Director Robert Zemeckis took a unique approach to the making of theBack to the Futuresequels, and he ended up having a major regret over the second movie because of it. Although heendedBack to the Futureon a cliffhangerthat teased another time-traveling adventure,Zemeckis never intended to continue the story in a sequel. It was only afterBack to the Futurebecame a huge box office hitthat Zemeckis and co-writer Bob Gale started kicking around ideas for a follow-up.
They didn’t just make oneBack to the Futuresequel;they made two back-to-back, rounding out a trilogy. These days, it’s common to shoot multiple movies back-to-back to get them out quicker and strike while the iron is hot.The Matrix ReloadedandThe Matrix Revolutions,Avengers: Infinity WarandAvengers: Endgame, andThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy were all shot back-to-back, and James Cameron has been filming fourAvatarsequels simultaneously. Butwhen Zemeckis completed theBack to the Futuretrilogy, it was a relatively new approach to franchise filmmaking.
Zemeckis Was Editing Part II While Shooting Part III
The ambitious practice offilmingBack to the Future Parts IIandIIItogetherallowed the trilogy to feel like a more cohesive, complete story.Part IIslyly foreshadows plot points fromPart III, like having Biff watch a scene fromA Fistful of Dollarsthat Marty will recreate when he goes back to the Old West.Part IIends with a trailer forPart III, which blew audiences’ minds back in 1989 when movies weren’t expected to tee up their own sequels in the end credits.
1 Clever Back To The Future Line Predicts The Second Movie’s Entire Plot
A throwaway line that Doc Brown says to Marty McFly in the first Back to the Future movie slyly foreshadowed the almanac storyline for the sequel.
But this approach also had some drawbacks. On the “Making the Trilogy” DVD featurette,Zemeckis said that it was “very difficult” to make the second and third films simultaneously. He was editingPart IIwhile he was shootingPart III. This meant thathe couldn’t givePart IIhis full attention, and the film “suffered a little” because of it. It’s tough enough to direct one movie at a time; directing two at once is nearly impossible.
Why Back To The Future Part II Is Still Great (Even If It Doesn’t Match The Original)
Back To The Future Part II Is Delightfully Dark
While it’s widely accepted thatBack to the Future Part IIdoesn’t quite live up to its perfect predecessor, it’s still a great movie. The sequel takes some really dark turns when Marty returns to a dystopian alternate 1985, andthat tonal shift is not only effectively shocking, but makes for a really gripping story. It was an ingenious conceit to send Marty back to the events of the originalBack to the Future— sequels don’t get much more meta than that.
