Come and See/Ідзі і глядзі/Иди и смотри (Idi i smotri) (1985) - Klimov's soul-searing war film

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A frightening, zombie-like appearance in the weather-beaten, catatonic face of a young man makes up this intense poster for Elem Klimov's Come and See

During World War II the Nazis march into Belarus to exterminate Communists. Here the big lad Flyora has his life unrooted permanently. 

 

Come and See is written by Ales Adamovich (Synovya ukhodyat v boy (1971)) and Russian master filmmaker, co-writer/director Elem Klimov (Welcome, or Nor Trespassing/Dobro pozhalovat, ili Postoronnim vkhod vospreshchen (1964)), whose 6th feature it was. It is based on the true story of the Nazi's burning down of more than 600 villages in Belarus during the war, as well as the books Khatyn and I Am from the Fiery Village by Adamovich. The title is a quote from Chapter 6 in the Bible's Book of Revelation.

Perhaps the greatest anti-war film of all time, Come and See is a deeply transfixing experience, related with a towering authority: A voluminous, 'forgotten' chapter of horror from WWII: How the Nazis exterminated and burnt down 628 Belarusian villages.

Aleksey Kravchenko (Jacked$ (2004)) is unforgettable as Flyora; he utilizes his face muscles to deliver some of the most intense and frightening expressions of human terror and despair in cinema history. Photographed (by Aleksey Rodionov (The Party (2017))) incredibly beautifully and inventively, with camera travelings that precurse work which Emmanuel Lubezki and other fine cinematographers would later be heralded for (such as found in The Revenant (2015)).

Some of the most unpleasant sequences in cinema history are here combined with surreal images (the stork, the burnt man) and an expressive portrait of the crimes of the Nazis. The evil is unfathomable. SPOILER The scene in which the building full of people gets burned down is horrifying as few others before or after it. 

Come and See, for most who dare, is a film you watch once and never forget.

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: Reportedly 20.9 mil. $

= Uncertain but likely a mega-hit (projected return of 20.9 times its cost)

[Come and See premiered 9 July (Moscow Film Festival) and runs 142 minutes. It took Klimov 8 years to make it, most of them spent in pre-production since the Soviet authorities would not allow the production for years. When at last they did, all he had to change was the work title Kill Hitler. Shooting took place chronologically for 9 months in the Soviet Union. All of the portrayed events did reportedly occur. Klimov utilized hypnosis and autogenic training to shape the performance of Kravchenko, who was also put on a minimal diet. Live bullets were fired, at times just 10 centimeters from Kravchenko's head, he has alleged, and security measures were generally few and primitive. 28.9 mil. reportedly paid admission to the film, an incredible number that is impossible to verify. It was reportedly #6 at the annual USSR box office in 1986. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. It has additionally made in excess of 1.2 mil. $ on the North-American home video market alone. IMDb's users have voted the film in at #91 on the site's Top 250, sitting between Singin' in the Rain (1952) and Requiem for a Dream (2000). Klimov retired from directing after the film. Kravchenko returned in Melkiy bes (1995). Come and See is certified fresh at 89 % with an 8.6/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Come and See? 

House (1985) - Cunningham's unremarkable horror-comedy franchise opens

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A ghoulish severed hand catches the eye on this promising poster for Steve Miner's House

 

A writer with problems moves into the house, where his aunt hung herself, and his son disappeared with the plan of writing his Vietnam novel. - But monsters keep disturbing his writing peace!

 

House is written by Ethan Wiley (Bear (2010)), with Fred Dekker (If Looks Could Kill (1991)) contributing story elements, and directed by Steve Miner (Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)).

It is a neither scary nor funny horror comedy, - in fact is is just unserious and silly. And then it lacks the really good special effects that might overcome some of these deficiencies. (Best looking FX-wise is a scene, in which the house stands on a precipice, and the writer hangs with one hand over it.)

George Wendt (Opposite Day (2009)) of Cheers (1982-93) fame has the role as the good-natured neighbor, and he does well in the part. But House is not at all a good film.

 

Related posts:

 

House franchise: The Horror Show/House III: The Horror Show (1989) - Lousy horror product

Steve Miner: Halloween H20/Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) - Myers spreads fresh terror in Miner's fine sequel 

Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) - Miner debuts with solid if formulaic first sequel

Watch a short TV trailer for the film here

Cost: 3 mil. $

Box office: 22.1 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 7.36 times its cost)

[House premiered 21 October (MIFED Film Festival, Italy) and runs 93 minutes. Shooting took place from April 1985 - ? in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release Pretty in Pink, to a 5.9 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#2) and grossed 19.4 mil. $ (87.8 % of the total gross). The success inspired sequel House II: The Second Story (1987), with a new writer/director and cast. Miner returned with Soul Man (1986). William Katt (The Encore of Tony Duran (2011)) returned in 12 TV credits prior to his theatrical return in White Ghost (1988); Wendt in Gung Ho (1986). House is rotten at 57 % with a 5.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of House?

The Goonies (1985) - Sweet child performances drive Donner's beloved, uneven adventure

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Hanging from a crumbling dripstone, a beautifully drawn and painted poster for Richard Donner's The Goonies, which spells high adventure

A small town is getting demolished to make space for a golf court, but the town's mischievous, inventive children take the chance, when they happen upon an old pirate's map in an attic. Pursued by some bumbling criminals their adventure begins.

 

The Goonies is written by Chris Columbus (Heartbreak Hotel (1988)), based on a story by Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan (1998)), and co-produced and directed by great New-Yorker filmmaker Richard Donner (Salt and Pepper (1968)).

Several good and very charming child performances save this film from being tedious: Sean Astin (Unleashed (2016)) is sweet as the leader; Ke Huy Quan (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)) is sweet and funny as 'Data'; Corey Feldman (No Witness (2004)) has comedic talent, and Jeff Cohen (Webster (1983, TV-series)) as 'Chunk' acts terrifically, although it hurts some that his overweight character gets treated so poorly. The girl characters are hysterical, dopey and unfortunately simply not very good. SPOILER And the parents turn up out of the blue in the end as if called upon by an invisible 'movie-is-ending' whistle.

Columbus' somewhat obvious script often seems to be the hindrance for this film completely succeeding, and the sound mix is also leaving something to be wished for. Still, The Goonies is mostly an enjoyable film and a fine production.

 

Related posts:

 

Richard Donner: 16 Blocks (2006) or, Heavy Traffic!

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 19 mil. $

Box office: 126.4 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 6.52 times its cost)

[The Goonies opened 7 June (North America) and runs 114 minutes. Shooting took place in Oregon and California from October 1984 - March 1985. Astin has later claimed in his autobiography that Spielberg acted as a co-director during the shoot. The film opened #2, behind holdover hit Rambo: First Blood Part II to a 9.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#3-#5) and grossed 61.3 mil. $ (49.4 % of the total gross). It was the 9th highest-grossing film of the year in North America. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. It has been re-released in latter years, adding about 2.4 mil. $ to its original gross. Talks and plans for a sequel have been persistent over the years but seem dubious at best. Donner returned with Cyndi Lauper: The Goonies 'R' Good Enough (1985, music video) and theatrically with Lethal Weapon (1987). Astin returned in Cyndi Lauper: The Goonies 'R' Good Enough (1985, music video), The Magical World of Disney (1986, TV-series) and theatrically in White Water Summer (1987); Quan in Cyndi Lauper: The Goonies 'R' Good Enough (1985, music video) and theatrically in Passenger: Sugisarishi hibi (1987); and Feldman in Cyndi Lauper: The Goonies 'R' Good Enough (1985, music video), Family Ties (1986, TV-series) and theatrically in Stand By Me (1986). The Goonies is certified fresh at 76 % with a 6.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Goonies?

Death of a Salesman (1985), TV movie - Schlöndorff's great adaptation of Arthur Miller's masterpiece

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Dustin Hoffman as Willy Loman and John Malkovich as his son Biff on a DVD cover for Volker Schlöndorff's Death of a Salesman

QUICK REVIEW:

Farm-worker Biff returns home to visit his disappointed father, who is struggling with the bills and his sanity.

This Death of a Salesman adaptation is a CBS TV movie directed by great German filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff (The Tin Drum/Die Blechtrommel (1979)), based on playwright Arthur Miller's (A View from the Bridge (1955)) own teleplay adaptation of his legendary 1949 play of the same name.
The film presents great acting in every part: Particularly Dustin Hoffman (Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)), John Malkovich (Mulholland Falls  (1996)) and Charles Durning (Tootsie (1982)) as Willy's neighbor are eminent. Schlöndorff has staged the play with expansive, affecting colors and sets that enhance the super-reality of the stream-of-consciousness-based story. Miller's masterful script stands out as clear as lightning here as the almost unbearably intensive male tragedy that it is.
SPOILER Loman's death is, regrettably, inelegantly handled.
Still, Schlöndorff's film is a generally outstanding adaptation of one of the irrefutably best plays of all time.

Watch a student-made trailer for the film here, (an official trailer is not in Youtube currently)

Cost: 3 mil. $
Box office: Unknown 
= Unknown
[Death of a Salesman had its TV debut June 24 and runs 136 minutes. Hoffman was interested in mounting a movie adaptation with Miller's co-operation as writer-producer, and Schlöndorff was hired based on his expressionist ideas. The film came to be as the conclusion of the 1984 revival of the play on Broadway with most of the actors playing their characters again in the film. The film was made with the big screen in mind and shot in 20 days. Miller had been unhappy with the two previous adaptations of the play, but he was proud of this version. The film was shown theatrically in foreign countries and at several film festivals. You can read more of the making of the film in a New York Times article from the time of its making here. Hoffman won a Golden Globe for his acting in the film, and it also won 3 Emmys. Death of a Salesman is fresh at 100 % with an 8.4 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes, and 7,004 IMDb users have given it a 7.3 average rating.]

What do you think of Death of a Salesman? 

Day of the Dead (1985) - Romero's underground-set zombie classic

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A neatly drawn poster featuring Bub the zombie for George A. Romero's Day of the Dead

QUICK REVIEW:

In this the last film in master writer-director George A. Romero's (Night of the Living Dead (1968)) first Dead trilogy, the plot plays out deep below ground in a military compound, where a group of soldiers protect and despise some scientists, who are trying to find out how to tame the walking dead.

Day is nearly as good as its predecessor, the masterpiece Dawn of the Dead (1978). Unlike that film, which is lighter, more action-packed and satirical, Day is intensely unpleasant, scary and disgusting, with some exceptional makeup and prosthetic effects. - It has actually made me nauseous to watch on one occasion.
The film does have a couple of scenes which are quite obviously too long. The conflict between the ignorant, racist soldiers and the good-hearted scientists is a bit over-the-top and contrived, but it somehow works great anyway, thanks in part to the actors giving serious characterizations and giving the film their all.
The music (by John Harrison (Creepshow (1982))) and conflict-heavy dialog is very 80s typical, which I love. Day has scenes and one character in particular (lab 'animal' Bub (Sherman Howard (Jumanji (1996-97))) that sticks in your mind years after you've seen it.
Shiver!

Related reviews:

George A. Romero: Night of the Living Dead (1990) - Romero and Savini hash up a superfluous remake (writer/executive producer)
Creepshow (1982) - Fun, campy horror anthology from King and Romero
Dawn of the Dead (1978) or, Mall of Death!

Sherman Howard as Bub in George A. Romero's Day of the Dead

Lori Cardille as Dr. Sarah in George A. Romero's Day of the Dead

Watch the trailer for the movie here

Cost: 3.5 mil. $
Box office: 34 mil. $
= Huge hit
[Day was made on a budget half the size hoped for, which forced Romero to alter his script drastically, effectively making a smaller and different zombie movie. It was filmed on locations in Florida, including in a mine. Extras were paid 1 $ plus a cap that read 'I was a Zombie in Day of the Dead.' The film had a small American release but still grossed 5.8 mil. $ (17 % of the total gross) in North America. It also became a lucrative VHS and later DVD and Bluray item.]

What do you think of Day of the Dead?
How do you rate it against Romero's other Dead movies?

The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission (1985) - McLaglen's shameless, redonkulous rip-off

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A dubious, pink-and-orange, Turkish DVD cover for Andrew V. McLaglen's The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission

QUICK REVIEW:

Lee Marvin (Gorky Park (1983)) must gather 12 new criminals later in 1944; this time to murder a Nazi general, who plans to assassinate Hitler...!!! (The idea is that the general would be such a powerful successor that it will be better to let Hitler continue his reign of misery to its end!)

Next Mission gets awarded its single ♥ here mainly because, as a TV movie, it doesn't have to live up to quite the same high standards that the silver screen demands.
Michael Kane (All the Right Moves (1983)) has scripted this preposterous, first sequel, 19 years after the great original, The Dirty Dozen (1967), in which Marvin and Ernest Borgnine (Barabbas (1961)) revisit their characters in a plot set just months after the first one! - Talk about trying to erase two decades of your life! - Talk about a midlife crisis! - Talk about living in the past, and forever young! - Talk about going downhill in a majorly embarrassing way!
The entire plot, right down to the black hero who dies in the end, is a cheap rip-off of the great original film. The fact that Marvin and Borgnine contributed to this predation is a sad fact.
It is directed by Andrew V. McLaglen (The Wild Geese (1978)), a veteran director of often dubious movies.

Related review:

Andrew V. McLaglen: Cahill U.S. Marshall/Cahill (1973) - John Wayne upholds the law in exciting late-career western

Watch a short TV trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: None - TV movie
= Uncertainty
[Even though Next Mission really sucks, two more Dirty Dozen TV sequels were devised, indicating that they were a good syndication business: The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission (1988), with Telly Savales, Borgnine, Bo Svenson and others, and The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission (1988), also with Savales and Borgnine. Dirty Dozen: The Series (1988-?), without any of the stars of the original, is also something that exists.]

What do you think of The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission?
If you've seen more of the sequels or the series how was/were it/they?

Demons/Dèmoni (1985) or, Cinema of Death!

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This Spanish poster for Lamberto Bava's Demons features a strange cut-out of a demon hovering over other demons ascending a staircase

QUICK REVIEW:

Two Italian girls, who attempt to speak American-English in Germany (...), get free tickets to a cinema, in which the demons on the screen suddenly overtake the audience.

The blood bath will never end in Demons. 
Co-writer/director Lamberto Bava (Macabre/Macabro (1980)) walks in Italian horror maestro Dario Argento's (Phenomena (1985)) and his own father, the 'Baron of Blood' Mario Bava's (The Mask of Satan/La Machera del Demonio (1960)) shoes with success here. In Demons, he has created a nightmarish atmosphere that is far from the 'realism' striven for in so many of today's horror films.
The acting and the hopeless dubbing of the film are terrible, but in a certain way this only contributes to the priceless gritty, smutty feel that surrounds this 80s teen gore galore, replete with cocaine junkies, songs by Pretty Maids, Billy Idol and original music by Claudio Simonetti (Deep Red/Profondo Rosso (1975)).
Demons is co-written by Argento (who also produced the film), director Bava, Franco Ferrini (Opera (1987)) and Dardano Sacchetti (Killer Crocodile 2 (1990), based on his story.

Watch the very dark trailer for the film here

Cost: 1.8 mil. $
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertainty
[The film was released in '86 in the US, but I can find no figures detailing its commercial performance, only the fact that 200k paid admission to see it in Spain. But it must have been a success, because Bava and the writing team followed it up with Demons 2/Dèmoni 2 ... l'Incubo Ritorna (1986).]

What do you think of Demons?
What are the best Bava films across the prolific film family's generations?

The Breakfast Club (1985) - Hughes' detention classic

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The five young stars are casually loafed together on this iconic poster for John Hughes' The Breakfast Club

A select group of youngsters spend a Saturday afternoon in detention at their high school and begin interacting with each other and learn valuable things about people and life.

 
The Breakfast Club is written, co-produced and directed by Michigander master filmmaker John Hughes (Sixteen Candles (1984)), whose 2nd feature it was.

The film tells a simple story, and Hughes' especial grip on the material has made it a 1980s super-hit and a bona fide classic in the coming-of-age and high school genres. The teenage years are in many people's lives the time when most things seem to happen (and happen with fierce volatility) inside of them, - or so it feels, - and to one's body, and for everyone who takes a delight in seeing this period pictured in movies, The Breakfast Club is almost guaranteed to warm your heart and touch you.
All the five young actors are wonderful: Ally Sheedy (St. Elmo's Fire (1985)) as the introvert Allison; Anthony Michael Hall (Sixteen Candles) as the nerd with a secret; Molly Ringwald (Sixteen Candles) as the popular beauty with a heart; Judd Nelson (St. Elmo's Fire (1985)) as the rebellious leader; and Emilio Estevez (Young Guns (1988)) as the hard, but maybe actually not so hard, 'jock'. 

Hughes, arguably the American king of the teenage genre,  has written the strong script and directed the film with care, compassion and insight into the teen years and his particular characters. All of the conflicts of The Breakfast Club are written out completely, which may be a bit unrealistic, but the effect is undeniable, as the film closes, and Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds breaks out again.
Many people have very warm feelings and memories about The Breakfast Club, and revisits to the film continue to prove its high quality. If you haven't seen it yet, you have a good one in store, so curl up on your best 1980s' rug and enjoy the best time you'll ever have at a detention.

 

Related posts:

 

John Hughes: Flubber (1997) - A flop alright (co-writer)

Home Alone 3 (1997) or, Home Defense: The New Kid (writer)

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) - The coolest kid in the world incites kiddie bellylaughs once again (writer/producer)

Home Alone (1990) - Columbus, Hughes, Culkin and co. take Christmas and home defense to the next level (writer)

The Great Outdoors (1988) - Deutch's low-brow comedy does the job (writer)

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) - Hughes' perfect movie of youth

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 1 mil. $
Box office: 51.5 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 51.5 times its cost)

[The Breakfast Club premiered 7 February (Los Angeles) and runs 97 minutes. Shooting took place from March - May (1984) in Illinois, including in Chicago. The film opened #3, behind Beverly Hills Cop and Witness, to a 5.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 4 weekends in the top 5 (#3-#4-#3-#3), grossing 45.8 mil. $ (88.9 % of the total gross). The foreign numbers have regrettably not been made public. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. Hughes returned with Weird Science (1985). Estevez returned in St. Elmo's Fire (1985)); Nelson also in St. Elmo's Fire; Ringwald in Surviving (1985, TV movie) and theatrically in Pretty in Pink (1986); Sheedy in Twice in a Lifetime (1985)) and Hall in Weird Science (1985). The Breakfast Club is certified fresh at 89 % with a 7.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Breakfast Club?

Back to the Future (1985) or, The DeLorean Time Traveler

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'He was never in time for his classes... He wasn't in time for his dinner... Then one day... he wasn't in his time at all' reads the great tagline on this spectacular poster for Robert Zemeckis' Back to the Future

Marty McFly is a lively high-school kid in '85, who hangs around now and again at his friend Doc Brown's house/laboratory. The good doc has now devised a time machine out of a DeLorean, and by and by McFly gets catapulted back to the 1950s, where he endangers the surety of his mother and father falling in love, and thereby his own existence!

 
Back to the Future is written by co-writer/co-producer Bob Gale (Used Cars (1980)) and co-writer/director, master Illinoisan filmmaker Robert Zemeckis (I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978)), whose 4th feature it was.

The film is pop culture history and a prime example of Hollywood at its very best. Seemingly without straining itself to achieve it, it captures with wonderful sharpness so many things from the life and mentality of America in the 80s, - a good deal of it through parodying America of the 50s. Back to the Future is incredibly vivid good fun.

Christopher Lloyd (The Pagemaster (1994)) and Michael J. Fox (Mars Attacks! (1996)) are both perfect in their parts, funny and enthusiastic with great on-screen chemistry. Crispin Glover (Dead Man (1995)) is also hilarious and memorable as McFly's door mat of a dork father, who learns how to stand up for himself from his son.
Zemeckis pulled it all together and directed the film with great skill and vision and along the way immortalized himself in cinema history with one of the best time travel films of all time. Back to the Future is wildly entertaining and wildly popular: One of the great time-related jokes in the film is about that guy on TV in the 50s, who isn't likely going to be president, (that guy being, of course, Ronald Reagan, who was a Hollywood actor before he became a politician and later president.) Reagan was reportedly amused by the joke himself and even incorporated Back to the Future in his 1986 State of the Union address, saying: "Never has there been a more exciting time to be alive, a time of rousing wonder and heroic achievement. As they said in the film Back to the Future, 'Where we're going, we don't need roads'." - The 80s in some ways was an exciting, optimistic time.
The film also has a fun cameo by Huey Lewis, and two great pop themes, The Power of Love, and Back in Time, also both written for the film, - to great success on their own as hit songs as well, - by Huey Lewis and the News. 

Zemeckis and Gale have orchestrated a romantic science fiction adventure story that is highly original. It holds up to the last second and to many joyful returns.

 

Related posts:

Robert Zemeckis: Top 10: Best dramas reviewed by Film Excess to date

The 2010s in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  

2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2012 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2012 in films - according to Film Excess

Flight (2012) - Character study masterpiece from Zemeckis and Washington 

1997 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Contact (1997) - Zemeckis helms one of the all-time worst sci-fi pics 

Back to the Future Part III (1990) or, The DeLorean Time Traveler's Last Adventure 

Top 10: The best adventure films reviewed by Film Excess to date 
Back to the Future Part II (1989) or, The DeLorean Time Traveler Returns 

Top 10: Best first-of-franchise movies 

Top 10: Best fantasy movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

1941 (1979) - Spielberg's bizarre 'comedy spectacular' sinks like a rock (co-writer)

 

Watch the original trailer for the film right here

Cost: 19 mil. $
Box office: 383.8 mil. $
= Blockbuster (returned 20.2 times its cost)

[Back to the Future was released 3 July (USA) and runs 116 minutes. The film was developed after a string of initial flops for Zemeckis and Gale and thus didn't find support until after the release of Zemeckis' first big hit Romancing the Stone (1984). Then the green-lit project was rushed into production with the wrong star in the McFly part, Eric Stoltz. Weeks into production the decision was taken to replace Stoltz (full salary paid) and switch him with Fox, who was secured while still simultaneously acting on his sitcom Family Ties (1982-89). Fox was paid 250k $ for his performance. The decision was central in the film's costs growing over-budget by 4 mil. $ during production. Shooting took place from November 1984 - April 1985 in California, including in Los Angeles. The film was rushed through post production for a mid-summer release. It opened #1 to an 11.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed #1 for another 10 weekends, with 8 more spent in the top 5, grossing 210.6 mil. $ (54.9 % of the total gross). It was the year's highest-grossing film, the highest-grossing in North America and the 3rd highest grossing of the year outside of North America, behind Out of Africa and Rocky IV. The film was nominated for 4 Oscars, winning for Sound Effects Editing. It lost Best Original Song (The Power of Love) to Say You, Say Me from White Nights by Lionel Ritchie, Sound to Out of Africa and Original Screenplay to Earl Wallace for Witness. It was also nominated for 5 BAFTAs, won 2 David di Donatello awards, was nominated for 4 Golden Globes, a Grammy, won a National Board of Review award, among many other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. IMDb's users have voted the film in at #30 on the site's Top 250 list, sitting between Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Spirited Away (2001). The film was the first in what became the Back to the Future trilogy with returning filmmaker Zemeckis, writer Gale and Fox, Lloyd and others; Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Back to the Future Part III (1990) were the result. Zemeckis first returned with Amazing Stories (1986). Fox first returned in Teen Wolf (1985); Lloyd in Clue (1985). Back to the Future is certified fresh at 97 % with an 8.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Back to the Future?