Back To The Future Part III

By Reggie's Take on May 25, 2025

Back to the Future Part III is the third and final installment of the Back to the Future trilogy that finds Marty traveling back to 1885 to rescue Doc and return to1985.

After having received a letter from Doc Brown from 1885 at the conclusion of Back to the Future Part II, Marty McFly finds himself stranded in 1955. Marty discovers that Doc Brown was killed by Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen, Biff’s great-grandfather and decides to travel back to 1885 to rescue Doc in hopes of both returning to 1985.

The idea of visiting the old west came during the filming of the first Back To The Future movie when director Robert Zemeckis asked Michael J. Fox what period of time he would like to see Fox mentioned the old west and cowboys. Both Zemeckis and Bob Gale were fascinated by the idea and waited until the third movie to visit the old west.

Not wanting to use existing sets for Back To The Future III, scenes for the movie were filmed at different locations this included Oak Park, California and Monument Valley, the 1885 Hill Valley was done in Jamestown, California, a purpose-built set at the Red Hills Ranch near Sonora, California while some of the scenes for the train were filmed at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park.

Back To The Future Part III / Universal / 1990

Back To The Future II and III were filmed back-to-back with just a three-week hiatus between both films. Zemeckis was shooting scenes for Part III and every evening taking a plane to Los Angeles to supervise the final edit of Part II.

When Mary Steenburgen read the script for the movie, she was reluctant to take the role of Clara Clayton, that is until her kids who had seen and loved the first movie “hounded” her. Steenburgen tore a ligament in her foot while performing The Hill Valley Festival Dance scene with Christopher Lloyd.

Back to the Future Part III was released to theaters on May 25, 1990, grossing $245 million worldwide during its theatrical run becoming the sixth highest-grossing film of 1990.

Reggie’s Take:

Over the last thirty-five years since Back To The Future Part III was released, Robert Zemeckis has made it clear that any attempts to remake or reboot the original film will be blocked by him. Bob Gale also commented that he did not wish to see another film in the series where the character of Marty McFly was played by anyone else other than Michael J. Fox.

To be very honest I’m okay with that. In today’s Hollywood where everything seems to get remade or rebooted, some things or properties should be left alone. What could a reboot give us that the first film hasn’t already? For me personally I’m not interested in seeing someone else’s version of Back To The Future. That’s not saying I’m opposed to any or all remakes or reboots Hollywood may come up with.

For example, I’m all for seeing the character of Indiana Jones reset back to the 1920/1930’s with a younger actor telling new stories so long as they don’t touch the stories the original three movies gave us. While I don’t believe such will happen any time soon, especially while Harrison Ford is still alive, I feel there are plenty of adventures still to be told.

While I’m okay with Indy being rebooted, I don’t feel that Star Wars should be rebooted either. The galaxy is big enough that new stories with new characters can still be told without rebooting. I can’t say the same though for Back To The Future.

Could a NEW take on the franchise be made and possibly be successful in the 21^st century? Maybe, but I don’t know if there is a director and writer like Zemeckis and Gale out there that would make the commitment like they did in making sure it’s done right. Not to mention the side-by-side comparison that would be made to the original by fans, the studio would need to be willing to take the criticism if a remake wasn’t just perfect.

Is the Back To The Future trilogy perfect? No, as there are few trilogies out there that have been, but it is one that was done well and loved by fans.