[Roll Your Own Life] The Movies That Made Me (Part 8)

BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985)

There's not really much to say about this one. Back to the Future. There are very few perfect movies in the world, and I personally think Back to the Future is one of them. It has everything. Action, comedy, music, romance, science fiction, nerdy references, time travel... heck, it's just perfect in my eyes.

I remember seeing the very cryptic trailer that gave absolutely nothing away. Just that car pulling up to a hitchhiker, and the guy from Family Ties (which I think everyone was watching) driving... and that "how far you going?" And then there was the cool Drew Struzan poster. Again, giving nothing away.

By this time I went to see anything that was remotely science fictiony, and this looked cool. I think I went opening weekend (or certainly early in its release).

I loved it, as you can guess. Just brilliant. First time watching it I really didn't know what was going to happen so it had me hooked from the very beginning. As always, with me, when I find something I really like, I get a little obsessed. I bought the novelisation, the soundtrack, the poster magazine, the behind the scenes magazine, and even collected the Panini stickers (managed to get the whole collection except for one sticker - even Panini ran out of it, as it was portrait pic of Michael J. Fox and those teens had sent off for extra copies of it).

Hell, even my Call of Cthulhu character at the time was based on George McFly.

When the VHS came out, I bought it and watched it over and over, convinced that a shadow I saw move in the car park of the mall at the beginning was the returning Marty at the end of the movie, not really comprehending how time travel worked.

But I was young and impressionable, and it was before the internet. Kept me quiet, and I loved that movie. Still do. Back then it was just cool, and wasn't violent (except for a few punches and a little gunfire - though those Libyans came to a sticky end don't they?). It was just fun, and for an awkward nerd like I was/am it was nice to see the nerd get the girl of his dreams in the end.

(Just realised that years later my first steady girlfriend would share the same first name as the object of George McFly's affections... how weird).

I did have that moment a while ago when I thought, "why isn't there an RPG of Back to the Future?" and then I realised I was just describing Rick and Morty.