Description
Back to the Future is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis.
It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson.
Set in 1985, the story follows Marty McFly, a teenager accidentally sent back to 1955 in a time-traveling DeLorean automobile built by his eccentric scientist friend Doctor Emmett “Doc” Brown. Trapped in the past, Marty inadvertently prevents his future parents’ meeting—threatening his existence—and is forced to reconcile the pair and somehow get back to the future.
Back to the Future was conceived of in 1980 by Bob Gale and Zemeckis. They were desperate for a successful film after numerous collaborative failures, but their idea was rejected over 40 times by studios because it was not considered good enough to compete with the successful comedies of the era.
Back to the Future was a critical and commercial success, earning $381.1 million to become the highest-grossing film of 1985 worldwide. Critics praised the story, comedy, and the cast—particularly Fox, Lloyd, Thompson, and Glover. It received multiple award nominations and won an Academy Award, Saturn Awards, and a Hugo Award. Its theme song, “The Power of Love” by Huey Lewis and the News, was a significant success globally.
In the years since its release, Back to the Future has grown in esteem and is now considered to be among the greatest films of the 1980s, one of the best science-fiction films ever made, and one of the greatest films of all time. In 2007, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry.
