Back To The Future - Robert Zemeckis Masterpiece - Movie Review Example

Back To The Future: A Robert Zemeckis Masterpiece Introduction Back to Future is an epic science fiction movie created in Hollywood at a time when application of technology in motion pictures was in its rudimentary state. A few Bond movies were the farthest Hollywood had gotten to depicting technology that adds awe to real life. Star Wars was still a serial that was waiting to be converted into a full length motion picture. Back to Future was a Steven Spielberg movie that had all the elements of mind blowing fictional science and technology. Directed by none other than Robert Zemeckis, the movie ran into a successful trilogy basing on the adventures of Marty and Doc. 2. Actors, Awards, Success, and Quality of Acting Actors: Main actors who immortalized the film are Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, Thomas F. Wilson, Claudia Wells and Billy Zane. While Fox and Lloyd plays the characters of Marty McFly and Doc Emmett Brown to perfection, the others did a splendid job as the supporting cast wherein special mentions are made of Wells as Jennifer Parker, Billy as Match, Crispin Glover as George McFly and Lea Thompson as Lorraine. All the actors fitted in superbly n the witty direction of Zemeckis who was known to be efficient in bringing in special effects in the Spielberg camp of directors. Quality of Actors: The quality of actors who we see performing in this movie was par excellence even when they were being cast. The well known struggle of getting Michael J Fox to shoot for the movie and the short replacement with another well known star Eric Stoltz, which only failed to meet the expectations of the film makers is a proof of the fact that each actor was cast after careful consideration of his abilities to do justice to the role. Christopher Lloyd had an impressive movie score behind him and so did the female artistes. The character of Match however went to a less experienced actor because at that time, his freshness was what was needed to bring life to Match’s personality (Pajiba). How successful was it in the box office. Back to the Future’s success in the box office was astounding and retraced the success of previous Spielberg movies. It was created at a budget of nineteen million dollars and grossed around three hundred and ninety two million dollars in the first year. The massive success of the movie prompted the producers to plan a sequel which later rolled into a trilogy which fans of science fiction cherish till date. The success of the movie also inspired many film-makers to copy the storyline and create similar movies in local languages. The original movie was dubbed only in English. Awards given for film. The movie was widely appreciated for its special effects in audio and visuals. The movie therefore had a straight win at the Oscars for the Best Sound Effects editing. It was also nominated at the Oscar for Best Sound, Best Music, and Best Writing, Screenplay written directly for the Screen. It was nominated at the Golden Globe Awards and 1986 BAFTA Awards. It won the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film, Best Actor (Michael J. Fox), and Best Special Effects. It also won the 1987 Award of the Japanese Academy for Best Foreign Language Film Category, 2003 AOL Movies DVD Premiere Award for first and second sequels of the movie and the 1986 David di Donatello Awards 1986 for Best Foreign Producer and best Foreign Screenplay. In 1986, the movie also bagged the Golden Screen Awards in Germany, The People’s Choice Awards, USA for Favorite Motion Picture and the Hugo Awards for Best Dramatic Presentation (IMDB). 3. Special Effects in Film Name places with special effects There are three main scenes or turning points in the story where special effects have been used to dramatize the story. In the beginning of the movie, the opening scene takes one in to the Doc’s life, the scene of Marty’s transportation to 1955, hovercraft scenes, the lightning capture scene and transportation back to 1985 and the closing scene of the movie where we see Doc as the person taking Marty and his girlfriend to future 2015 (Yahoo). break down of each special effect The opening scene used thirty clocks and specially created can openers to show the life of Doc, the main scientist in this movie (Cinemablend, 2014, 1). The time transportation to 1955 was accomplished using a huge De Lorean time machine modeled in a garage and used crackers, sound effects, lighting and spinning wheels to create the required effect. The same were used for the lightning capture scene although the lightning was created using projectors and filmed using clever camera angles, to show the Doc’s efficiency in harnessing natural power to create 1.21 gigawatts of electricity. Plutonium shown in the first time transport scene was created using radium coated bars. Fire trails for every time transport sequence was created using gasoline and pyro fluid while liquid nitrogen was used to show the icy car. While the illusion of space was created using a back projector and air and circling lights, the scenes inside the flying car were created using a hand help rocker that lodged the car and its occupants and lights and wind (Youtube). Quality of the final product of the special effect. Through the efficient combination of vide o and sound technology, each of the scenes created using special effects had a very genuine and convincing impact on the audience. The special effects were spot on and fulfilled the needs of the scene and added drama to the enactment by a hundred times. However, although the combinations were brilliant, lighting, especially that which as focused on the characters’ faces was unreal and made everyone see a clearer picture of the characters than they should if the characters were really in space. 4. Camera Development, Projection and Viewing in Theaters, Film, Director Training, Actor Training, and Editing Camera development The use of camera in the movie has been innovatively real. The Doc is seen to use a camera which is a camcorder of the JVC type which has a camera and recorder in separate units connected by a cable. The on screen camera was nowhere close to the real camera used in filming the movie. The camera development involved lots of crane action as the camera would be loaded on a crane and moved around the set or the people. The scenes that involved development were shot indoors with the help of miniature car or vehicle models. The overall use of different camera angles to create a futuristic illusion was strongly favorable to the plot of the movie. Whether it was a close shot of the hovercraft scene or the flying car landing scene, every bit of the camera work spelled future into the viewer’s brain (FXRant). Projection and viewing in theaters The movie was projected in traditional manner wherein the films would be hand cracked. However, Zemeckis decided to have the movie roll in theaters that had automatic projectors that added to the speed of the film and brought inherent three dimensional effect that the director had tried o create closer to the audience. Film The entire movie was shot on a high color 35 mm film that promised lesser metallic edges to the scenes and better color images. The result of this was the enhanced futuristic illusion that the film created and made the audiences awe. Even today, the overall impact of the movie is surreal and transports one easily to a future zone even though it is not created using the latest technology. Director and actor training Zemeckis was a loss for Spielberg till he made Back to the Future, which although released in 195 was not pitched to Spielberg till the director had enjoyed success through his hit movie after Used Cars, which was Romancing The Stone. There was no special training required for the director or the actors since the talent and experience required to create this science fiction movie was present in them. The only training required was to ensure that the actors were correctly secured when they were doing stunts or wearing gear. Editing The movie utilizes mediocre editing job since most of the special affects and the camera work was flawless and created an end product even though it was not finished. All the editors were required to do was incorporate the excellent background and sound scores in the movie and complete the illusion that the director wanted to create. 5. My reaction to the film My initial reaction to the movie was one of awe, especially during the time transport and hovercraft scenes. However, I was not very comfortable with the idea of the mother trying to befriend her own future son and ask him out for a dance. However, in hindsight I also realize that to create an illusion and have a story that challenges social norms is a daunting task. And if a director can think of creating a time machine out of a car or even propose time travel to teenagers which is not a socially accepted norm, why not have a comic confusion with a mother not recognizing her son from future when she is a teenager in school. I found the interactions between Marty and Doc highly realistic, and did not find the same equation with other characters in the movie. 6. How it would it be if released in 2015. If released in 2015, the movie would have used very different technology and lighting effects. Let us also not forget the sound effects that have been used in the movie would receive a complete change with higher intensity sound used in the 2015 movie. A lot of focus would be on the visuals and props used to create the illusion as a higher investment would be made to create the sets and many of the scenes which were completed using miniature cars or hovercrafts would be done in real with cars of real life size manufactured and aerially borne. The lighting would have used lasers specially in the lightning scene and the special effects would be less pronounced and more integrated to the frame. The director’s crane work however would have stayed immaculately same. 7. Conclusion Back to the Future is a treat to the eyes of sci-fi lovers and has been created as a tribute to Time Machine, a movie that is an epic pioneer in technology usage. Every frame and camera angle of the movie remind one of the brilliance of Robert Zemeckis, the director whose comedy timing conquered sci-fi through this movie. References Cinemablend. (2014).This Is How Back To The Futures Incredible Opening Scene Was Filmed. (2014, September 25). Cinemablend. Retrieved onApril 19, 2015, from http://www.cinemablend.com/new/How-Back-Future-Incredible-Opening-Scene-Was-Filmed-67395.html FXRant. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2015, from http://fxrant.blogspot.com.es/2010/08/back-to-future-einstein-jump.html IMDB Awards. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2015, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088763/awards Pajiba. (n.d). Mindhole Blowers: 20 Facts About Back to the Future That Might Make Your Flux Capacitor Hit 1.21 Gigawatts. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2015, from http://www.pajiba.com/seriously_random_lists/mindhole-blowers-20-facts-about-back-to-the-future-that-might-make-your-flux-capacitor-hit-121-gigawatts.php Youtube (n.d.). Back to the Future - How the Flying Delorean Car Effects were made. Retrieved April 19, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBtBvRsr49o Yahoo (n.d.) Classic movie scenes: Before and after special effects. Retrieved April 19, 2015, from https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/photos/classic-movie-scenes-before-and-after-special-effects-1359743560-slideshow/back-to-the-future-photo--1761750522.html Read More