
• Jeffrey Weissman as George McFly
• Matt Clark as Chester, the bartender
• Dub Taylor as Saloon Old-Timer #1
• Harry Carey, Jr. as Saloon Old-Timer #2
• Pat Buttram as Saloon Old-Timer #3
• Burton Gilliam as Colt Gun Salesman
• Richard Dysart as Barbed-Wire Salesman
• Michael Peter Balzary (Flea) as Needles
• ZZ Top as the band at the dance

Crew

• Robert Zemeckis: director/screenwriter
• Bob Gale: producer/screenwriter
• Neil Canton: producer
• Kathleen Kennedy: producer
• Frank Marshall: executive producer
• Steven Spielberg: executive producer
• Steve Starkey: associate producer

Release

The movie grossed US$23 million in its first weekend of US release and $87.6 million altogether in US box office receipts – $243 million worldwide. On December 17 2002 Universal Studios released Back to the Future Part III in a boxed set with the first two films on DVD and VHS which did extremely well. In the DVD widescreen edition there was a minor framing flaw that Universal has since corrected, available in sets manufactured after February 21, 2003.

In 1990 the movie won a Saturn Award for Best Music for Alan Silvestri and a Best Supporting Actor award for Thomas F. Wilson. In 2003 it received AOL Movies DVD Premiere Award for Best Special Edition of the Year, an award based on consumer online voting. The film received a Thumbs Up from Gene Siskel and a very marginal Thumbs Down from Roger Ebert on Siskel & Ebert.

Video and computer games

LJN released an NES game called Back to the Future Part II & III, a sequel to their game based on the first movie. An arcade Back to the Future Part III game was also released that would eventually be ported to several home video game systems, including the Sega Genesis.

See also

• Back to the Future timeline
• Back to the Future trilogy
• Back to the Future
• Back to the Future Part II

References

External links

• Official Universal Pictures site
• BTTF.com
• BTTF Frequently Asked Questions written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis

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