Back to the Future: The Ultimate Trilogy 40th Anniversary Edition
Directed by Robert Zemeckis.
Starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, Elisabeth Shue, James Tolkan, Jeffrey Wesissman, Mary Steenburgen, and Thomas F. Wilson.
SYNOPSIS:
Yes, Back to the Future: The Ultimate Trilogy 40th Anniversary Edition feels like a cash grab, but Universal actually commissioned over 100 minutes of new bonus features, on top of the many hours of legacy bonus content they’ve ported over, so I have to give them credit for that. And they used Drew Struzan’s original poster artwork, which is a nice tribute to a wonderful artist and human being who died earlier this week.
It turns out I can predict the future! Five years ago, I wrote about the Back to the Future trilogy’s 4K Ultra HD debut: “So for now, this is the ultimate Back to the Future trilogy set. Universal seems to like putting out new ones at five-year intervals, so we’ll see what 2025 holds.”
Universal had also issued a Blu-ray set of the movies five years before that, in 2015, which I took a look at back then. Now that we’ve reached another anniversary divisible by five, I can’t blame Universal for continuing to capitalize on the movies’ enduring popularity with this new 40th Anniversary Edition of what they call the Ultimate Trilogy collection on 4K Ultra HD.
To their credit, however, Universal commissioned a nice batch of new bonus features for this film, tossing them onto an extra Blu-ray platter included here. That means you get all the new stuff included in the 35th Anniversary set from 2020 as well as just about all the legacy content dating back to the original 2002 DVD release.
Some minor items are missing, such as the U-Control options in the 2010 Blu-ray set that had a trivia track and storyboard comparisons, so completists will probably want to keep that edition, but for casual fans, what you have here should tide you over until the next release in five years.
Also, I’m very happy that Universal has used Drew Struzan’s original poster art for this set. As many movie buffs know, that iconic movie poster illustrator died earlier this week. I assume Universal went with his artwork because Struzan’s wife revealed earlier this year that he wasn’t doing well, and they wanted to make sure they paid tribute to him.
You can check out my previous reviews for my thoughts on the movies and the older bonus content, so I’ll just stick to the new stuff. As always, you get codes for digital copies of the movies, and on the video front, as far as I know, these are the same transfers used in 2020, which generated some controversy at the time. I didn’t really mind them and still feel that way, but your mileage may vary, especially if you’re headed where Doc Brown doesn’t need roads.
40 Years Later: Reflecting the Future, which runs 25 minutes, leads off the new extras, which can also be found in your digital copy of the movie, along with everything detailed below, if you already redeemed a code from a previous set. (I just double-checked in Movies Anywhere.) This one features co-writer and co-producer Bob Gale looking back on the movie’s legacy, and all I can say is, I want to be him when I grow up. He seems to have an absolute blast talking about a franchise that made him well-known and wealthy, and good for him.
Moving on, we have the 37-minute Untold Stories of Back to the Future, in which fellow producers Neil Canton and Frank Marshall (the latter via Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment; this was actually that company’s first project) join Gale and various members of the cast and crew to talk about production stories that you probably haven’t heard before. (I don’t recall hearing most of them.) I love the fact that several of the stunt people get their chances to shine here, since folks like them often don’t get the attention they deserve.
Next up, Gale joins Don Fullilove (Mayor Goldie Wilson) to visit not just the famous backlot where much of the filming took place but also several other locations around Los Angeles. A lot of the territory in the 16-minute Back to Hill Valley has been covered before, of course, but I perked up when they visited the McFly home: I’ve been there via a guy I know in LA who owns a replica of the Back to the Future time machine.
At that time, in 2019, he said the owners didn’t want to be bothered (they would get upset if he dared pull his vehicle up on the driveway), but he later told me they changed their tune, which is evident when a woman who was a little kid in 1984 comes out to chat with Gale and Fullilove.
I have my own copies of the photos she shows off, which were taken by the owner of the house next door. I met that neighbor during my visit and chatted with her a bit while my kids and I took in a piece of film history. I’m glad the daughter of the original owners of the famous McFly house has embraced her home’s notoriety.
Gale is joined by cinematographer Dean Cundey and stunt double Charlie Croughwell for the 16-minute TCM Classic Film Festival Panel, which took place before an IMAX showing of the movie for its 40th anniversary this year. Croughwell also shows up in the Untold Stories extra, and while he might seem like an odd choice for a panel discussion, he has great stage presence and fun stories to share. And as I noted before, I appreciate it when people like him get a turn in the spotlight.
Finally, A Mystery in History is a nine-minute overview of the search for the Gibson ES-345 guitar that Michael J. Fox plays in the film, which has been missing for the past 40 years. He pops in here, along with Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, and others, as well as an executive with Gibson Guitars who explains the history of the company’s electric guitars line-up and the specific things that make that guitar unique.
There’s even a website you can visit to stay updated on the search and submit a tip, if you happen to know whose garage the guitar might be located in.
So that’s it for the Back to the Future trilogy on home video until 2030, although I don’t know how much more stuff Universal can cram into this set. If they can come up with some good topics for discussion, however, I’d be happy to check out the next release. I bet Bob Gale won’t mind making another appearance.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
