Plot

Back to the Future is the story of Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), a high schooler who is perhaps a bit too ahead of his time. Coping with a dysfunctional family and an unreasonable school principal, Marty’s life doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. Everything changes however when his close friend, Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), introduces Marty to his latest invention: a time machine (disguised in the form of a DeLorean).

Before long, Marty’s world is turned upside down as he accidentally travels back in time starting a chain of events that will ultimately lead to the end of his existence. Stuck in 1955 with only one chance of getting home, will Marty have enough time to fix the past and make it ‘Back to the Future?’

History

Script

The concept of BttF was based on a simple idea by co-writer and producer Bob Gale. When visiting his parents in his home town of Missouri, Gale came upon his father’s high school year book in the basement. He noticed that his father was class president, and recalled that he had never interacted with his own class president. Dwelling on this point, he wondered whether he would ever have be friends with his father had they been in high school together. Taking these thoughts to writer and director Robert Zemeckis, the two began to lay out the foundations of a script that would soon turn into BttF. In September of 1980 Columbia Pictures struck a deal with Gale and Zemeckis for the development of the script and so the writing began.

In 5 short months, the script was completed and subsequently rejected by Columbia for not being “sexual enough” (Bob Gale related Columbia’s opinion), and so the writers approached every other studio at the time, looking for a buyer who would make the film. For four years no one wanted to touch BttF, claiming it was too tame for audiences who were now used to raunchy teen comedies.
With BttF indefinitely on hold, Zemeckis chose to direct box office hit Romancing the Stone. Now established as a successful director, the team approached Steven Spielberg as a producer and pitched their film. After some minor tweaks to the script and characters, Universal Studios finally took on the project, thanks to the influence of Spielberg, and the script finally began its journey to the screen.

Cast

As with most films, not all the first choices for casting worked out. For a start, Michael J Fox, although first choice for the role, was not available to film due to his commitment to TV show Family Ties. In his place, Zemeckis and Gale chose Eric Stoltz to play the role of Marty McFly. After only a month of filming, the team realised that Stoltz was wrong for the part, and although it added another $3m to the budget, they decided to recast and reshoot.

Luckily for them, Fox was able to film in early 1985, and so Zemeckis and Gale explained to Fox the miscast of Stoltz and how they felt that he was perfect for the role. Fox admitted in a later interview: “All I did in high school was skateboard, chase girls and play in bands. I even dreamed of becoming a rock star“, causing him to take the role very personally.

Another casting hiccup that worked out in the end was Christopher Lloyd as Doc Emmett Brown who was chosen when first choice John Lithgow was unavailable. Interestingly enough, Lloyd initially turned down the role, but later accepted once having read the script.

Production

Having already been delayed multiple times, and going over their initial budget of $14m, the pressure was on to get the film made as soon as possible. The studios needed to see a return on investment, and having already been set back only four weeks in with having to get a new actor, the team were working round the clock to meet demands. Due to his multiple filming schedule (Family Ties and BttF), Fox was averaging about 5 hours of sleep a night, running from shoot to shoot, sometimes filming right the way through the night.

Another problem the team faced was how to find the sets. As it seemed highly unlikely to be to remodel an American town, the back of Universal Studios was converted first into a 1950’s town to shoot all the past scenes, and then altered to represent modern times. The crew were quoted on an NBC television special saying “(we) decided to shoot all the 50s stuff first, and make the town look real beautiful and wonderful. Then we would just totally trash it down and make it all bleak and ugly for the 1980s scenes“.

It took 100 days to film BttF, with the last shot taking place in April 1985. The film was finally released on July 3rd after many delays. With less than two months to add effects and edit the picture, a number of new staff were hired, and the crew worked 24 hour shifts at times. All the hard work finally paid off when initial test screenings sent audiences into a frenzy, making it one of the most highly anticipated films of the year. This claim was reaffirmed when it was revealed as the highest grossing film at the box office that year, remaining at the number 1 spot in the U.S. for an incredible 11 weeks running.

Made on a budget that totalled $19m, BttF finally grossed over $380m worldwide from ticket sales alone (not including the recent 25th anniversary cinema re-release). In addition to the box office figures, the brand has accumulated even more in merchandising, video, dvd and more recently, Blu-Ray sales.

Today, Back to the Future has secured a permanent place on various “top films” lists. Channel Four even recently rated it as #10 in their 50 films to watch before you die. Over the years, the popularity for the film has grown exponentially, so much so that Universal Studios felt it appropriate to celebrate 25 years of the franchise and remaster the film for theatrical release, followed by a blu-ray version of the trilogy.

30 years after Bob Gale first formed the ideas that became Back to the Future, the film has become one of the best-loved movies of all time, entertaining audiences young and old alike.

Fact to the Future

• High school bully Biff Tannen was named after Universal Studios producer Ned Tanen, who unfavourably crossed paths with Zemeckis and Gale.
• Pro skater Tony Hawk initially helped Michael J Fox with his skateboarding scenes. Hawk was only 16 at the time.
• Robert Zemeckis was keen to cut the Johnny B. Goode scene from the final release, however the test audiences responded so well to it, the studio decided to keep it in.
• Michael J. Fox doesn’t actually sing in the film, instead the voice is that of Mark Campbell.
• Many people incorrectly credit John Williams for creation of the now famous film score. It was in fact created by Alan Silvistri, a composer favoured by director Robert Zemeckis.
• In an earlier version of the script, the time machine was a refrigerator instead of a DeLorian.
• You can follow a specially created Twitter re-telling of Back to the Future here.

The Film Buzz Official Rating: ********** (10/10)

Release date: 3rd December, 1985 (UK)

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Writers: Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis

It’s a bit late to be categorised in ‘Box Office’ and it’s not quite on DVD yet (DVD will be out 18 January 2010) but I had the chance to catch this film recently and wondered what took me so long to get to round to watching this genius film.

(500) Days of Summer is a romance/comedy but it is most definitely not a typical “rom-com”. I cannot stress it enough that this is not a boy-meets-girl, they-have-some-kind-of-misunderstanding-and-they-hate-each-other-but-for-some-wierd-fated-reason-they-are-forced-together-and-slowly-a-budding-romance-develops-and-eventually-turns-into-a-full-frontal-wedding. So if you’re looking for that – go check out The Proposal or something.

(500) Days of Summer‘s tagline is “Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn’t.”
But the film has way more to offer than just those three circumstances. This is an offbeat, slightly quirky romantic comedy with a play on the words of the title – this film isn’t about 500 days in the season of summer, it’s the memories of a boy’s relationship (or lack of) with a charming girl called Summer.

The Plot

Tom is a greeting card writer who dreams of finding his true love and one day comes across charming, vintage beauty Summer and falls head over heels in love instantly. However, Summer has very different views about love – she thinks it doesn’t exist. Furthermore she doesn’t want to be tied down to a relationship so to make things more complicated, so the couple serenade as ‘friends’ which throws Tom into ecstasy when they’re together on a relationship ‘high’ but at the same time frustrates Tom to no end when they’re on a relationship ‘low’ or rather when there is no established relationship.

Directed by Marc Webb who is relatively new but will be hugely in demand after this masterpiece which is written by  Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber starring the cute-as-hell Joseph Gordon-Levitt and beautiful Zooey Deschanel and also Geoffrey Arend and Matthew Gray Gubler as the two most awesome sidekicks, providing a good deal of the laughs and adding to the overall ingenuity of the plot.

The Thoughts

The beauty of this film is that it disregards the traditional linear plot of rom-com by visiting each memory of Tom in a seemingly random order. The audience is taken on a delightful journey through Tom’s mind as he jumps from moment to moment. This film is so magically put together that it manages the most unconventional twist i.e. stating at the beginning that “this is not a love story” but it somehow manages to make you feel “love butterflies” whilst being bitter-sweet at the same time.

I couldn’t think of two more perfect actors to portray the characters than Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tom and Zooey Deschanel as Summer. Gordon-Levitt (10 Things I Hate About You) is the sweetest, most sincere, timid guy who is whole-heartedly chasing his one true love, and Deschanel (The Happening) is a pure beauty – so believable that you cannot help but fall deeply in love with her innocent blue eyes, blushed cheeks and sweet smile along with her charming, quirky ways – they make for a warm exterior but be prepared get your heart smashed in with her cold interior.

This is a highly recommended and highly intelligent film, resonating with raw insights and brimming with lessons in love, this will take a piece out of you and hopefully you will take a piece of it home with you.

You guys need. to. check. it. out. Catch it on DVD in just over a month’s time.

If you have seen this already, what did you think of it? Did it give you lovey-dovey goosebumps or was it just an average rom-com to you?

The Film Buzz Review Rating: 8.5/10

Cinema Release Date: 2 September 2009

DVD Release Date: 18 January 2010

Director: Marc Webb

Writer’s: Scott Neustadter (written by) Michael H. Weber (written by)

Links: IMDB, Official Site, Rotten Tomatoes

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For those of you who do not know how Tony Jaa is, or have not seen Ong-Bak 1: The Thai Warrior – make it your utmost priority to see it right now.

Tony Jaa, the star of this film franchise is legendary in his own right. The Thai Martial Arts (specifically Muay Thai) film actor, choreographer and director has been dubbed the latest Martial Arts star to storm onto the scene, stealing the limelight from internationally acclaimed superstars Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Bruce Lee - Tony’s very own childhood idols.

Tony Jaa’s stunts in Ong-Bak 1 had everyone’s jaws permanently glued to the floor, both death-defying and effortlessly executed. It had people shaking their heads in disbelief – because the entire film footage had been shot without the use of any CGI,  strings, wires or any additional aids to make the stunts look more powerful or easier to perform, all of Tony Jaa’s stunts were performed by him and him only.

Ong-Bak 1 sees Tony Jaa as Ting, residing in a small, peaceful Thai village when one night the peace is torn apart because a former native of the village sends men to steal the head of the village’s sacred Buddha statuette called ‘Ong Bak’. This angers the locals and catastrophe ensues as they seek the champion Ting – the orphaned but extremely well practised in Muay Thai: ‘Nine Body Weapons’ – the perfect opponent in the fight of winning back the sacred head of Ong Bak. Follow Ting as he hits the mean, lean streets of Bangkok, encounter many local and foreign enemies but leaves them reeling from injuries in street fights in pursuit of the ruthless thief and crime boss. Will he defeat his enemies, win back the head of Ong Bak and regain honour for his village?

Here is a clip of the stunts and visuals in Ong-Bak 1: The Thai Warrior.

So it makes perfect sense to be highly anticipating the sequel to this awesome martial arts movie and we can expect even more seat-clenching action.

After watching this trailer, the plot seems unrelated to Ong-Bak 1 but this time, much stronger, with a better sense of purpose and well thought out.

Ong Bak 2 is set in the regal times in Thailand 600 years ago, and follows Tien (Tony Jaa) as he embarks  on his epic journey into manhood, whilst bearing with the memory of witnessing his parent’s brutal murder. He seeks to avenge his parents but first he must train to be the greatest and most dangerous warrior. We watch as he evolves and uses his genius skills to pass test after test with stupefying, airborne stunts guaranteed to be the best martial arts captured on film this year. Prepare to be amazed.

Although the plot may disappoint some, the plotlines is not the main focus in the case of the Ong Bak series – it’s what Tony Jaa does with his body and his jaw-dropping stunts, so that even though the plot may not satisfy, his action sequences will fully saturate anyone’s thirst for real cinema action.

Trust me, Ong-Bak 1 and 2 will leave you breathless, winded and muttering “How the HELL did he do that?” in each and every scene.

The Film Buzz Anticipation Rating: 8/10

UK Release Date: 16 October 2009

Directors: Tony Jaa, Panna Rittikrai

Writer: Panna Rittikrai

Links: IMDB Ong-Bak 1, IMDB Ong-Bak 2

Problems soon start to arise with Chen starting to question his time deep undercover and Lau trying to protect his cover as well as stay loyal to the Triads. Mayhem ensues when the police soon start to close in on the Triads, but the Triads don’t go down without a fight and lives are lost on both sides.

You must watch this film as it was meant to be seen, with the original soundtrack. This means subtitles are necessary if you don’t speak Cantonese, but don’t let that put you off. This is edge-of-the-seat stuff with plenty of action to satisfy any man, enough will-they-won’t-they for the ladies and very well written by Alan Mak and Felix Chong, definitely two writers to watch.

This is pretty much an all-round great film with the underlying theme of ‘how far will you go to protect your identity?’ Whether loyally, ethically or just for sheer survival. This is well-acted with convincing performances from Leung, Tsang and Lau. I found myself captivated by these characters, hating some, loving others which makes it all part of the fun.

Alice Says:

Me being Chinese and all, this is a film that makes me proud to be Chinese/Hong Kongnese.

The Hong Kong film industry isn’t far out there in Hollywood, and certainly has a long way to go, but this film and it’s successors Infernal Affairs II and Infernal Affairs III, has definitely propelled the Hong Kong film industry right into the midst of Hollywood film-makers attention and blown them away.

The Film Buzz Rating: 8.5/10

Released: 2004

Director’s: Wai-keung Lau & Alan Mak

Writer’s: Alan Mak & Felix Chong

Links: IMDB

One of these films is Disturbia released in 2007, starring Transformers star Shia LaBeouf and The Matrix heroine Carrie-Ann Moss.

Shia plays troubled teenager Kale and after a string of unfortunate behaviour, Shia is placed under house arrest.

Kale then begins to spy on his neighours and soon notices something suspicious about his neighbour Mr Turner, thus leading to a race against time to prove his neighbour a killer.

A good idea, well written and acted, with a relatively short running time. You are bought straight into the action of the film but are then let down by it’s rushed ending. Definitely a film to to see with your friends.

The Film Buzz Rating: 6/10

Director: D.J. Caruso

Writer’s: Christopher B. Landon & Carl Ellsworth

Links: IMDB, Official Site