Back
to the Future 3
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In general I’m no fan of westerns, although
exceptions have been made (ex. The Quick and the Dead). Like Part One, the time travel aspect
is a bookend, since the DeLorean had to be rendered unusable to create what writers like to call dramatic
tension. Oooo. Well, in this case, a reason for Marty and Doc to stay in 1885, since Doc’s future is to be
shot dead in a week by Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen (Biff’s great-something grandpa, of course played by
Thomas F. Wilson). Naturally Doc is in a hurry now to quit his job as
Hill Valley's blacksmith.
Leah Thompson is practically absent here, but has a small part as Maggie
McFly, and Fox himself plays his own great-something grandfather, Seamus McFly. Not being up on Irish
traditions and beliefs, Maggie’s worries about “bringin’ a curse on this house” because Seamus is being
nice to Marty is more than a little baffling. Thompson then performs the required cameo of Lorraine at the end.
Mary Steenburgen almost redeems Zemeckis’ baffling treatment of his female characters as Clara Clayton,
Doc Brown’s destined true love. She likes Jules Verne, so can’t be all bad. And has her own house before
even arriving in town!
There’s a nice character switch here as Marty becomes the voice of reason for the
love-smitten Doc. An odd quirk of Marty’s was introduced in Part Two (which I hesitate to call foreshadowing
because of its forced nature): an inability to handle being called a coward. Maybe it’s some reaction to his
(original) father being a wimp, but this trait wasn’t there in Part One. Here it’s played to the hilt as Marty agrees
to a gunfight with Tannen solely to prove his manliness. The writers give us reason to think Marty might survive
by showing his skill with a gun in both Parts 2 and 3. It’s a tolerable plot device at best, but at least it serves as
a means of increasing suspense, since that train is a-comin’ through town and needs to be hijacked before Doc
and Marty can get home. Marty makes it to 1985; Doc and Clara
- a woman who can use “mendacity” correctly in
a sentence, so don’t screw with her- don’t. Well, okay, they do. The DeLorean is wrecked, Jennifer wakes up
from her coma long enough to see that Marty has learned his lesson about his temper, and Doc Brown has
spawned two sons before returning - briefly - to 1985 to show off his family and deliver an old photo to
Marty. Oooo, that flying train is SWEET.
Cool Quotes:
Marty: "Great Scott!"
Doc:
"I know, this is heavy."
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