Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Where to Watch
- Many of the practical effects used in the climax were achieved without any CGI.
- Robert Zemeckis originally wanted a completely different ending for the film, but test audiences preferred the one we see today.
- Eagle-eyed viewers have noticed a hidden easter egg referencing Robert Zemeckis's previous film in the background of the opening scene.
Back to the Future Part III is a 1990 American science fiction Western comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis, the concluding chapter of the trilogy. After learning that Doc Brown has been stranded in 1885 and is destined to be murdered by Biff Tannen's ancestor Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, Marty McFly uses the DeLorean hidden in a mine shaft for 70 years to travel to the Old West and save his friend. In 1885, Doc falls in love with Clara Clayton, a schoolteacher played by Mary Steenburgen, complicating their plan to return to the future since the DeLorean cannot reach the necessary 88 miles per hour on dirt roads and there is no gasoline in the 19th century.
Back to the Future Part III shifted the trilogy's genre from science fiction comedy to Western comedy, and the filmmakers committed fully to the setting, filming on location at Monument Valley and various California ranch locations. The climactic train sequence, in which Doc and Marty use a locomotive to push the DeLorean to 88 mph, was filmed using a real steam train and remains one of the most impressive practical stunt sequences of its era. Mary Steenburgen's Clara Clayton gave Doc Brown a romantic arc that added emotional depth to the character, and their relationship provided the trilogy's emotional resolution.
The film earned $244 million worldwide and brought the trilogy to a satisfying conclusion with its final image of Doc's flying steam-powered time machine, proving that adventure, as the trilogy always argued, exists at the intersection of imagination and heart.
