Of all the movie anniversaries in 2025 that make me feel old, the 40th anniversary of Robert Zemeckis’ timeless classic, Back to the Future, elicits the biggest emotional reaction from me. It seems surreal that nearly an entire decade has pᴀssed since we celebrated October 21, 2015, the day that Marty McFly visits in Back to the Future Part II.

Back to the Future is one of those 1980s movies that changed the world, and still enjoys a prominent presence in the zeitgeist, especially in the time travel genre. Almost every pulpy film or show that uses time travel made since Back to the Future refers to it, and some of them have even blatantly copied its time travel rules.

Back to the Future is such a perfect movie that it’s impossible to hate it, and I wouldn’t want to, but rewatching it today reveals some surprising truths, both positive and negative, that affect how I perceive it, but not how much I’m entertained by it. The justified reverence for it, and its cultural footprint, make these realizations particularly shocking.

Marty McFly Is A Difficult Character To Like

Michael J. Fox’s charming performance makes his character so endearing, because some details about Marty’s personality are frustrating and unlikable. He has great guitar skills, which also makes Back to the Future a 1980s movie that will forever be ᴀssociated with a song, but he constantly whines about the lack of recognition he receives, instead of standing up for himself.

However, the biggest blemish, albeit a natural consequence of his being the protagonist of an ’80s film, is his habit of checking out girls throughout the film, often even in front of his girlfriend, Jennifer. Doing it exclusively behind her back wouldn’t make it better, and he fits the shady and sleazy protagonist archetype instead of the likable goofball today.

Marty’s Treatment Of His Dad Is Hard To Watch

What makes Marty’s underconfidence most annoying is his disdain for his father, whom he considers to be a wimp. He’s not much better at being a go-getter by any standards, although the movie makes every effort to turn Crispin Glover’s George McFly into a caricature, and yet, he feels enтιтled to lecture his father’s past self about seizing the day.

It’s true that Marty’s much better at standing up to bullies than George, and he does his best to help George feel more confident, but the way he infantilizes George as a charity case to fix is difficult to endure. Marty’s actions are less driven by empathy and more by his need to ensure he doesn’t fade out of existence.

Doc Brown’s Intellect Is An Underrated Aspect Of Back to the Future

My favorite character in the entire trilogy is Christopher Lloyd’s Dr. Emmett Brown, a man who is as brilliant as he is eccentric and ʙuттerfingered. It feels disappointing to realize how much he is treated as the comic relief character and how stereotypically he’s written. Doc Brown is a bona fide genius, and not just because he invents time travel.

Sitting in 1955, Doc perfectly understands how the DeLorean and the flux capacitor work, despite them being 1985 technology, and quickly devises a solution he then flawlessly executes, despite last-minute issues. The explanation for Doc Brown’s stolen plutonium plan for the DeLorean also reveals his foresight. The movie presents it, but we don’t talk about Doc’s intellect enough.

The Opening Seconds Tease The Ending

Back to the Future is a movie franchise that lives up to its fantastic first film, as every sequel continues to demonstrate the meticulous attention the filmmaker, screenwriters, and production team paid to the fine details that add to each film’s rewatch value. This is why Back to the Future teases its climax early on, but without spoiling the ending.

Of the many clocks that the camera pans across during the film’s credits sequence at Doc’s house, one of them has a cutout of a person hanging from the clock’s body. This image resembles the pose that Doc strikes as he hangs from the hands of the watch at the top of the clock tower in the movie’s final minutes.

There Are Less Plot Holes Than The Movie’s Reputation Suggests

Even those who haven’t seen Back to the Future know two things about it. One of them, immortalized by a meme, is that Marty excitedly recognizes something on TV in the past, and the second, thanks to the many reviews, comedy sets, movies, and shows that have pointed out some flaws, is that it’s a movie riddled with plot holes.

However, the time travel logic of the movie, albeit complicated, is surprisingly consistent, and barring some continuity errors, it is a fantastic time travel film that mostly answers all possible questions if you consider its nuances. Relying on paradoxes is a common characteristic of some of the worst sci-fi movie endings, but Back to the Future refreshingly doesn’t do so.

Back To The Future’s Ending Reeks Of ’80s Materialism

Marty’s mission in Back to the Future is to ensure Lorraine and George fall in love so that their marriage occurs in the future, and he isn’t erased from existence, but he gets much more in reward than he bargained for. The new version of 1985 that Marty wakes up in is significantly more glamorous than the version he left.

George is now an established sci-fi comic writer with more financial capital than he could ever imagine, while Biff is now poor. You don’t need to be eagle-eyed to notice the product placement in the final scenes of the movie, and this resolution to the story is a manifestation of the wave of materialism that the 1980s are known for.

Back To The Future Would Never Be Made Today

Back to the Future may be one of the best feel-good movies of the 1980s, but some aspects of the movie have not aged well. Marty’s plan to make fake inappropriate advances to Lorraine, so that George can intervene and win her over, is uncomfortable to think of. It becomes more disturbing when you consider Lorraine is Marty’s to-be mother.

While Marty does hesitate to follow through, much of the film’s comedy arises from the fact that Marty thinks his mother looked attractive as a teenager, and that her teenage version is infatuated with him. Even if it’s not allowed to develop to an uncomfortable extent, such a plot point wouldn’t be accepted today.

Despite Everything, Back To The Future Is Still Ridiculously Entertaining

Back to the Future may reveal new disappointing flaws or give you new details to obsess over, but it’s a 1980s movie that gets better with every rewatch, because you realize each time just how entertaining it is. Back to the Future earns itself a place on the comfort movies list of many viewers with ease because of this reason.

The movie is lighthearted, funny, dramatic, and has an intensely thrilling climax where the resolution is left hanging by a few fractions of a second. It’s also one of the most quotable movies of all time, and is instantly recognizable because it wins you over in seconds, and you never forget the memory of first discovering Back to the Future.