Why 'Back to the Future' is the Perfect Screenplay

For a while now, I have maintained that if I were to choose one screenplay, as an example to measure what a perfect script is. I would single this one out, above all others as the perfect and best screenplay of all time. As you probably already guessed based on the title of this article for me it is ‘Back to the Future’.

I think an explanation is required, when you look at the script of ‘Back to the Future’, ignoring the acting and special effects and direction (not that they’re not equally as good, but focus primarily on the writing) everything comes together, every detail every piece of information, everything is there for a reason. A film can do a lot of damage by including needless scenes that are uninteresting, with ‘Back to the Future’ everything matters and has a purpose. Every scene finds a way to advance to narrative further, without the audience even knowing it half the time.

But before we go any deeper, let’s rewind. Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale were creative partners for many years, but had headlined a number of unsuccessful projects such as ‘Used Cars’, ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’ and ‘1941’. Then they came up with some sort of time travel concept and sent an early draft to Steven Spielberg who was deeply interested. But they decided to let the idea lie for a while as, if it was another failure, Zemeckis and Gale feared that they would struggle to find work without Spielberg’s support. When Zemeckis was hired to direct ‘Romancing the Stone’ he found success and everyone was asking what his next project would be, it was of course ‘Back to the Future’. Spielberg offered support as producer and the three of them set about crafting the film.

One of the best things a screenplay can do is attract a viewer with a universal and general appeal. It’s not just time travel, it’s something better in ‘Back to the Future’, it’s meeting your parents as youngsters. That was inspired by Gale finding an old yearbook of his parents and wondering what it would be like to personally know him, haven’t we all? Hasn’t everyone wondered what they would honestly think if they met their parents when they were the same age as them? Would they like them, dislike them and can you still think of them in the same way, as though many think about it, I doubt anyone can really imagine their parents and youngsters.

A sceptical person might point out that it was very coincidental that Marty McFly travelled back to the exact date at which his parents were his age. But remember it was also that night that his mother mentioned it in conversation, recalling how she met George McFly and his really weird laugh. So there’s just one example of a tiny piece of information in the script fitting perfectly into the vast expanse of space that is the plot synopsis.

That same sceptical person might also point out that it is extremely unlikely that a disruption in the space time continuum would choose to erase a picture of Marty and his siblings one gradually, it’s one amazing plot device. It acts as a constant reminder of the stakes and what hangs on the decisions that are being made right in front of us.

The humour and intelligence of the script is peppered throughout as one joke can sometimes come into play later and make a scenario even funnier. Marty opens the film by destroying a guitar and amplifier, and then does the same thing at the end of the film during his Johnny B Good number. Then there’s the whole first act in 1985, that could have been a wasted segment before the action but instead we establish so many key plot elements like the clock tower, the lightning strike, Marty’s girlfriend, the state of the McFly household, the stranglehold that Biff has over George and it all builds up to that final twist without ever shoving it in your face.

Ever think about how that title is just a perfect joke in itself? It’s a complete contradiction that would never make sense unless applied to that circumstance when suddenly it’s the only phrase you could use (you know, just in case you are sent back in time and need to go back to the future). The head of Universal Pictures at the time wanted the title to be changed to ‘Space Man from Pluto’ as he said the working title made no sense (because ‘Space Man from Pluto’ is completely logical). Thankfully Hollywood heavyweight Spielberg put his foot down and the matter was dropped.

The self-contained jokes like that are one of the many things that makes the screenplay great. They range from kind of obvious to ridiculously subtle such as the Twin Pines Mall becoming the Lone Pine Mall by the end of the movie due to Marty destroying Old Man Peabody’s evergreen breeding programme. Then there’s the ending, one of the few in film history that leaves the door wide open for sequels yet acts as one of the best forms of closure imaginable.

Those are just a few ramblings on ‘Back to the Future’ what are your thoughts, do you agree with anything here, or disagree, or do you think this is just reading into it far too much? Leave a comment below and you can find me on Twitter with @JoshuaPrice97, thanks and bye.