Back to the Future Part III is a 1990 American science fiction Western film directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen, Thomas F. Wilson, and Lea Thompson. It is the sequel to Back to the Future Part II (1989) and the third installment of the Back to the Future trilogy.
The story continues immediately after the previous film; while stranded in 1955 during his time travel adventures, Marty McFly (Fox) discovers that his friend Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown (Lloyd) is trapped in 1885 and was killed by Biff's great-grandfather Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen (Wilson). Marty travels to 1885 with the intent of rescuing Doc and then returning to 1985, but matters are complicated when Doc falls in love with Clara Clayton (Steenburgen). It was filmed in California and Arizona, and was produced on a $40 million budget back-to-back with Part II.
Back to the Future Part III was released in the United States on May 25, 1990, six months after the previous installment, and grossed $245 million worldwide during its initial run, making it the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1990. The film received a positive response from critics, who noted it as an improvement over Part II.
Plot
On November 12, 1955, moments after witnessing Emmett "Doc" Brown disappear in his DeLorean, Marty McFly learns that Doc was sent 70 years in the past to 1885. Using information from Doc's 1885 letter, Marty and the 1955 Doc find and repair the DeLorean, hidden away by Doc in 1885, so that Marty can return to 1985. After finding it, Marty comes across a tombstone inscribed with Doc's name, stating that Doc was killed by Biff Tannen's great-grandfather, Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen over 80 dollars, six days after writing the letter.
Despite the letter's warning, Marty travels to September 2, 1885, to save Doc, arriving in the middle of a cavalry pursuit of Native Americans. Marty evades the pursuit, but damages the car's fuel line. Chased by a bear, he is knocked unconscious and found by his Irish-born great-great-grandparents Seamus and Maggie McFly, who allow him to stay the night. The next morning, under the alias Clint Eastwood, Marty arrives in a newly founded Hill Valley but runs afoul of Buford and his gang. Doc rescues Marty from Buford's attempted lynching. Doc agrees to leave 1885 after learning his fate, but without gasoline, the DeLorean cannot reach to time-travel. He proposes using a steam locomotive to push the DeLorean to that speed.
While inspecting a rail spur, Doc saves the town's new schoolteacher Clara Clayton from falling into the ravine, averting her death from the original timeline. They fall in love. At a town festival Buford tries shooting Doc, but after Marty intervenes, Buford challenges him to a showdown in two days by calling him "yellow". Doc urges Marty not to react to provocation, letting slip that Marty has a life changing accident in the future.
Although reluctant to return to 1985, Doc visits Clara to end their relationship and bid her goodbye. She dismisses his story about being from the future. Doc attempts a drinking binge, but passes out after one drink. Buford arrives for Marty, who sees his alias appear in the tombstone photograph and refuses to duel. A revived Doc is captured by Buford's gang, forcing Marty to duel. Marty uses a stove door as a bulletproof vest to survive Buford's shot and, in the ensuing fistfight, knocks Buford into a wagon of manure. Buford and his gang are then arrested for an earlier robbery.
On the train to San Francisco, Clara learns of Doc's heartbreak and runs back to town. She finds the model time machine at his shop and realizes Doc was telling the truth. Doc and Marty use the locomotive to push the DeLorean along the spur line. Clara boards the locomotive and loses her footing. Marty, in the DeLorean, passes his hoverboard to Doc, who uses it to save Clara. The DeLorean hits 88 mph and vanishes as the locomotive plunges from the unfinished bridge.
Arriving back in 1985 on October 27, Marty escapes the disabled DeLorean as a freight train destroys it. Reuniting with his girlfriend Jennifer Parker, Marty avoids a street race with Needles, thus avoiding the accident Doc warned him about. Jennifer opens the fax message she kept from 2015 and watches the text regarding Marty's firing disappear.
As Marty and Jennifer examine the DeLorean wreckage, a steam locomotive time machine appears, operated by Doc, Clara, and their children. Doc gives Marty a photo of them standing next to the town clock in 1885. When Jennifer asks Doc about the blank fax, he says it means their future has not yet been written and encourages them to "make it a good one". Doc and his family bid farewell and fly off in the locomotive.
Cast
Returning actors from previous films include Elisabeth Shue and Flea as Jennifer Parker and Douglas J. Needles, as well as Marc McClure, Wendie Jo Sperber and Jeffrey Weissman as Dave, Linda and George McFly, respectively. James Tolkan, who played Mr. Strickland in the first two films, plays his ancestor Marshal James Strickland.
Buford's gang in 1885 is portrayed by Christopher Wynne, Sean Gregory Sullivan, and Mike Watson. Wynne also plays a member of Needles' gang in 1985, alongside J. J. Cohen and Ricky Dean Logan, who played Skinhead and Data, respectively, in previous films.
Chester the bartender is played by Matt Clark, Richard Dysart plays a barbewire salesman, and three elderly patrons of the saloon are played by veteran Western film actors Pat Buttram, Harry Carey, Jr. and Dub Taylor. Hugh Gillin, Burton Gilliam, Donovan Scott and Bill McKinney portray Hill Valley's mayor, a gun salesman, Strickland's deputy, and an engineer respectively. Todd Cameron Brown and Dannel Evans play Doc and Clara's sons Jules and Verne Brown, and Lindsay Vail Clark portrays William McFly, Marty's great-grandfather. Frank Beard, Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill of ZZ Top cameo as the band at the Festival.
Production
The origins of the Western theme for Back to the Future Part III lay in the production of the original Back to the Future film. During filming for the original, director Robert Zemeckis asked actor Michael J. Fox what time period he would like to see. Fox replied that he wanted to visit the Old West and meet cowboys. Zemeckis and writer/producer Bob Gale were intrigued by the idea, but held it off until Part III. Rather than use existing sets, the filmmakers built the 1885 Hill Valley from scratch. The western scenes were filmed on location in Oak Park, California and Monument Valley.Back to the Future 2002 DVD Feature: Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale Q&A recorded at the University of Southern California Some of the location shooting for the 1885 Hill Valley was done in Jamestown, California and on a purpose-built set at the Red Hills Ranch near Sonora, California. Some of the train scenes were filmed at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park, a heritage line in Jamestown.
The shooting of the Back to the Future sequels, which were shot back-to-back throughout 1989, reunited much of the crew of the original. The films were shot over the course of eleven months, save for a three-week hiatus between filming of Parts II and III, and concluded in January 1990. The most grueling part was editing Part II while filming Part III, and Zemeckis bore the brunt of the process over a three-week period. While Zemeckis was shooting most of the train sequences in Sonora, Gale was in Los Angeles supervising the final dub of Part II. Zemeckis would wrap photography and board a private plane to Burbank, where Gale and engineers would greet him on the dubbing stage with dinner. He would oversee the reels completed that day, and make changes where needed. Afterwards, he would retire to the Sheraton Universal Hotel for the night. The following morning, Zemeckis would drive to the Burbank Airport, board a flight back to the set in Northern California, and continue to shoot the film.
Although the schedule for most of the personnel involved was grueling, the actors found the remote location for Part III relaxing, compared to shooting its predecessor.
The role of Clara Clayton was written with Mary Steenburgen in mind. When she received the script, she was reluctant to commit to the film until her children, who had loved the first film, "hounded" her.
The Hill Valley Festival Dance scene proved to be the most dangerous for Lloyd and Steenburgen; overzealous dancing left Steenburgen with a torn ligament in her foot.
The film featured cameo appearances from veteran Western film actors Pat Buttram, Harry Carey Jr. and Dub Taylor as three "saloon old timers". The inclusion of these noticeable Western actors was promoted in several documentaries about the film, as well as the behind-the-scenes documentary of the DVD and in the obituary of one of the actors. Zemeckis considered having Ronald Reagan play the part of the Mayor of Hill Valley in 1885. Reagan, who in 1989 had recently finished his second term as president, had appeared in several Westerns during his earlier career as an actor before pursuing a career in politics and had not appeared in a motion picture since 1964 in which he starred in The Killers. Zemeckis personally contacted Reagan's agent Lew Wasserman, to gauge the ex-president's interest in the role, which Reagan declined.
Shooting a film set in the Old West was appealing to the stuntmen, who were all experienced horse riders. Gale recalled in 2002 that many stuntmen in Hollywood wanted to work on Part III. Thomas F. Wilson, who played Buford Tannen, opted to perform his own stunts instead of using a stunt double and spent a great deal of time learning to ride a horse and throw his lariat. Filming was paused when Fox's father died, and when his son was born.
Alan Silvestri returned to compose the score for Back to the Future Part III, continuing his longtime collaboration with Zemeckis. Rather than dictate how the music should sound, Zemeckis directed Silvestri as he would an actor, seeking to evoke emotion and treating every piece of music like a character. The musicians of the Old West-style band in the film were played by American rock band ZZ Top.
The photography in Part III was a "dream" for cinematographer Dean Cundey, who shared with much of the crew his excitement to shoot a Western. Zemeckis wished to create a spectacular climax to the film. He coordinated the actors, a live 4-6-0 ten wheeler steam locomotive (the Sierra Railway 3), pyrotechnics, and special effects, and countless technicians all at once. As they had done with the previous two films in the trilogy, the visual effects for Part III were managed by effects company Industrial Light & Magic; the head of its animation department, Wes Takahashi, returned to once again animate the DeLorean's time travel sequences.
Music
The soundtrack was released under Varèse Sarabande on May 29, 1990, and features much of the score by Alan Silvestri and the orchestral version of the song "Doubleback" performed at the festival in 1885 during the film. A two-disc special edition was released on October 12, 2015, in commemoration of the film's 25th anniversary, which includes the original score (26 tracks) on disc one and an arrangement of alternate cues and source music on a second disc.
Release Home media On November 8, 1990, MCA/Universal Home Video released Back to the Future Part III on VHS and on December 17, 2002, on DVD. It debuted on Blu-ray in 2010 for the film's 20th anniversary, followed by a second Blu-ray remaster in 2015 for the film's 25th anniversary and a 4K Blu-ray remaster in 2020 for the film's 30th anniversary.
Reception Box office The film grossed $23 million in its first weekend of U.S. release and $87.6 million altogether in U.S. box office receipts (or about $ million adjusted as of ) – $246 million worldwide.
Critical response