1985: Original BACK TO THE FUTURE Review | Film 85 | Classic Movie Review | BBC Archive
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- čas přidán 26. 08. 2024
- Barry Norman shares his thoughts on the blockbuster time-travel comedy drama, Back to the Future. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Steven Spielberg, and featuring memorable performances by Michael J Fox, Lea Thompson, Christopher Lloyd, Crispin Glover and Thomas F Wilson - but is it great (Scott)?
Originally broadcast 10 December, 1985
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Anyone else spot Barry's clever reference to John Delorean's dubious character ?..... ' Delorean car , which instead of just nipping along sniffing up the white line along the middle of the road ' - DeLorean was arrested for a $24million cocaine deal ! - I had no idea Barry Norman was so funny when I was a kid !
Yeah he was a clever witty bloke unlike most of the reviewers nowadays and i remember when Johnathan Ross took over the Film review series and was ok fairly funny but still wasn't as great as Barry also when Claudia Winkleman took it over more recently and she tried her best but still didn't compare it was probably wise that it's no longer on anymore!
Yes, very clever Barry hehe.
Brilliant!
Brilliant! I did think it was a strange comment. Thanks for solving that little comment.
I remember chuckling at that line from seeing this when it came out. would'nt call it a defence though, reference maybe?
Remember seeing Back to the Future with no idea what it was about and being blown away. One of the best feel good and entertaining movies ever made.
Do you know what me too Derek Llewellyn feel it in side effects of really remember reel thing it's looks like history books documentary about biography book full movie online free time years fan club so much it's looks like
You wrote this comment two years ago. Are you still alive?
@@PorterJustPorter Yes
@@ivankaramasov Yay!
I was mesmerized right from the beginning with the scene of all the clocks, and left the cinema feeling like I'd been on a real adventure. It felt very surreal. Must have been around 13 years old at the time.
The Goonies and Back to the future, both released within 6 days of each other here in the UK was one hell of a week for Cinema.
Yes good shout my 13 year old self went to see both - happy days indeed! I have extremely fond memories of the whole period around 84-86 there was always something we were desperate to see - either at the cinema or on good old VHS! Ghostbusters, Gremlins, Beverley Hills Cop - tremendous stuff!
Except The Goonies flopped at the British box office
only last month I got dvds of both movies for my 12 year old child to watch, after we had already gone through the star wars and indiana Jones movies)
@@thebluraygeek1802 yes, but I had many goonie adventures as an American child growing up in the UK. 🤩
I’m not take’m back. ☝🏻
@@thebluraygeek1802 Fair enough, but loads of stuff fails at the actual cinema to then go on and become a cult classic of cinema. I said it was one hell of a week 'for cinema' not 'at the cinema'.
Barry Norman was by far the best TV film critic that we've ever had in the UK
This comment is applause worthy 1👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿
Had a massive winkie too.
Peerless. The film programme was ruined by the likes of Jonathan Tosser and that dreadful Winkleman woman.
I used to love watching Barry Norman's FILM series.
Christmas 85. Take me back please 🙏🏻
Marty, fire up the Delorean!
There has never been anyone better that Barry Norman at this.
This show makes you realise how far we have fallen.
what do you mean? Are you one of those guys who hate all the LGBTQ+ people?!? I'm sure I haven't the foggiest what you are referring to😉
Yep, indeed!
Indeed we have, I never realised how much I've missed the legendary Barry Norman.
We're regressing, not progressing
Reading at 150% speed off a teleprompter, seating in front of a bare wall - British production value of 1980s shine through.
I love little dig at John Delorean's car sniffing up the white lines, LOL!
Yeah - 'ello 'ello :)
I miss Barry Norman, the best film reviewer the UK ever had. Pretty much always spot on.
I do too m8
He was witty but I rarely agreed with his recommendations. He absolutely hated most of the 80s classics, took multiple jibes at them, seeing them as beneath him
@@crayzee1372 Some examples?
@@loot6 I can't find examples on the Internet, maybe Robocop but that is a weak example. He typically would talk down 80s action films, anything with Schwartzneger, Stalone, Jackie chan. He wasn't the right demographic for those I guess
@@crayzee1372 Well to be fair while I'm the biggest fans of those films they're obviously not gonna get great reviews. They have great action and cheesey lines which makes them fun but other than that you can't expect him to say they're amazing. Did he not have anything good to say about something like the Predator though? He clearly also thinks Rocky is great too.
I'd forgotten how much I liked Barry Norman, never missed Film 77 or whatever year it was at the time. I wish he was still with us, he was excellent.
Cattle Queen of Montana? Explains a whole thundering herd of things.
He really was brilliant. He understood and genuinely loved high brow and low brow culture. His reviews were warm, funny, insightful and, just about always, right.
Was he a big Labour guy? He seems like it, but as an American I can't tell. His reviews are hilarious and on the nose almost 40 years later.
@@timpatton1789 He was what you guys would call a Liberal for sure. Hated racism, sexism and the death penalty (which I remember from his review of Dead Man Walking). Don't think he was a card carrying socialist mind you
They added 1 year each year really lucky as it coincided with the year.
The early 80 was cinema magic.. RIP Barry, greatly missed
The latter 80s were even better.
Steve T, you missed the opportunity for a coinage, "Cinemagic"
…funny I thought the 80s was the beginning of the end of great cinema.
Back to the Future: Good, clean incestuous fun.
@@latenightlogic 80s were the Golden Age for movies, along with the 70s and 90s. 00s was stagnation and decline. We're now entering a long Dark Age possibly heading for the death of cinema.
I miss Barry.
I remember this review, back in the day. No internet, no expectations... So much fun.
And no trailers that tell you the entire plot making watching the film pointless.
@@Dreyno When im in the cinema and the trailers come on i take my phone out that is still on as switch it off before the film starts and i put my Bluetooth earphones in and watch and listen to something on there so as not to see spoilers in the trailers because as you say the trailer just as well be the film as you have seen what will happen ☹️ also i never watch trailers online as don't want a film i want to go and see spoilt 👍🏻
Same 🇬🇧❤️
Remember going to see this at the cinema for my 7th birthday. Will never forget it. Loved it.
The greatest movie ever made
Orson Welles rolls in his grave
Barry Norman was great, I miss his gentle, concise, honest, wry & humorous film reviews. Mark Kermode is probably the best current equivalent I think....
Remember the days when movies critics could tell you a movie was good or bad
@@garethdevlin5399 What do you mean? They still do now.
Kermode raves too much.
Gushes about how great this and that element is; urges us to go see it.
Kermode is awful. His favourite Ghostbusters movie is the 2016 reboot. 'Nuff said.
@@Rocket1377 Not that keen on Camode, and his little friend keeps piping up for no good reason. Norman he ain't.
in the 80s, the only chance of seeing any clips from a film was when you watched Barry Norman's review programme. I watched it every week just to see a snippet of the latest must see movie.
The whole world needs to know about this man's wit and his talent for summing up movies without spoiling them. Very charismatic! Cheers for Buenos Aires!
they literally told us the whole plot. don't know what video you just watched. the whole thing is one giant spoiler.
Almost forty years ago, where did the time go, and how did I get so old.. 😱
Like subtle 'sniffing the white line' dig at John Delorean :)
I was 16 when this film came out and it is still my favourite film today 👌🏻 without exaggeration I must’ve seen it over 100 times! 💚
same, its a perfect movie.
Same, took me multiple watches to get my head around it
Same here too. My favourite even til now
You must like Mad Max 2 also (?)
@@marleypumpkin4917 its amazing mate... im seriously due a watch of it again, but 2 is the best
When you consider what passes for movie reviews now compared to back then… how things have been dumbed down.
Props to BTTF for surviving 36+ years and still entertaining young and old alike. If I happen to notice it on TV, I’ll watch it happily. Reminds me of a different era…
So true. It's timeless 😄
@@JJ-iq8mi I just hoping myself before seeing it on my brother's house just like being back before
This was prime time BBC, they weren’t letting no slouches on!
A thought just occurred to me. If this was made today, it would go back to 1992. Whilst it might be something to revel in the Grunge movement again, I can’t quite believe that the 90’s would be the equivalent timeframe if the film was released today. Mind blown. 🤯🤯
We're reaching this with Austin Powers. If they make a fourth film and AP goes back 30 years it'll be the 90s, like modern-day in the first film. Will the 90s seem as out of step with modern standards as the 60s did then? Probly.
Time and fashion etc move more slowly now. Look at a car from 2002 and one from now, looks the same. Do the same 2002 - 1982 and you're looking at a Cortina.
@@hoffwell Yes, it's funny how tech developments have outpaced those in fashion, music, filmmaking etc. The biggest culture shock for a time traveller from today going back to 1993 would be the lack of smartphones and so forth but, otherwise, it was the year of Jurassic Park and there wouldn't be a huge difference.
One thing that would stand out is the complete lack of woke ideology in the early 90s and the fact that everybody back then could define what a woman was LOL Also, veganism was barely a thing. And real humor was still alive.
@@Fritha71 Meh, we did have the whole PC thing going on at that time, which really is an earlier version of woke. Sure we knew what a woman was, but there was a lot of ridiculous language policing happening and attempts to change wording. Some stuck, some didn't, but if you were around do you remember housewives were to be referred to as domestic engineers? Everything with the word man in it was being challenged, right down to manhole covers.
IMHO, the ultimate multiplex blockbuster and easily in my Top 5 of all time. This movie is sublime perfection.
Barry told you exactly what you needed to know.
Steven Spielberg direct descendant of King Midas. That was one hell of a quote.
I remember seeing BTTF at the cinema in 1985 with my girlfriend. When Michael J Fox came riding up on his skateboard and flicked it up to his hand at the start of the film, the girls in the audience screamed like, well, like schoolgirls. I wasn't jealous in the slightest as you can imagine.
LOL,"sniffing up the white line", brilliant reference to DeLorean's drug bust.
Yes, but what would 1955 have said if you'd told them Biff Tannen would become president in 2016?
Very modest clips, spoiler free and void of all the action scenes 😄👍 (wow! that definitely wouldn't happen today)
clips maybe but the actual review is completely spoiling the whole plot.
"De Lorean sniffing up the white line" - quality comment
For some reason many 80s movies had a close up cereal dump lol
And kids with Walkman earphone around there necks too
Ahhh going to the cinema in the 80s. I feel privileged to have experienced that.
Queues were a mile long but.
Great review. Funny, the trilogy encompassed the three most obsessed about pieces of American culture. The future/space/jet age, the 1950s and cowboys 😄 Every moment of these movies, particularly the first two, are perfection and iconic.
What a great review back then. This film is close to my heart as major scenes were filmed in my neighborhood.
What an amazing thing that these clips are being uploaded. Thanks BBC Archives 👍🏼
Especially when he insults everyone in the film, Brilliant
One of the greatest movies of all time. I've seen it hundreds of times and always enjoy it anyway.
From 1955 to 1985 seemed like such a long time, especially as I didn't exist for half of it, compared to 1985 to 2015 which just zipped by in no time...
The original Back to the Future is one of my all time favourite movies. It’s comforting to hear the dulcet tones of Barry Norman after all these years. Takes me back to more simple times. Almost like going back to the future. 🤣🤣
One of the best movies ever for families.
The story of a mother wanting to bangking his son? 🙂
No family required
I really miss Barry. No nonsense, great reporting!
I love the calmness of this style of presenting. Everything seems so hyperactive these days.
I agree, but he was still reading from a pre prepared script, he was just good at the way he presented and talked about the films in an understanding way.
@@Embracing01 a script he wrote!
@@ricewychrij Did he write his own script? I didn't know that.
@@Embracing01 yup. Unlike many faces we see these days it seems, old timers were hired for their skills rather than their pretty faces. He was a proper journalist who was later asked to front the show. I miss the old days lol
I was very lucky to be working at the UK film distributor at the time and got tickets to the UK premiere. By now I must’ve seen it and the two sequels 50 times. Love it! And what a perfect review by Barry Norman. Class act.
Barry Norman was a legend. Used to look forward to "film xy" on a regular basis
One of the most entertaining films in history. I must watch it again!
Loved it, more please! I owe Mr Norman such a lot, as a twelve year old I was only interesting in films if they had explosions, spaceships and / or breasts. :o) Yet I started watching Film (whatever year it was) and it introduced me to a whole new world of cinema, stuff from genres I didn't know about, languages I'd never heard and, well, all that good stuff that truly turned me into the hardcore film-lover I am today. Wish I'd have met the dude so I could shake his hand.
They broke the mould when they made Barry Norman. Singularly (ir)responsible for the film obsession that haunts me into my fifties. Saw him on Wardour Street once. A bucket list box got ticked that day.
Cool revisit!
I saw quite a few "Film XX" reviews back in the day when there was only one TV in the house. Never saw Barry's review of Back to the Future though... my forever-favourite film!
Barry Normans reviews were always spot on.
“Sniffing up the white line down the middle of the road, like other Delorian cars” - lol!
The film is a masterclass, especially from Fox as he was shooting Family Ties in the day then BTTF in the evening 😮❤👏🏼👏🏼
Sniffing up the white line!!
Surely a jab at John DeLorean, when he was framed in a cocaine smuggling sting
This brings a smile and tear so the eyes, I LOVED this movie saw it at the flicks in 85 I was 12, but 3 weeks back I saw the Musical in London that ALSO brought a tear to my eye, I loved it, I laughed a lot but felt a bit sad as the lad playing Mary looked and sounded JUST like Fox and for a while there I was 12 again and Michael J Fox was without the Parkinson's disease.
I really recommend the musical if you love the movie
Definitely,....and the special effects - Wow.
It transfers to the Theatre so well
“Mary” lol 😂
"sniffing up the white line in the middle of the road" Utter genius reference there regarding the De Loreon!
"Blousy boozer" is a new phrase to me. (stores it in memory file)
Good old reviews these. Very short, clear description of the movie, to the point and very little in the way of opinionated drivel and lengthy attempts to push their aggressive opinions on their audience. "Here's the movie, this is the basics of what it's about without spoiling anything, I found it interesting or not interesting and have a quick joke for fun."
"Sniffing up the white line like other DeLorean cars" Awesome
Loved this show with Barry Norman as a kid.
Being a 75er, this is what I grew up with, in a time when the world was a lot more enjoyable. The good old days actually existed.
A comment I live by was by Empire magazine, I don’t trust people who don’t like BTTF because as they said ‘if you don’t, I find it hard to believe you like films at all’. But this is all beautifully put by Barry. Spot on.
Sounds like a good film. I might pop down to see it.
maaaa.....its ok...
Don't waste your money going to the cinema... Just wait a few years and it is bound to be made available on Betta Video cassette!
“Sniffing up the white line…”? Did Barry just say that? ;)
Barry Norman was an honest reviewer of movies. I watched his program every week. It was always on late on BBC One but I loved it. If he didn't like a film he would say so and never held anything back.
Back when films reviewers were respected! These days I 100% ignore mainstream reviews! 🤯🤯🤯🤯😎😎😎😎👍👍👍👍👍
Excellent review. Norman didn't get every film spot on but his thoughts here are probably shared by almost everyone who ever saw it.
The 80's put out some proper bangers.
Legit legendary movies.
Good and insightful review of a near perfect popular movie that has gone on to be as much of a classic in its own way as the Wizard of Oz. The world changed more between 1955 and 1985, than between 1992 and 2022, I think. Anyone jumping in the Dolorean for a a trip three decades backwards now would find differences (clunky computers and mobile phones, no real internet although email) but with artefacts such as Wayne's World, My Cousin Vinny, and Madonna in her "Sex" era incarnation, the cultural needle arguably did not move so far.
I tell my son the world is exactly the same as it was in 1990, but only now everybody seems to be afraid.
@@macnavi True!
“Sniffing up the white line”, that’s a great nod to DeLorean 😂
So weird to hear this as a Christmas blockbuster holiday film. Stateside of course, this was a summer release for the July 4th Independence Day weekend. I have fond memories of going to this movie multiple times that summer with different friends who hadn't see it yet. You can't let friends go to BTTF alone after all!
The same thing happened when I lived in Germany, first saw E.T. that summer in U.S. then 6 months later we saw it again as a holiday winter release. The decidedly English language jokes were left in English for the German dub, such as the "Ur-anus". The German audience didn't understand the pizza box joke, pizza wasn't a thing that was delivered in Germany at the time. We were the only ones to laugh at that scene, no one else did in the theater.
It was the norm back then for movies to be released long after their US showing. I thought at the time this meant they could save the expense showing anything that flopped in the US market? It was frustrating being in the UK to wait though, and I remember my mate in 1991 rubbing it in that he'd seen Terminator 2 (which of course we were all eagerly waiting for) because he happened to be on holiday in Florida just after it's US release
@@Abo999 It wasn't just time, it was the physical cost of miles of 35mm film reels. Each one cost tens of thousands of dollars to print, so if they could reuse the USA ones, 3 or 5 months later, it was a saving for the studio.
@Imkrhn Ahh so they'd just ship the reels previously shown in the US out to the UK and elsewhere? Makes sense
Also, traditionally peak cinema attendances in the US market were in Summer, but in the UK more people went to the cinema in Winter, so the studios kept their best films for those peak periods in each market in order to maximize their profits.
@@Abo999And for movies in the UK to get to VHS seemed to take a year back then. I was astounded when Batman Forever was in the cinemas in the summer of 1995 and out on video by Christmas.
That Delorean line was gold
Omg, the John Delorean Coke Dig!
The good old days before the world went mad & humanity became insane.
Yeah, i watch a lot of TV and films from the last 50 years and stop at 2013 becasue , anything after 2013 doesn’t matter
A great review of a great film. Thank you Barry Norman.
Nobody will ever come close to Barry Norman.
That closing line was the best.
I was sort of hoping the review would utterly pan it, but it turns out it was also considered to be brilliant even at the time.
even people who never went to the cinema watched this show religiously every week , Barry Norman was so good
I used to watch this film review show religiously lol
The point about the ending is spot on. So many movies in that 10-20 year window had perfect endings. Why don't movies have perfect endings like that anymore? Rocky, Back to the Future, ET, Dead Poets Society, and on and on. They all made you leave the theater knowing you just had a transcendent experience, and asking everyone you know if they saw THAT movie. NOTHING does that anymore. (Maybe I'm just old. I guess Endgame stuck the landing, but nothing else is coming to mind.)
I agree with Glover's criticism of the ending. I don't think his family should have become Bif's wealthy slightly condescending employers. Also Marty has returned to a 1985 that he could no longer recognise, all of his memories of growing up are now only his.
That's the only weak aspect of what could have been the perfect 10/10 movie.
Part 2 you have to work to enjoy. There's quite a convoluted story going on. I have to admit to getting to half way through and realising I had no idea what was happening on my first watch.
Part 3 the fun returns, with a simple plot, a romantic interest for Doc, and lots of humour... 'People run for 'fun'? What the hell is fun about that'.
It's a perfect 10.
I don't have a problem with the ending at all. First off they are not really wealthy, they live in the same house. They have achieved their potential In life (or at least some of it) by making. better choices. Being rich would make a completely different life, but here it can be even surprising to see how little has changed, in the grand scheme of things. Moreover Marty DOES have a slightly unhealthy obsession with material things, and getting rich, but the movie isn't saying that it's the right thing to do, it's just a reflection of society at the time, and in facts addresses it as an issue in the second movie.
Barry Norman was a great critic and the man who made me realise you don't have to agree with a critic to think he's good. These CZcams and tik tokers are a joke
We have literally no high quality film critics producing concise, intelligent analysis of new movies like this today. It’s tragic, and Barry Norman shows via these classic reviews just how good he was. Also, his opinions were very much his own, no being owned by the big studios to give fake reviews like today.
There are also very few high quality films these days (at least from Hollywood ) so no point in having brilliant critics either...
2:55 It can't be helped! LOL
What always impressed me about Back to The Future, was the way Marty’s mum was able to throw the cake on the table without knocking over the other dishes! Must taken multiple takes!
Lorraine had a lot of practice. Remember, this isn't the first time Joey failed to make parole!
@@r0bw00d that’s a great point lol!!
I remember growing up that the big Hollywood films would be released in America and then take 6 months to come to the cinemas in the UK. It would be another 6 months before you could buy it on VHS.
"Sniffing up the white lines" lol Very clever.
I remember going to see Back To The Future in the cinema sometime in late 1985 when I was nine years old - it was the first time that I was truly enraptured but the power of film.
just need the intro music to complete the retro feel.
1:09 comment about other DeLorians 'sniffing up the white lines'. subtle 🤣
Hooray another film that Barry quite rightly enjoyed and enthused over as was a masterpiece of a film that i still love to this day! Does anyone know when this show actually finished? With the more recent host Claudia Winkleman who followed Jonathan Ross im thinking maybe 2017 or 18?
I don't know when exactly it ended, but for me it ended when Barry Norman left. He WAS the show.
I also remember an interview he did some time later, when he gave his real reason for leaving (other than the lucrative offer from Sky), which was that basically modern films are crap and he had no enthusiasm for reviewing them.
@@HomerSlated Have googled it and it was December 2018 it finished! Also had other presenters such as Joan Bakewell Iain Johnstone Clara Amfo Zoe Ball and Al Murray at one stage but as you say was the best with Barry who left it in 98!
@@HomerSlated which is interesting as several of the best movies ever made were in that mid 90s period - certainly many of my favourites. Perhaps they just weren’t Barry’s cup of tea!
Others have said it, but: it finished when Norman left in 1997. It was always really the Barry Norman Show. He was witty, urbane and a true cinephile, but also understood genre and wasn’t a snob. Jonathan Ross just didn’t have the gravitas.
@@KaitainCPS Ross was defo better than the ones after him like Claudia Winkleman etc so Barry first then Wossy
One of the greatest films ever.
Crazy how formal these reviews were 40 years ago. The accent, the suit, the intellect. Compare that to Jahns and Stuckmann both very intelligent but super chill.
It was fantastic, you'd have to eagerly await reviews like this before going to see them in the cinema,no cell phones no internet crap it was fantastic, everything remained polished and mysterious,the film the actors the soundtrack
Loved it. Everything about it was superb from twin pines mall to lone pine mall. Loved it all
Good old days how movies were reviewed in the 80's 👍...love it..
"Sniffing the white line, like other DeLorean's"... lmao...
I've seen the film several times and I don't think Barry's review did it justice. And why not.!!!!
Brilliant reviews by an Absolutely brilliant reviewer.
I love the casual reference to cocaine use on a late-night BBC One show. There'd be uproar if such a thing happened today.
There wouldn’t though, would there?
“Sniffing up the white line” 🤣🤣
Barry Norman Was " The Critic's Critic " !! With A Brilliant " Verbal Dexterity " !!! From Adrian 1965
Barry norman could make or break a movie In this country .