Back to the Future: 25th Anniversary Trilogy [Blu-ray]

Back to the Future: 25th Anniversary Trilogy Blu-ray Review

25 years and this franchise is still one of the best around. by R.L. Shaffer

Back to the Future is one of the best popcorn movies ever made. It's ingenuity, time-traveling twist ups and wonderfully vibrant characters resonate in ways few films ever achieve. It's funny. It's sad. It's imaginative. It's great sci-fi, and terrific family entertainment. In short, Back to the Future is brilliant.

Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd share a terrific on-screen chemistry, and the supporting cast (including Crispin Glover, Lea Thompson, and Thomas F. Wilson) are just amazing.

And while many people hate or dislike Back to the Future Part II for being mean-spirited and darker – it's equally as brilliant. In fact, until the third Harry Potter book (and the film, respectively), no one had ever really attempted the time-traveling interweave that unraveled in BTTF Part II. Taking the sequel narrative and splicing it into the intricate web of the first feature is one of the boldest, most entertaining concepts ever put on paper. Sure, the film has a clunky first act – which takes place in a hilariously overblown futuristic society – but the film knows just how, and when, to entertain us, and it does so in spades.

And just when you think Back to the Future is running out of steam, you get to the third and likely final chapter of the series (until the upcoming video game, at least), which spins the formula on its head and takes audiences back to 1885. This story focuses more on Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) this time around as he gets romantically tangled with a school teacher (played by Mary Steenburgen, no less). While the film isn't quite as sharp as the first, or as dazzlingly clever as the second, Back to the Future Part III continues to move the spirit of the series forward in new and exciting directions, and it reaches a satisfying conclusion to the overarching story.

Fans have longed to see this series come to Blu-ray since before Universal even supported the format. Thankfully, the studio does not disappoint with this robust special edition BD. Featuring a beautifully restored and remastered transfer, and thunderous DTS-HD high-res audio – all three Back to the Future films look incredible. They're crisper, bolder, more detailed and more exciting than ever before. And not only are all the "classic" extras included from both the previous Back to the Future trilogy box set and the stand alone double-dips, Universal also offers up a vast array of new and exciting goodies to enjoy, not to mention a few awesome BD exclusives that take full advantage of all that Blu-ray has to offer.

For starters, fans can indulge in three U-Control picture-in-picture tracks. "Setups and Payoffs" explores the connections between all three films. "Storyboard Comparison" offers up a wonderful assortment of storyboards and allows audiences to see how the film came to life. And finally, there's a delightful pop-up trivia track similar to the ones found on the previous DVD editions of the series. The exclusives are topped off with BD-Live connectivity and Universal's standard assortment of Blu-ray extras.

In addition to the exclusives, there's also a brand-new documentary that's been broken up into six parts – each part exploring an aspect of the trilogy, from its origins (where you get to see a few snippets of the original Marty McFly, Eric Stoltz) to the film's sequels and ultimate worldwide success. There's also an awesome featurette that examines the "Physics of Back to the Future" and an informative Q&A with Michael J. Fox.



Classic extras include two commentary tracks for each film, music videos, behind-the-scenes documentaries, archival featurettes, deleted scenes and the complete Back to the Future: The Ride simulation (right down to the lobby videos). Universal has also been kind enough to include Digital Copies of all three films, too.

Probably the only annoying aspect of this awesome box set is the box itself. While the design is fun, if somewhat uninspired, the way the discs are housed is just plain awful. In order to free a disc, one must put significant pressure on the disc itself, pressing down to free the movie from two small brackets that hold the disc in place. Honestly, I'm guessing a good 10-20% of customers will break at least one disc the day they buy it, trying to free them from this prison cell of a package.

And I'm guessing a good 50-70% will break at least one disc over the next few years. Honestly, this set is just fantastic, but this package nearly ruins the entire presentation. Exhibit serious caution when removing the discs.

There's so much to love about this set. Having the movies in high-def is worth the price of admission alone. But toss in a few new extras, some exclusives and the original goodies and you've got one serious Blu-ray presentation that comes highly recommended.

Thank You To Mr R.L.Shaffer

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How to Train Your Dragon (Blu-ray)

For years now DreamWorks Animation has almost always been a step behind Pixar, with the occasional "Shrek" making some inroads but not usually matching the sheer heart Pixar always puts into its pictures. So it's a pleasure to see DreamWorks come up with one that matches practically anything Pixar has made. That would be 2010's "How to Train Your Dragon," one of the best films of the year.

OK, I admit I didn't have high hopes for it going in, despite my having heard that a lot of people liked it (I looked it up and found at the time of this writing it was the eighth biggest-grossing film of 2010). Maybe it was the corny-sounding title that put me off. I had no idea the filmmakers based the movie on a best-selling book of the same name by Cressida Cowell. Title aside, the film is as cute, sweet, funny, exciting, and touching as anything you'll find.

The story takes place in Medieval Scandinavia in the little Viking village of Berk, which the main character describes as "twelve days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death." The main character is Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel), a young fellow the townsfolk would rather keep out of sight because he's small and hapless, and they're all big and strong and capable. And everyone else enjoys killing dragons, one of the citizenry's main occupations, and Hiccup is rather reluctant and inept at it. Poor Hiccup is, in fact, the laughing stock of the town.

Stoick (Gerard Butler) is the strapping huge, bellowing chief of the tribe, who fights dragons with his bare hands. The dragons in the neighborhood are plentiful, and the Vikings spend a lot of their time fending them off or hunting them down. Oh, and Stoick is also Hiccup's father, something that grieves Stoick no end. Like father not like son.

Stoick and the villagers, including Gobber (Craig Ferguson), the blacksmith for whom Hiccup works as an apprentice, expect Hiccup to kill dragons; it's what all the young guys and girls in the village do when they're old enough: They go to dragon-fighting school and learn to slay dragons. That, however, is the last thing Hiccup wants to do. Among Hiccup's classmates are Astrid (America Ferrera), a feisty young lady who becomes a rival and a romantic interest; Snotlout (Jonah Hill), a big, dim-witted lug; Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plausse), Tuffnut (T.J. Miller) and Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig).

The plot centers on Hiccup accidentally ensnaring the most fearsome of dragons, a Night Fury, one evening, and a few days later finding it in the forest tangled in Hiccup's rope and missing the part of its tail that acts as a rudder when it's flying. Although Hiccup knows he should kill the beast while it's defenseless, he also knows he cannot. He frees the creature instead, and helps build him a new tail, for which the dragon is eternally grateful. It seems dragons aren't such bad animals after all.

From this point on, the friendship between Hiccup and the dragon, whom Hiccup names "Toothless" because it has retractable teeth, resembles a variation on the old Aesop fable of "Androcles and the Lion." We can pretty much see what's coming, but we can enjoy it all the same. Toothless turns out to be quite smart, learning fast, and before long in their relationship we have to wonder who is training whom.

Yes, there is a good deal of sentiment in the movie, yet the sentimentality never turns sappy. Yes, there is a degree of violence in the film, yet while the action is exhilarating, it is never too intense for younger viewers. And, yes, there are morals, life lessons, applied, yet they are never excessive or preachy. The filmmakers temper the movie's ingredients just enough to make the balance acceptable to everyone.

"How to Train Your Dragon" is fun, funny, stirring, poignant, and all things a good, wholesome family film should be. The 3-D CGI animation is gorgeous--vivid and alive with intricate detail, shadows, color, and depth. It's a joy to watch. What's more, the movie is humorous without being crude or demeaning. A father-son talk between Stoick and Hiccup is moving and amusing at the same time, and a climactic battle is as thrilling as any action sequence you'll see in any picture anywhere. In fact, "How to Train Your Dragon" is delightful and appealing, rousing and friendly, thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end.

Blu-ray review

FIRST PUBLISHED Oct 16, 2010
By John J. Puccio

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How to Train Your Dragon (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Dragon Double Pack) [Blu-ray]